55 1.8

[Guy Mancuso]

I just sold my Sigma so ready to push buttons. LOL

 

[fmueller]

I'm not that motivated to go M lenses to be honest. Just takes too much Capitol to get there unless you own it already

The takeaway from all the discussions and from my personal experience is that lenses meant for the M Leica don't all play well with the Sony A7r as you go wide. Even some 50's aren't worth their eye popping prices just to be judged "barely acceptable." Digital changed everything. Unless somebody solves the ray angle problem in a universally applicable manner we are forced with moving to retrofocus lenses (maybe that is the universal solution...).

All that being said, I am trying to understand if I may have a bad copy of the well reviewed Sony/Zeiss 35 FE. My CV 35 1.2 II seems to be outshining the Sony/Zeiss in a noticeable way. This lens lived on my M9 and I never really intended for it to go on the A7r due to its size but...I'm not a very experienced lens tester so I'm trying to figure it out.

As I've said before, I've gained a new appreciation for the Leica engineering that makes their non-retrofocus lenses work pretty darn well on Leica cameras. But it is a tailored solution. The Sony engineers seem little concerned for tailoring their design to an almost infinite variety of non-retrofocus lenses from other manufacturers and I can understand that.

Seems like SLR retrofocus designs and native designs are the way to go, my experience with the CV notwithstanding.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I would put it this way i would NOT buy a M lens wider than 35mm without seeing a lot of tests from others. The M lenses are great and i had 15 of them at one time but you can get comparable lenses in DSLR mounts as well if not the same or better in some cases than in some just shy of the mark. Bottom line as i just told a member in private invest in the glass if the Nikon/Canon turns something out better which will no doubt be mirror less than its just a adapter change and selling your body. Thats not a big deal and very minimal loss.

The one lens immediately without any issues amongst everyone is the WATE

 

[vjbelle]

I've tested two samples of the Sony 55mm lens and BOTH show the same decentering flaw with the left side soft and the right side sharp. So bad, in fact, that I will not own this lens. Lloyd Chambers also complained about his copy of this lens being soft on the LEFT side. That's three lenses with the same issue. I'm done.:thumbdown:

Victor

 

[vjbelle]

The takeaway from all the discussions and from my personal experience is that lenses meant for the M Leica don't all play well with the Sony A7r as you go wide. Even some 50's aren't worth their eye popping prices just to be judged "barely acceptable."

My 35mm Summicron and 24mm Elmarit are worthless on the A7r. Both exhibit side smearing. However my 50mm Summicron (non-Apo) is really excellent and my 90mm Summicron is stellar!:thumbup: I have yet to find replacements with any other brand. I own numerous Zeiss glass in Nikon mount which I am also very happy with but haven't tried them on the A7r as I don't have a mount... but have one on order. I have shot side by side D800e/A7r with Leica vs Zeiss with my Leica glass always coming out on top at 50mm. Longer and its a toss up.

Victor

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Victor I tend to agree with you and why I also backed off. I just don't like that many occurrences. Tim had issues as well and thats just from our place alone. I just pulled the trigger on the ZA 85mm 1.4 since I will have that adapter and it gives me the option for AF.

I may just go after a cheap Zeiss 50mm 1.4 even though rough wide open I just don't use 50mm enough to pay a lot of money for one. If I want wide open look than the 85mm is a far better choice with people. The 50mm comes in handy sometimes for me but not enough to spend a lot on it.

I got the 35 FE and the 85 ZA now for primes that do AF if I need it , nice gap there.

 

[hcubell]

I've tested two samples of the Sony 55mm lens and BOTH show the same decentering flaw with the left side soft and the right side sharp. So bad, in fact, that I will not own this lens. Lloyd Chambers also complained about his copy of this lens being soft on the LEFT side. That's three lenses with the same issue. I'm done.:thumbdown:

Victor

We must be looking at two different Lloyd chambers web sites. The last test he did he equated the A7R with the 55 1.8 to the nikon d800 with the Zeiss 58 1.4 Otus!

 

[Guy Mancuso]

My 35mm Summicron and 24mm Elmarit are worthless on the A7r. Both exhibit side smearing. However my 50mm Summicron (non-Apo) is really excellent and my 90mm Summicron is stellar!:thumbup: I have yet to find replacements with any other brand. I own numerous Zeiss glass in Nikon mount which I am also very happy with but haven't tried them on the A7r as I don't have a mount... but have one on order. I have shot side by side D800e/A7r with Leica vs Zeiss with my Leica glass always coming out on top at 50mm. Longer and its a toss up.

Victor

Agreed wait till you get your Zeiss 135. You will be impressed

 

[vjbelle]

We must be looking at two different Lloyd chambers web sites. The last test he did he equated the A7R with the 55 1.8 to the nikon d800 with the Zeiss 58 1.4 Otus!

No we're not..... look at the Red Barn series and read what he says about the left side of his lens being soft and his concerns about sample variations. My two samples were severely afflicted with soft focus on the left side..... like I said I'm done.

Victor

 

[vjbelle]

I may just go after a cheap Zeiss 50mm 1.4 even though rough wide open I just don't use 50mm enough to pay a lot of money for one. there.

I have not shot or tested the Zeiss 50mm 1.4 but own the 50mm F2 Planar and think its easily worth its money. This focal length is important to me because its perfect for shooting 3 or 4 shot pano's. Not too long - not too short.

Victor

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Yes the macro is the better lens

 

[gurtch]

Here is the rub every 85mm 1.4 in Zeiss design has that wide open aberration as i think they are all the same formula. The fact that I got the Alpa adapter is making me think the Sony ZA is maybe the way to go. My other though is just stay down the Zeiss line so all my files have that same look. Maybe not the best lens wide open is the Zeiss 50 1.4 but stopped down a touch its very good and cheap to get. Than I will get my lovely Zeiss 25 F2 back in my hands. Also having the Zeiss 135mm lens that I will never part with i am building around that as well. I found a ZA for 1100 dollars which I can pull off and get in my hands before leaving for LA and I don't have to deal with ebay and have a 14 day return window I may just go for it and see how it runs. Also the Alpa adapter was a gift from a member and i want to make use of it as that was what he wanted too. Case closed on the 85mm. Bottom line too many upsides to this call and if it sucks it goes back and Ill try something else.

Oh and I screwed up when i bought the Novaflex i had G lenses well turns out I don't anymore and don't expect to either so what i am going to do is get my Dremel out and the inside of the tube is the tab to control the aperture i am going to grind that off so when i put any Nikon mount Zeiss on I will not need that control anyway since i have aperture rings. What this does is i don't have to line up when i mount the lenses to the adapter the f stop. i can just put it on and the Novaflex is basically a tube only. When i bought it I was still in flux over keeping the Nikon system well that decision has been made i am out of Nikon but still have my lens mounts in case they come out with something better.

Guy: I have two Nikon adapters. One for G lenses (an expensive Metabones), and a $10 one from Rainbow Imaging which appears to be surprisingly well made. I will use this one for my Zeiss and Voigtlander lens with F stop rings, and my old Nikkor AI lenses. Before operating on your adapter, try the $10 one....no kidding!
Dave in NJ

 

[tashley]

Many thanks for this sample, Tim! This looks quite nice, actually. Most of the samples I've seen were taken at close range, and there was stronger contrast in the OOF areas than in your image. Was there any CA-removal applied to this image (either in-camera or in LR)? How about other corrections?

Hi Ron,

Just LR import with 50/0.6/70/20 and Camera Standard…
Here's a copy with the processing in C1 at defaults….

 

[fmueller]

Lloyd Chambers also complained about his copy of this lens being soft on the LEFT side. That's three lenses with the same issue. I'm done.:thumbdown:

Victor

Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?

Oh, yes, there was ONE. To celebrate, he took a picture of some flowers, had it enlarged to 5x6 (feet!) and he will sell you one for only US$5100 (not a typo), and at that price, shipping is, of course, extra... Camera not included.

Not kidding. SigmaDPMerill-tulips-print

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Guy: I have two Nikon adapters. One for G lenses (an expensive Metabones), and a $10 one from Rainbow Imaging which appears to be surprisingly well made. I will use this one for my Zeiss and Voigtlander lens with F stop rings, and my old Nikkor AI lenses. Before operating on your adapter, try the $10 one....no kidding!
Dave in NJ

I know I though about just getting a straight adapter but my Dremel took over me. Its done and works great. LOL

Perfect

 

[white.elephant]

...I wish they did a 28 prime and this 55. Perfect setup

Heartily agree. The 28 is my go-to with my shooting style for every camera I have. I am very interested in this system, and I'm not afraid of adapters, but I need some more primes.

 

[fotografz]

:shocked:

I thought it might be the same lens formula

Just a quick run down on the fast Zeiss 85mms from yesteryear:

The CY Planar manual focus 85/1.4 was okay, better when using film, started to show its age on digital.

The rare and expensive manual focus Zeiss 85/1.2 Anniversary was, and still is stellar, maybe the best f/1.2 ever along with its companion lens the Zeiss 55/1.2 Anniversary ... however, while it was converted for use on 5Ds Canon via dumb adapters, I've not seen it used on any of these higher meg cameras like the D800 or this A7R.

The ultra-sonic motor autofocus Zeiss Planar N 85/1.4 optically improved on the CY version, and IMO has not been equaled or surpassed since. Unlike the current ZA 85/1.4 for Sony A mount, it features internal focusing ... and was built like a tank, so probably to big for the A7s.

The current ZA 85/1.4 has beautiful OOF rendering, Zeiss color and contrast, but shows some CA & Fringing (cleans up okay in post, but still fuzzes some edges a bit), it is slower focusing using the A7R with Sony LA-EA4 adapter because it doesn't have the SSW motor in lens ... hard to do grab shots of moving subjects in lower light ... slower AF than on the A99 (and I presume the A7).

- Marc

 

[white.elephant]

Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?

This is such a great comment and spot on. Bravo!

 

[fotografz]

Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?

That's because Jim Carry is his UPS delivery man :ROTFL:

(See the movie "Pet Detective" to get the joke).

- Marc

 

[Deleted member 7792]

Since this thread is worthless without pictures, and is getting deeper into topics that have not much to do with the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA lens, I'll bring it back with a test shot from this morning:

Nothing special, but one that was easy for a lazy man to execute. Handheld, AWB, Auto ISO. Focused on the leaves in front of the evergreen just to the left of the birdhouse.

100% crop from the four corners:

There may be some motion blur from the wind that is bringing a front through our area (77°F on December 22 is freaky). Processed in LR. No noise reduction applied in-camera or in LR. Contrast +25, Saturation +25, sharpening using Tim Ashley's formula. Resized for Web display.

For my photography, this result meets my expectations. When I can count blades of grass and leaves across the frame in an image like this at f/4.0, and make a 20x30" print (not of this particular photograph however) with 246ppi, I'm OK. BTW, I uprez to 360ppi for printing on the Epson.

Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?

I agree. As Reichmann said on LuLa, "I have a lot of respects for Lloyd and enjoy his site. But as with so many of his reports of late 'Me thinks he doth protest too much'."

Back to making photographs,

Joe