{"id":990,"date":"2018-02-07T07:09:19","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T06:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=990"},"modified":"2024-04-21T14:11:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T13:11:30","slug":"sony-fe-1-855-za-sonnar-t-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/sony-fe-1-855-za-sonnar-t-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony FE 1.8\/55 ZA Sonnar T* – Long-Term Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"For this independent review I bought the\u00a0Sony Sonnar FE 1.8\/55 ZA T* and used it for a period of several months during which I performed many tests and used it in a wide range of applications.<\/p>\n

Sample Images<\/h1>\n
<\/div>\n

\"DSC09468\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n

Specifications<\/h1>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Diameter<\/td>\n64\u00a0mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Length<\/td>\n70.5\u00a0mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Filter\u00a0Diameter<\/td>\n49\u00a0mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Weight<\/td>\n281g \/ 324g with hood<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Max. Magnification<\/td>\n0.14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Close Focusing Distance from the sensor<\/td>\n50\u00a0cm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Number of aperture blades<\/td>\n9\u00a0(circular)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elements\/ Groups<\/td>\n7 \/ 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/address>\n
$898 at\u00a0amazon.com <\/a>or B&H photo, \u00a0<\/a>848\u20ac at amazon.de<\/a> (affiliate links). If you purchase the lens through one of these affiliate-links I get a small compensation with no additional cost to you.\u00a0<\/em><\/address>\n
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Handling<\/h1>\n

I wouldn’t call the rather light FE 1.8\/55 a small lens but it is still very manageable and very well balanced<\/strong> on my a7II.<\/p>\n<\/address>\n

Built Quality<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n

The Sony FE 1.8\/55 feels nice<\/strong> since it has a metal hull and a nice, wide focus ring with zero play. Most markings are engraved and filled with paint. The serial number though isn’t engraved which I find a bit annoying for a $1k lens.<\/p>\n

While having a metal hull (inside it is made from plastics) feels nice it comes with a downside: The FE55 (and all the other ZA lenses) easily attract scratches<\/strong> in the rather soft aluminium. I think the premium feeling was prioritized over actual premium longevity. Canon’s L series and Sony’s GM series which use less metal are more durable.<\/p>\n

I asked Roger Cicala of lensrentals.com<\/a>\u00a0about the FE55’s reliability and he told me that “It’s really not problematic at all for a Sony. Good in-service rate and no obviously recurring problems. Like all Sony’s when it breaks it costs a fortune to repair, but no more likely to break than the average lens.”<\/p>\n

Although Sony claims that the design is “d<\/em>ust and moisture resistant<\/em><\/span>”\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0the lens has\u00a0<\/span>no gasket<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>around the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>lens mount<\/span><\/strong>, so weather resistance will be limited. Personally I wouldn’t dare to expose it to much humidity since Sony has a rather weak track record in that regard.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lens hood<\/strong> is made from thick, high quality plastics and attaches firmly. It is rather large and increases the volume of the lens a lot. The upside is that it protects the front of the lens very well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Autofocus<\/h2>\n

AF-performance depends a lot on the camera you use the FE 1.8\/55. On my Sony a7II it is usually quick enough in good light but it leaves quite a bit to be desired in lowlight. On a camera with a more advanced AF-system like the a6500 or a7rIII the FE 1.8\/55 can focus super fast<\/strong> though.<\/p>\n

The FE 1.8\/55 focuses internally and is nearly noiseless.<\/p>\n

Manual Focus<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As mentioned before, the\u00a0focusing ring feels nice\u00a0nice<\/span>, what\u00a0I don\u2019t like<\/span>\u00a0too much is\u00a0the focus by wire implementation<\/span>.<\/p>\n

One\u00a0problem here is that it matters\u00a0how fast you turn the focusing ring<\/span>, \u00a0if I turn it by 45 degrees very fast the focus changes from 50cm to infinity. If I turn it slowly\u00a0it takes more than 360 degrees (one full turn) to change focus from the close focusing distance to infinity. In theory this sounds like a great idea because focusing\u00a0should be\u00a0either super precise or very quick, depending on what you need. But so far I have\u00a0failed to get to a point were my\u00a0I am able to use this subconsciously<\/span>, and I have used manual focus with this lens and the\u00a0FE 2\/28<\/a>\u00a0a lot.<\/p>\n

The other problem is that\u00a0there is\u00a0a small lag<\/span>\u00a0between the moment when you turn the focusing ring and when the lens reacts. It is only a small fraction of a second but noticeable.<\/p>\n

Another problem I noticed when shooting my sharpness test was that focusing happened in small steps and it was quite hard to focus exactly at infinity. That was on my a7II. Bastian on his a7rII found it impossible to focus exactly.<\/p>\n

I am used to manual lenses where the focusing ring is coupled directly to the focusing helicoid and I\u00a0am faster and as precise with\u00a0them. So\u00a0manual focus works okay but it isn\u2019t very enjoyable\u00a0<\/span>(says a\u00a0hardcore manual lens user<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Optical Performance<\/h1>\n

Flare resistance<\/h2>\n

Zeiss has a reputation for very effective coatings<\/strong> and it is justified in this case, the lens does not loose contrast<\/strong> even in very demanding situations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"DSC09318\"<\/a>
no contrast loss in the most demanding scenario I could come up with<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I could provoke minor ghosting under extreme conditions<\/a><\/strong> but still I would call the FE 1.8\/55 an excellent performer<\/strong> in this regard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chromatic Aberrations<\/h2>\n
<\/div>The CV 2\/65 APO demonstrates the weakness of the Sony in this aspect.<\/p>\n

While lateral CA are very well corrected longitual CA correction is one of the few weaknesses the lens has<\/strong>. This is a torture test but with high local contrast you can easily run into issues. Most classic normal lenses are no better here but some modern lenses like the Sigma Art 1.4\/50 or Sony 1.4\/50 ZA correct axial CA a lot better.<\/p>\n

Distortion<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The FE 1.8\/55\u00a0shows minor barrel distortion <\/strong>which can easily be corrected by profile in your Raw-converter of choice.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h2>\n

The FE 1.8\/55 has pretty smooth bokeh<\/strong> while most normal lenses are rather busy. Oof highlights are rendered with very little definition and smooth transitions.<\/p>\n