Jump to content

Sony Zeiss 35mm F1.4 startup clicking noise and lens recommendation


Recommended Posts

I just recently bought a Sony Zeiss 35mm f1.4.  Yes it big and heavy but I got work to pay for me buying a used one.  Every time I power on the camera (A7ii), it sounds like a motor expanding and then relaxing the aperture.  Is this normal?  Other than that, it works just fine and pics a crisp as expected.  The sound/motor does not persist during operation.

 

ALSO:  Because I bought that lens on a whim I am wanting to know its capabilities in general.  I just came over to Sony mirrorless and got the A7ii used which came with the Zeiss 35mm 2.8.  Love the combo because its so small.  Here are the types of photos I want to take seriously:  landscape, environmental portraits (mainly rock climbing and mountaineering  - so a need to have good clarity on the subject and also show their surroundings, and traditional portraits.  

 

The reason I bought the 35mm f1.4 is that it is supposed to be "the best e-mount lens available".  Wouldn't want to take the risk if it were my own money so took advantage of the offer.  Now I am in a strange predicament.  Because I'm always climbing, do I just stick with the 35 2.8 and get a portrait lens, or keep both?  Is the image quality that much different?  I guess my other option would be to trade the 35mm f1.4 for a great portrait lens.  If I go that route, what should I choose?

Link to post
Share on other sites

uhhhhhh not easy to let go the distagon 35mm 1.4

 

the distagon 35mm 1.4 is a very special lens, you can not compare it with the sonnar 35mm IMOH but at 3.5 or 5.6 the sonnar is also without flaw´s

 

if you don´t need the extraordinary softness from the out of focus areas contra the crispness from the in focus areas at 1.4 or 2.0 you can also make awesome pictures with the very small and light sonnar 35mm

 

as you have both lenses you can easily compare them and decide what is more important for you

i think if you go out for landscape shot´s in the mountain and like to have light luggage the sonnar 35mm 2.8 or FE 28mm F2 would be a better choice

 

as environmental portrait lens the sonnar 55mm is phenomenal and it is also light and small, the batis 85mm would be great  for close portrait work or as short tele...could be also great for landscape

 

if you like to hold the FE35mm 2.8 i think the sonnar 55mm is the most versatile choice, it is small and light and has awesome IQ

 

as mentioned you could also think about dropping both 35mm for a FE28mm if you need more perspective in combination with the sonnar 55mm 

 

for me the 55mm focal length would be much more important than the 35mm 

 

80% i use 50mm, but that depends on your shooting stile 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just for reference, I have the 28mm 2.0, 35mm 2.8, 55mm 1.8, 85mm batis, 90mm macro, and the 70-200 f4.  Of all of these lenses, if I were compelled to do all my shooting with a single lens, it would be the 35mm.  It has amazing image quality with a wonderful rendering effect; and it is so small it barely changes the form of the Sony A7Rii body!

 

As for portraiture the 55mm and 85mm Batis are wonderful because of the great rendering wide or nearly wide open.  But on a budget you could get the excellent 50mm FE 1.8 ($200) just released that is close to the 55mm in image quality.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I just recently bought a Sony Zeiss 35mm f1.4.  Yes it big and heavy but I got work to pay for me buying a used one.  Every time I power on the camera (A7ii), it sounds like a motor expanding and then relaxing the aperture.  Is this normal?  Other than that, it works just fine and pics a crisp as expected.  The sound/motor does not persist during operation.

 

ALSO:  Because I bought that lens on a whim I am wanting to know its capabilities in general.  I just came over to Sony mirrorless and got the A7ii used which came with the Zeiss 35mm 2.8.  Love the combo because its so small.  Here are the types of photos I want to take seriously:  landscape, environmental portraits (mainly rock climbing and mountaineering  - so a need to have good clarity on the subject and also show their surroundings, and traditional portraits.  

 

The reason I bought the 35mm f1.4 is that it is supposed to be "the best e-mount lens available".  Wouldn't want to take the risk if it were my own money so took advantage of the offer.  Now I am in a strange predicament.  Because I'm always climbing, do I just stick with the 35 2.8 and get a portrait lens, or keep both?  Is the image quality that much different?  I guess my other option would be to trade the 35mm f1.4 for a great portrait lens.  If I go that route, what should I choose?

 

The 35mm is not the best, if such a thing exists, but it has a beautiful draw that is personal. It could be slightly sharper at f1.4 but otherwise nothing to complain

No real choice at 35mm f1.4. From 2.8 above the 35mm f2.8 is just a sharp at least.

 

so it depends on your requirements

and also the focal length

 

If you can go slightly wider, the 28mm f2 is very good, is quite fast and is very small IMHO

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

The 55 is a great compagnion for the 35/2.8 and gives you way better seperation between subject and background. If you don't want this seperation the 35/2.8 is fine!

Just think about it - do I need a wider lens for landscape? (16-35F4) - little longer lens for more separation? (55/1.8) - want to do detail shots and even longer lens for this climbers further away? (90F2.8)

 

But I'm sure I would not be able to let the 35/1.4 go :-). Really looking forward to grab one in the future ;-)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure what yours is doing exactly, but it's not abnormal for the lenses to make some noise upon startup as whatever motors engage.

 

I had the 35mm f/1.4 and loved it, but eventually sold it and went with the much lighter and smaller Loxia 35mm f/2. There's only a minor tradeoff in sharpness, but the size reduction makes using 35mm as a walk-around lens much more feasible, especially for the type of stuff you're doing (and that I do). I actually did a youtube video comparing the two lenses  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB0oJa6cE9k

I've actually never used the 35mm f/2.8, and I'm curious, but I'm pretty much in love with the Loxia, despite the manual focus.

 

Right now, I think the "best" lens for FE mount is the 85mm GM lens, which is definitely the "great portrait lens" you're looking for.  I can handle a beast of a lens at that focal length because it's not a walk-around lens that lives on the camera like a 35mm.  The Sony Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 is a similar-quality lens to the 35mm, and also huge, but the 55mm f/1.8, as everyone agrees, is probably the best bang-for-buck and bang-for-size lens you can get for the system, and I'd highly recommend adding it to any kit. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

The 35 1.4 is great for environmental portrait work when used from F1.4-F2.   For landscape work it was a let down for me compared to the 35 2.8 and the Loxia.  I tried 4 different copies of the lens and none of them were very good past f2.  That said, this is on the sony A7RII, and the lenses limitations are much less noticeable on my A7II.  I'm a backpacker/hiker and for me I use the loxia lenses for landscape work.  I'll use the 35mm 2.8 for a walk around street lens because it's so small, light, fast focusing and the image quality is great!  I now only use the 35 1.4 for events and environmental portrait work for magazines.  Honestly If I was shooting climbing where I'm also on pitch I'd have the 16-35 and then maybe the Sony/Zeiss 50mm 1.4.  The 50 1.4 is AWESOME!!! and the 16-35 I find to be very acceptable with wonderful color and pop.  You can see some examples of different sony lenses on my Flickr page under albums. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhemp_00/albums

 

I'll end on this rant, I hate that I have 3 different 35mm lenses!  I would love to just have one and be done with it.  I guess if somebody said I could only choose one of them it would be the 35mm f 2.8. If only it was a f2!

Jay Hemphill

www.jayhemphill.com

Link to post
Share on other sites

I ended up returning the 35mm f/1.4 and went with the Batis 85mm f/1.8.  Its proving to be great for portraits and relatively small.  I'm in Kauai, Hawaii right now doing some hiking and night photography.  The 35mm f/2.8 surprisingly did excellent with night/astro photography.  I tried it out on a long pier with local fisherman at about 11pm in an area with no light pollution.  Stunning images with little to no grain on my A7ii.  I had a rented Batis 18mm f/2.8 with rented A7rii and the images were pretty damn similar.  I now just have to get a wide angle prime and I'll be set.  The Batis is great and may go with that. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

The 50 1.4 is AWESOME!!!

yeah, the few times I rented it, I'd have to concur.

 

I'll end on this rant, I hate that I have 3 different 35mm lenses! I would love to just have one and be done with it. I guess if somebody said I could only choose one of them it would be the 35mm f 2.8. If only it was a f2!

Jay Hemphill

www.jayhemphill.com

I'm having a terrible time trying to decide on a 35 as well. Right now I'm playing with my old ZM 28/2.8, but I miss a 35.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...