I have a A7CII on its way and I want a small light weight walk around lens. On Nikon and other cameras my favorite are 40mm for that. Is the Sony worth the extra money? I know there was some autofocus speed issues with the Viltrox but they released a firmware update to optimize that last February. I can buy the Viltrox 40 and a 20 f/2.8 for less than the cost of a used Sony 40mm G. While I love having an aperture ring and the extra features on the Sony lens, I've had no issues living with out that on other systems. I like my Viltrox Air 50mm and Air 35mm used on Nikon so the brand has been good for me.
The reviews I've seen on the Viltrox were before that firmware came out. For my first lens on the system autofocus speed is important for me to experience the new camera's abilities. Future lenses it won't be as much of a priority.
AGeoJO wrote:
I would look into the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 DG DN in that approximate focal length if I were you. Wait a moment, I do have that Sigma lens already 😜.
I owned that lens for L mount and loved it, but reviews say it's soft close up. I went though my Lightroom catalog and for the pics I took with it I loved it, but it turns out none were closer than maybe six feet. So I took it off my list for now.
Driften wrote:
I owned that lens for L mount and loved it, but reviews say it's soft close up. I went though my Lightroom catalog and for the pics I took with it I loved it, but it turns out none were closer than maybe six feet. So I took it off my list for now.
Okay, I didn't notice anything wrong with fairly closeup images. Stop it down to f/4 or f/5.6 for a more extended DOF and the images will look just crisp at shorter distances. Too bad you already sold yours for you to try it out.
AGeoJO wrote:
Okay, I didn't notice anything wrong with fairly closeup images. Stop it down to f/4 or f/5.6 for a more extended DOF and the images will look just crisp at shorter distances. Too bad you already sold yours for you to try it out.
"1 — The overall MTF performance is lower due to the flares caused by spherical aberrations, but all other aberrations – especially color aberrations – are wonderfully suppressed, resulting in unexpectedly great MTF performance in high frequencies. In other words, the image is covered by a very thin veil, but its optical resolution is extremely high.
2— The remaining aberrations are spherical in nature, meaning that an aperture stopped down two stops already results in an MTF profile to rival our Art series lenses.
3— With our optical design, the spherical aberrations are low towards the infinity focus and increase towards the minimum focusing distance, so we achieved sharpening the distant view area with few bokeh and making soft and beautiful bokeh at the distant view area where many bokeh occurs."
This pretty much matches my experience. And, in fact, I find that in most close-up situations I'm far enough away that I only have to stop down a bit (say down to f3.5 or 4) to get acceptable center sharpness.
The extra spherical aberration can interfere with continuous auto focus for some folks, but again I don't find it an issue in my shooting. Though maybe I would if I shot a lot of video.
AGeoJO wrote:
Okay, I didn't notice anything wrong with fairly closeup images. Stop it down to f/4 or f/5.6 for a more extended DOF and the images will look just crisp at shorter distances. Too bad you already sold yours for you to try it out.
Yea I sold it back in 2021. I used it on a Leica CL and then SL2-s.I do have images I enjoy from it.
My problem with the Sony 40 F2.5 was the horrible longitudinal CA. I didn't even have to look for it. There was obvious green casting in out of focus areas.
RoamingScott wrote:
Quick wide-open rendering sneak peek Rocky is now demanding model fees. Does it look more bokeh-licious than the Sigma and Viltrox? You be the judge.
Huge caveat is that I think I discovered yet another manufacturing issue with the Z version. My guess is the E version is fine, just like with the 75/2.
It’s basically the Z 40 with a narrower body, better lens hood, aperture ring, and less bloom wide open. I don’t think it’s overall as sharp in early testing but again, the issue I found might be contributing.
NJPhotographer wrote:
Another option, just announced: TTArtisan autofocus 40mm f/2 full frame. Lightweight 167-176g. Clickable aperture ring.
In the end I decided to buy a used Sony 40mm f/2.5 G. I'm still waiting on the A7CII, so I've just done a couple quick tests on my Z5II with megadapt ETZ21 Pro. It seems to operate as fast as my Nikon 40mm f/2 and maybe a little better sharpness. Without the hood it's the same length as the Nikon and only 3g more. I don't plan on normally using it with the Z5II, but it was good for a quick function test.
Viltrox and TTArtisan have sure upped their game...
Rocky is now demanding model fees. Does it look more bokeh-licious than the Sigma and Viltrox? You be the judge.