Sony 35/2.8 vs Leica 35mm

[Paratom]

Has anybody an opinion how the Sony compares to Leica 35mm M lenses on the A7 series?
I wonder if it is worth to spend the Money for the 35/2.8 Sony lens in order to get AF. Reviews say ist sharp but how is the bokeh? Is it as good as Leica Summicron or Summilux?
What do you use for 35mm?

 

[iiiNelson]

Has anybody an opinion how the Sony compares to Leica 35mm M lenses on the A7 series?
I wonder if it is worth to spend the Money for the 35/2.8 Sony lens in order to get AF. Reviews say ist sharp but how is the bokeh? Is it as good as Leica Summicron or Summilux?
What do you use for 35mm?

The Sony 35 works better than the 35 Summicron on A7 bodies. I haven't used the 35 Lux's but I have the 35 Nokton 2. I'd give the Nokton the edge for people shots. It obviously has better and more shallow DoF than the Sony 35.

The obviously question is if AF and metadata mean much to you. If so then it's work picking up. If you're worried about speed a f/1.4 version is going to be released in the spring.

 

[Paratom]

The Sony 35 works better than the 35 Summicron on A7 bodies. I haven't used the 35 Lux's but I have the 35 Nokton 2. I'd give the Nokton the edge for people shots. It obviously has better and more shallow DoF than the Sony 35.

The obviously question is if AF and metadata mean much to you. If so then it's work picking up. If you're worried about speed a f/1.4 version is going to be released in the spring.

AF would be nice but is not a 100% must for 35mm FOV. Metadata I dont Need as Long as I dont want LR to add lens correction-which probably isnt needed for those lenses.

F1.4 sounds good. Any idea how big this lens will come out?

 

[iiiNelson]

There's picture floating around the net. It looks somewhat large but I don't know that it'll be unreasonably so. I shoot with a grip on both bodies most of the time anyway.

 

[philber]

There will soon be quite a bit of choice of native 35mm lenses for FE mount: Sony-Zeiss FE 35 f:2.8, Sony-Zeiss FE 35 f:1.4, Zeiss Loxia f:2.0. Plus, you can also look at the brand new Zeiss ZM 35 f:1.4

 

[iiiNelson]

There will soon be quite a bit of choice of native 35mm lenses for FE mount: Sony-Zeiss FE 35 f:2.8, Sony-Zeiss FE 35 f:1.4, Zeiss Loxia f:2.0. Plus, you can also look at the brand new Zeiss ZM 35 f:1.4

Yeah I really wish Zeiss would've based their Loxia on the new ZM. It would've been bought already.

Paratom another great option would be the Sigma Art 35 if you don't mind the size or have a LA-E4 already.

 

[Paratom]

Yeah I really wish Zeiss would've based their Loxia on the new ZM. It would've been bought already.

Paratom another great option would be the Sigma Art 35 if you don't mind the size or have a LA-E4 already.

Hi,
no way. I have the ART for the 5dIII and its a great lens, but Idont want such big lenses on the A7/A7s.

 

[iiiNelson]

Hi,
no way. I have the ART for the 5dIII and its a great lens, but Idont want such big lenses on the A7/A7s.

Fair enough. I think maybe the Loxia 35 may be your ticket then.

 

[Godfrey]

Has anybody an opinion how the Sony compares to Leica 35mm M lenses on the A7 series?
I wonder if it is worth to spend the Money for the 35/2.8 Sony lens in order to get AF. Reviews say ist sharp but how is the bokeh? Is it as good as Leica Summicron or Summilux?
What do you use for 35mm?

I don't know how the Sony 35mm performs. Well, I would hope. ;-)

I've used Color Skopar 35mm f/2.5, Summicron-R 35mm f/2, M-Rokkor 40mm f/2, and Nokton 40mm f/1.4 MC on the A7. They all work reasonably well, with the Summicron-R my favorite (clean across the board), the Color-Skopar and M-Rokkor being about on par (very slight corner issues wide open only), and the Nokton having some corner/edge artifacts that persist even stopped down but otherwise quite nice.

G

 

[4season]

I use the Sony 35/2.8 on the A7 and like it lots. It has some barrel distortion though I didn't notice it until I photographed a brick wall :roll eyes: To be honest I haven't paid much attention to it's bokeh: I have the aperture more or less permanently set to f/4 or 5.6 and love it's resolving power.

My last Leica 35/2 was the so-called "Bokeh King" (4th generation?), but that was when I had a Leica M9. Even then I was thinking I should have gotten the newer Aspherical model as I thought my older lens was a little soft overall and I wasn't really liking the performance in the corners of the frame at all.

Have you also considered the 40mm Summicron? It's tiny, relatively inexpensive and I thought it had a very pleasing look: Relatively sharp and punchy-looking in the center. Main hassle is Series 5.5 filter thread. but I found a nice adapter + Leica style hood on eBay.

 

[Amin]

I've used the FE 35/2.8 and the Leica 35/1.4 ASPH II on both A7R and A7. In terms of sharpness and color uniformity, the FE 38/2.8 substantially outperforms the Leica lens on both A7R and A7. In terms of bokeh, it comes down to taste, but I don't think any of the Leica 35s have particularly nice bokeh.

 

[philip_pj]

How the new ZM will go on the a7r is interesting, as CZ will not do a Loxia equivalent for a long while if at all - we are blessed with choice not even counting the old favorites.

The MTF are *really* good, everywhere at all apertures...best of all by f4 it is really smoking for all of frame work, with no distortion to speak of. At $2290 on release it will exert downward pressure on the Sony equivalent, which might be around $1300, just a guess. I bet it's a classic.

http://www.zeiss.com/content/dam/Ph...nloadcenter/datasheets_zm/distagont1435zm.pdf

 

[Paratom]

Fair enough. I think maybe the Loxia 35 may be your ticket then.

just to be clear, I allready have some Leica M 35mm lenses (35 FLE, 35 Summicron asph (which I use most on the M) and a Summarit 35mm which I own from before and kept it for the small size) and wondered if it was worth to add an AF lens for the A7s/A7 or just use my Leica lenses.

 

[Paratom]

I've used the FE 35/2.8 and the Leica 35/1.4 ASPH II on both A7R and A7. In terms of sharpness and color uniformity, the FE 38/2.8 substantially outperforms the Leica lens on both A7R and A7. In terms of bokeh, it comes down to taste, but I don't think any of the Leica 35s have particularly nice bokeh.

Thank you for this info. Do you have maybe some Images with the 35/2.8 wide open so I could see the bokeh?

 

[Viramati]

Here are couple of FE35 examples
https://www.flickr.com/photos/viramati/13108487064/in/photostream
https://www.flickr.com/photos/viramati/12130943964/in/photostream
Bokeh will be similar to the Summarit and will probably perform better IQ wise than any of the leica lenses especially towards the edges and wide open. It is small and light and makes for a very compact package overall. AF works well on it and a love the face detection and focus tracking function (later can be a bit of hit and miss) and the only really drawbacks are the 2.8 max aperture and thus limited OOF capability and lack of focus/DOF scale in manual mode. I would recommend it

 

[Paratom]

Here are couple of FE35 examples
https://www.flickr.com/photos/viramati/13108487064/in/photostream
https://www.flickr.com/photos/viramati/12130943964/in/photostream
Bokeh will be similar to the Summarit and will probably perform better IQ wise than any of the leica lenses especially towards the edges and wide open. It is small and light and makes for a very compact package overall. AF works well on it and a love the face detection and focus tracking function (later can be a bit of hit and miss) and the only really drawbacks are the 2.8 max aperture and thus limited OOF capability and lack of focus/DOF scale in manual mode. I would recommend it

Thanks for the links. Looks good to me.
I see you use both the M and A7?

 

[iiiNelson]

just to be clear, I allready have some Leica M 35mm lenses (35 FLE, 35 Summicron asph (which I use most on the M) and a Summarit 35mm which I own from before and kept it for the small size) and wondered if it was worth to add an AF lens for the A7s/A7 or just use my Leica lenses.

Gotcha. Well in your case I'd say that the Zeiss 35 works better than the Leica ones on the A7. With your A7s the speed won't be an issue since you canjack the ISO up pretty high without a large IQ hit so yeah I'd say it's worth an add for you.

 

[Viramati]

Thanks for the links. Looks good to me.
I see you use both the M and A7?

Yes I use both the M and A7. I sued to have 2 M9's sold one when I got her M240 and the 2nd when I got the A7. I now have the A7, A7s and M. I basically only shoot the M nowadays with the WATE and 28 summicron asph (favourite lens) and my 50 summilux which used to be a favourite hardly gets any use since i got the A7 and FE55. I have the CV35/1.2 v2 which I use occasionally on the A7 or A7s, a lovely lens though rather heavy

 

[Chuck Jones]

Tom I have two 35mm lenses that I use with my A7R and A7S, neither of them the Sony FE.

One is the Contax Zeiss 35mm f/1.4. It has a beautiful look on both cameras, and a fall off that is legendary. It is sharp wide open, with great micro contrast. It does have a bit of C/A on strong backlit subjects like fine tree limbs, as most of the older film lenses have, but that is easily corrected in post.

Contax Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 with adapter on Sony A7S

It is not the smallest lens in my bag though it is interchangeable and works fine on almost any camera made, including my A series Sony bodies, Fuji X-E1, Panasonic GH3 and a Canon 5D Mark III. I am waiting to see what the new Sony Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 is like, but it is going to take more than just autofocus to get me out of this lens. The new autofocus lens I may add, but the drawing signature alone is a strong selling point for the whole Contax Zeiss lineup. This lens is a classic for a reason, a great lens for both still and video use.

Contax Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 wide open on Canon 5D Mark III.

Contax Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 @ f/5.6 on Sony A7S

My second choice for the 35mm focal length is a version III Pre-ASPH Leica Summicron. The 'Cron is magical on both of my Sony bodies. It has excellent resolution edge to edge across the frame, remarkable micro contrast, and near perfect color. As you know, the 35mm 'Cron weighs almost nothing and it is TINY! Lens cap and all it comfortably fits in a front pants pocket, but it practically lives on my A7R. I absolutely love it with both stills and video. Every lens should come with a focusing tab like this 'Cron has. I have zero problem nailing focus using focus peaking with the A series bodies. The later ASPH versions of the 'Cron have a different look. This one has the Leica "glow" and wonderful soft background wide open, but still with plenty of "juice" stopped down. A classic high quality optic because it is such a unique drawing signature in such a small, compact and light package.

 

[biglouis]

^^^^ Just to add to what Chuck says above ^^^^

I have not yet taken his advice to get a cron 35 because I am still using a cron 40. From my research it seems the opinion is that later Leica ASPH lenses do not work as well as older pre-ASPH glass. The cron 40 is sharp edge-to-edge, lovely colours, nice bokeh etc.

I also own the FE 35/2.8 which is imho is overpriced and underwhelming. I only keep it because of the convenience of a lens you can take snaps with which is AF. But I do feel a bit short-changed by Sony and it is one reason I am suspicious about buying any more Sony Carl Zeiss lenses. I already own the FE 55/1.8 which is by comparison a complete keeper but a 50% success rate is not inspiring.

Louis

PS Dang - just went into ebay and a reputable dealer has a V3 35 cron for a decent price. Sorry, I mean 'had' a decent v3 cron 35 for a decent price. It is now on its way to me.