Sony Zeiss T* 35mm f/2.8 ZA: A Compact Powerhouse!

[@dylans6958]

Great review, going to pick one up for my A7CII for an everyday setup! Thanks :)

[@OneRiley]

Nice one, great choice. All the best Dylan

[@BelAir101]

Excellent choice. Me too but with the A7CR.

[@cameraprepper7938]

I recently bought the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar 35mm 2.8 ZA used for US$215 included taxes, I can recommend this small and light Lens !

[@OneRiley]

Nice value for the money bro, it’s still expensive though, $1196 brand new in NZ. But performance is top notch. 🤛

[@Cthames123]

$215 for this lens seems like good value. I’m not seeing a deal like this online anywhere. What condition was it in? Where did you buy it from? When?

[@cameraprepper7938]

@@Cthames123 It was in very good condition (only missing the front Lens cap), there was five of those at my local shop, all gone now. I bought two ! I think it was from professional photographers at a news paper, there was a lot of other Sony Lenses, Zeiss Lenses and Sony Cameras.

[@nokidding152]

Great score!

[@RNWLL]

Better this or the sony 40mm 2.8?

[@nikonville]

I think we were at Cape Reinga around the same time :-) Thanks for the lens review. For $97 second hand it looks great.

[@OneRiley]

That’s a very good value for that price. Kapai. I live in KTA and CapeR is just more than an hour away.

[@Cthames123]

Man, I love the thought of this lens, (tiny size 35mm), but at $598 usd for an 11 year old lens in 2024, the value at the price makes little sense. Comparing it to what I could get for the same money, (Sony, 40mm, f2.5, G), I’d get a newer, sharper lens, that has more controls, (clicky aperture ring, focus hold button, AF/MF switch, and the same tiny size), that is completely weather/dust sealed with a mounting gasket, and comes with a proper lens hood and cap that work independently of one another! I love the size but for me to move on it I’d have to have a bargain ~$200 to give myself a motivating reason to get it.

[@wotldpeace]

I feel you . . . they can be had for about $300 on the used market, kind of a nostalgia thing at this point.

[@Cthames123]

@@wotldpeace I gottcha, Nostalgia, character, and feel are things that specs and measurables have a hard time quantifying! Reports say This lens (Zeiss in general) are on the contrasty side and returning a certain “look”. Pair that with the cutesey, teeny, tiny, size and well thats why we are still talking about it 11years later. Still, I am seeing a lot of risk with the Zeiss, 35mm, f2.8, T* making it hard to take a bite of the apple. I am 100% a buy it used person, but if going used one may get a product that is as old as 11 yrs old now, (pretty old for an electronic product). My mind is going to the Samyang, 35mm, f2.8 which came out to rival the Zeiss, 35mm, f2.8 in 2017. Used-Like New the Samyang product is $150USD, which is a fraction of the cost of a used 35mm, f2.8, Zeiss. It seems to have comparable performance. Its rumored to have its own character. And is a little smaller and lighter. Further, Samyang is said to still be pushing firmware updates to the 35mm, f2.8 lens to improve its auto focus speed. With all that I can’t see myself being too disappointed if it doesn’t work out. Conversely, I’m thinking I’d be really happy if it does. The Samyang, 35mm, f2.8 seems to be the screaming buy at the price.

[@mehmetaltugtabak2680]

@@Cthames123 Speaking of firmware updates.. Beware some batch of Zeiss 35mm lenses are buggy and you can not update firmware yourself; they are stuck at v01. Sony had offered a free service until 2017. So if you plan to buy a used one, you should check that the lens comes with at least v02 firmware or the serial number is not between 1812043 and 1851015.

[@pinikpikantv3555]

I want to sell mine but hesitated. Try this on apsc and you will have a great small camera. able to do great stuff As i have all mostly used focal length. 20 Tamron 2.8, 24 GM, 35 2.8 Z, 55 1.8 Z, 90 2.8. I used 7R3 and now have 6100 and loving the form factor more. I can use the GM on the apsc with 36 mm focal length thus the 35 zeiss now became redundant. The 55 on apsc becomes 82.5 which makes 90 mm redundant but on apsc the 90 is like a 135 2.8 bokeh monster. I want another apsc for 3 body and 3 lens set up or even more bodies as the a6000 series are now super cheap. I am happy I invested on the glasses and sold mostly the expensive ones and got change plus some bodies.

[@Cthames123]

@@pinikpikantv3555 First, you’ve got a lot of really nice lenses! I have the Sony, 24mm, f1.4, GM and the Sigma, 90mm, f2.8, DG DN also. I agree you can get to 35mm from your 24mm, GM, which could absolve the need for a separate 35mm if your talking about using it on one camera body, (it does for me!). But I agree, you can almost get to 90mm from your 55mm, but you can’t get to 135mm from your 55. A separate 35mm does make sense for the case you are pondering, (getting another body), where you can share the versatile lens across all of your bodies, and since you already have it maybe you keep it. For those who don’t have the 35mm, Sony lens to me the analogous Samyang 35mm, f2.8 lens seems like sooooo much more of a better buy.

[@BackpackingVideos]

Great video! I also have this lens and love it for photo as it so compact and I like the colors I get. However, in video my copy of the lens exhibits focus breathing...Have you had the same issue with yours?

[@OneRiley]

Thanks bro. I haven’t noticed any focus breathing from my copy, it’s very snappy and sticky like the 55 f/1.8. Maybe your distance from your subject? Maybe the subject’s color? All the best mate.

[@BackpackingVideos]

@@OneRiley Thanks! Maybe I should I try another copy. I don't notice the breathing except for video...otherwise I love the lens

[@OneRiley]

@BackpackingVideos 2nd that bro, still a great piece of glass, i always carry this with me and the Samyang 135 mil

[@lokpatrick2576]

Good lens, and picture

[@OneRiley]

Thanks mate. I’ll continue testing this lens and post more videos

[@lokpatrick2576]

I've 5 Zeiss lens, 2 Tamron Zoom lens, and many Sony lens, and I take this lens out frequently, because light, small, portable. no pressure, weightless feeling, and good quality picture.

[@damndeniz]

Do you hear a grinding/ crinkling noise when moving the focus ring? On my copy the focus ring makes noise.

[@OneRiley]

@damndeniz no, not at all. Very silent. Is yours a brand new one?

[@ElReySupr3me]

There are two versions of this lens by the way. Didn’t know that until today.

[@OneRiley]

Oh really? I didn’t know that as well. The only thing I noticed is that some of them bears the whole title “Carl Zeiss” whereas some only says “Zeiss”. Is that the Biogon?

[@ElReySupr3me]

@@OneRiley the newer version says just zeiss. I wonder if there is an improvement in the newer one optically.

[@cameraprepper7938]

There is no difference in the Lens design, it is only the name that is different.

[@OneRiley]

@cameraprepper7938 thanks for the valuable info

[@AllCarsUnited]

​@@ElReySupr3meI had the older and have the newer and there's literally no difference in IQ

[@manfai0508]

cannot makeup my mind between this 35f2.8 or 40f2.5 😂

[@OneRiley]

Definitely a hard choice, please let us know which one you ended up getting with soon.

[@Cthames123]

I am was/am vacillating between the Sony 40mm, f2.5, G and the Zeiss, 35mm, f2.8, T* as well. I have the 50mm, f2.5, G, and am very happy with it, and want something in this 35mm ish focal length for its versatility for my new second camera, (A7C). The 40mm is another lens in the tiny trio of lens designs Sony offers. Looking at this better, the Sony 40mm gets you a clicky aperture ring, AF/MF switch, customizable button, proper dust/weather seal gasket at the mount, less barrel distortion, a newer model lens, and in clinical chart tests its significantly sharper than the Zeiss 35mm at just about every aperture. What is also the clincher for me is the 35mm Zeiss is being sold new for identical price as the 40mm Sony model, $598 usd. On the used market the 35mm Zeiss is less expensive than a used 40mm Sony, but I may be rolling the dice on an 11 year old Zeiss lens. I’m not seeing a compelling reason to go with the Zeiss model over Sony here.

[@lucs.vision]

How does it perform in terms of af ? I want to buy this lense for my A7C2 but am not sure because of its age if it can hold up.

[@OneRiley]

Hey man, i feel that it’s still optimized for this newer FF cameras, the focus as still very sticky and fast on my a7iii, i also noticed this when I have the other Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 before. I think a7c2 and this Zeiss 35 f/2.8 will be a perfect duo due to their size.

[@arashfayyaz]

I used this lens on the Sony A7R V for several months, and the results were disappointing. The high megapixels reveal the flaws in the lens and its capabilities. The images are not sharp, especially around the corners, and for some reason, almost half of my pictures are shaky and lack sharpness.

[@OneRiley]

Hmmm i wonder what could have gone wrong? Would you please be able yo share your settings please? I’ve used this multiple times on several events and all my photos are tack sharp, as from the examples on this video. Regarding corner sharpness, its depth of field and subject might have played their roles, for landscapes I always stopped down to altelast f/8.

[@arashfayyaz]

@@OneRiley Previously, I used this lens with my Sony A7R III on several occasions, and the results were acceptable for such a compact lens. However, after upgrading to the A7R V, the results became much less appealing. My shutter speed is typically above 1/35 sec-usually around 1/200 sec-but I still encounter shakiness in some shots. As for sharpness, I mostly shoot at f/4, yet the images often lack the clarity around the corners. I understand that I shouldn't expect too much from such a small lens, but when I compare the image quality side-by-side with my 24-105mm G f/4, 16-35mm G Master, and even the 50mm f/1.8, the results with those lenses are noticeably better.

[@OneRiley]

Interesting mate, i haven’t tried it with R-series bodies, I only have a7iii and can compare the sharpness with the zeiss 55 f/1.8 (that one is notoriously sharp) with 55 slightly ahead of 35. I’m getting 24-105 soon and excited to use it for events, I have several landscape images from 35mil on my site and Flckr, link in bio. Thank you for sharing your experiences with it.

[@AllCarsUnited]

I love using this one on my a7cr and old a7r3 over my 35 GM. It's great for jpegs using custom picture profiles and walking around. I often use it on my a7cr over my x100v for fun. With that said the GM is my go to for paid gigs . It's a trade off, compact lower quality VS larger epic quality .

[@arashfayyaz]

@I sold my 35mm and bought the Sony 40mm f/2.5 G lens instead. To be honest, it’s much better. Additionally, Sony’s in-body image stabilization works noticeably better with the Sony 40mm G compared to the 35mm Zeiss. Overall, for street photography and travel, especially when I want to pack light, I use the 40mm G.

[@МыколаМиколайовыч]

згоден хороший обєктив

[@OneRiley]

Very Good lens indeed

[@dannyhikes88]

Please don't live minimalistic lifestyle with microphones.

[@OneRiley]

Yup, just got the DJi MiC mate 😀

[@attdesigner]

too much ad

[@OneRiley]

Appreciate your feedback but you also have to understand how KZbin works. You can always skip ad or buy KZbin premium or Adblockers. Things aren’t always one sided bro, but thanks for your time watching this.