Our readers from Hong Kong just dropped us a line to say that Sony Hong Kong officially marked the Sony 50mm f/1.4 lens as “discontinued”. Can I stretch that hope to a Carl Zeiss Sonnar-Plannar 50mm F/1.4 SSM? P.S: Zeiss already produces a manual 50mm f/1.4 lens for Canon/Nikon/Pentax
P.S.: The lens is in still in Stock at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
47 Responses
Please let it be a CZ with SSM and preferably F1.2
I would cream my pants if that was to be released.
It’s unlikely though, as a replacement would most likely be in the same price range as before, a CZ 50mm f/1.2 SSM would definately not be available for such a low price like that.
It needs to be 1.4. We have the ultra cheap 1.8 DT, a 1.2 full-frame lens would just be far too expensive. A modern 50/1.4 would please far more people/sell more.
the last CZ 55mm f/1.2 MF (!) i had seen was sold for more than 4k …
If they release such a thing with SSM and Sony badge, think of a price tag above 2k. I do not believe, that this will happen in the near future.
In the past, errors on asian web sites of sony are common, so stay cool, till this info is confirmed.
I believe its more likely to be a CZ f1,4 vs. a f1,2 in order to be more universal. Otherwise, it would be a more specialized lens and competing with the f1,4 85mm, which is not one of the lenses that’s discounted for the holidays. As it is, and based on the focal length, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go for $1299
~Dan
Please note that SonyStyle is not equal to Sony! On SonyStyle products often go out of stock and come back after some time. Sony Japan still lists the 50/1.4 as a current product.
No – Sonystyle HK would say “out of stock” if it was simply out of stock.
who know..50mm f1.4 SAM!
same design with 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8, 30m f2.8…
Hummm, bad news 🙁
So now we will have a 1,000+ EUR Zeiss lens instead of a very good and affordable 400 EUR Sony(Minolta actually).
Sucks to be us…
Buy one if you want one? It’s not difficult to find either the Sony 50/1.4 or the Minolta 50/1.4.
old Sony 50mm will still be in shops for quite a while, so no worries 🙂
The minolta badged ones are still available on E-bay… so this one isn’t going out of stock soon.
Unfortunately, Sony discontinuing something doesn’t necessarily mean its replacement is imminent.
I’d be game for an f1.2, though.
“Unfortunately, Sony discontinuing something doesn’t necessarily mean its replacement is imminent.”
Hear-hear!
lol, yeah: the a700 has been long defunkt.
“Please let it be a CZ with SSM and preferably F1.2”
+1000
WOW… really?! Now that’s a great news!
Now we have 2 options full of awesomeness:
– Sony 50mm f/1.4 G SSM – finally ultrasonic motor added! *holds thumbs*
– Zeiss 50mm f/1.2 (+SSM?) – pure WOW lens.
In either way – we gonna win. Let’s just hope price will be acceptable 🙂 (and: no, 1000EUR isn’t an acceptable price)
If the replacement is SSM, I may buy it. No need CZ, G will do.
As someone who owns the Minolta 50 f/1.4 all I can say is good riddance.
It’s was a fine lens on my Minolta 9000 in 1986, and I used it a great deal for available light shots; But on my a850 not so good.
It would be nice to see a Zeiss f/1.4 or better, but I also could be an addition to the recent “low cost” selection like this summer’s 85mm.
Or maybe both a quality Zeiss and a budget model, That would be very smart of Sony!
I just checked-out the Sony US website and both the 50f/1.4 AND the 50f/1.8 are listed as “out of stock”.
And just maybe that’s all that it really is…
But as we all know, many of the current lenses are rebranded Minolta or third party designs.
It’s time for Sony to update and add new lenses if Sony hopes to grab market share from Nikon and Canon.
Actually, only 1/3 of sony lenses are rebadged / 3rd party lenses.
Zeiss and G lenses count for about 1/3, most of the DT and recent primes were developed by Sony and thats also about 1/3 of their models.
No – Sonystyle HK would say “out of stock” if it was simply out of stock.
Personally I would love it is Zeiss planar 50 1.4 ZA. As Zeiss did for Canon and Nikon…So that I will not stick together to ZS 🙁
Humm…new lenses always welcome. Rumors about a new kit lens also…
Yes, you are correct.
I forget about the DT lenses as I can’t use them on a full-frame body.
Almost pulled the trigger a couple of times in the last month ($384CAD), but decided to hold out as I suspect a rplacement soon. Would really like SSM, but SAM will do. I agree hopefully it won’t be replaced with a $1,000+ Zeiss. As nice as they are, I can’t afford to fill my bag with all Zeiss glass. Hopefully the 85 1.4 and 135 1.8 will get a refresh with SSM soon as well.
It’s interesting that all 3; 50/1.4, 85/1.4, 135/1.8, were all on sale over Xmas. Fingers crossed.
…as was the new ZA 24 2.0 SSM and the 85 2.8 SAM so hard to say there is a trend there.
this just makes the rumor that Zeiss is coming out with 5 FF glass for A mount something more legit
Oh please no SAM. 50 f/1.4 is a flagship normal lens and SSM is a must.
+1
Not true. Still available in sony HK shop.
http://www.sonystyle.com.hk/ss/product/alpha_lens/sal_50f14_c_ae_e.jsp
http://www.sonystyle.com.hk/products/apps/product/simplePage.do?modelCode=84371350&lang=en is the link they give you when you click on the price. Weird.
So what’s this – two conflicting page sites?
I’m just hoping a replacement will be weather sealed.
Ummm…yeah…
This reminds me of when you said the Alpha 900 was discontinued, which it was not. The 50mm f1.4 has not been discontinued, nor will it ever be. Period.
SSM? really? I would be surprised to see that!
So we have a rumor that Sony will increase prices of Zeiss lenses in US, a scarcity of those lenses, and now a discontinuation of 50mm f1.4. To me, this adds up to a CZ 50mm f1.4 SSM in the pipeline, and SSM versions of all of the CZ lenses on the way too – hence the price increases. Really a new 35mm f1.4 is needed as well, no?
Well, neither the 85 nor the 135 can be made SSM with any reasonable performance, so don’t get yer hopes up on this one.
Nothing beats the 50mm f1.4 in Sony line price and quality wise on FF. I personally wouldn’t mind if it were SSM, a bit more rugged and as sharp as CZ 85mm at F1.4, but I’m fine with it as it is. Definitely not a $1000 lens, i’d rather get CZ135mm and keep the 50 I have
There is no way Sony will discontinue the 50/1.4 without a suitable replacement in terms of speed, quality AND price. All three, other wise it will leave a gap wider then the lack of the A700 replacement.
I love my 50, it’s bleeding sharp and the level of detail captured is blistering. I may have a great copy but even the evil DPR rated this as sharpest amongst it’s peers (and over the Minolta version as well)
It would be horrible if they would place their top of the line 50mm with SAM motor. They really should have already realized a SSM motor one.
Well, the $800 28-75 has SAM …
And with that price it’s not really a budget lens or something.
(Although it’s a huge ripoff, since it’s a rebadge of the Tamron, which is almost a half cheaper …)
I’m still amazed of this thought. Even screwdrive would be more reasonable with this lens than the SAM.
Anything but manual…
@ BMan: indeed I grabbed a Tamron for myself. Why should I pay so much more for a SAM? For that price I would expect SSM + tough build.
50mm 1.2 is what im waiting for….
It must be better than Sigma 50mm 1.4….
Exactly what I was thinking! Is the 50mm f1.2 coming? Imagine video with that lens!