Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T E 24mm F1.8 ZA Lens for Sony NEX Cameras

 

Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T E 24mm F1.8 ZA Lens for Sony NEX Cameras

 

Item Description

This is the first Carl Zeiss lens to be released in the Sony E-mount lineup, employing the legendary “Sonnar” optical design for standout image dimensionality and presence. A spherical lenses located on either side of the aperture proficiently compensate for distortion, whilst an ED element suppresses chromatic aberration. The general outcome is good corner-to-corner sharpness even with the aperture wide open, for impressive overall resolution.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.6 x 2.5 x 2.5 inches ; 7.8 ounces


• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds


• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.


• ASIN: B005IHAI8O


• Item model number: SEL24F18Z
  

Client Critiques

I pre-ordered this Zeiss lens pretty early on in August 2011. Acquiring this lens more than a week ago, I wondered whether my implicit trust in Zeiss as implemented in a Sony E-mount is justified. I have made use of numerous superb Zeiss lenses with my Nikon dSLR and wanted to give an auto-focusing version of the 1 of its verified design a attempt with the Sony NEX-5N.
It is early days but I am currently inclined to give this lens a 5-star on account of its pretty very good overall performance wide-open and even a lot more, when stopped down to f/two.5 onward. The center is sharp wide-open and the corners improves visibly by f/2.eight. Color, contrast and detail is excellent, even though vignetting is minimal wide-open. This lens is incredibly properly-balanced and it is tricky to exaggerate how well this lens render.
The lens comes in a soft black bag and also comes with a hood that can be reversed into the lens for a compact carry. It takes a 49mm filter. Is the lens expensive? Do I want this lens to be priced much less? Most certainly. But as an owner of several Zeiss lens and being aware of full properly what these lenses can deliver, I can not in decent point claim that this lens is expensive. If anything, I would take into account this lens as extremely really good worth. I could in reality go farther in my praise of this lens but in this time of economic dislocation, it would be imprudent for me to say this so I will leave this praise exactly where it is now.
If I am forced to appear for a weakness in this lens, I would say that it exist in two areas. The very first is that this lens is nowhere as smaller or as light as the Sony 16mm f/two.8. It is a fairly major lens and substantially increases the size of the NEX-5N when mounted. But I am quite prepared to forego my essential assessment of this lens' size and weight vs the Sony 16mm f/2.eight as the latter would be a especially poor second and just does not compare to this Zeiss lens in terms of its optical performance. It makes it quite painful for me to appear at the pictures taken with the Sony 16mm f/two.8 when I evaluate this with the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8.
Then as a dSLR user, I would essentially appear at the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 and call it as compact and light in relation o to the Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G which I use with the Nikon D7000 + MB-D11, and occasionally on various tests, with the NEX-5N. The Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G just overwhelms the NEX-5N in terms of size and weight generating an Arca-based lens-support all but important. Transitioning to the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 on the NEX-5N from the Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G drastically drives property the bulk and weight difference. From this perspective, this lens is neither big or heavy for me but think that I should certainly highlight its difference on this point vis-a-vis the Sony 16mm f/2.eight. This lens' size by way of-a-vis the 16mm f/two.eight is very easily justified and offset by its stellar efficiency.
The second area of weakness I see in this Zeiss lens is its tendency to flare and its chromatic aberration beneath harsh light transitions. When these maybe can not be avoided given its wide-angle coverage and its fast f/1.8 aperture, it can be a bit disconcerting when the substantially humbler Sony 16mm f/two.8 can easily match it in this area at the very same aperture settings. I have the most up-to-date version of ACR and Lightroom and neither are particularly effective in removing the purple fringing. Yet I am pretty accepting of this lens' weakness on this point as even the stellar Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G does not unduly out-execute it in this regard. Yes, the Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G is superior but not by much. Given the size and weight penalty of making use of the Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G not to mention the lack of auto-concentrate when mounted on the NEX-5N, I can not be overly vital with the efficiency of this lens.
EDIT: 2012 March 8
As expected, this lens holds up incredibly nicely with the NEX-7. Implemented with the NEX-5N and NEX-7 weak AA filter, this lens renders scenes so indescribably effectively that one has to use this lens to appreciate how superior it is. Matched with the larger resolution of the NEX-7, the facts are incredibly sharp and clear even though I make it a point not to shoot this lens beyond f/8. when lens diffraction will make its impact felt. General, I very advise this lens to everyone who desires to get the preferred potential image with their NEXs utilizing a native E-mount lens.

I'll begin this by saying that there is not considerably to pick out from as far as lenses go for the Sony NEX line. The Zeiss 24mm f/1.eight fills the void of a superb walk about street shooting lens. From the minute you unpack the box you start off to see why you just spent $1,000 on a prime lens for a NEX camera. It comes with a soft leather Sony pouch. The lens hood is a high excellent metal and plastic combo. The hood can be reverse fitted but will obstruct the manual concentrate ring even though. The lens itself is built like a tank. All metal construction with an outstanding huge, smooth, manual concentrate ring.
Now on to the photo superior. Pretty sharp at 1.8 and tack sharp stepped down at two.8-four. The lens produces wonderful pictures. It has a specific look to the images equivalent to what you uncover in Leica images and the Fuji x100 and other rangefinders. The boheh is silky smooth. Simply as really good if not better than bright Canon L primes. One particular extra function of this lens is that it has surprisingly great macro capability. Rather uncommon for brief prime lenses. Can concentrate from about 6 inches away. Best for flowers and even insects if you can get in close.
The concentrate is ok. Whilst it is fairly correct, there is some hunting and misfocusing in low light but I expected this and its not much of an situation with the great manual concentrate ring. This is also more to do with the NEX cameras using contrast detection versus Phase detection.
The only other gripe I could have would be the size. This lens is pretty big and heavy for a brief prime but does not feel off balance when you are holding it. It is significantly bigger than the 16mm two.8 pancake lens, but it is far superior in photo quality to any lens I have tried on a Sony NEX 7. This is a best partner for this camera or any NEX camera.
If you can afford it I very recommend it. Considering the fact that pairing this with my new NEX7, my 7D has not left my home.
To sum up, right here are pros vs cons:
PROS
- Wonderful create superior
- Superb lens hood and carry bag
- Remarkable image high quality
- Smooth creamy bokeh
- Has a certain style to the appear of the images
- A amazing walk about and street lens
- Great macro capability
CONS
- May well be also major for some
- A small slow to concentrate but this is mostly an issue with NEX cameras.

View