Sony Japan delays release of its FE 35mm F1.4 GM lens, cites 'production reasons'

Find it a strange focal length to hate. On modern sensors you can easily crop it to 50mm for a short portrait. At 35mm you get more of an “environmental” shot. I have always found it much more versatile than 50mm.

There are far more reasons to hate 50mm then 35mm..

Thoughts - possibly, but large powerful companies usually appoint expensive lawyers to very carefully choose the wording in their communications.

Yes, but those large powerful companies and their lawyers are usually very vague in this sort of announcement and are under no obligation to disclose any details.

I don't recall any company citing "supply chain" as the specific issue to a delay, even when it was that root cause. Usually companies don't get that specific. I could be wrong but it seems to me that most companies cite "production reasons" as the generic cause.

For instance, when Nikon delayed their 70-200 f2.8 Z lens, and Canon delayed their RF 70-200 f4, both cited "production reasons."

So I don't think we can read anything more into that wording, and that is exactly as those lawyers for those large powerful companies want it!

@BtN1: good point. The JIT production model works well when there is no major crisis. But the one weak point of JIT is that if there is a crisis, there is little backup and margin for error.

I would bet that coming out of this pandemic, one thing that will shift within companies is that they will probably plan for better redundancies in case of some major global crisis.

One thing they should do is better invest in public health, and better lobby governments to do so, as we see that when it comes to health, we all rise or fall together. The interconnectedness is deep.

The interconnectedness is deeper. We've been warned pandemics are more likely the more we lose natural / pristine habitats. Wild animals tend to keep away from humans - but if they lose their habitat they'll do what all animals (including humans) do - they move; and find space to survive, even if not normally preferable.

Plenty wild animals carry diseases that might jump and that we haven't encountered as a species (much).

Likewise a shift in climate conditions might make some species move. Both biodiversity loss and climate change are risk mulitpliers on many levels.

"Production" usually encompasses supply chain (among other activities) in the whole chain of events from raw materials to shipped goods, from a business perspective.

But as others have said, I think they are purposely vague in calling it "production" issues. Plus, supply chain issue could imply many things, ranging from actually supply issues to Sony not paying a vendor and vendor holding product (which is most likely NOT the case). And likely Sony wanted to avoid any speculation like that, so they just encompass it as "production" issues.

The text is translated, so don't expect each word or the meaning to be exact as what was intended by Sony.

Sony's QC problems are admirable? What?

Little bit of vodka in that Kool-Aid you're drinking eh? Lots to unpack here. 1. Cracked shutter mechanism? No. That's not even revisionist history, that's fabricated history. 2. Its amazing how quickly other brands get mentioned in comments in a bad news article about Sony. Just as amazing as how quickly Sony gets mentioned in comments about good news/releases of other brands. 3. If this were Nikon, Sony trolls would be on this faster than flies on poop (sounds better using the swear word) exclaiming Sony virtues and that Nikon is going out of business, blah, blah blah blah, blah, yawn. And now a Sony delay is admirable. Rrrrrrriight. Wonders never cease.

@deep deep purple
A Sony cockup is a SONY cockup - not the fault of some other brand.....😁

The comment from "deepDeepPurple" reminds me propaganda ministers for dictators....no matter what, praise the Dear Leader.

The comical nature of the OP aside, let's also get real: we don't know if it a QC issue, we are in the middle of a global pandemic, there was a fire at a key manufacturing facility that supplies parts to all of the major camera companies...so why in our cynicism do we jump to the conclusion that it's a QC problem? If there were ever a time when delays in new products would be understandable due to supply chain issues, it's now.

So this doesn't mean that Sony is some godlike entity that is looking out for us, nor does it mean that they made some major mistake that will be their downfall...it's just a delay for whatever reasons.

@entoman
What TRU said (we agreed it in the staff canteen at Canon mission HQ 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂) . To answer your question I don’t. I don’t condemn Sony for delaying a product at a time like this - Lord knows what the problem is. However Sony is the name on the product so I am sure that they would take full ownership of any production issues no matter the source. My (admittedly overstated) comment was in reply to the ludicrous OP....will you be so quick to condemn him/her.......?

Kandid - Yes, I would be as quick to condemn the OP, but his/her/their post was simply too ludicrous to deserve a response...

I felt that your post was unfairly fingering the manufacturer, when the fault could lie elsewhere, which is why I directed the reply to you.

I realise of course that some of the "brand-warrior" and "anti-brand X" stuff that goes on here is quite light-hearted, but I really do think dpr would be a much nicer place to visit, if people strived a little harder to be more fair and realistic in their posts.

@entoman
Fair enough - and fully agree....

So are we supposed to say that Sony did wrong here? In halting a possible QC problem?

So what were they supposed to do? Release a camera that overheats in its most hyped feature, like Canon?

Or were they supposed to release not one, not two but multiple bodies with oil spots in the sensor and cracked shutters like Nikon.

There is no bending the truth here. Sony did the right thing and we should all demand the other companies to do the same.

The alternative is to continue rewarding Nikon and Canon for sloppy job.

You’re talking about the D600 and D750. Cameras that were released 8 and 6 years ago respectively. That’s when “Gangum Style” was the only pandemic. Time to move on. Since then they have come out with far more cameras with zero QC issues. So maybe that’s worth “rewarding” them for.

As for Canon and heat gate, yes, it seems they were overly conservative in heat management. But they were the first to essentially put 12 cylinders into a VW Golf. Give them credit where credit is due

Here's the really funny thing about what purple is writing: we don't even know if it's a QC issue. It is more likely a production issue relating to COVID.

So purple is arguing about nothing...except to find an excuse to praise the Dear Leader.

Look at TRU calling the kettle black. The man who said "nothing to see here folks" when Canon started their overheatgate pointing fingers. If it would be anyone else saying something like this it would give me pause for thought. LOL!

And regardless if it is a QC prompt, a production delay or anything else. Sony was upfront in a way that Canon or Nikon have not been for years.

Or are we going to sweep the Nikon 1 and action cams and Canons misaligned EVFs and focusing issues with the new 100-500? LOL!!!!

I really don't understand why any of you react to a criticism of a camera, as if someone had attacked your wife in the street.

It's a lump of glass, metal and plastic designed to be used to take photographs, *not* as an internet weapon to hit people with.

By all means offer and *accept* constructive criticism (or heaven forbid, praise, where it's due) but is it really necessary to turn everything into a flame-war?

Another funny point about what purple asserts: that Canon and Nikon do not alert customers to this type of issue. It's funny because literally in the last year both companies did...examples include the Nikon 70-200 f2.8 Z lens and the Canon 70-200 f4 lens which were delayed due to, you guessed it, "production issues."

So purple is asserting an imagined QC problem and then imagining a different reality than what actually happened....all just to praise the Dear Leader.

@tru
I am not sure that he even realises that he is just arguing with himself - laughable.....(just be careful not to laugh at dear leader......😤)

@deepDEEPpurple
You know about a9 recall because of defective hot shoe, right?

We'll just ignore the entire first two generations of sony mirrorless (junk), "weather" sealing (lmao), a7iii cracked sensor / IBIS mechanisms, a9 overheating issues, filter stack coating issues / sensor cleaning damages, star eating issues in long exposures, poor build quality overall, and so on.

@deedeep..
Have you completed morning leader worship yet.......? 👅👅💦💦

@Melindra

I'm not a masochist, and I'm not trying to impress anyone with how many inches and grams I carry around, or would show up with were I doing events. Are you? No matter how you try to spin it, the Sigma 35mm f/1.2 is more lens than many photographers want to carry at 35mm, which is a good focal length for walk-around -- but not when it's that big, or weighs that much.

Furthermore, seldom if ever is that f/1.2 max aperture really necessary, an f/1.4 (and often, even an f/2 lens) delivers more than adequate subject isolation. Try using your photographic skills to get that "wow" shot, rather than relying on an f/1.2 lens aperture.

By your logic, the GM is too large and heavy and you'd better get the 2.8 instead.

Hope you never need a 70-200 or, god forbid, a 300mm+

@Melindra:

Lens selection is not a race-to-the-bottom (an f/2.8 aperture) weight-wise, as you suggest.

There are differences in what lens makes sense in a given situation, and it depends on a complex mix of many factors, including potentially the location, the photographer, how discreet he wants to be, duration, quality needs, light levels, shutter speed needed...

Then, since most of us aren't going to buy a half-dozen different lenses of the same focal length, we choose one or maybe two that make the most sense for most uses. For me, and I suspect many others, the Sigma 35 f/1.2 isn't it.

And by the way, that Sigma is 1090 grams, compared to 524 grams for the Sony FE 35mm f/1.4.

566 grams additional is nowhere near the "few extra grams" you claimed earlier.

@kandid
Yes lens overheat. Been observed for so many years and hence Photoman does not know.

@adeng.....
Well I am working on the assumption (based only on experience) that he doesn’t know much - so it’s unlikely that he has any special insight into this tragic problem......😁

@kandid has your cheque from canon arrived? Or shilling for them for free now??

@zxaar
So predictable, so dull, so you.......😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

Check their sample images especially ones facing the sun.
https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/9955503845/sony-35mm-f1-4-gm-sample-gallery/5536715489
https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/9955503845/sony-35mm-f1-4-gm-sample-gallery/3047882111

Whether they said anything or not, they put that picture of the wire frame ball up in their gallery. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Modern lens design software makes the chromatic aberration from a lens fully knowable to those who designed the lens BEFORE even the first prototype gets assembled. So the only way that chromatic aberration would mess up just some of the units and cause a halt to production would be if somehow they used a batch of glass with refractive index and/or dispersion not up to spec, and no one noticed all the way until after tests done at final assembly. Hard to believe this would occur. And odds are that such bad elements would mess up more than the chromatic aberration, so that the lenses wouldn't be as good on their other measurements (i.e. resolution, coma, etc) as tests have reported. So, doubtful that the CA seen by testers under some conditions is a QC problem, and something that Sony is now trying to "fix".

@Mr Bolton:
I am a Sony fan and I never looked at these pictures because I am not interested in 35mm lenses, but I have to admit this picture looks just awful!

@roweraay
Also, this is the S. Korean photo community(SLR Club) link with a 35mm gm shot that shows the CA issue. note that it's in Korean but the main image is cropped from the full-size image on the comment below.
http://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=minolta_forum&page=31493&no=1074142

Also much better than recalls ...

Exactly, the classic Nikon argument 😂😂😂

Production issues is the new excessive demand. It probably took 5 years from design to YouTube reviews of pre-production models. Production issues were rampant in 2020 among every manufacturer, from camera makers to bicycle frames. Knowing this, Sony announced the product and took pre-orders anyway. Then they were seemingly caught by suprise about production issues?

Certainly plausible, although those same stories also cite how car manufacturers are near the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to access to IC production capacity.

Those tested and reviewed by influencers are pre-production. Meaning, it didn't go thru assembly line by assemblers. It was made meticulously by hand: Handcrafted!!!

"The production problem in this case is purely cosmetic, just Sony going the extra mile to not disappoint their customers.:

I highly doubt that's it.

Probably supply chain issues.

Because reviewers are completely bias, and they drool over anything sony throws at them, example: Manny Ortiz 🤢

Uh, all of those companies you've listed have had delays in the past 12 months.

And "production reasons" may not have anything to do with QC issues at all, that's just speculation.

Cannot keep up with demand?

Sony gets graded on a curve.

Another example is seeing reviews for this lens from the perspective for film/video and they don't even talk about the focus breathing at all.

We planned for pre-orders of 10 000 lenses; we are looking at pre-orders of a million - er, we have a production issue...

Yes, the OP's comment is totally false. As noted by @gameshoes3003, all of those companies pushed back product shipments of some products last year.

And yes, when Nikon or Canon did it, some took to using that as an excuse to criticize them for all sorts of invalid reasons.

As @Revenant notes, these delays may have nothing to do with QC at all. We are in the middle of a global pandemic and there even was that fire at a key supply plant in Japan, so I think all companies are having some problems.

But hey why let facts get in the way of throwing insults?

Sony has been raising the bar in both cameras and lenses for the past 3 years. If one lens is delayed a few weeks, who cares. I'm sure it will be yet another gold award rated lens, just as the past few GM lenses and cameras have been. Not a problem for Sony users. But, it does give Canikon fan boyz who want/need something to complain about. How about that A1, it does not have any competition. ;)

LOL, how can a1 have any competition if it is not even released yet? :-)

Whatever Sony does, it is perfect.
Whatever others do, they are just bad.
Cos I am a faaanboooooiiii...

It's infantile, almost surreal claims like this that give Sony users a bad rap.

@snapa: No need to add to the OP's clear agenda as a Sony fan. All three companies make great products, and all three companies have had manufacturing issues.

Most hated camera brands: Sony and Leica

WHY? They are both beyond the reach

LOL.
Leica is overpriced terribly, I do not care about this brand - no hate, just not interested.
SONY makes good stuff, but I do hate its ergonomics - camera grip-lens clearance is so tight, it rubs my fingers, and pinky positioning is not comfortable. And even after many years of using their palm camcorders I still cannot get used to its touchscreens and menu layout. Will probably switch back to 4K camcorder from Canon or Panasonic - I used them in the past, and never had complaints about their ergonomics.