p.1 #1 · Sony Zeiss serial number oddity (solved!)
Just picked up a nice 55mm ƒ1.8 Zony (thanks @edseiz) and noticed it has an unusual serial number (r-000609). I've had three other copies of this lens over the years and they all had standard numbers-only serials.
Anyone have any idea what/if anything, it might mean?
UPDATE - turns out the original owner got this lens via a friend who was a Sony rep. So the serial number (most likely) indicates that it was a rep sample.
p.1 #5 · Sony Zeiss serial number oddity (solved!)
Looks like an early series copy. For best results, f2.8-f3.2, it sharpens up nicely and let's not forget it's the first full frame mirrorless (EVF) camera lens, so it a piece of history too.
Four aspherical surfaces (though Nikon won't say and it may have just two) and no ED elements. Where have we heard that before?
The Voigtlander 40/1.2 and Nikon's 58/1.4. All copped criticism for not being 'sharp enough'! Release dates were inside a four year envelope: Sony 55/1.8 (2013); Nikon 58/1.4 (2013) and CV 40/1.2 (2017). If you look at these designs, you see patterns like this. By the way, the (2012) RX1 Sonnar is a similar config, glass-wise.
The informed user base absolutely loves these lenses (all are still currently sold (9-13 years on), but the makers make more money from the faster lenses and zooms the pros wanted. They can certainly make these character lenses, but they choose not to. Yes, they are not what the lens producers want to make, strange as it seems.
Why have there been no similar lenses made in the past decade? Single digit element count lenses of this configuration? Because these are character lenses par excellence, and the industry can't have that being recognized..all are great for people photography too, and who needs that in 2026?
Buy-sell-repurchasers like Mike are not indecisive. They sell for the perceived (and a few real) shortcomings, then take a look at what they got from them as time passes by, and want that again. It's a sign of wisdom because all lenses have pluses and minuses. Which ones wins a place in your heart? That changes too.
(You might ask why you are reading this from some internet rando, instead of the scribes doing the YT reviews and pubs.)
p.1 #6 · Sony Zeiss serial number oddity (solved!)
The market has moved on. Back then Sony had a very poor selection of lenses and even the basic 55/1.8 was welcome. Nowadays a control ring with aperture, a better MF system, and some other features would be nice. Video is a huge part.
The numbering is interesting, I suppose to prevent people from selling those lenses too early?
p.1 #7 · Sony Zeiss serial number oddity (solved!)
philip_pj wrote:
Looks like an early series copy. For best results, f2.8-f3.2, it sharpens up nicely and let's not forget it's the first full frame mirrorless (EVF) camera lens, so it a piece of history too.
When Sony announced the original A7 and a7R in October 2013, they launched it alongside a foundational lineup of five native full-frame FE-mount lenses:
* Sony Sonnar T FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA
* Sony Sonnar T FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA
* Sony Vario-Tessar T FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS
* Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS (Standard kit zoom)
* Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS (Telephoto zoom, announced at launch but released slightly later)
So if you want a historic vintage mirrorless kit, these two bodys together with those five lenses rounds it up nicely.
BTW, my 55/1.8 has a normal number. Do note that it has two serial numbers, one Zeiss one and one Sony one.
