The friends of Alphaniacs posted that nice picture of the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 SSM prototype lens attached on the new Sony A99. You notice that nice “00000000” mark on the lens! That would sell for a hell of a price on eBay 🙂
We don’t knwo the price of the lens but we have many Zeiss 50mm lenses for different mounts and I thought it would be nice to give you an overview:
[shoplink 14186 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* for Canon (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14187 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* for Nikon (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14188 ebay]Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 50mm f/1.4 50/1.4 LTM (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14190 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 for Contax (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14189 ebay]Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50 ZF 50mm F1.4 Nikon Ai-S (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
As you see the price range is soemwhere between $500 and $800. Of course these are all manual focusing lenses and do have a different design. But I hope the price will be a bit below the $1.000 mark.
P.S.: Thanks again to the SAR facebook comunity for finding this picture!
67 Responses
First? Of course I am. SAR for life
First in the race to be a cock. Well done.
Well played, Frank
No 1.2 🙁
You belong to be Rokkor 58/1.2, and her alone. If you so much as have a cup of coffee with another fast lens that you went to school with, she’ll fly into a violent rampage and start breaking your toes with a hammer.
you also had the rokkor 50/1.2, but the Rokkor MD 50/1.4 was better than both 1.2
go canon!
Not if you want it to be good.
Of course not, that was clear from the beginning.
hahaha, nice! 😀 Seems to be really large and bulky. But I guess I don’t mind – as long as image quality is great 🙂
Also note that it seems like this Zeiss isn’t based on Sony patents for 50 f/1.4 (and f/1.2) which were opening with concave lens.
Hi Andrea
I would appreciate a price below 1.000,-$ as well, but I guess that will just be hoping.
All current available Zeiss lenses are here in Germany priced between 1.200 and 2.000 €! (except the APS-C 16-80)
So most likely the 50/1.4 will be priced similar to the 24/2, which is currently available at 1.200 €.
For me personally it will be a ‘must-have’ for FF photographers anyway. 🙂
hi Andrea, just wanted to say “thank you” for all your hard work during the past weeks/months, providing mostly correct rumors and useful information.
Thanks Rumos!!!! 🙂
this lens is i wanted so a long time, can’t wait to have it ^0^ hope there will be zeiss 50mm/1.2 SSM too 😀
Never
waiting for an SSM version of the awesome awesome Zeiss 135 1.8
With SSM it would not be so nice looking compact lens for a 135/1.8. It would be huge lens.
50/1.4 Planar is a mediocre lens
Ok, I’ll bite, and why is that?
Which means nothing for this one.
^this. And I disagree that it’s medicore – it so happens that it’s one of the sharpest (if not THE sharpest) 50mm lenses on the DSLR market (even with all the other it’s disadvantages).
Time to buy that Makro-Planar.
you need to read up on the 50 makro plannar
This not the same configuration as the “average” (obviously he’s never used one!) Planar 50mm the poster is describing above but an entirely new design. Sony Zeiss lenses share similarities with the classic contax zeiss Ze and Zf designs but are NOT the same. You only need look at the massive performance difference between the Sony Zeiss 85mm 1.4 ZA and the Zeiss 85mm 1.4 ZF or Ze to see what I mean. The sony variants are superior in all metrics.
and it has SSM autofocus? not fair!
thats big at 72mm, hmm like the sigma 50…
I hope it a lot better than the Sigma 50mm, which can best be described as “adequate”. I have it, don’t believe the hype around it.
I love the ∑50/1.4! While I have confidence in the Sony/Zeiss name and legend (really!), this is going to have to be spectacularly better than my Sigma for me to even consider it.
The Sigma is my go-to lens for any dark stage shots. I don’t just believe the hype, I contribute to it as much as I can.
Wow. That looks as tasty on the a99 as the old 85 f/1.4 did on the Minolta 7D
Almost makes me want to buy an a99!
This new Zeiss will of course deliver better results than any other 50mm on the A99 because the Lens is designed for this new sensor.
This should be priced very closely to the SAL85 F1.4Z. No doubt about it. Wont be coming cheaply.
A Letter To Sony:
Here, a small tip that could create sales for Sony:
MirrorlessRumors.com has a leaked GH3 presentation video from Panasonic.
This is not about the technicality or features in that camera, but about how they are presenting it.
They are pitching to filmmakers by having Philip Bloom in it and to photojournalists by having Daniel Beherulak from Reportage by Getty Images in it. People that know these people, their work and their opinions, can often gravitate towards the gear they are endorsing. I know Philip is a great advocate of the hacked GH2 and spoke very favourabily about it in his site, even against Canon’s C300.
Daniel is a person who would not do anything he doesn’t want to do. I know him personally. He’s lived in India and HK for many years now and has done remarkable work in that part of the world. You can see his work often in Time, Newsweek, Sunday Times, Stern and so on. The fact that Panasonic landed him to feature in his videos is a major plus.
No offense to Luca and the other guy in Sony’s video for the NEX 6. I think their work is nice but it is one thing to have a 365 photo a day project photographer in your router of endorsement, and another one to have photographers from major agencies in the world. It does help drive sales.
Fuji secured 3 times World Press Photo winner Fernando Moleres and Magnum Photographer Ian Berry for their “X Photographers” world map.
Sony says they want to appeal to professionals but they need people that have gravitas in their industries.
Every year, in the small town of Perpignan in the South of France, Canon (a major sponsor) has a hall where they display the work of their ‘explorers of light’. They have photographers from VII Photo agency as well as less pleasurable people like Rankin in their ‘They shoot Canon’ list.
So Sony, why would your marketing and PR team not be willing to work with people whose work is endorsed in international media and have the influence that inspires generations of photographers and videographers? Why Panasonic, your most obvious rival for NEX, has Philip Bloom and Daniel Beherulak showcasing their flagship M43 cam? Howcome Fuji also knows who to approach? Is it because people in their companies know that the photography industry is not just about camera features but also about the faces of those who use it? Steve Huff, a mediocre photographer with a big mouth, has surely helped Leica sell a few of those M9’s.
I have come to this site after buying into the NEX system to replace a trustworthy Canon system. I gravitated to Canon when the 5DmkII was the only cam that had a 135 sized sensor and also had video. I bought into their finest lenses and used them to get my work done. I wanted something smaller and finally the NEX 7 and 5n offered me a great deal of features that I saw no need to keep my Canon gear. I was looking into the A99 but I am not into SLR/SLT sizes anymore. I am interested in the RX1 because the size of this camera and the focal length are appealing to me. But this is me and I am a very pragmatic buyer. Many are not.
The problem I see is that your marketing and PR departments must be lost. Your tools can be used in such a broad range of photography but you fail to provide exceptional samples of what it ‘can’ really do. Many of the NEX 7 at the beginning were rather average and you may have noticed that people complained about noise, about too much resolution, about AF speed and accuracy and so on. The reality of it is, at least for me, that none of the photography showed that the camera could achieve great ISO results because no one that worked with it bothered in pursuing the highest technical achievable result. For that reason alone, I went ahead and bought it ‘with faith’ because I had to see it myself if it can delivery or if it was a cam packed with superlatives and unable to deliver. I was happy I bought it because I found something I really like to use and the results it gave me.
I am yet to see something truly great that showcases what the a99 ‘CAN’ really do. Same goes for the RX1. Mobile phone videos of the cameras in hand with a few average jpeg shots here and there do not help your cause. See an earlier post in this website (where the bar shots are shown) and see the reaction the a99 gets. It should not be so mixed.
Here, a set of agencies of which its artists and photographers may appeal to you:
* Art and Commerce
* Magnum Photos
* Reportage by Getty Images
* Lisa Pritchard
* VII Photos
* Panos
* Sebastiao Salgado (he only used Leica on conctract but he actually likes Pentax -> you may be able to get him to join your boat)
* Pieter Hugo
* Michael Kenna
* Larry Towell
* Jonas Bendiksen (used to endorse Canon when their first 5D came out)
All the best,
???
Excellent post! Totally agree with you. At the very least, Matthew Jordan Smith should be in the center of their campaign. He’s very recognizable and a genuine Sony advocate (I spoke to him in several occasions)
I would also add the agency Vaughan Hannigan. http://vh-artists.com/index.html#/photographers
Great number of photographers, including Erik Almas and Martin Schoeller.
Looking forward to the A99!
– Joe | fotosiamo.com
No MICHAEL Jordan should be at the center of their campaign. Anything with his name on it sells for outrageously inflated prices. Make it so.
Maybe better send it to Sony, not SAR 😉
Nice, well-written post. +1.
I really wish someone from Sony marketing division would read this and take into his heart.
Yea – this doesn’t bring crowds into the system, but it brings experienced photographers who will draw crowds – either by blog posts, samples, or giving direct advices in person.
It would also be nice if Sony gave their cameras to photographers to test and listened to them…
They do – seems like you missed quite a few rumours recently, and here you clearly can see that Sony took some of notes into account – eg. we got 3-batteries grip, noiseless control, improvements for EVF, headphones jack & sound controls, good, wide vertical grip, even this idiotic new hotshoe – all the things that were asked by many people, including SAR readers.
Maybe it’s time for Sony to do another awesome Alpha Clock project with more places and videos for each place. I like their “Light and Wind” videos.
It’s a long read but its well worth the read. You are right.
I am yet to see nice photos coming out of those cameras too and I already pre-ordered the RX1…like you…’with faith’.
The question is why wasn’t it available for Photokina – it was clearly intended to partner the A99.
Incidentally that lens in the photo really is a prototype – it has no internal elements.
Luminous Landscape:
It’s hard to credit, but our sources tell us that the Sony A99 will be under $2,800 and more incredibly the Nikon D600 under $2,100 when they launch. Sony likely won’t be able to hold that price point, and we estimate that both will end up around $2,000 by Christmas, 2012.
The Nikon D600 is about $1,500 after you sell the kit lens. The Sony A99 is still right at $2,800.
SIGH! Stubborn Sony!
Negotiations have begun with the financial manager of the household 🙂
LOL, she who must be obeyed…
Hahaha good luck! Hope you end with a great agreement 😛
ahhh, sony is finally starting to make more very high quality lens for their future full frame camera! 🙂
what do you mean by “finally” ? They did it for ages.
not too familiar with the history of Zeiss 50mm, but i am happy with my Sigma 50mm F1.4 for less than $500USD, love the colour, bokeh, HSM motor, built is good in my book. What can i expect from a Zeiss?
Its simple comparision: nissan gtr with ferrari italia both fast both beautiful but only one made but ferrari. Tried 85 Sigma and it is a piece of crap in comparision to 85ZA. Minoltasony 50 loeses to sigma and sigma loses to zeiss.
My vote for 1000 usd price
comparisons to cars are never simple.
But why 72 !!!!!! mm Filter???? Bulky like a 1,2/1,4-85 mm
Useless….
ok, thanks Mict, any practical comparison? what we want is just good IQ, i dont care how the lens looks, the Sigma does have HSM, what i want to know is what the Zeiss is capable of delivering while my sigma 50 can’t? sorry, i have never own a Zeiss, if somebody can explain to me, that would be great.
the Sigma use 77mm too, so 72 isn’t a problem, as long as it doesn’t reach 82, thats going to be an odd size..
Nobody cant explain in numbers but this zeiss’s are magical in terms of clarity, color and images they can produce. I will buy planar 50 and will wait for 35 distagon cause this lenses complement my vision.
ahhh…lovely lens but I own already the 85 and 135mm.
any macro from Zeiss?
I certainly hope its not same as Planar for ZE or ZF. That lens is nice, with character, but from pure technical PoV its pretty much.. crap. :/ Low resolution wide-open, haze/glow, CA, extreme field curvate and quite a lot of vignetting on top of it. Its lens for niché market of ppl which want “lens with look”. Not for ppl which would like Zeissy technicaly perfect lens.
it is only F1.4, but why it is soooo huge? why not to create it with 55mm thread or less? what the point?
I suppose 50 looks similar to 85 and uses same filters
Have you seem the Sigma 50mm 1.4? 😛 A 55mm frontispiece for the ZA 50mm would be a supreme insult. Why go mediocre? Go stellar!
It is not about size of front element it is about accuracy and picture style. I understood this years trying to find best system ZA Zeisses 135, 85, 24 are awesome.
Sigma is a piece of crap – they need an adjustment right after purchase. I had 50 1.4 and i know what i am talking about.
I am masturbating right now. Take more pics!!!
OMG, this is huge. Just to catch up the perfection of Summilux 50 ASPH in package of terrible size. That shows how wrong SLR limited design is. Drop it!
bellow 1000$ I bet this lens will be 1500$
Looks very similar to my Canon 50L.. both 72, both bulky. If I didn’t already have my 50L and 5dmkii I would get this for my A77. Looks sexy! I think I’ll get the CZ135 as my next CZ however.
Any news yet?