I bought this lens 3 times - the first copy was extremely sharp from nearly wide open, even on my A7rii, but unfortunately the mode button was defect, so I sent it back.
The second copy was good, but not as sharp as the first one. I tried it out, but sent it back, too and that was that for the time being.
But when I bought an A7c i thought it would complement the small body nicely. So, to amazon - a third time. This copy was like the second one - sharp from about f2.2 with excellent IQ from f4 upwards. Wide open I found it a bit lacking.
Just to have it out of the way: This lens is very good - it doesn't feel premium (in fact a bit cheap), but it's small and lightweight. I like the 35mm focal length and used my Samyang 35mm 2.8 extensively. So I thought this would be the ideal successor.
One of it's downsides is the IMO cumbersome use of the focus ring as an aperture ring - good idea, but no detents, and the resistance is clearly intended for focusing and not aperture changes. You also cannot see the A value without looking through the vewfinder or display, a big benefit of a dedicated aperture ring. But - it's nice to have it there just in case. Also, it's minimum focus distance is not very good.
Bokeh is good, not overly harsh, flare resistance is OK, but the big lens hood does help a lot. Chromatic aberrations are very good controlled for a lens of this price tag. Sharpness is as stated above very good from f2.2.
The only thing was - when I went out for a family outing, a bit of street or a hike or whatnot - I cought myself not reaching for the 35 1.8, but it's older and as a matter of fact in every respect worse brother: the 35 2.8. It's not as sharp, it can't throw the background out of focus as the 1.8, the flaring is worse.
But - it's miniscule, even with the lens hood (as Samyang calls this plastic piece) on, the camera does fit into my coat pocket and the rendering - albeit not as sharp - is simply more to my liking than the 1.8. Maybe it's the old school optics, maybe the flaring just looks nicer, I can't say. And to be honest: f2.8 is good enough for most of my photos...
So, back it went, the 1.8... really, it's not it's fault! ...just: I like the 2.8 even better, with all it's discrepancies...
The second copy was good, but not as sharp as the first one. I tried it out, but sent it back, too and that was that for the time being.
But when I bought an A7c i thought it would complement the small body nicely. So, to amazon - a third time. This copy was like the second one - sharp from about f2.2 with excellent IQ from f4 upwards. Wide open I found it a bit lacking.
Just to have it out of the way: This lens is very good - it doesn't feel premium (in fact a bit cheap), but it's small and lightweight. I like the 35mm focal length and used my Samyang 35mm 2.8 extensively. So I thought this would be the ideal successor.
One of it's downsides is the IMO cumbersome use of the focus ring as an aperture ring - good idea, but no detents, and the resistance is clearly intended for focusing and not aperture changes. You also cannot see the A value without looking through the vewfinder or display, a big benefit of a dedicated aperture ring. But - it's nice to have it there just in case. Also, it's minimum focus distance is not very good.
Bokeh is good, not overly harsh, flare resistance is OK, but the big lens hood does help a lot. Chromatic aberrations are very good controlled for a lens of this price tag. Sharpness is as stated above very good from f2.2.
The only thing was - when I went out for a family outing, a bit of street or a hike or whatnot - I cought myself not reaching for the 35 1.8, but it's older and as a matter of fact in every respect worse brother: the 35 2.8. It's not as sharp, it can't throw the background out of focus as the 1.8, the flaring is worse.
But - it's miniscule, even with the lens hood (as Samyang calls this plastic piece) on, the camera does fit into my coat pocket and the rendering - albeit not as sharp - is simply more to my liking than the 1.8. Maybe it's the old school optics, maybe the flaring just looks nicer, I can't say. And to be honest: f2.8 is good enough for most of my photos...
So, back it went, the 1.8... really, it's not it's fault! ...just: I like the 2.8 even better, with all it's discrepancies...
