I just received this lens yesterday and after I read some negative comments and opinions about it, I was truly ready for big disappointment, even for the money I paid for it. I quickly mounted the lens on my camera and started shooting with it. Here are my thoughts so far.
My copy is very sharp, even wide open. AF while not blazing fast, it is ok and it only gets better with better lightning. I probably wouldn't recommend this lens for videographers because it is a little noisy when focusing but It is far from loud like some posters noting. Much quieter than canon 50 1.8 II or Pentax 35 1.8 for example.
All in all I'm very pleased with this lens especially for the money I paid for it.
No problem Gerry.
I used to own EOS M, and that was a slow focusing camera regardless of lens I used with it. My A7 and the 50mm focuses much faster. I will do some more testing today, but I'm pretty confident that this baby is a keeper and it already made me forget about the zeiss 55.
Here are a few very first test shots with this lens, all wide open. DSC00678 by Mario-150, on Flickr DSC00679 by Mario-150, on Flickr DSC00687 by Mario-150, on Flickr
justruss wrote:
If Sony can't get a quick firmware update out so that it works as well on the A7II as it appears to work on the A7rII (I haven't had a chance to try one out on my camera yet, so that's hearsay)-- I think we'll see this lens quickly hit about $150 on the used market.
Photos from my post above are on an A7II; I had no problems. Using firmware 3.10.
Funny, because I feel like 9/10 A7II shooters on the latest firmware are complaining about slow/hunting AF in stills mode, and crazy behavior in video modes (not to mention the noise).
A buddy of mine just bought an A7II and the 50 (won't get that until June 2), but once it arrives I'll try it on his camera side by side with my A7rII and report back.
as far as the IQ, build, and focus sound are concerned, I was perfectly happy with the lens. It felt great on the camera, could not complain for $250.
A year from now, when there a million used copies out there, and it's $150, and hopefully the AF is faster on mk1 bodies through firmware updates (lens+camera), I'll probably buy another.
Matt Grum wrote:
Yeah but that premium is only a steak and a bottle of wine, right?
Depends on the premium on the wine - I've got $40k of wine in my basement, but unless I told you how many bottles I have, hard to compare. I'm in Taormina, Sicily tonight and had a eur 35 bottle from grapes grown on the side of nearby Mt Etna that tasted better than $100 btl wines in a Chicago steak house.
ecarlino wrote:
Depends on the premium on the wine - I've got $40k of wine in my basement, but unless I told you how many bottles I have, hard to compare. I'm in Taormina, Sicily tonight and had a eur 35 bottle from grapes grown on the side of nearby Mt Etna that tasted better than $100 btl wines in a Chicago steak house.
to be fair, $100 bottles of wine at chicago steak houses only cost $25 max at sam's.
sebboh wrote:
to be fair, $100 bottles of wine at chicago steak houses only cost $25 max at sam's.
To be fair: Once you get above a pretty low price threshold, the price of wine is driven far, far more by rarity and other luxury attributes than taste, as has been attested to by some of the world's top wine tasters and sommeliers...
And in certain parts of Italy, France, South Africa, or America (CA) a $20/€20 bottle could easily outclass something 5-10x the price.
(Unless we're talking about white wines, in which case: Sir or Madam, I kindly ask you to vacate the premises, as your kind are not welcome here.)
justruss wrote:
That's a more blunt way to restate what I said above. Although I'd say it's more "emperor's old clothes" rather than new, as it were.
Funny side-note edit: I've always seen your screen name here and thought Korean. Haha.
English, with a bit of French and Irish 😮
a citizen of Europe these days ☺☺
I like to buy my wine in French supermarkets when we visit, stowing away a fair bit in the boot (trunk) of our campervan.
Gerry
A real wine connoisseur would be able to hype up a $5 bottle of wine to taste like a $100 bottle... Haven't you ever seen "Pro wine connoisseur - cheap wine challenge" I think one of those digitalrev things makes it. . .
I think a real connoisseur, of wine or lenses, is able to discern the real quality product regardless of price or pretentious labels or selling techniques.
This lens sounds like a reasonable one optically, but overpriced compared to other similar products, and thats not unusual with Sony's lenses unfortunately. Especially with doubts over design and manufacture qc, although from Roger Cicala's tests this one seems to ok, lets hope its the first of many.
