p.4 #1 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
Fred Miranda wrote:
The FE 85mm f/1.2 GM is more of wish than a rumor. :-)
Just like they did with the new 50/1.2, Sony could possibly make a 85/1.2 with the same size/weight of the current 85/1.4 or perhaps they could take the same path from the FE 35/1.4 GM and make a smaller 85mm f/1.4 lens. I would prefer the latter with fast AF and same rendering as the predecessor, but I can see how many would prefer a f/1.2 version.
Yes, I’ve snagged a 1.2/50 and I love it so far, but I would actually have preferred a smaller 1.4/50 of similar quality. But I dont see that happening from Sony, and judging by the Sigma 1.4/35 if they do a 1.4/50 it might be good and affordable but not small. I have no idea which way Sony will go if they update the 85gm: we have two different precedents now!
p.4 #2 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
DavidBM wrote:
Yes, I’ve snagged a 1.2/50 and I love it so far, but I would actually have preferred a smaller 1.4/50 of similar quality. But I dont see that happening from Sony, and judging by the Sigma 1.4/35 if they do a 1.4/50 it might be good and affordable but not small. I have no idea which way Sony will go if they update the 85gm: we have two different precedents now!
p.4 #5 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
I was informed 3rd week of May that my copy will be shipped. That beats waiting until September. I'm guessing Japan got the short end of the stick.
Does anyone think Zeiss will make a comeback with Sony? I'm guessing Sony doesn't really need them anymore. Since they feel confident with their GM line. I'm not sure why Zeiss hasn't designed their own AF motors yet. I have a feeling they may partner with Sigma one day. Don't be surprised if we have a DG DN Art T* one day.
p.4 #6 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
princeharbinger wrote:
I was informed 3rd week of May that my copy will be shipped. That beats waiting until September. I'm guessing Japan got the short end of the stick.
Does anyone think Zeiss will make a comeback with Sony? I'm guessing Sony doesn't really need them anymore. Since they feel confident with their GM line. I'm not sure why Zeiss hasn't designed their own AF motors yet. I have a feeling they may partner with Sigma one day. Don't be surprised if we have a DG DN Art T* one day.
Oh please, stop torturing me! IMHO, the Zeiss T coatings still produce the best colour in the business. Sigma keeps churning out superb lenses that I can only really fault on their colour - not that its bad, but it ain't Zeiss.
It'd be fascinating to see what would happen with an existing Sigma lens if they swapped to T* coatings: I've always wondering to what degree a lens' colour was determined by the glass vs the coatings - I suspect its synergistic.
Colour seems to be the last bastion in lens design - a true artisans craft, that only the long-established companies (Zeiss, Cosina etc), have mastered. Sony and Sigma are improving, but they are not there yet.
And yes, the premature death of Dr Nasse was a big blow: one should never underestimate the influence that a single person can have...
p.4 #7 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
Zeiss - the old ones are still magical. I buy lenses on colour discrimination and 'enough' sharpness, plus the usual stuff I personally need - light, small, haptics, versatile, etc. And metal lens bodies, very addictive. These criteria have saved me a small fortune!
Sony does not need anyone these days, and a comparison of this 50/1.2 against the competition will surely demonstrate it - very soon now. They have successfully crafted the GM look, and can be expected to run with it in smaller sized lenses a la 35/1.4. People forget they re-employed a lot of Minolta engineers back then, as well. A learning company.
p.4 #8 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
Well I have the new FE 50mm f/1.2 GM in hand and the very first impression is the AF speed is impressive. I need to sill download the images on to my computer to evaluate the sharpness after it focuses but its very quick. Having used the 50/1.4 ZA the last few weeks before it sold that difference is obvious. Image quality, colors, etc. still needs work to evaluate. Hopefully I will not regret switching without doing a true head to head comparison but just could not afford to own the both at the same time. Especially with the 35 just arriving a few weeks back and the 14mm f/1.8 on the way.
p.4 #9 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
philip_pj wrote:
Zeiss - the old ones are still magical. I buy lenses on colour discrimination and 'enough' sharpness, plus the usual stuff I personally need - light, small, haptics, versatile, etc. And metal lens bodies, very addictive. These criteria have saved me a small fortune!
Sony does not need anyone these days, and a comparison of this 50/1.2 against the competition will surely demonstrate it - very soon now. They have successfully crafted the GM look, and can be expected to run with it in smaller sized lenses a la 35/1.4. People forget they re-employed a lot of Minolta engineers back then, as well. A learning company....Show more →
It took the release of the FE 50/1.2 GM for many shooters to appreciate how good the FE 50/1.4 ZA is. Aside from AF speed and mid-zone performance, they seem to be very close but I think I still prefer the f/1.2's rendering wide open and stopped down at bit.
p.4 #10 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
The Zony 50/1.4 ZA is still a great lens, perhaps even a great value (used) by now, but if you want f/1.2...
Personally, I compare the 50/1.2GM more against the Canon RF 50/1.2 - I'm the idiot that could buy a new camera system just to be able to used a stellar 50mm prime. In the case of the 50GM - it is 200 grams lighter, more compact and $300 cheaper than the Canon RF 50/1.2 - all with similar or better performance by most variables. And silent internal focusing to boot.
I'm sold. Hopefully my AD gets one tomorrow for me.
p.4 #11 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
I was going to pass on the 1.2... I really was... then I got the 35 GM, which really impressed me; I thought about the shots I've missed over the years due to the ZA being a bit slower to focus; I heard the siren call of f/1.2; and I happened to find a retailer that had one in stock... Should have it next week.
p.4 #12 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
MrTMan wrote:
I was going to pass on the 1.2... I really was... then I got the 35 GM, which really impressed me; I thought about the shots I've missed over the years due to the ZA being a bit slower to focus; I heard the siren call of f/1.2; and I happened to find a retailer that had one in stock... Should have it next week.
Honestly for me, if the 50/1.4 ZA had equal AF speed and accuracy as the 50/1.2 GM, I would look no further just as a value proposition.
p.4 #13 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
Fred Miranda wrote:
Honestly for me, if the 50/1.4 ZA had equal AF speed and accuracy as the 50/1.2 GM, I would look no further just as a value proposition.
Congrats on your new lens!
As someone said, even if it was a 50/1.4 GM with smaller size, lighter and faster, accurate and silent internal focus, that would be enough of a value prop to buy this new lens.
f/1.2 is more to compete with Canon, and show the art-of-possible
p.4 #14 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
So I took the 50 GM out for a spin doing low-light aerialist photography. I've primarily used the 50 ZA for this for the past 3 years so I have a pretty good handle on how it performs (probably 100,000 shots on it?).
The GM blows it out of the water. The AF improvements alone are pretty amazing. The ZA wasn't bad but AF on a subject that is moving extremely quickly was tricky at best. The GM nailed focus almost every time. And then it was just tack sharp wide open. Like I honestly didn't think it was possible to be that sharp at f/1.2.
That's ISO 640, f/1.2, 1/250s. About a 50% crop from my A7RIII. With the ZA I don't think I'd ever see that fine of detail on the fishnets, for example. Not at that distance wide open.
p.4 #15 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
Ubiquity99 wrote:
So I took the 50 GM out for a spin doing low-light aerialist photography. I've primarily used the 50 ZA for this for the past 3 years so I have a pretty good handle on how it performs (probably 100,000 shots on it?).
The GM blows it out of the water. The AF improvements alone are pretty amazing. The ZA wasn't bad but AF on a subject that is moving extremely quickly was tricky at best. The GM nailed focus almost every time. And then it was just tack sharp wide open. Like I honestly didn't think it was possible to be that sharp at f/1.2.
That's ISO 640, f/1.2, 1/250s. About a 50% crop from my A7RIII. With the ZA I don't think I'd ever see that fine of detail on the fishnets, for example. Not at that distance wide open....Show more →
Great low light example. How's the eye AF in these settings?
p.4 #16 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
Ubiquity99 wrote:
So I took the 50 GM out for a spin doing low-light aerialist photography. I've primarily used the 50 ZA for this for the past 3 years so I have a pretty good handle on how it performs (probably 100,000 shots on it?).
The GM blows it out of the water. The AF improvements alone are pretty amazing. The ZA wasn't bad but AF on a subject that is moving extremely quickly was tricky at best. The GM nailed focus almost every time. And then it was just tack sharp wide open. Like I honestly didn't think it was possible to be that sharp at f/1.2.
That's ISO 640, f/1.2, 1/250s. About a 50% crop from my A7RIII. With the ZA I don't think I'd ever see that fine of detail on the fishnets, for example. Not at that distance wide open....Show more →
Great to hear as I plan to use my incoming 50 GM for more than static subjects as well.
p.4 #17 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
princeharbinger wrote:
Great low light example. How's the eye AF in these settings?
It's pretty good. Because of the shallow DoF if someone is spinning I try to time it do that they're parallel to the plane to focus when I take the shot so I don't even need Eye AF really, just wide zone AF hits the center fine. But when I do get an off-axis shot it picks up the eyes most of the time. I'm sure the A1/R4 are even better.
p.4 #18 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
Ubiquity99 wrote:
It's pretty good. Because of the shallow DoF if someone is spinning I try to time it do that they're parallel to the plane to focus when I take the shot so I don't even need Eye AF really, just wide zone AF hits the center fine. But when I do get an off-axis shot it picks up the eyes most of the time. I'm sure the A1/R4 are even better.
Thanks, I have the same setup as you. Where did you go to take that photo? I'll likely wait until the R7 before I upgrade again. I'm happy with the R3 coming from the A6300.
p.4 #19 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
princeharbinger wrote:
Thanks, I have the same setup as you. Where did you go to take that photo? I'll likely wait until the R7 before I upgrade again. I'm happy with the R3 coming from the A6300.
The Slipper Room in the LES. I'm there pretty much every week (pre-Covid anyway).
p.4 #20 · Zony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T* ZA VS Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
While I love the 50mm focal length and have several in that range, the ZA is great, and I see no need to upgrade to the GM. The new lens seems incremental in all but the price tag. It does not seem to be the breakout lens that the 135 and 24 GMs were in resetting the bar.
Besides, I really like the rendering and colors of the ZA...un pushed by post-processing...
Jim
