Photoclubalpha

Hi everyone,

As the subject title suggests I'd like to know which prime you'd choose to purchase; one reaches farther and the latter is brighter and faster. They are very similar in price range but I'd like to buy only one of them for the moment.

Any information from those with experience with these lenses would be welcome. (Espeically on A100, A700 and A900 please)

There's also mention of Carl-Zeiss lenses being remodelled/restructured with SSM for Alphas as is pointed in Bossel's thread. Is there any information on this ? Should we wait in case these new lenses are much better or go ahead and buy what's proved good so far as far as the above models are concerned?

Thanks,
Yildiz

They're two very different focal lengths, but similar in that 85mm on APS-C is almost the same as 135mm on FF. On APS-C the 135mm would be almost unusably long for portraits, and the 85mm would be the better choice if that's what you do most often. It would give you two good portrait lengths on a700 or a900. I've taken some portraits with my beercan around 75-90mm that I liked a lot and wished I'd had more control of depth of field. I don't know what I'd do with 135mm...it might be my choice if I already owned an a900 and an old Minolta 85mm G lens. Hopefully you can get the advice of a sports/wildlife shooter on here as well.

Thank you Kevin,

I see your point that it all will make sense with the right camera choice and the range of shooting material. I'll consider what you stated.

Thanks, much appreciated.
Yildiz

Hi,

After doing a little research and reading some owners' reviews on these lenses, I learned that both of the lenses may be slow at nailing focus but when they do focus the outcome is a superb photo. Some owners state that the 'slowness' is due to faulty copies of the lenses and that their copies are just fine.

Can this be really confirmed, that these two lenses have and will have a tendecy to focus slowly or is the issue same as Carl-Zeiss 16-80mm: there are some less-than-good copies in general I must do quality check with each item?

Thanks
Yildiz

Just a hint Yildiz.
Do you remember all those shots of A900 before its announcement? One was with the 135 CZ. So think about it.

Hi Dr Harout,

I know how superb the image quality of 135mm is whether on A900, A700, or even A100, hence the reason I wish to purchase one. But the question was raised when someone complained about the hunting which slowed the process of focusing. This can affect the workflow, especially cause delay and during action shoots the missing of a whole series of good opportunities.

I just wanted to know if this 'slow or endless hunting' was something that was prone to all samples of these lenses in general or should we look upon this as rare and fixable? I don't want to have to go through many samples until finding 'the one' that works flawlessly and in efficient workflow.

Thanks
Yildiz

Well, Yildiz, actually I haven't heard of such a thing for A700, even heard and read somewhere about the opposite for A900.
You could just give them a try at Sony store/showroom in your city. You'll love them.

By the way there are some rumors about launching some existing Zeiss lenses with SSM

Hi,

Photoclubalpha forum member bossel aka Thomas from France created a thread on rumours of SSM upgrades for Alphas of well-known Carl-Zeiss lenses a while ago. Here's the link to his topic:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... f=27&t=798

But I haven't seen or heard anything since then, so I was wondering: Any insider's opinion or info on this? Because it's bound to make some thoughts change during selection/weighing of lenses. Some say SSM would slow down Carl-Zeiss lenses and some differ by saying Zeiss would foresee the problems-if any- and integrate a new system to overcome any inconveniences...

All just hear-say for me at the moment, I have no solid links to offer.. I'm sorry.

Yildiz

aster wrote:Photoclubalpha forum member bossel aka Thomas from France created a thread on rumours ...

Don't shoot the messanger! The rumour comes from a french photo magazine and I have just shared it. It seems they were wrong, at least for Photokina there was nothing like fitting SSM into the 'older' Zeisses.

bossel wrote:

aster wrote:Photoclubalpha forum member bossel aka Thomas from France created a thread on rumours ...

Don't shoot the messanger! The rumour comes from a french photo magazine and I have just shared it. It seems they were wrong, at least for Photokina there was nothing like fitting SSM into the 'older' Zeisses.

I would never even dream of shooting you for anything Thomas!!
What you brought up was only what you read...it's OK.

Have a nice day and thanks,
Yildiz

Thomas, as that messenger at dawn, 10 persons will shoot you from head to toe... with A900s

Me at 24 mpics Where you can see each tiny blob or rush on my skin? Maybe you should get an A900 as a medical tool for your office

bossel wrote:Me at 24 mpics Where you can see each tiny blob or rush on my skin? Maybe you should get an A900 as a medical tool for your office

Oh, I have that intention, and I would suggest the same to you, before money becomes plain paper
But shhhh, say no one before someone accuses us in fanboyism...

bossel wrote:

aster wrote:Photoclubalpha forum member bossel aka Thomas from France created a thread on rumours ...

Don't shoot the messanger! The rumour comes from a french photo magazine and I have just shared it. It seems they were wrong, at least for Photokina there was nothing like fitting SSM into the 'older' Zeisses.

Oh, la-la: another french plot!

The 85mm f1.4 G is slow focusing too: too much glass to move?

It will be nice if they come out with a 85mm 1.8 SSM for $400

pakodominguez wrote:It will be nice if they come out with a 85mm 1.8 SSM for $400

My words, we need a 'cheap' F2 or F1.8 line of lenses, like 24/2 - 35/2 - 50/2 - 85/2 - 100/2 (well here we're slowly moving into more expensive areas).