So it’s true. Sony really now has the strategy to announce the stuff after the big shows 🙂
Next week on Wednesday March 4 at around 5-7 am London time Sony will announce the new 24-240mm FE lens (this means you can preorder it the very same day). And now Digicameinfo reports that also the Zeiss FE 35mm f/1.4 and the Sony 28mm f/2.0 should be announced very soon (I Guess the same day!). As usual you can follow the live blogging of the lens announcement on SAR (5-7am London time of March 4).
Digicameinfo and also one of my sources told me that maybe the 90mm FE macro lens will be announced later (not on March 4). That’s why it’s also not listed among the other lenses by the Hong Store who already accepts preorders on three new FE lenses. The images you see here are the official product photos of the new lenses.
[shoplink 33732 ebay]Zeiss FE 35mm f/1.4 for $1,729 (Click here to see it)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33744 ebay]Sony FE 24-240mm lens for $1,099 (Click here to see it)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33745 ebay]Sony FE 28mm f/2.0 lens for $459 (Click here to see it)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 33753 ebay]Sony 16mm Fisheye Converter for $319 (Click here to see it)[/shoplink].
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77 Responses
Seems appropriate
The 28mm/F2 is very nice in spec and size. Let’s see if it is also sharp enough.
Could be a decent option for Astro also assuming coma is controlled at F2
Agreed.
http://public.media.smithsonianmag.com/legacy_blog/astro-and-lectronimo-sm.jpg
Good for APS-C too
Booo. I want my macro!
Me too. I might even pay full launch price if it’s reasonable.
I hope the macro is there.
any camera stuff being announced that day?
whoa 1800 for the 35mm 1,4? ouch, that hurts
Relax, it’s just the usual ebay pre-order price gouging (using recycled photos from cp+).
Does that mean the other lens prices are also being gouged? As in the 28mm FE may be less than the $459 listed on eBay?
people who tell others to RELAX are usually the wound-up psychotics. have a nice day
I think it will be equivalent to OTUS for Sony.
It is using the Zeiss Distagon lens design therefore it will be awesome and awesome lens.
It will surpass Sigma’s lens design and kick it out of the DXO chart for the sharpess 35mm lens.
It will have an autofocus, a de-click aperture ring, new and advanced zeiss lens coatings. Combined this with Sony’s top secret sensor design that is soon to be announced and it will be a killer combo for video shooters, landscape and street togs.
Use drugs much ?
Awesome . My bet its 1399.00 US for the 35mm 1.4. Im all over it
i can get behind that price! 1800… nope
Let’s do some basic math. We know that the 55 FE 1.8 Zeiss glass is
$999, while the 50 E 1.8 glass is at $299. There is a 334% markup
between the two glass, assuming that the 5mm focal difference is
negligible, you can assume the markup accounts for a) E vs FE mount. b)
Zeiss badge. Now you take the 35 E 1.8, which costs $449, multiply it
by the markup of 334%, you end up with exactly $1,500. Therefore, I
conservatively estimate the lens to be priced at $1,599 due to wider
aperture, with a minimum price possibility of $1,499.
That is not a fair comparison as the difference in the quality of output between those two lenses is great. I own both and can assure you they are no where close and I offer some advice, never buy a really sharp lens as it will make all your other lenses including the old E-Mount 50mm look like crap! 🙂
While I understand the point you are trying to make, this analysis is independent of lens IQ. As you may have noticed, the price is lightly influenced by comprehensive IQ but rather the Zeiss badge and manufacturing complexity. e.g. the 24-70 FE Zeiss lens IQ is poor, while commanding a 240% markup vs the 28-70 FE.
Is there OSS in 28mm? thanks!
Negative
ok that just broke my heart. im stuck with 24-70mm f/4 FE. I need something lighter for gliding. I’m now looking at SEL10-18 f/4 w/ OSS. Do you recommend that?
Or maybe I will just wait for the new Zeiss 25mm f/2 with OSS?
You know 10-18 is aps-c lens?
True, but apparently the image circle covers FF from 14-16mm.
I will still get 1080p 60fps with less rolling shutter on crop mode on my A7S right or nah?
Yes. You will also get more resolution in crop mode at 60p, the 10-18mm would make quite a bit of sense for that usage.
You could check out http://www.leica-boss.com/2014/05/sony-a7r-a-better-aps-c-camera-than-the-sony-a77/ or http://briansmith.com/sony-a7r-10-18-e-mount-lens/ with regards to the SEL1018 with the A7R
No Zeiss primes will have OSS.
Nope.
no prime should ever have OSS unless its something like a 135
I am really longing for some true alpha A-mount news. We have gone 2 1/2 years without the introduction of any new full frame A-mount camera in the Sony lineup.
With how good the E mount bodies are selling, and the fully saturated DSLR (A-mount) market, there is almost no incentive for Sony to continue the R&D into A mount. The best thing they can do right now is to initiate some sort of trade-in program for those who bought into A mount ecosystem.
So why not make an a7 or a9 like camera with a true A-mount? It seems like a no-brainer (unless they are trying to force A-mount owners to buy new lenses (or converters)).
I am not sure what you mean by this statement. Do you mean taking an A7 and attach an A mount instead of E mount? It would defeat the purpose because the minimum flange distance will force the design to be the exact same size as an A7 with an LA-EA4 attached to it. Why design something with less flexibility when there is already an existing solution? The value proposition here may be positive for those who invested in heavily in A mount, but is definitely in the negative for Sony.
Not to belabor the point (maybe I already have) but wouldn’t there be value to Sony in having those who have invested heavily in A-mount stay in the fold and purchase new cameras instead of buying nothing and/or defecting to the Nikon-Canon ranks? The LA-EA4 is a nice alternative, but it is still a band-aid. I would prefer to purchase a professional class camera that is meant to fit my lenses. If Sony abandons the A-mount road because there is no value proposition in it, it will be time to abandon Sony.
^^ Exactly I bought the LA-EA4 adapter and have zero E mount lenses but 2 E mount bodies as I felt the A99 is too old to pay a premium for.
However there are plenty of quirks that Sony failed to mention when I bought this band aid. First off no flash has an AF assist lamp when using either E mount lenses or A mount lenses via the LA-EA4 adapter.
So in dark light I need to use my crop Sony body just because my A7 + 24-70mm f2.8 can’t focus for nuts !
Ill have to buy one of those video lights just to add some ambient light for the camera to focus but thats extra bulk and weight.
If Sony doesn’t come up with a better solution within the next few years ill have no real option but to take a big hit and sell off all my Sony gear and move to Nikon or Canon. Its not something I look forward to do since I love the Sony system but Sony isn’t making it easy for people to stick with their system.
Andrea, any rumors regarding 135 f1.8 ver 2 update? Best Zeiss lens with SSM. I believe you were writing something before.
I’d like an update on this too
Once the new ZA zooms are released they will make an update on their next lenses.
Weren’t those lenses also announced and shown back at Photokina?
It was a development announcement. No prices or specs were released. Come on, it’s not THAT difficult!
Yeah but these lense were available for viewing at the most recent show. So this announcement is more like told you we were going to make these and now you can order them. However, I am sure there is going to be something new here. They let nikon get a jump on the higher mp cameras, they can’t let canon leap frog them too. Sony’s camera might not be better than canon’s but I am pretty sure their images from the camera will be.
Canon announced their 50MP WAY before it was ready because they didn’t want the same thing to happen as when the 5D III and d800 were announced where they had to scramble out their announcement. Canon are just trying to get a jump on the others.
Actually canon has a history of announcing their products way ahead of their availability. The 1dx was announced like 6 months before the actual release date. Sony seems to come up with more surprises but released them fairly close to their announcement.
Anyone think the FE 35 1.4 is weather-sealed?
At that price it better be!
Yeah all the new FE lenses are.
Since lens prices seem to be rising, I thought what the heck, and bought an 85mm Otus for my brother (Canon user).
He says that it is a seamless lens, absolutely no problems or even weaknesses. With these prices, I figured who cares, just buy the absolute best, because it isn’t that much more expensive. I know if you don’t have the money then of course it is an issue, but if you do, I think it’s a no-brainer.
I told him that if he ever sells it I get the proceeds, and that if he pre-deceases me I get it, unless he has kids he wants to leave it to.
Cool story bro, but what has it got to do with this announcement?
He just wanted to show off the fact that he could afford the Otus, and that everyone else here are just peasants.
No, what I was trying to say (poorly) was that the pricing seems a bit strange to me.
$1600-$1800 for the FE 35/1.4? I got the Otus for just over twice that. It’s like getting a Veyron for only twice as much as some capable but mass-produced performance auto.
Add to that, that the actual difference in cost was only about 2k–for an 85, not a 35. Yes the Otus was “used”, but the difference for new wouldn’t be much more. 2k, not 250k or 2.5M. That’s a cheap premium for “the very best” in any field. My wife has a handbag–a HANDBAG–worth 10x that. A friend of mine just bought a fairing for his snow machine that cost more than that.
Like I said, if you don’t have the dough–and for a long, long time, I didn’t–this is all b.s. But if you do, the premium for the best is hard to not justify. I’m not rich, and I do consider re-sale. Zeiss FE? Forget about it. Otus EF? Any day.
And I haven’t used it–I haven’t even seen it, I bought it from an estate dealer, we knew the previous owner. My brother says it has no weaknesses.
$1800 for an FE 35/1.8? No thanks.
I have the otus brothers. They’re ok. I passed them off to the kid to play with since I went medium format. He takes pictures for school stuff and just messing around the house. For the price, you might as well right?
It’s a good thing Sony re-named the NEX to Alpha as well else this site might have had nothing to post for a very long time now ;-(
Come on Sony it seems obvious you are not focused on the original “Alpha” range any more? Just come out and let your users know so I can dump the system and find something else, I’m still holding onto ‘HOPE’ but I must say feeling very disappointed and not very confident any more 🙁
They didn’t rename NEX to Alpha, they renamed it to ILCE. The Alpha designation has been used for all system cameras, both A- and E-mount, since the beginning.
For example, the complete model name of NEX-5 was Sony Alpha NEX-5. There has always been an alpha sign printed on the camera bodies. The current model is called Sony Alpha ILCE-5100, or just Sony A5100 if you want to keep it short.
Likewise, the SLT in the model names has been changed to ILCA.
Understand what you saying but I guess I could have used another word to describe this such as Sony never use to refer to the NEX range of camera’s as Alpha, I never noticed a single advert referring to it as Alpha as the ‘branding’ of Alpha was always “A Mount” in the past, now it’s both A and E which is confusing for just about every common user I know including many users on this blog which I would consider many to be more advanced users as well..
It’s a mess and the point is it’s very sad to see Sony treating the legendary “A Mount/Minolta” series like they are..
The biggest source of confusion when NEX was dropped was naming the models a#### / a# since the a-mount cameras under Sony were always a###/a##. It would have been much clearer if they went with e7 / e6000. I believe the confusion on Sony’s part is intentional to blur the lines as a single system as a-mount is slowly and eventually absorbed into e-mount (fewer bodies -> more lens adapters).
Well Said Christopher…
So this exciting news is about the lenses that Sony already announced they would make but now we can order it. That is going to be their big announcement after the show? That is like canon having another announcement for the already announced cameras that will be shipping in June. So this is just an availability thing. Wake me when something new is announced.
funny thing..if you look at the sony lens roadmap, all those lenses should have been available already in 2014. Its almost March 2015 and they’re not even announced yet 🙂
might be fiscal year which ends apr. 1
Japanese fiscal year starts in April and ends in march.
aha…fair enough…
Behold, the beautiful 35/1.4 will (de)k(l)ick-your-@$$!
For what kind of use would you buy (if intinterested) the 28 F2? Why is so “cheap” compared to a 35 mm lens?
Interested*
Sorry for the bad typing
Well first off its not a Zeiss branded lens so probably it won’t be as sharp or as contrasty as the best lenses in the business. And at 28mm its not a very common focal length like 24mm, 35mm, 50mm etc.
Now its still a prime lens so it should be razor sharp once stopped down a bit and reasonably sharp wide open.
28mm is uncommon? I can’t think of a major camera manufacturer who doesn’t make a 28mm lens. It used to be the standard wide angle (24mm was more of a specialty) and the standard zoom lens was a 28-75 until quite recently when 24-70 started to appear.
Yep, it was always part of holy trinity -> 28-50-90 (or 27-50-85). Those give you great coverage in terms of angle of view and situations one find her/himself in.
That’s also what I have for most of my systems.
I would say back in the seventies it was the 50, 28, 135mm basic set, at later it became the 50, 28, 70-210 (before 2.8 became popular) that most people ran around with. But things have changed since, and now 35mm has become way way more popular, especially as you can’t get a 50mm kit lens anymore.
Well its not a sought after focal length. In the early days even 24mm was not easy to design and hence most 28mm lenses are old optical designs.
Canon breathed some life into that focal length with their 28mm f2 IS lens but I doubt that lens has seen much sales.
28mm was the go-to wide back in the day.
Zeiss label without the Otus designation next to it is like a marathon runner without any legs. Pass!
another brilliant comment from the peanut gallery
Salted peanuts I hope.
Zeiss names their own lenses. This is a Sony lens and they name their lenses. Otus or Loxia is to Zeiss as G or Zeiss is to Sony.
So they’re making an announcement of something that was already announced last year, but this time, you can preorder instead of ordering the lens right away? okaaay…