I was shooting the 35GM wide open today and noticed it looked a bit soft. Stopping down improved significantly, but this lens has always been a razor wide open. Doing a search raised a question about if the lens had been dropped. I did drop the camera with I think the 35GM from about a foot onto concrete this winter. It all looked fine at the time, not even a scuff. I will have to review my shots to see if this is the first time I have used it wide open since. That day I was shooting landscapes at f/5.6 or higher.
Assuming this is from a bump. Where would I send it for repair?
A faster shutter speed may be needed. 1/30 sec at f1.4 might cause a little blur considering the other one you shot at f8 at 1/80 sec. is a safer shutter speed. I would start there.
The background in the top half of the f1.4 picture seems more out-of-focus than it should be, like an element is tipped. Can you see anything going on with the elements when you look into the lens?
To test the sharpness of your lens, if at all possible I would want to be shooting at least 1/200s shutter at ISO 100 with IBIS turned off. I am not saying you cannot test in less light than that (especially if using a tripod), but if the point is to test the sharpness of the lens, I would want to try to make sure I had removed as many other potential causes of a non-sharp image as possible. I would not be quick to conclude anything from a shot taken at 1/30s shutter (although if it was taken on a very stable tripod then I guess I might).
JD07 wrote:
To test the sharpness of your lens, if at all possible I would want to be shooting at least 1/200s shutter at ISO 100 with IBIS turned off. I am not saying you cannot test in less light than that (especially if using a tripod), but if the point is to test the sharpness of the lens, I would want to try to make sure I had removed as many other potential causes of a non-sharp image as possible. I would not be quick to conclude anything from a shot taken at 1/30s shutter (although if it was taken on a very stable tripod then I guess I might)....Show more →
I second this, I would do a controlled test and also provide a close crop of the focus area so we can see better
chiron wrote:
The background in the top half of the f1.4 picture seems more out-of-focus than it should be, like an element is tipped. Can you see anything going on with the elements when you look into the lens?
JD07 wrote:
To test the sharpness of your lens, if at all possible I would want to be shooting at least 1/200s shutter at ISO 100 with IBIS turned off. I am not saying you cannot test in less light than that (especially if using a tripod), but if the point is to test the sharpness of the lens, I would want to try to make sure I had removed as many other potential causes of a non-sharp image as possible. I would not be quick to conclude anything from a shot taken at 1/30s shutter (although if it was taken on a very stable tripod then I guess I might)....Show more →
I first noticed the issue outside at high shutter speed. At first I was thinking the focus was off. I’ve had the lens for years and this seems like a noticeable change. I will take a series of shots of a brick wall on a tripod. That will tell for sure. I have images of that wall shot when the lens was new. That will have to wait till I get back this weekend.
I had the exact same issue happen with my 35mm GM. It was in my bag attached to my camera when the bag's front clip undid itself and hit the ground (thanks Belroy). At first I thought nothing of it, but when I went to take photos at larger apertures later that day it was clearly not performing like it used to. There was considerable ghosting up until f/2.8, stopped down to f/4 there didn't appear to be a difference. Over a 1 month span, it got worse and worse to the point that it didn't make sense to use it anymore, I recall it being slower to focus in some spots of the image circle.
I reached out to the company that Sony uses to repair lenses in Canada and they offered to take a look at it and potentially offer a quote, if it was possible to fix; I never proceeded with it and replaced it with a Sigma 35mm f/1.2 (1st gen) then with a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II more recently. I still have the 35mm GM in a drawer and every-time I look at it I get quite upset. It feels like a fender-bender "accident" worth of damage. I was/am so upset about it that I used my 24mm GM less because the lens itself looks similar. I really enjoyed the 35mm GM, my Sigma II has sharper corners and less purple fringing; however, 35mm GM is a special lens, I think it has better micro-contrast. When I look through my photo library and I am wowed by an image it's usually the 35mm GM that took it.
I am thinking of making a paper weight with it, by encasing it in acrylic and selling it so I don't have to see it anymore.
Butterfingers wrote:
I had the exact same issue happen with my 35mm GM. It was in my bag attached to my camera when the bag's front clip undid itself and hit the ground (thanks Belroy). At first I thought nothing of it, but when I went to take photos at larger apertures later that day it was clearly not performing like it used to. There was considerable ghosting up until f/2.8, stopped down to f/4 there didn't appear to be a difference. Over a 1 month span, it got worse and worse to the point that it didn't make sense to use it anymore, I recall it being slower to focus in some spots of the image circle.
I reached out to the company that Sony uses to repair lenses in Canada and they offered to take a look at it and potentially offer a quote, if it was possible to fix; I never proceeded with it and replaced it with a Sigma 35mm f/1.2 (1st gen) then with a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II more recently. I still have the 35mm GM in a drawer and every-time I look at it I get quite upset. It feels like a fender-bender "accident" worth of damage. I was/am so upset about it that I used my 24mm GM less because the lens itself looks similar. I really enjoyed the 35mm GM, my Sigma II has sharper corners and less purple fringing; however, 35mm GM is a special lens, I think it has better micro-contrast. When I look through my photo library and I am wowed by an image it's usually the 35mm GM that took it.
I am thinking of making a paper weight with it, by encasing it in acrylic and selling it so I don't have to see it anymore. ...Show more →
Do you mean your 24mm GM is as sharp as your 35mm GM before the impact or after ?
My 35mm GM is as sharp as when I bought it in 2021 but I often have the impression the contrast is not quite as impressive than before.
I love the rendering of the 24mm GM but so far the two copies I've tried had disappointing sharpness wide open.
Butterfingers wrote:
I had the exact same issue happen with my 35mm GM. It was in my bag attached to my camera when the bag's front clip undid itself and hit the ground (thanks Belroy). At first I thought nothing of it, but when I went to take photos at larger apertures later that day it was clearly not performing like it used to. There was considerable ghosting up until f/2.8, stopped down to f/4 there didn't appear to be a difference. Over a 1 month span, it got worse and worse to the point that it didn't make sense to use it anymore, I recall it being slower to focus in some spots of the image circle.
I reached out to the company that Sony uses to repair lenses in Canada and they offered to take a look at it and potentially offer a quote, if it was possible to fix; I never proceeded with it and replaced it with a Sigma 35mm f/1.2 (1st gen) then with a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II more recently. I still have the 35mm GM in a drawer and every-time I look at it I get quite upset. It feels like a fender-bender "accident" worth of damage. I was/am so upset about it that I used my 24mm GM less because the lens itself looks similar. I really enjoyed the 35mm GM, my Sigma II has sharper corners and less purple fringing; however, 35mm GM is a special lens, I think it has better micro-contrast. When I look through my photo library and I am wowed by an image it's usually the 35mm GM that took it.
I am thinking of making a paper weight with it, by encasing it in acrylic and selling it so I don't have to see it anymore. ...Show more →
Keunish wrote:
Do you mean your 24mm GM is as sharp as your 35mm GM before the impact or after ?
My 35mm GM is as sharp as when I bought it in 2021 but I often have the impression the contrast is not quite as impressive than before.
I love the rendering of the 24mm GM but so far the two copies I've tried had disappointing sharpness wide open.
The 24GM is not in the same league for sharpness as the 35GM. I use the development of the XD linear motors as a divider in Sony lens development. The older lenses tend to have what is considered better rendering, the newer lenses are sharper, designed with a goal of use on a 100mp sensor. I used to own the 24GM, but never meshed with it, so ended up selling it.
My apologies, what I meant by the similarity between the 35mm GM and the 24mm GM, was purely from the physical aspect of the lens itself, both being GM lenses with similar size and shapes.
My 35mm GM was far superior lens optically than the 24mm GM before my accident, after the accident the 35mm GM was similar to a affordable vintage film era lens in quality.
tschopp wrote:
Why would you not send it in for at least a look?
I cannot remember for sure, but they implied that repair would be prohibitively expensive or not possible in the email and that I would still be charged for them looking at it if I didn't go ahead with the repair itself.
Butterfingers wrote:
I cannot remember for sure, but they implied that repair would be prohibitively expensive or not possible in the email and that I would still be charged for them looking at it if I didn't go ahead with the repair itself.
I'm thinking a fairly small bump is more an element misalignment as apposed to something that broke. Even non-working parts-only lenses have value on Ebay. I like photography for relaxation, I wouldn't personally find it relaxing to open up a lens and look around, but I could see how some might. I guess to a repair shop a more obviously damaged lens might be easier to repair.
Butterfingers wrote:
I had the exact same issue happen with my 35mm GM. It was in my bag attached to my camera when the bag's front clip undid itself and hit the ground (thanks Belroy). At first I thought nothing of it, but when I went to take photos at larger apertures later that day it was clearly not performing like it used to. There was considerable ghosting up until f/2.8, stopped down to f/4 there didn't appear to be a difference. Over a 1 month span, it got worse and worse to the point that it didn't make sense to use it anymore, I recall it being slower to focus in some spots of the image circle.
I reached out to the company that Sony uses to repair lenses in Canada and they offered to take a look at it and potentially offer a quote, if it was possible to fix; I never proceeded with it and replaced it with a Sigma 35mm f/1.2 (1st gen) then with a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II more recently. I still have the 35mm GM in a drawer and every-time I look at it I get quite upset. It feels like a fender-bender "accident" worth of damage. I was/am so upset about it that I used my 24mm GM less because the lens itself looks similar. I really enjoyed the 35mm GM, my Sigma II has sharper corners and less purple fringing; however, 35mm GM is a special lens, I think it has better micro-contrast. When I look through my photo library and I am wowed by an image it's usually the 35mm GM that took it.
I am thinking of making a paper weight with it, by encasing it in acrylic and selling it so I don't have to see it anymore. ...Show more →
Unfortunately Roger Cicala stopped doing his incredible lens teardowns, where he would take apart a a lens and show in detail how well (or not) it was put together, which would predict how rentals of the lens would fare for the normal wear and bumps it would see being shipped out and used. He would often find some disturbing aspects to the construction that wouldn't bode well. I don't recall how the Sony models did on balance.
