Photoclubalpha

It seems so, so far. Manual focusing works like a charm. Though I'd like to have the magnification button at a more handy position, I still think I'm not going to use it too often once I get more 'at home' with the setup...

They say that's a fine lens and a great bargain for shooters. From what I've seen it looks very decent to me

The lens has been behaving quite nicely, so I just bought her a new body

I really think that a55 is the best match for that lens due to ease of MF with that EVF.

APS or FF?

Gotta ask...

How important is critical focus with a 14mm lens anyway? I would think a good guess would cover a multitude of sins.

The cynic in me says, if you can't guess; set it at 20 feet

I believe a friend of mine has this lens on his Canon 5D and swears by it... not at it. He says it focuses past infinity but once he factored this in, it’s easy to get very sharp shots. I haven't seen any images to verify this however.

Bruce

Bruce, if that lens is used on FF, the focusing is far less critical, obviously. But with APS, especially for indoor use at f/2.8, it's quite important to focus it right.
This lens is actually the sharpest 14mm I ever seen on APS, and it even produces a very pleasant bokeh with close focus at f/2.8.
So it really deserves a special attitude it gets with that a55 body.

Pako, this setup can do much more than a 16mm Nex. The disadvantages are the size and no AF.

And for the street photography in good light you really may have the lens preset at some 3m at f/11. (And you can use the same settings in low light since the sensor data survives very deep underexposure.)

I went to Adorama a couple of months ago because they had this lens, on "Bower" version, on the website, but it was not in stock yet. Since then, I haven't had time to got o the store for other than urgent stuff I needed. Information on the website is confusing: Specs says it is a FF lens, but title says it is optimized for APS (http://www.adorama.com/LNB1428SO.html), some times the people who insert data try to be creative...

I don't buy APS lenses (that's why I never got the 8mm Fisheye) and a wile ago I was looking for a UWA because one of my clients' request, but I haven't found yet anything that performs better than the KM 17-35 f2.8-4

Today, with the blizzard, I guess the store will be open but no much customers around, so I'll go and see if they have it now in stock and give it a try.

I have no problem with manual focus, but I imagine this lens too big for the NEX - I've been tempted to buy Leica lenses because it's compactness, but I'm not ready to pay that price. I'll stick with my Minolta MD lenses and wait for Sony to announce the new SEL lenses ('m more interested in primes than zooms...) and put that money "in the system". They also shown a new flash at Photokina (but I didn't see it at Photo Plus Expo and I couldn't speak with "my contact" at Sony during the show...) and if they are planning to make it support wireless, that will be another accessory I'll "need" to buy.

Pako, that's definitely an FF lens, and it's said to be pretty good on FF - http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/53 ... 14f28eosff

But you may find yourself willing to add an a55 body to it

agorabasta wrote: But you may find yourself willing to add an a55 body to it

Nope,
I need OVF for work.
And, for the rest, I do love the NEX-5

pakodominguez wrote:I need OVF for work.

And I've got the a55 exactly for the benefits of EVF with my manual Samyangs... My a700's are good with manual lenses in good light only.

Stay tuned on Photoworld for a good article on this lens by Armen. You'll be amazed.

Just for a hint, here's a shot with a700 and 100% crop