It is this kind of rendering, contrast, and color, midframe and all, that makes me unsure whether I would actually prefer the GM if both were in hand.
The 50 1.4 ZA was my most used lens on my a7r iii/a7r Iv.I had sold all my Sony gear for the Leica SL2 and now I just picked up the alpha 1. I ordered the 50 1.2 but it’s good to know the ZA is still in production if it doesn’t deliver the same magic.
saxguy wrote:
The 50 1.4 ZA was my most used lens on my a7r iii/a7r Iv.I had sold all my Sony gear for the Leica SL2 and now I just picked up the alpha 1. I ordered the 50 1.2 but it’s good to know the ZA is still in production if it doesn’t deliver the same magic.
Saxguy, I think this was the photo that convinced me to buy the ZA.
A lot of this images made me nostalgic about this lens, I’m beginning to regret letting it go before getting the 50mm 1.2 in my hands. Micro contrast and sharpness combined with the creamy bokeh are fantastic in this lens
Rogerang wrote:
A lot of this images made me nostalgic about this lens, I’m beginning to regret letting it go before getting the 50mm 1.2 in my hands. Micro contrast and sharpness combined with the creamy bokeh are fantastic in this lens
Hehe, I'm actually wondering about the same thing, but I still got the ZA in m hands.I think overall 50GM will be the better lens, but it might be pretty close in some areas.
This is further complicated by my observation from moving to A1, that ZA's AF (which is its achilles' heel in my usage) benefited the most of my lenses (it seems to be faster now, which also kinda makes it quieter because the time AF motor is actively operating is shorter).
saxguy wrote:
The 50 1.4 ZA was my most used lens on my a7r iii/a7r Iv.I had sold all my Sony gear for the Leica SL2 and now I just picked up the alpha 1. I ordered the 50 1.2 but it’s good to know the ZA is still in production if it doesn’t deliver the same magic.
Incredible portrait. So much depth and contrast. Lovely all around.
The DSLR sized f1.2 lenses may suffer an 'oops, too far' moment, but it might lie 1-2 years in the future. The look is appealing (pandering really) to the fashion shooters who like to eliminate backgrounds, but the look itself is pure fashion. And you have almost everythig riding on that look in an f1.2 lens. It's literally their raison d'etre.
We'll see. The bolder, higher volume look of the ZA is a very modern and versatile look. Sony may have been ahead of the times with this (2016) one, even if 100% views might push some to believe otherwise.
How many people see anything but your full images? Are 90% bokeh images going to make it into your top ten, top fifty? The superfast lenses might become the table sugar of our photographic generation - sweet but with consequences.
DaveFP wrote:
It will be interesting to see which of the big Sony 50s is ultimately crowned "rendering king".
I would bet that it will be this lens.
Sony now seems to be intent on fully realizing the potential of its high resolution sensors.
High correction, wowie-zowie sharpness, compromised OOF areas.
I had planned to replace my Planar 50 ZA with the 50 GM I’ve ordered but now I think I’ll hold on to the older lens which, to be honest, can’t be “replaced” by anything else.
