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Archive 2017 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Fred Miranda
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p.4 #1 · p.4 #1 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

On my tree trunk image above (at f/1.4), I didn't think it was a good example of how sharp this lens is wide open. That day I was mainly testing for rendering and was not very careful with focus.

So...today just tried it again against a bit harsher light. Here is what I expect from this lens wide open.
I don't see any glow either. It gets sharper at f/1.7 but like I wrote, it's fine wide open.

1:1 crop showing FE 35/1.4 ZA sharpness at f/1.4

Lightroom sharpening applied. (My portrait default)

Sep 27, 2017 at 11:59 AM

Gunzorro
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p.4 #2 · p.4 #2 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Sorry -- by top signs I meant "highest marks", or top grade. See their website for more technical description of terms and visual graphics.

PrecisionPhoto wrote:
tops signs

Sep 27, 2017 at 12:12 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.4 #3 · p.4 #3 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Here is a comparison between the 35/1.4 ZA vs CV 35/1.7 Ultron (Both at f/1.7)

To my eyes they look very similar as far as resolution (perhaps the FE slightly better) but the FE 35/1.4 rendering is smoother. (This was shot at 3m distance)
The CV 35/1.7 is regarded as a razor sharp lens wide open. (On the A7RII, it always overexposes by about 1/3 stop)

Sep 27, 2017 at 12:14 PM

PrecisionPhoto
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p.4 #4 · p.4 #4 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Just a little more red on the one on the right

Sep 27, 2017 at 12:34 PM

PrecisionPhoto
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p.4 #5 · p.4 #5 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Got mine today, here are 3 I took tonight.....

Sony ILCE-7RM2 FE 35mm F1.4 ZA by Daniel Danrich, on Flickr

Sep 28, 2017 at 11:05 PM

Jonathan Brady
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p.4 #6 · p.4 #6 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

I'm surprised that 2 of them have gone so cheap. With they were available that cheap, used, when I decided to buy mine new. Probably would have picked one up! Same goes for your copy, Fred!

Oct 05, 2017 at 02:02 PM

MrTMan
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p.4 #7 · p.4 #7 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

I bought Fred's copy. I'm super excited about finally having a good copy of this lens!

Oct 05, 2017 at 08:37 PM

GMPhotography
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p.4 #8 · p.4 #8 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

MrTMan wrote:
I bought Fred's copy. I'm super excited about finally having a good copy of this lens!

My current copy has ok center sharpness, but with the soft right side. Truth be told, it hasn't been too much of an issue for real-world use, e.g. when shooting an environmental portrait with the subject near the center of the frame. But knowing that I have a suboptimal copy has annoyed me to no end... especially as I like shooting 35mm, and as I otherwise love the rendering of the 35/1.4.

That was my issue having my first four copies was being so annoyed and bothered by the fact it was not at its best. Got under my skin. The 5th copy was good but I just sold it to a member. But getting a good copy is very rewarding and now you don’t have to think about all that crap. Enjoy
I know Fred’s copy was quite good. I’ve seen plenty of shots from it.

Oct 05, 2017 at 08:48 PM

tycom
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p.4 #9 · p.4 #9 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Took me 2 tries. My first copy wasn't too bad, but like you guys mentioned, it bothered me to have a copy I knew was flawed... especially for such an expensive lens.

Here is a test shot, wide open, jpeg straight out of camera, at fairly close focusing distance. The edges drop off only slightly and equally, compared to center, which I think is very good considering the distance.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4495/37265812750_ed8b8ab732_k.jpg

Edited on Oct 09, 2017 at 10:05 PM · View previous versions

Oct 05, 2017 at 10:14 PM

MrTMan
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p.4 #10 · p.4 #10 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Alright, I got Fred's copy. I can now vouch for the fact that good copies of this lens DO exist!

In addition to being symmetrical, Fred's copy (which is now my copy

) has really great center sharpness. It's noticeably better than my previous one. Seriously, on a good copy, there's nothing at all to complain about from a sharpness perspective at f/1.4.

I'd previously thought that the soft right side issue, which is the most common problem, might not necessarily impact center sharpness. But I now think I may have been wrong.

I'm glad my quest to find a good copy is finally over. Now that I've seen what a good one can do, I feel like it's all the more unfortunate that there's so many bad ones out there.

Oct 09, 2017 at 03:45 PM

GMPhotography
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p.4 #11 · p.4 #11 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Great news. Enjoy it

Oct 09, 2017 at 03:49 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.4 #12 · p.4 #12 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

MrTMan wrote:
Alright, I got Fred's copy. I can now vouch for the fact that good copies of this lens DO exist!

In addition to being symmetrical, Fred's copy (which is now my copy

Oct 09, 2017 at 03:51 PM

PrecisionPhoto
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p.4 #13 · p.4 #13 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

When I got my 35 1.4 I got a "inspected by" certificate with the lens and gave me some peace of mind when I tried the lens out....
Fortunately I got a perfect copy, strange when I got the Sony 100-400 it had no inspection certificate and turned out to be a dog, would not focus between 250-400, put a bad taste in my mouth about the lens, but love the 35

Oct 09, 2017 at 07:34 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.4 #14 · p.4 #14 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

PrecisionPhoto wrote:
When I got my 35 1.4 I got a "inspected by" certificate with the lens and gave me some peace of mind when I tried the lens out....
Fortunately I got a perfect copy, strange when I got the Sony 100-400 it had no inspection certificate and turned out to be a dog, would not focus between 250-400, put a bad taste in my mouth about the lens, but love the 35

All Zeiss lenses (Also Zony) come with that inspection certificate. Frankly, it does not mean much as all FE 35/1.4 ZA lenses have it inside...good and bad copies.

The 100-400GM didn't come with it because it's not a Zeiss lens.

Oct 09, 2017 at 07:36 PM

PrecisionPhoto
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p.4 #15 · p.4 #15 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Fred Miranda wrote:
All Zeiss lenses (Also Zony) come with that inspection certificate. Frankly, it does not mean much as all FE 35/1.4 ZA lenses have it inside...good and bad copies.

The 100-400GM didn't come with it because it's not a Zeiss lens.

OK, really just lucky with the 35 bad luck with the 100-400

Oct 09, 2017 at 07:48 PM

davewolfs
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p.4 #16 · p.4 #16 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

GMPhotography wrote:
That was my issue having my first four copies was being so annoyed and bothered by the fact it was not at its best. Got under my skin. The 5th copy was good but I just sold it to a member. But getting a good copy is very rewarding and now you don’t have to think about all that crap. Enjoy
I know Fred’s copy was quite good. I’ve seen plenty of shots from it.

Someone needs to file a class action lawsuit against Sony for their lack of quality control.

Oct 09, 2017 at 07:58 PM

GMPhotography
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p.4 #17 · p.4 #17 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

They really just need to update the dang thing.

Oct 09, 2017 at 08:07 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.4 #18 · p.4 #18 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

As you can see from the certification posted above, the lens is assembled in Thailand. Even the certificate is printed there.

That may or may not have something to do with it.

Oct 09, 2017 at 08:23 PM

PrecisionPhoto
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p.4 #19 · p.4 #19 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

Fred Miranda wrote:
As you can see from the certification posted above, the lens is assembled in Thailand. Even the certificate is printed there.

That may or may not have something to do with it.
You think they insert the cert pre signed considering assembled in Thailand?

Oct 09, 2017 at 08:48 PM

MrTMan
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p.4 #20 · p.4 #20 · FE 35mm f/1.4 arrived - looks well-centered to me. Your thoughts?

I've had like 4 or 5 copies of the 35/1.4 in my hands and all of them have the same certificate with the same guy's signature. It's clearly pre printed, and clearly it doesn't mean much. As opposed to Zeiss lenses which have an actual human signature.

Oct 09, 2017 at 09:17 PM

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