My New Favorite Lens | Sony 55mm f/1.8 ZA Review
Вставка
- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
- In this video I will be reviewing my Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens geni.us/oxuyvA Gear used linked below, I would love to hear your thoughts on this lens, and thanks for watching! Real World Sample Photos on my website here: www.sonyalphalab.com/my-new-f...
Jay
GOING SHOPPING? - (Affiliate Links)
-Shopping @ Amazon: geni.us/6BuMCLe
-Shopping @ BHPhoto? bhpho.to/3Pn1oKT
-Shopping @ Ebay? ebay.us/BunQHE
GEAR SPECIFIC TO THIS VIDEO:
-Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens: geni.us/oxuyvA
-Sony A74: geni.us/ZlYsk
-Sony A7C2: geni.us/XIVz0m
-Ronin RS3 Mini Gimbal: geni.us/aqJ3rx
-Sennheiser MKE 400 Mic: geni.us/48tBO
-Chris Orwig Books: geni.us/uxB2
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
1:08 - Sample Video
1:56 - Hands-On & Key Features
4:31 - Lab Testing Sample Photos
8:13 - Real World Sample Photos
14:30 - Texas Wedding Trip Photos
18:45 - Selling Dirtbike Facebook Ad
19:25 - More Real World Sample Photos
25:07 - Wrapping Things Up...
MY GO TO CAMERA GEAR:
-Sony A7C2: geni.us/XIVz0m
Sony A6700: geni.us/ndXUF2
-Sony A74: geni.us/ZlYsk
-Sony A7C: geni.us/N6UyGd
-A7C Smallrig Cage: geni.us/p3CzUFW
-Sony ZV-E10: geni.us/ObFCBGY
-Sony A6400: geni.us/L75omA
-A6400 Smallrig Cage: geni.us/enVbs
-GoPro Hero 9: geni.us/64dXn
MY GO TO LENSES:
-Sony 16-35mm f/4 OSS ZA Lens: geni.us/8OcBES
-Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Lens: geni.us/T47S5
-Sony FE 35mm f/1.8 Lens: geni.us/xFVSF
-Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 Lens: geni.us/rtuL62
-Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS Lens: geni.us/VhO5F
-Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN Lens: geni.us/HugPuk
-Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Lens: geni.us/7HBE
-Viltrox AF 13mm f/1.4 Lens: geni.us/VFg9X
-Viltrox AF 27mm F/1.2 Pro Lens: geni.us/wdDd
-Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.2 Pro Lens: geni.us/dUFBT
MY AUDIO GEAR:
-Sennheiser MKE 600 Shotgun Studio Mic: geni.us/MFFe
-Affordable Compact On Camera Mic: geni.us/BLry
-Better On Camera Mic: geni.us/48tBO
-Zoom H5 Recorder: geni.us/4FtDl
-Zoom F1 Field Recorder: geni.us/t8dEBe
-Meze 99 Classics Headphones: geni.us/q7XX
OTHER GO TO GEAR:
-Sandisk SDXC Memory Card UHS II: geni.us/BfubLow
-NISI 67mm Variable ND Filter: geni.us/wwk7Dfq
-Lowepro ProTactic 450 AW II Backpack: geni.us/b3bp
-Color Checker Calibration Tool: geni.us/OHktStI
-18% Gray Chart: geni.us/KjDaYj0
-Feelworld T7 7” 4K HDMI Field Monitor: geni.us/rTYXkfx
-Main Key Light: geni.us/QKb8LR
-Rear Bi-Color Light: geni.us/NNfzffm
-36” Collapsible Softbox: geni.us/RGp1
-GVM 850D RGB LED Video Lights: geni.us/8lLh2
-DJI Ronin RSC 2 Gimbal: geni.us/742rxa
-Ronin RS3 Gimbal: geni.us/aqJ3rx
-Zeapon E700 (Slider & Motor): amzn.to/3HbaCGY
-Zeapon Pons Pan Tilt Head: geni.us/WBL6CvY
-Manfrotto Befree GT XPRO Carbon: geni.us/6fPcXw
-My Older Manfrotto 190XPRO Carbon: geni.us/phH5F
-Leofoto Mini Table Tripod: geni.us/PvDs
-C-Stand: geni.us/jZe7DjM
-Manfrotto Magic Arm: geni.us/D0nmxER
-Metabones EF to E Lens Adapter: geni.us/w16GOu
-MacBook Pro 14”: geni.us/GYcI
-Samsung 22” Monitor: geni.us/1m4er
-SANDISK T7 2TB SSD Portable Drive: geni.us/wQ3py
-USB-C to USB-C Cable: geni.us/qlpLX
-Apple USB-C to USB Adapter: geni.us/S6xP
-Manfrotto BeeFree Tripod: geni.us/6fPcXw
MAIN WEBSITE:
www.sonyalphalab.com/
MY SONY E-MOUNT LENS GUIDES::
www.sonyalphalab.com/guides/e...
FOLLOW ME:
Twitter: / sonyalphalab
Facebook: / sonyalphalab-194172500...
Instagram: / sonyalphalab
Tip Jar: www.paypal.me/SonyAlphaLab
Patreon Fan Support Page: / sonyalphalab
For those interested I did a quick comparison article between the Sony 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens and Sigma 56mm f/1.4 Lens for those using crop factor cameras wondering what the differences may or may not be... www.sonyalphalab.com/sony-fe-55mm-f-1-8-za-lens-vs-sigma-56mm-f-1-4-dc-dn-lens-using-sony-a6700/
Many samples! Thank you so much! I've been eyeing this lens for quite some time already!
I once owned both the Zeiss 55 and the 50 2.5 G. I sold the 50 in favour of the Zeiss. It's a sensational lens, which shines in the field. It is more than the sum of its parts. The bokeh is special and you can get the swirls if there are trees in the background. The lens has character and is less clinical than the newer G and GM lenses.I Love the look from the front. At F4, it has great 3d pop. It cannot be quantified. There is something different about how it renders the images. The images from my 85 are probably sharper, but they look flat compared to the images from the Zeiss. What a gem of a lens indeed.
I 100% agree with everything you said and thank you for taking the time to comment :)
Thanks Jason, excellent review and is the best Ive seen on this lens. I was thinking of upgrading from the 55 to the 50 1.4 GM, but your review and excellent range of samples reminded me of how much character this lens has, so I think I'll save my money.
Excellent work, really appreciated.
This is a brilliant video. I'm glad you got into the nitty gritty about sharpness, color fringing, and lens distortion. It's clear to me that the Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8 is a masterpiece. No camera is perfect. No lens is perfect. This lens, however, is a perfect tool for any type of photographer. The only limitation is you.
Thank you for the kind words and I could not agree more about this lens :)
I have the 85 1.5. But, sometimes it’s a little long I really want the 55. Nice review by the way. The sample photos were killer.
Thank you! Indeed an incredible lens!
You bet!
I own it and love it!
Awesome! 👊
Some family friends of mine used to own the General store down there in Salado, cool to see some shots from there.
Yeah it's a really cool town, my brother Dave lives in Salado and I've been visiting there for a very long time. Thanks for the comments!
I bought this lens with my a7iii in 2023 and now it is living on my fx3. This is hands down the best portrait lens for wedding videography, IMO.
Thanks for sharing and I love it as well :)
Im a barber and take haircut photos. This is by far the best lens i've used. It beats all the 85 1.4s i used and even 135 gm. a few 35s too. 55 1.8 undisputed king by a long way too.
Thanks for sharing Ron and it certainly has a "look" to it and combined with the 55mm it's my favorite lens right now for sure!
Very good video and very good photos 💯
Thank you 🙌
trying to get into taking good pictures and maybe some wildlife photography , any recommendations for a a good intro setup , trying to keep my budget under 3 K
Me too love very much this lens that i own since 2015. I wonder how the software part of this lens will perform with the time (I had a very bad experience with a second hand -BH Photovideo- Touit 12 mm that I had to send in to Zeiss). I am stressing this point in order to evaluate the risk of buying a second hand Sony Zeiss 35 mm f 2,8. Thank you again for your attention.
Not related, but beautiful area, in the sample video you provided I could hear the eastern phoebes singing clearly. Definitely going to try this lens with a rode mic.
I bought my Sony Zeiss Sonnar 55mm 1.8 T* ZA new 5 years ago, I am very happy with it and I can recommend it, recently at my local store, I saw several used ones for US $360 (incl tax), there was even one for US $179 (incl tax). I like the build quality, the compact size and the light weight, the images from this Lens are Super.
Thanks for sharing, and those prices are crazy cheap!! Mine has some minor wear on it, but I still thought it was worth the $450 I paid... If you can find it for cheaper I would be tempted to buy another one... haha
@@Jason_Hermann I would have bought the one for $179, but I was not fast enough
Soul crushing....
Lovely Video
Thanks
How does this compare to the Samyang 45mm F1.8? I heard it has improved CA performance for example?
I never used the Samyang 45mm f/1.8 lens so I cannot say.... I can't see it having as good of a "look" as this Ziess badged lens though considering all the lenses I have tried over the years. The fringing is prolly way better though as it is pretty terrible on this lens by todays newest lens standards anyway.
Regarding the corner sharpness thing, 99.99 of us we blur it,...yeah, we put the subject , what ever it is in the middle and then we most of the times never go over 2.8 on this kind of lenses, I never met a landscape photographer doing his thing with a 50 mm, they do it with zoom lenses. The engineering of perfect corner sharpness just give us bigger/heavier lenses...just it.
I totally agree, but when most people watch my lens reviews they want to see the corner sharpness test for at the very least just a reference. And some applications do require great corner sharpness like art digitizing photography I do from time to time for clients. This lens is a great for that because very little distortion and I can get just the right distance away, but to your point I stop it down to f/8 when doing that type of work... In general though I never care about corner sharpness 99% of the time in the real world.
Can you please compare this to Sigma 56mm f1.4 on an APSC sony body?
Yeah, I can do that when I get some time, but the Zeiss is going to be better for sure as far as distortion & contrast for sure. Sharpness is really good on the Sigma, so that will prolly be fairly close and I am curious about the fringing difference in particular. I will prolly just post a quick article on my website showing that comparison when I get time... www.sonyalphalab.com/
That would be nice; I appreciate it. I already own the Sigma and, like you said, straight from the camera the quality is exceptional. I was wondering if I am missing something by not having this Zeiss lens. @@Jason_Hermann
I think you are missing a little contrast and color, but that is about it... I'll test it out when I get home from work though...
Zeiss also has nicer bokhe rendering. Overall, it's more “character” lens for me.
Here ya go... www.sonyalphalab.com/sony-fe-55mm-f-1-8-za-lens-vs-sigma-56mm-f-1-4-dc-dn-lens-using-sony-a6700/
I don't know what's up with this lens, but it is brilliant. There must be ferry dust in it or so ...
Agreed!
had it couple of years back. While it is a sharp and compact , gotta say its MFD is a little hard to live with.
Really? I don't find it that much of an issue, but thanks for sharing your thoughts and of course I would not complain if the MFD was less....👍 1.6' is still close enough for 55mm and it yields a .14x magnification which when combined with decent resolution is totally usable for most work. When in doubt I would grab my FE 35mm f/1.8 Lens or a Macro lens if I need a closer view. All the best, Jay
TEE ASTERISK
You should try out the voigt 65 2 apo if you can deal with mf. It's so sharp but has a character that none of these newer lenses have similar to the 55. It also has zero CA and is 1:2 macro.
The Voigt's are on my wish list for sure!! Even used they are still usually very expensive though... ^5mm would be awesome combined with the 1:2 macro as well! 👊
@@Jason_Hermann hey! i remember you talking about this lens (the 55) a while back now! i didn't know if you'd changed your mind or what.
re the apo 65, man... iirc it's relatively cheap on ebay, no? i got mine for $325 on photomarket... that's bc it was kinda beat up (but functionally perfect), but i see a mint on ebay for 488 rn.
doesn't have AF but it's the most incredible lens i've ever used, viz img quality... i couldn't even believe it when i looked at my first test footage, it was just some tight shots of my cat's face but i felt like i finally understood what ppl meant when they said "painterly rendering," bc everything oof looked... like a painting! sometimes it's not as easy to tell when looking at reviews, bc when all you tend to see is the footage, you don't really have an idea of what it looks like out of camera...
i actually bought the apo 35 after that, i liked the experience of the 65 so much (they're so well-dampened it;s just such a pleasurable experience). not as stunning but an exceptional lens too nonetheless.
imo great bang for your buck on the used mkt (as is this 55), not least bc the macro
yeah, I appreciate you sharing your experience, and they look incredible going for about $500 on Ebay at the moment... Not to bad, I thought they were more actually... I will certainly keep an eye out because I love using these lenses for the product photography stuff in particular and manual focus is fine for that 👍
I have the Voigtländer APO-Lanthar Lenses 35mm 2.0, 65mm 2.0 and 110mm 2.5, I can very highly recommend all 3 Lenses
You guys all convinced me to look for the Voigt 65mm and I just purchased a mint looking copy off Ebay!! geni.us/jy6E6 Really looking forward to trying it out and it should be here around the 22nd it's saying... Thanks again for the recommendations and I might just have to look at the other focal lengths as well if this lens is as good as I am hoping💪👊 By the way if anybody lives in NY area I would be happy to let you barrow a lens or we can trade for a week or whatever, that would be awesome as well...
I have owned this lens since the A7R2 came out. Still one of the sharpest lenses I own. This together with the 35 and 85 1.8 produce 95% of what their GM cousins do. If you need that extra 5%, you know who you are but most people don't.
I could not agree more and have the same lenses as you which I also used the most often....
I sold mine and regret it.
Ah man, Peter don't worry you can pick one up used for a reasonable price if you are still longing for it...