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Vivek
Guest
Not all Leica lenses are useful on the Sony A7 cams (unless the cameras are modified). The 35/2.5 seems to fit the bill. It also has no shiny RF coupling brass bits (i.e. digital ready).
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Sony Zeiss FE 35mm F1.4 ZA
- Thread starter BJNY
- Start date
pegelli
Well-known member
Tim's review is quite silent on that but I agree, famous saying is fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on ..... and some were fooled multiple times. I have 3 great and one OK 35 mm lenses (Leica, Voigtlander, Minolta and Helios) so no need for a fifth, so I never took the plunge to get this one. If I ever get a fifth 35 mm it will probably be a Zuiko and not a Sony/Zeiss.
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Can you explain what you did to the Summarit 35/2.5 to make it A7 ready? TIA
V
Vivek
Guest
Absolutely nothing, Lou. Just use it as supplied (with an appropriate adapter of course).
iiiNelson
Well-known member
It's very lens and model dependent in my experience. The Leica branded lenses have been hit or miss for me. I've sold them all except my 90 Cron Pre-AA and 24 Elmar that'll be gone eventually I'm sure. Great lenses but no more native M bodies for me at what they're charging these days.
ryc
Member
Here is some food for thought !
http://jorgetorralba.com/2015/05/29/reality-check-a-tale-of-two-35s/
http://jorgetorralba.com/2015/05/29/reality-check-a-tale-of-two-35s/
Yes, but what it sounds like to me is he needs a slightly larger case to accommodate the 35 f1.4 lens comfortably. In a comfortable sling on his back it would have worked perfectly on his hike. I just spent a few days hiking around Red Rock Nevada and that is a very steep area if you want it to be. I had a small sling bag and a wrist strap and that made all the difference in the world when 6 or 8 hours of hiking is involved.
If you don't need speed and want a truly brilliant manual focus lens for the FE mount, there is an excellent alternative to the Loxia: buy an adaptor and a Canon FD 35mm f2.8. $60 and it outperforms the Zeiss 35mm Sonnar. For those looking at the new 35mm f1.4 lens, but wanting something smaller and lighter for landscapes, it might be the ticket. You could even add the 50mm f1.4 FDn to it and leave the 55mm f1.8 Sonnar at home (or in the shop). Just a thought.
Well that's it, isn't it? If someone already owns a good sample, its a quite different situation to someone about to buy.
Would I buy the 35mm Sonnar again? No. That was torture; however, I am very happy with the lens I now have.
Does anyone else have the impression that QC may have improved? I'll be very interested to hear how things are going with 35mm f1.4 Distagon sample variation, as it is another Zony lens. I had to send back my first 55mm Sonnar and first two 35mm Sonnars. I've never had to send back a real (Cosina) Zeiss lens, or a Leica, for decentering.
Would I buy the 35mm Sonnar again? No. That was torture; however, I am very happy with the lens I now have.
Does anyone else have the impression that QC may have improved? I'll be very interested to hear how things are going with 35mm f1.4 Distagon sample variation, as it is another Zony lens. I had to send back my first 55mm Sonnar and first two 35mm Sonnars. I've never had to send back a real (Cosina) Zeiss lens, or a Leica, for decentering.
Speedgraphic
Member
Welll ultimately I decided to return the 35/1.4 ZA. It's true that it's a beauty optically, but I'll never ever use it for personal work due to the size. And during professional work it's better but the AF of the A7 can't even really keep up with a couple walking slowly during and engagement shoot, even manual lenses seem better in this regard. When you have a D750, trying to AF with the A7 is a chore I'd rather not deal with in front of clients. Glad I got to try it though! I'm sure in a few generations when AF catches up to DSLRs, this will be the lens to get.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Get the A7II it's far faster AF. I tried this lens at the Sony store in NY and made me buy it. The AF was pretty darn fast. Hope to get mine by Saturday
Speedgraphic
Member
I want to wait until they really nail it to upgrade. It would be a lot of money to have both.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Im joining the party the mailman is delivering it today. Im pretty excited. I shot the Loxia 35mm F2 in NY and really nice lens but the booked looks a touch nervous at least to me. This should solve it
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
This one bugged me a little Loxia 35 F2 wide open. I think its a bit nervous looking given I was pretty darn close
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
I think I will like the 1.4 better . Outside of this I do love that Loxia 35mm. But I knew all along I would want the 1.4. Should have listened to the little devil on my shoulder. LOL
MikeEvangelist
Member
Wow, that really is rather nervous. I wouldn't have expected that. (I'm sure the 1.4 will be better!)
ggibson
Well-known member
I saw this comparison and thought it might be interesting to folks looking at the native Sony lenses:
http://backgroundblur.com/#!/articles/5528f2a4bc1317ac11f1f945
Some good examples of the bokeh and perspective that these lenses give you. Man, that 35/1.4 is drool-worthy.
http://backgroundblur.com/#!/articles/5528f2a4bc1317ac11f1f945
Some good examples of the bokeh and perspective that these lenses give you. Man, that 35/1.4 is drool-worthy.
Annna T
Active member
This is exactly the kind of bokey I'm getting with my legacy Zeiss Contax G lenses. At the time Leica had a reputation for better (softer) bokey. While Zeiss was going for contrast, microcontrast and high sharpness, which seems to imply a more nervous bokey.
I was surprised when reading in GetDpi forums that Zeiss lenses had great bokey. I think that those photographers writing that had more experience with medium format lenses and the 645 Contax bodies than with the 24x36mm format. Or they were thinking to lenses like the recent Otus.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Well from memory the Zeiss 35 F2 FE or ZF seemed to have nicer bokeh. I actually bought that lens at least 3 times. MF is different it has such shallow DOF anyway its kind of hard to compare it to 35mm. Now the Zeiss ZE/ZF glass some of them are just beautiful but they are longer focal lengths like the 85 1.4 and 135 F2 but we really can't compare them to the 35mm focal length. I was a bit surprised by this image as I was pretty darn close which leads to bigger OOF areas and the background itself is really not that busy overall. Actually pretty typical.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
So the trees are nervous looking but the real key here is the flat surfaces of the bridge going back should really be smoother IMHO. I don't like that falloff from the first column to the second. That too me its not good. Do you agree, thats a key area that should be smooth as silk because its a flat smooth surface