Archive 2014 · Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE vs Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar or f/2.0 Planar

swldstn
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE vs Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar or f/2.0 Planar

Ok, so I just got my Sony A7R (middle of last week) and I was planning to use my Zeiss ZM glass on it with a Metabones adapter. I have the collection of 6 lenses from my Zeiss Ikon but based on past reading here and other places only expected the 2,0/35 2,0/50 1,5/50 and 4,0/85 to work. The Voightlander 15mm f/4.5 and 2,8/28 I was not planning for those to work well.

Anyway I also got aSony/Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE lens for comparison. I was wondering if anyone has ever compared the the Zeiss ZM Planar and Sonnar 50mm heads up to the native 55mm FE. Seams like an appropriate comparison since the sizes and focal lengths are pretty much the same. Even new the costs are similar. The Sonnar a little more and the Planar a little less. Of course if you count the Metabones M-Mount to E-mount adapter the Planar is almost the exactly the same and the Sonnar about $100 more.

Steve

Feb 17, 2014 at 11:55 AM

douglasf13
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE vs Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar or f/2.0 Planar

I've not compared them, as I've never owned the FE55, but I'd imagine they're polar opposites in performance. The ZM 50/1.5 has some of the traditional Sonnar look with a unique bokeh, and it never gets super sharp across the frame in to the corners. It's very much a "look" lens. The FE 55 is a more modern design that is very sharp across the frame.

Feb 17, 2014 at 12:12 PM

serhan_
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE vs Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar or f/2.0 Planar

You can check Ron's tests for Planar vs 55mm FE:
http://www.ronscheffler.com/techtalk/?p=251

And Bjorn compared both Sonnars:
http://bmupix.com/reviews/2014/1/2/the-battle-of-the-sonnars

Feb 17, 2014 at 12:19 PM

swldstn
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE vs Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar or f/2.0 Planar

serhan_ wrote:
You can check Ron's tests for Planar vs 55mm FE:
http://www.ronscheffler.com/techtalk/?p=251

And Bjorn compared both Sonnars:
http://bmupix.com/reviews/2014/1/2/the-battle-of-the-sonnars

Thanks for these links. I've already started going through Ron's extensive collection of images that compare these lenses.

Feb 17, 2014 at 12:43 PM

edwardkaraa
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE vs Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar or f/2.0 Planar

I've had both ZM 50s (sold the sonnar recently) and still own the ZM planar and FE sonnar.

As Douglas mentioned, the ZM sonnar is a "look" lens, and it has the reversed U shape field curvature that exaggerates OOF areas, giving it an OOF blur of longer lenses. The ZM planar on the A7 produces some horrible vignetting, while on a Leica M body, it produces less vignetting than the FE sonnar on a A7. The ZM planar looses a lot of sharpness in the image periphery too. So imho, use the FE lenses on the A7 and the ZM lenses on a Leica M body, as God intended them to be used

Feb 17, 2014 at 01:05 PM

rscheffler
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE vs Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar or f/2.0 Planar

Also keep in mind my test was pretty much a worst case scenario for the adapted rangefinder lenses where edge sharpness degradation should be at its worst.

I didn't touch on rendering characteristics at all.

If you don't do a lot of far distance technically demanding work and it's rather more three dimensional content, where the subject is at a considerably different plane than the foreground/background, the ZM lenses should behave somewhat more normally, though edge smearing can still have some influence.

While quite limited at only one example, back in October when I briefly had access to a preproduction a7, I did a quick 'bokeh' that includes the three lenses you're interested in: http://www.ronscheffler.com/techtalk/?page_id=248

Also don't write off the 15mm. Its problem is more color shift than edge smearing.

Feb 17, 2014 at 04:08 PM

swldstn
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE vs Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar or f/2.0 Planar

Ron,

Thanks so much for adding to this. I found your report very interesting. Appreciate all the work you've don.

I think for me having the one AF Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 will be enough. After that I plan to use M mount adapted lenses. I could use EF mount adaptor since I own a lot of Canon L glass but that really defeats the size purpose for me. Of course the Zeiss ZE 21mm f/2.8 and Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 provide compelling performance that would be nice to realize on the Sony A7R.

Feb 18, 2014 at 11:38 AM


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