Sony Zeiss 35mm f 1.4 Skewed Lens Problem

[Wally The Confused]

Hi All.

I was about to buy a Sony Zeiss 35 mm  f 1.4 , from a  well known supplier, who are advertising a used  one  for 900 GBP.

Then I came across a   Fredmiranda    thread and a    Digilloyd thread.  

Both were  complaining about the  Skewed lenses in the  35mm f1.4. One person  had  had 2 that he sent back, and was waiting for a third !

So, buying second hand  ?  What happens if the lens is one of the skewed  ones ?  Do they fix it , or is the lens kaput ? Its a lot o money down the drain, if there is no comeback.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

WTC

[Wally The Confused]

Right, I left a comment, with  Steve Huff, and last I saw, it was awaiting  moderation.

Now ?  Nothing !

All I said  , was  ,  Steve, you have been duped !

It is evident, that a team of Sony Engineers put the  Sony Zeiss  35 f 1.4   together,  to send  out to the  main reviewers , like yourself !

Then, after you, and other  renowned  testers, put your    incredible  findings    on your  blogs , about this  fantastic  35mm f1.4  lens.

The Sony Zeiss   people   put  a load of biscuit packers    on the  Sony Zeiss   line.

The FE 35mm f/1.4 is hit or miss as is with most Sony/Zeiss lenses. This is due to partly to poor quality control in Sony lenses but also to the poor lens design in the SEL35F14Z. .

"There is one element left inside the front assembly, held tightly in place from a spanner ring behind it. We had a reason to check for all this: In some lenses the central elements are simply stacked with spacers, only the front and rear groups are held in place with threaded spanners. Internal groups can shift around with a drop or jar in that case. With the FE 35mm f/1.4 that won't happen, each group has its own spanner ring. On the other hand, there are no optical adjustments that can be made here. The entire group can be tilted on shims in the front. The group can also be rotated and inserted in one of 3 directions (which may help with tilt if the shims don't adjust it enough). But that's it."

Your chances of getting a poor corner is greater, in retrospect you'll also get a great corner. This is because the internal group behind the front assembly as a whole can be tilted on the shim but individual adjustments can't be made here.

"I think there's no question we've seen support for what a lot of people are claiming: the 35mm f/1.4 ZA lens is very likely to have some tilt with one corner or side out of the plane of focus. Depending on what you photograph this may make no difference to you, or may be a huge issue. But I doubt sending copy after copy back is going to make much difference (you may trade a soft right upper corner for a slightly soft left side, etc.). We've taken a couple of these apart and there's not a ton of optical adjustments that can be made: there are a set of shims behind the front group that can be modified a bit, but it's a crude and very time-consuming adjustment, so I don't think it's generally going to be something that can be fixed."

If the owner returned it, he may have been unsatisfied with his copy, be it a poor corner or a side. You never really know. Jay said it himself "if a good copy" 


Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 Teardown

Sony Lenses subject to more Variance than CaNikon

 

 

SO !  Do not rush out  to buy  anything   that  Steve  Huff and his  contemporaries  tell you, because  their  lenses, are  specially  made !

You, there after, are left with the  biscuit  packers   that  put the lenses  together   for the masses !

 

If you do not believe me  ......   Check the  Fred Miranda   &  Digilloyd   threads  about the  Sony Zeiss 35 mm f 1.4 & see for your self !