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Many first-time APS-C DSLR camera buyers choose the optional kit lens when purchasing their camera.
The number of 35mm prime lenses currently available in the marketplace reflects the popularity of this focal length. Sports photographers able to get close to their subjects (such as basketball shot from over or under the net) or wanting to capture a wider/environmental view of their events appreciate this focal length. The downsized design is enabled in part by the inclusion of three aspherical elements. Even so, the lens is based on classic Zeiss Sonnar principles and also features legendary Zeiss T* anti-reflective coatings on all seven elements. This helps to maximize contrast and color accuracy, as well as minimizing ghosting and flare.
Image Quality
Voigtlander Ultron 1.7/35– If you like fully manual lenses this is probably a better choice. While it is a small lens it isn’t as small as he FE 2.8/35 but it is 1.5 stops faster and feels a bit nicer. Optically it is at least as sharp as the FE but it has quite strong field curvature. I didn’t compare them directly but I am quite certain that the Voigtlander has sharper corners stopped down. It also has less distortion, less CA and is more flare resistant. This lens is not optically stabilized, but Sony generally takes care of that omission with Steady Shot or IBIS (In-Body Image Stabilization). This lens does not have an AF/MF switch, meaning that a camera setting change is required to switch modes. One nice touch is that all the markings are engraved and filled with paint. Not just printed on the hull like with the FE 2/28.
Image sharpness depends more on you than your lens, and lens sharpness doesn't mean much to good photographers. It's the least skilled hobbyists who waste the most time blaming fuzzy pictures on their lenses, while real shooters know that few photos ever use all the sharpness of which their lenses are capable due to subject motion and the fact that real subjects are rarely perfectly flat. Low light AF performance is OK, but noticeably not as good as the wider aperture FE 35mm lenses being simultaneously reviewed.Above: Moving sideways for a closer look at the rendering shows a reasonable degree of subject separation and while the effect can be attractive, there are fairly defined edges to some of the blurred elements. Wide aperture lenses tend to have an advantage in this regard and this lens is capable of producing good quality stars.
While the two lenses have a similar amount of peripheral shading at f/2.8, the f/2.8 lens has less in the deep corners at narrow apertures. The other problem is that there is a small lag between the moment when you turn the focusing ring and when the lens reacts. It is only a small fraction of a second but detracts from the experience and makes it very hard to focus on anything moving.The 35mm shows an unusual distortion profile, with somewhat pronounced barrel distortion that appears only towards the corners of the frame (a 1:1 crop from the centre would look near-perfectly corrected). This distortion will be visible in geometrical compositions such as architectural shots, and require profiled corrections in post-processing. Price: The lens currently sells for 700 EUR (incl. 19% VAT) / 750 USD. This is clearly cheaper than the Sony FE 35mm f1.4 ZA at 1500 EUR / 1500 USD or the Zeiss Batis at 1300 EUR/USD. But the Samyang is much cheaper still at only 250 EUR / 270 USD. [0] This is a very useful lens and it is certainly going to be worth that price to many but ... the FE 35mm f/1.8 having the same street price and lower list price is sure to give buyers pause. Like taking a foreign-language class for a language in which you are already fluent, this lens gets an easy A+ for anyone shooting with the Sony system.
This focal length has great general-purpose use, making it an ideal choice to simply leave on the camera for whatever needs arise. Very nice is that this lens' diameter is small enough to not impede on the small grips on Sony's current alpha series cameras. Extension tubes are hollow lens barrels that shift a lens farther from the camera, which permits shorter focusing distances at the expense of long-distance focusing. Despite the diminutive size and ultra-light weight, this lens has a good quality feel and the performance is quite good. The Sony Zeiss 35/2.8 is mostly metal on the outside and mostly plastic on the inside. It feels nice compared to plastic, but not as nice as an all-metal lensChromatic aberration is pretty low. There's a little blue/yellow fringing towards the corners of the frame, but this type tends to be relatively unobjectionable visually. It'll be automatically corrected by the camera's JPEG processing too. The FE 2.8/35 shows some barrel distortion. Lightroom has a profile which corrects the distortion very well. Sony a7II | Zeiss FE 2,8/35 | f/8 | LR default settings | full resolution Chromatic Aberrations Distortion isn’t too bad and thanks to a profile it is easily corrected in LR. Vignetting ist very strong at f/2.8 and never goes away, I guess this is a penalty for the small size. Lateral CA correction is average but you won’t see any CA because the correction can’t be turned off in LR. The shape, intensity, and position of the flare in an image is variable and depends on the position and nature of the light source (or sources) as well as on the selected aperture, shape of the aperture blades and quality of the lens elements and their coatings. Sony's other FE 35mm prime lens, just mentioned in the price discussion, is the FE 35mm f/1.8 Lens.
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