This lens seems to be a good deal. Been looking for one and finally got a bargain!
At less that $200, this seems to be a great way to get a 50mm prime that is fast, and extremely sharp. Not to mention with OSS, this must be a lens you should own if you have a APS-C Sony E-mount camera.
May I ask what Zeiss you are referring to? If you are talking about the 24mm (which I've already sold) that had a much wider angle of view and I would deem quite different. If you are referring to the FE 55mm, then I guess you could call it a bargain, but this is for APS-C only. Either way it is one of those very nice lenses which turns out not to be too expensive!
True that, there is no direct comparable Zeiss in this criteria (50mm). Maybe plasticspaceman just talking about Zeiss in general? or maybe this zoom SEL1670Z http://www.sony.com.au/product/sel1670z? Anyway, $183 for a 50mm portrait - with OSS - is a good price
Ah. I'm old school. I have some Zeiss glass (eg http://slrlensreview.com/web/reviews/carl-zeiss-lenses-swhor…) from my Contax SLR film days. No OSS or auto focus, but I'm used to that and generally get the best images with both of those off anyhow (especially when using a tripod).
Just wondering, would that Zeiss be very narrow on APS-C frame? (I assume you use one of those APS-C since you bought E-mount lens). Do you use metabones?
Use a standard cheapie adapter off ebay. Works well. No metabones for contax yashica mount sadly. There is a smart adapter (not metabones) for the rangefinder G mount Contax lenses.
Rarely use the contax lenses on my aps-c sony though as the Sony 50mm is better suited for the situations I tend to use that in (eg I can put it in point and shoot mode and hand it over to someone else). The older glass I use on the full frame A7.
Full frame? Good for A7? Thanks
nope you'll need a FE lens to get full use of a full frame sensor
Ok, I understand that, but can anyone give an indication as to exactly how much of the frame is lost on an A7 using the SEL50F18, please?
Ok, thanks ideasman and veron. It would seem that the dark edges are quite noticeable. Obviously, cropping would still make the photos very useable. Reviews of the lens read very well, so it's probably worth the risk.
Thanks again.
no worries. im pretty sure the A7 series has an option to automatically crop image on E lenses but you'll end up with a cropped photo similar to a shot that comes out of an APS-C camera. So it won't be a 50mm equiv photo but more of a 85mm equiv photo.
also not sure why veron just reposted the exact same link i posted?
@ideasman: veron posted within two minutes of your post. That means he or she probably wouldn't have seen your post before typing the reply.
@ideasman:
Nw, just google like you in that 2min :-)
You are right, A7 + this lens won't see black circle as it automatically change to crop function if you enable it. otherwise, of course you will see black circle
It's not a full frame lens. As others have said, you can use it, but why would you?
You paid over twice the price of an A6000 to get a full-frame sensor, so it'd just be a waste if you didn't get the Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 to go with it.
This lens is cheap, no doubt, but you'd be wasting so much money using it on an A7.
I've been holding the impulse to buy this since last year (has been same price). Still holding…
Pretty sure it was $169 last week on the 2 websites I checked..
i purchased a Sony lens from them last year in Nov. Still waiting. Good service since, but might be worth checking stock over the phone first if you wanted it soon.
Excellent price (I paid about $195 for it from them about 6 months ago) and lens. Ideal for portraits. Great image quality at a fraction of the cost of a Zeiss. Definitely recommended.