Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Reviews
The Sony Sonnar 55 is sharp
By Gordon
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-02-03
The Sony Sonnar 55mm is sharp corner to corner and the autofocus works great with the A7R4.
An Outstanding Lens, Besides One Critical Flaw
By Jacob
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2022-09-13
This lens is amazing, probably one of my favorites - even considering its flaws. It is razor sharp in the center and it's bokeh and chromatic aberration give the photos such character, I always get compliments on them. Not to mention it is one of the highest rated lenses on DXO Mark for Sony E mount cameras. The price is amazing for the quality too, and the autofocus is perfectly fast unlike the 50mm G Master. However - and it is a big however - if you intend on shooting video with this lens, you should reconsider purchasing it. For some wild reason, when your camera is set to continuous autofocus, the lens freaks out. It jumps in and out of focus extremely fast, almost like it's hunting for focus, but more like the motors are having a seizure - that's the best way to describe it unfortunately. It renders footage completely worthless. It is inconsistent too, it is hard to figure out exactly what causes it, but it's always there. It seems to be worse when the aperture is not wide open. And the saddest part is I have tried 3 different copies of the lens (my friends own them too, like I said, they are that good) and on several different cameras. All of them have the same issue. So, if you are looking for an amazing photo lens, look no further! This is it! But if you are hoping to shoot video on this lens, maybe don't.
Hunts for focus
By Andrew
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2022-08-22
I get the cult following on this lens. It's good. However when compared with many of the new e mount lenses out there the autofocus is behind. There's a significant amount of focus breathing and when photographing stills in less than good light it frequently hunts for focus. Using it on an a7c.
Crazy sharp lens
By John
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2022-07-28
One of the sharpest lenses I've ever owned. It's madness.
Super sharp, lovely bokeh
By Intermediate Bob
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2022-06-06
This lens justifies the price. Mates perfectly with a7c to maintain a compact but very powerful combo. The evf on the camera had me wondering a bit about how the photos would translate, but once uploaded, I’m blown away by the sharpness and bokeh. Low light performance is excellent- I’ve yet to wish for a flash for any indoor shot with any light available. Highly recommend.
Great Lens
By Racheal
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2022-04-25
Great lens. Fast & sharp.
Couldn't be happier
By Robert
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2022-11-28
I shoot mostly long-exposure deep focus documentary environmental portraits using an A7R4 and a tripod. So bokeh is not very important to me. However, I want extreme sharpness front-to-back plus soulful color* I can heighten into emotion.
The Sony Sonnar FE 55mm fits the bill. It's also not heavy (which with the tripod I lug around is important to me). I couldn't be happier.
* I'm really writing this because of the review that said the lens's color was tainted. I can't see it. I work in a part of the world where the material culture has a limited palette of color. I know those colors well. Using them as a baseline, I can say that the FE 55mm renders them accurately, alone or in combination, such that in rendering the memories and feelings I intend to evoke are evoked.
Hard to love/fall in love with
By maxim
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2022-10-23
Okay, so I still haven't sold this lens-but every time I shoot with it, I swear that I am going to do so imminently. Here's why:
The 55mm focal length is awkward, like dancing with one foot slightly longer than the other. It's always just a bit too tight for normal and not quite tight enough for telephoto.
The sharpness/contrast is just unflattering and offensive. It makes people appear old and displeased-looking. And in low light the colors get distorted even more. It's as if they've tweaked the knobs to make an MTF chart look good and let everything else go to pot, with no consideration for whether a human being would ever want to look at it.
I bought this strictly off of reviews, and my strong advice is that you should find a way to rent or borrow one before purchasing. I can't rightly explain it, it's Zeiss but tainted in some way...I haven't sold mine yet just because I want to be really sure that it's the lens and not me, but I really think it's the lens.
For reference, I have an adapted manual Zeiss 50mm 1.4 Planar ZE, Zeiss 35 f2.8, Zeiss 85 1.8 for my A7RIIIa. I love all those lenses and the 'Zeiss rendering'...but the 55 just ain't got it.
