Sony SEL55F18Z.AE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens - Black

Product Information

Notice the very minor flaring on the bottom of the image frame: ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 320, 1/200, f/16.0 9) Chromatic Aberration

A minimum focus distance of 50cm / 1.6' and a maximum magnification ratio of 0.17x doesn't make the lens particularly useful for shooting close subjects, although the fast maximum aperture does at least make it easy to isolate the subject. Bokeh It has a very large rotation angle which enables precise focusing and moves smoothly without any play. Two different focusing aids are provided - auto magnification and focus peaking. The 55mm focal length gives an angle of view of 52.9° degrees, which is equivalent to a focal length of 44mm on a 35mm full-frame sensor camera. Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberration is pretty low. There'll be some green/magenta fringing visible towards the extreme corners of the frame if you look closely, but it's unlikely to be hugely objectionable. It will be automatically corrected in the camera's JPEGs, too.

Measuring just 64.4mmx70.5mm, the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA is a very small and lightweight lens which perfectly captures the original intent of compactness of Sony’s mirrorless camera system. In use, the lens makes for a perfect companion to the Sony A7 series of cameras and is a joy to use during extended shooting sessions as you rarely feel you’re even carrying a camera with you. At the front of the lens is a non-rotating 49mm filter thread, surrounded by a bayonet mount for the lens hood supplied with the lens. The petal shaped hood is well made and attaches firmly. It’s quite large and nearly doubles the overall length of the lens but does a great job of protecting the front element. The 55mm f/1.8 has three aspherical elements, but its internal design is otherwise quite simple, helping to make for such a small lens. Our sample images indicate that to be the case, with very little barrel or pincushion distortion visible. Macro A soft cloth bag, front and rear lens caps, and a large plastic petal-shaped lens hood are supplied as standard in the box. Focal Range The focusing ring is very wide, buttery smooth and beautifully well-damped in action without being loose, and it has a ridged, rubberised grip band. There are no “hard stops” at either end of the 50cm-infinity focus range though.

Comments

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The lens exhibits a strong amount of vignetting, with light falloff reaching around 2.5 stops with the lens used wide open at f/1.8. One stop down, things greatly improve with there now being about 1.5 stops of corner shading. By f/5.6, this number further improves with the lens exhibiting less than one stop of darkening in the corners. ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 250, 1/500, f/1.8 8) Flaring It is comprised of 14 elements in 10 groups including including two ED elements and two aspherical elements and it's the first ever GF lens to have 11 rounded aperture blades for ultra-smooth bokeh. Take complete creative control of your images with PIXMA and imagePROGRAF PRO professional photo printers. Seeking the best printer for your business? Hit your productivity targets with inkjet and laser printers that are a perfect fit for any workspace – including home offices.Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are apparent in very high-contrast images, particularly when shooting wide-open at f/1.7. Light Fall-off With a maximum diameter of 94.7mm, a length of 99.3mm and a weight of 780g / 1.72 lb, the Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR is relatively compact and lightweight considering the very fast maximum aperture of f/1.7 that it offers. Optically the Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR lens is comprised of 14 elements in 10 groups including two ED elements and two aspherical elements and it accepts 77mm filters via metal threads. Focusing is usefully internal and manual focusing is possible when set via the camera body. Full-time manual focus override is available at any time simply by rotating the focus ring, if specified in the menu system, or you can set the focusing switch on the camera body to M, C or S.

Having four different options isn’t surprising given the broad appeal of the 50mm focal length across a range of different photographic disciplines including portraiture, fashion, documentary, architectural and travel photography. The Sony FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA lens is situated in the middle of the lineup, sitting above the entry-level FE 50mm f/1.8 and below the faster, bigger and more expensive FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA lens.Thanks to the inclusion of In-body stabilization or IBIS in Sony’s mirrorless camera bodies, their lenses don’t need to have built-in image stabilization to be stabilized. As such, the Sony FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA isn’t optically stabilized but it does benefit from the IBIS system of the Sony camera it’s mounted on and I found that I could achieve consistently sharp shots at shutter speeds of around 1/10 of a second while hand-holding the lens. This number dramatically drops at lower shutter speeds. Still, having image stabilization in such a small lens is a fantastic feature and one of the main selling points of the Sony system. 6) Bokeh As with all of the the other GF lenses that we've previously reviewed, the build quality of the Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR is excellent. The lens is dust, freeze and moisture resistant and it features a metal bayonet. Vignetting is kept pretty well under control, at 1.6 stops wide open, which is perfectly respectable for a fast prime. The falloff profile is rather gradual too, which tends to make any vignetting less visually objectionable. For those who are more budget conscious there is a direct competitor in the Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 lens. The FE 50mm f/1.8 costs just one-fourth of the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA and shares the same max aperture. While they are both f/1.8 lenses, the Zeiss branded lens is considerably sharper than the Sony FE 50 f/1.8 when they are both used wide open. This is especially noticeable in the periphery of the frame where the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA is much better. The gap between the two closes at f/2.8 but the edge clearly remains with the more expensive lens. The FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA is also much better built and features a much better focusing system. Overall, the two lenses aren’t genuinely comparable, with the Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 providing a solid budget-oriented performance while the FE 55mm f/1.8 remains a professional grade option. ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 250, 1/2000, f/1.8