sel35f18 or wait for zeiss... or alpha mount?

I have the SEL 35 already and it is quite sharp, not far from the Zeiss SEL 24(sold it). To command twice the price, either the new Zeiss 35 is a f1.4 lens or it is so much better than the Sony SEL 35.

Rumors said the new Zeiss will come this summer. It is a long wait.

I have the SEL35F18 also and it's a very nice lens. It gives me images that can easily match the Nikon 35mm f1.8 in sharpness and with less distortion (the Nikon has barrel distortion and the SEL doesn't have enough to worry about). Additionally the SEL has OSS, which I don't think any other 50mm equivalent on the market has. Low light indoors shots are a breeze with this lens.

I wouldn't wait or bother with an Alpha mount lens.

Well, obviously there's only so much we can say at this point, but here are my mildly educated presumptions and the known facts:

• The Zeiss looks slightly bigger than the Sony

• The Zeiss is a Planar design, which means it will probably have excellent sharpness characteristics but the bokeh won't be as good as other Zeiss glass.

• The Zeiss is a 50mm equivalent, where the sony is 53mm. I prefer 50, personally.

• The Zeiss will probably be over $1000.

• The big draw of the Sony, other than price, is the IS. No such luck on the Zeiss.

• The vast majority of Zeiss's lenses have been manual focus...so we don't know how the AF is going to be on these new ones.

I have the SEL 35/1.8 and think it's a really nice lens. I suggest that you buy it and use it until the Zeiss comes out and then make a decision if you want to buy the Zeiss. If you decide to buy the Zeiss, you can sell the SEL or keep it. I'm guessing that you'll find times when you think that the OSS comes in handy and won't want to give it up.

The Zeiss lenses will probably be even more outside my budget... but I hope when they will be available they will drive the price down a bit for the sel35.

I think the sel35 is a bit too expensive and I already own the sel50 en the sigma 30, so waiting a bit is not a problem. I'm definitely going to get it if it becomes a bit cheaper though.

I don't think I will ever buy the zeiss 24mm, because it lacks is, but if the new zeiss lenses will have is, then perhaps I would be willing to save up and buy one Zeiss lens to have one real good lens. Oh well, we'll see...

Well, if you do go for the A-mount adapter, you could go for the SAL35f18. It's a very good lens at around $200.

The SEL35 is a decent but not spectacular lens. I compared it very carefully to much more expensive lenses like the Zeiss 24mm and also the Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH and 35mm Summarit f2.5. All of them outclassed the SEL-35 esp in terms of contrast and color (though not necessarily sharpness). The SEL35 is not a great performer at f1.8, suffering from mediocre contrast and aberrations. It does perform much better stopped down. My bottom line conclusion is that the SEL35 is a decent consumer grade lens - but if you really want superior performance you are going to need to spend more and move up to a Zeiss. Fine optics are never cheap.

I had the Sony 35 on my NEX 7. To be honest (on that camera) it was not the best at autofocusing.. and as mentioned, was not as excellent wide open (but it was a very nice lens at a nice size with OSS). Not much "pop" or anything that made it stand out though.. but a lot to be said for it for a consumer lens.. I was going to keep it until....


...I got the $200 Sigma 19 and 30 lens deal.. I then sold the 35 (I like the range of the 30 a little better) it was 1/4 the price, practically as sharp, especially in decent light.. and was not all that horrible in lower light (no OSS but it is a short little thing . About the same color qualities as the 35.. nothing spectacular.. but nicely accurate... (The 19 is a great bonus!)

I am now just going to save up my pennies and go for the Zeiss 24. Someone on the forum (I cant remember who now) said "save yourself the grief.. get the best and pay once" or something to that effect.. and I think he was right.

I have a couple of nice little travel lenses that I would not cry over if someone poured beer on them and they will certainly get me by until I can afford the Zeiss..

The Alpha mount is (to me) a pain in the bottom.. I tried it, but the square bottom does not form fit a round hand.. it also turned a nice small travel camera into a monster.. Heck, if I wanted all that hanging out there, I would have never have bought the NEX and stuck with my A77! But that is me, and I fly a lot..

hmm i was actually trying to find comparison between sel35f18 and some of the M mount lenses.. is it that bad compared to Summicron? yeah sel35f18 just.... it just dont pop as someone mentioned.

yeah will surely cross out alpha adapters... i would have just bought a77 if i was going to use alpha lenses.

hmmm i might just get some cheap 50mm legacy lens.. like konika hexanon until zeiss comes around.

I don't know why anyone would expect a $450 lens to compare against ones costing thousands. The SEL35 will hold up against other 35mm from companies like Nikon and Canon and it includes OSS. I'm sure the Zeiss will be optically better and cost 2 or 3x as much someday when it appears. But the SEL35 works great and is available today. Made the decision really easy for me.

exactly what i was looking for thank you. So i guess i will be investing in sel35. sounds good to me.