advices welcomed for fast small primes for A7C

[geekoo]

Hello community,

I need some of your Advice here.

I am looking for an extra fast and small lens to add to my gear (or eventually replace one of my two primes) for my new A7C. Mainly for street and portraits (and very few architecture shots).

So far I have the 55mm F1.8 and the 35mm F1.8.

I have been looking at reviews for quite a few days now. probablt to many ;-)

• The idea is to go for an about F1.2/F1.4 (F1.0?) lens around 35mm-40mm-50mm.
• Right open or at least at F1.4 I would love the lens to be decent/good with good detail in the center.
• I am fine with a modern or vintage look for my snaps or a mix in character.
• Also I would prefer to have some controls on the lens (aperture etc...), this would work great I think with the A7C.
• Moderate vignetting would be also a +.
• Only primes. "small" and not to heavy.

A few lenses cought my attention mainly in the Voigtlander range. The Nokton, the 1.2 lenses, mainly the 50mm or 35mm (they do seem better from what I understood compared to the 40mm prime).
Also I think they have Nice F1.4 lenses but have no idea really after reading or watching tons of YouTube videos what to chose.
I had on the past the 35mm F1.7 ultron (on my CL) that I really liked. But guess this would be redundant as I own the 35mm F1.8 from Sony. Maybe the ultron lens is a better lens compared to the Sony? I do not have enough experience yest with the Sony.

I also looked at Ttartisan ans 7artisan but guess those are a class under at wide aperture?I

Also saw the 35mm and 50mm Apo by Voigtlander, how do they perform? Are they on par with the more or less equivalent lenses I own?

I will most probably add a autofocus with the lens.

Has anyone tested cine lenses for photography ? How do they perform?

All help, advices are welcomed. Of course if you have personal examples of snaps (mainly street or portraits wide open) to illustrate your advice do not hesitate.

Thanks and take care!!!!

 

[Puppy2007]

Most of the cheap manual lenses performs bad at the wide aperture. For instance, the TTArtisan 21mm F1.5 is unusable at F1.5 https://sonyalpha.blog/2021/05/28/ttartisan-21mm-f1-5/

If you really need F1.4 lenses (at F1.4), the only options are the high end Sony GM or Sigma DN / Art. But it is very expensive. The https://sonyalpha.blog/ tests various cheap manual lenses so you can the picture of the wide aperture output. I had 7Artisans 50/F1.8 (on APS-C), it was a good lens, but useable from F2.8.

 

[AlephNull]

You are asking for magic.

Small / huge aperture / no aberrations = not going to happen.

Small and good with a maximum aperture of maybe f/2 can be done (Leica Summicron or Voigtlander APO Lanthar)

f/1.2 and good can be done - witness the new Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM - but they ain't small or light.

Small and f/1.4 but with lots of aberrations - yeah, that can be done, but I wouldn't recommend any lens like that.

 

[geekoo]

What about the zeiss 35mm f/1.4 distagon t* zm?

 

[AlephNull]

What about the zeiss 35mm f/1.4 distagon t* zm?

I have never used it, but you said small - that's lens is large and 630g.

 

[geekoo]

What about the zeiss 35mm f/1.4 distagon t* zm?

I have never used it, but you said small - that's lens is large and 630g.

Oh! Thought it was lighter

And made a mistake. Its the zm Distagon from Zeiss. Lighter and smaller

 

[Puppy2007]

I have never used it, but you said small - that's lens is large and 630g.

Most of the F1.4 lenses are big and heavy. The new Samyang F1.8 line is light, but it isn't perfect at F1.8 again.

 

[AlephNull]

I have never used it, but you said small - that's lens is large and 630g.

Most of the F1.4 lenses are big and heavy. The new Samyang F1.8 line is light, but it isn't perfect at F1.8 again.

And that's my point. Asking for "fast small primes" (as in the title of the thread) that are f/1.2 or f/1.4 is asking for something improbable (I was tempted to say impossible), especially when asking for low vignetting / low aberration

 

[Rol Lei Nut]

What about the zeiss 35mm f/1.4 distagon t* zm?

I have never used it, but you said small - that's lens is large and 630g.

Oh! Thought it was lighter

And made a mistake. Its the zm Distagon from Zeiss. Lighter and smaller

The Zeiss ZM 35 1.4 is a rangefinder lens and, like many rangefinder wide angle lenses, doesn't work well with digital sensors (soft corners).

You can use a diopter filter with it to improve corner performance, though they still aren't great (see Philip Reeve's site for more information about that).

Personally, my own choice is to use a lens like the Samyang 35 1.8: it isn't as timy as a RF lens or as fast as a f/1.4, but it's still compact, very light and a good sample is nicely usable at f/1.8.

 

[Impulses]

The 24 & 35 f1.4 GMs are actually pretty light by f1.4 standards (450-500g), for anything that fast but lighter/smaller you'd have to go manual and you'll probably be making a sacrifice in wide open performance as well...

AFAIK none of the Voigtlander APOs are f1.4, those are different lines, your wishlist is kind of all over the place. Oh and some vignetting is par for the course with smaller (and even larger) primes these days since it's so easy to correct. PhillipReeve.net has decent guides and/or reviews on the manual VoIgtlander & 35mm options.

 

[geekoo]

The 24 & 35 f1.4 GMs are actually pretty light by f1.4 standards (450-500g), for anything that fast but lighter/smaller you'd have to go manual and you'll probably be making a sacrifice in wide open performance as well...

AFAIK none of the Voigtlander APOs are f1.4, those are different lines, your wishlist is kind of all over the place. Oh and some vignetting is par for the course with smaller (and even larger) primes these days since it's so easy to correct. PhillipReeve.net has decent guides and/or reviews on the manual VoIgtlander & 35mm options.

Thanks I will check the website.

Of course, I do understand that a "smaller" lens would mean I need to do some concessions.
Will talking about vignetting and chromatic aberations. I am fine with some of course. But some lenses have lot's, a little too much of those. If it's reasonable no problem of course.

I am sure that a "vintage" or manual lens would work fine on the A7C. The most important point for me is a decent/good detail in high speed. I am not looking for a clinical lens. But a lens that is not to soft wide open.

;-)