Sony 28-70mm vs 28mm f/2 - Trying to decide?

[JonathanF2]

This is the nature of CDAF. In theory, it is more accurate and doesn't require calibration, but it needs CONTRAST, which can be in short supply, especially in low light. I shot Fuji for 4 years and it was ALL CDAF until I got the X-Pro2. Immediately, the faster nature of PDAF in low light became apparent. CDAF is similarly problematic on all mirrorless cameras, including Olympus, though Olympus seemed slightly quicker to decide on focus. The thing you'll find with CDAF is that sometimes it will grab the background instead of your desired AF point because the background might have more contrast. This is easy to tell with the 55, 85, etc, but much harder to see in the viewfinder with lenses wider than 35.

PS Jonathan: the Sony 85 f1.8 is an amazing lens and a true bargain at that price. It's Zeiss Batis performance at 1/2 the cost, it's smaller and it has the bonus of the AF button on the side that can be assigned to Eye AF.

Hi Bradley! Yes I found the Sony 28mm f2 doesn't do all to well outside the PDAF focus zone area. As long as I stick to center focus it does alright. I've tried the 85mm 1.8 FE before and I really liked it, but I was having a hard time deciding if I wanted to part with my Nikon 85mm 1.8 G lens, which is actually an even better bargain than the Sony 85mm 1.8 FE, with used prices hovering around the $350 mark. Though the Sony is built much better feeling less plasticky. I mainly want to switch though for the additional features like eye AF and full use of the focus options. I also have the Techart Pro AF adapter and a nice collection of Nikon manual lenses that are great as well. I'll be shooting native with the 28mm f2 and 85mm 1.8 FE lenses for now. I know the Zeiss 55mm 1.8 is great, but I'm not sure if I'll go native with the 50mm range though, too many legacy 50mm lenses that are sharp right off the bat!

 

[Hamsong]

Hi Bradley! Yes I found the Sony 28mm f2 doesn't do all to well outside the PDAF focus zone area. As long as I stick to center focus it does alright. I've tried the 85mm 1.8 FE before and I really liked it, but I was having a hard time deciding if I wanted to part with my Nikon 85mm 1.8 G lens, which is actually an even better bargain than the Sony 85mm 1.8 FE, with used prices hovering around the $350 mark. Though the Sony is built much better feeling less plasticky. I mainly want to switch though for the additional features like eye AF and full use of the focus options. I also have the Techart Pro AF adapter and a nice collection of Nikon manual lenses that are great as well. I'll be shooting native with the 28mm f2 and 85mm 1.8 FE lenses for now. I know the Zeiss 55mm 1.8 is great, but I'm not sure if I'll go native with the 50mm range though, too many legacy 50mm lenses that are sharp right off the bat!

Ahh, I see. Well, if I had to go with only ONE lens for the FE mount, it would easily be the Zeiss 55 f1.8. One of the best lenses I've EVER used in my 18 years shooting professionally. On par with Leica 50 Summicron. It's that good. And you can find it for less than $700 used if you are patient. The Leica 50 f2 is $2200, so the Zeiss is quite the deal and has very responsive AF. All of the lenses are going to do poorly outside the PDAF area if light levels are low enough.

My 2nd favorite lens is the Zeiss 35 f2.8. Absolutely tiny compared to even the 28/2 and definitely sharper, especially in the corners. I worked with a photographer last night who had the 35 f1.4, which is the size of a 28-70. I wish Sony would fill in the gap and offer an FE mount version of the 35 f2 lens that is on the Sony RX1 series...

 

[JonathanF2]

Ahh, I see. Well, if I had to go with only ONE lens for the FE mount, it would easily be the Zeiss 55 f1.8. One of the best lenses I've EVER used in my 18 years shooting professionally. On par with Leica 50 Summicron. It's that good. And you can find it for less than $700 used if you are patient. The Leica 50 f2 is $2200, so the Zeiss is quite the deal and has very responsive AF. All of the lenses are going to do poorly outside the PDAF area if light levels are low enough.

My 2nd favorite lens is the Zeiss 35 f2.8. Absolutely tiny compared to even the 28/2 and definitely sharper, especially in the corners. I worked with a photographer last night who had the 35 f1.4, which is the size of a 28-70. I wish Sony would fill in the gap and offer an FE mount version of the 35 f2 lens that is on the Sony RX1 series...

Well I just picked up a very good copy of the Nikon 50mm 1.2 AI-S lens. My first copy was terrible, but this new copy is unbelievable. I have the option of going super dreamy at 1.2 or surgically sharp by f/2 while maintaining amazing creamy OOF areas. It's also not very heavy once mounted with adapter on camera. Also my Nikon 28mm f2.8 AI-S is actually much better than the Sony 28mm f2.0, with little to no distortion and very good sharpness throughout the frame wide open.

Sometimes I just like mixing it up a bit with my photo sessions when it comes to different looks!

 

[Hamsong]

Well I just picked up a very good copy of the Nikon 50mm 1.2 AI-S lens. My first copy was terrible, but this new copy is unbelievable. I have the option of going super dreamy at 1.2 or surgically sharp by f/2 while maintaining amazing creamy OOF areas. It's also not very heavy once mounted with adapter on camera. Also my Nikon 28mm f2.8 AI-S is actually much better than the Sony 28mm f2.0, with little to no distortion and very good sharpness throughout the frame wide open.

Sometimes I just like mixing it up a bit with my photo sessions when it comes to different looks!

Yes, the Nikon 50 f1.2 is a great lens. I had that with my Nikon FM2. Very tricky to nail focus is the subject is moving at all, but lovely when you do.

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[JonathanF2]

Yes, the Nikon 50 f1.2 is a great lens. I had that with my Nikon FM2. Very tricky to nail focus is the subject is moving at all, but lovely when you do.
View attachment 87795

I actually haven't manual focused any lens in over a year ever since I acquired the Techart Pro adapter!

I shot this with the Voigtlander 58mm 1.4 SL-II (recently traded for the Nikon 50mm 1.2 AI-S ) and it's just awesome to use MF glass without worrying about focus!

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Photo Shoot with Laura Pichler / January 21st 2018 by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I'll be interested to hear if you can use the TAP successfully with this lens Jonathan. I have a copy of it too, and I agree, it is hard to nail the focus wide open, at least manually. I haven't put my TAP on since it killed my battery shortly after getting it.

 

[JonathanF2]

I'll be interested to hear if you can use the TAP successfully with this lens Jonathan. I have a copy of it too, and I agree, it is hard to nail the focus wide open, at least manually. I haven't put my TAP on since it killed my battery shortly after getting it.

I don't think it'll be a problem, the 50mm 1.2 AIS isn't very heavy for a fast lens and initial test shots with my kids seem to nail focus just fine. Best thing for fine tune focus is to use the single PDAF focus point especially when shooting wide open. The thing I like about the Nikon 50mm 1.2 though is that it holds contrast really well for a 1.2 lens and it does well against bright sun. These older designed Nikkors are amazing and I'm really not fond of the huge mugs they call lenses nowadays just to render flat images on high res sensors!

 

[WestOkid]

I'm kicking myself for not buying during the holiday sale prices. I just can't get myself to pay full price knowing they dropped by $50 or so!

It just dropped $120
Top deal: Save $120 on the Samyang 35mm f/2.8 FE lens - sonyalpharumors

 

[tino84]

I'm kicking myself for not buying during the holiday sale prices. I just can't get myself to pay full price knowing they dropped by $50 or so!

I found an offer from a local seller, my copy will be available at may, but I payed -50% off, plus I had a bonus of 100€ for those seller, so I payed 80€ for it

85mm f1.8 is on my radar, even If now I cover it with a Jupiter-9 ( and 42,5 1.2 for m4/3 )

 

[JonathanF2]

It just dropped $120
Top deal: Save $120 on the Samyang 35mm f/2.8 FE lens - sonyalpharumors

Darn, all sold out!

 

[JonathanF2]

So I quickly got my hands on a cheap used 85mm 1.8 FE (I'm good at bargain hunting ), and I compared it to the Nikon 85mm 1.8 G lens. The Sony 85mm FE is a better all-around lens for stills and video, but the Nikon is actually a better stills/portrait lens (tested both on the A7 II, with the Nikon using a Commlite AF adapter). It's a tad sharper, more contrasty and focuses way quicker at the expense of a slightly noisier focus motor. Also Sony seems more reliant on distortion correction, while the Nikon lens seems better optically corrected. I'm surprised how excited everyone got about the Sony 85mm 1.8 FE, when it barely matches Nikon's budget 85mm! The Nikon has a bit more CA wide open, but I'm guessing Sony corrects that in-camera.

The Sony does win as being better matched to the Sony body, but if someone wants to get a solid set of fast focusing and incredibly sharp lenses primarily for stills, I'd seriously consider going with Nikon glass paired with an AF adapter. Not to mention the Nikon 1.8 primes are lightweight compared to Sigma Art lenses and much cheaper when bought used.

 

[WestOkid]

I'm surprised how excited everyone got about the Sony 85mm 1.8 FE, when it barely matches Nikon's budget 85mm! The Nikon has a bit more CA wide open, but I'm guessing Sony corrects that in-camera.

Congrats on the new lens.

FWIW - That Nikon is actually top 10 is DXOmark's entire 85mm database, so just because it beats the Sony doesn't mean the Sony is nothing to get exited over. The Nikon is just a great lens and beats many more expensive lenses. Also consider the Nikon is an older lens that has come down to the price of the Sony over time.

Even so, I think people are exited for the Sony because it is a "budget" lens by E-mount standards. Prior to the release of the Sony 85 1.8, you had to spend $1200+ for a native E-mount 85mm.

 

[JonathanF2]

Congrats on the new lens.

FWIW - That Nikon is actually top 10 is DXOmark's entire 85mm database, so just because it beats the Sony doesn't mean the Sony is nothing to get exited over. The Nikon is just a great lens and beats many more expensive lenses. Also consider the Nikon is an older lens that has come down to the price of the Sony over time.

Even so, I think people are exited for the Sony because it is a "budget" lens by E-mount standards. Prior to the release of the Sony 85 1.8, you had to spend $1200+ for a native E-mount 85mm.

The Sony 85mm 1.8 FE is still very sharp and depending on the priorities of the shooter, it could be a better choice especially for mix still/video shooters. You really can't shoot video without noise on the Nikon lens. It also has a more neutral color profile which may suit the taste better for some photographers.

Saying that, I did notice some focusing discrepancies where both the Sony 28mm and 85mm would have problems focusing in dim condition, but using adapted AF lenses that rely solely on the on-sensor PDAF, they seem to focus more accurately than the native glass. I'm wondering if it has something to do with using both the CDAF and PDAF versus the adapted lenses using PDAF only? It's kind of weird that non-native glass would be more accurate in those conditions.

 

[WestOkid]

The Sony 85mm 1.8 FE is still very sharp and depending on the priorities of the shooter, it's a better choice. It also has a more neutral color profile which may suit the taste better for some photographers.

Saying that, I did notice some focusing discrepancies where both the Sony 28mm and 85mm would have problems focusing in dim condition, but using adapted AF lenses that rely solely on the on-sensor PDAF, they seem to focus more accurately than the native glass. I'm wondering if it has something to do with using both the CDAF and PDAF versus the adapted lenses using PDAF only? It's kind of weird that non-native glass would be more accurate in those conditions.

Interesting. It shouldn't be more accurate. I know non native lenses always focus wide open while native lenses will sometimes stop down to the aperture of choice. the later is more accurate to avoid focus breathing issues, but will limit the amount of light gathered and cause hunting. I'm not sure if that's your issue. To see if it's any of those issues:

• try setting the aperture to wide open and see if the lens behaves differently.
• Also try using AF-C if you aren't already using it. My understanding is that it relies more of PDAF.
• lastly. If you have success focusing wide open, then you can turn the live view settings effect to off. You will lose some of the WYSIWYG in the EVF, but for most lenses this will make them focus wide open.

good luck. let me know if any of those work.

 

[JonathanF2]

Interesting. It shouldn't be more accurate. I know non native lenses always focus wide open while native lenses will sometimes stop down to the aperture of choice. the later is more accurate to avoid focus breathing issues, but will limit the amount of light gathered and cause hunting. I'm not sure if that's your issue. To see if it's any of those issues:

• try setting the aperture to wide open and see if the lens behaves differently.
• Also try using AF-C if you aren't already using it. My understanding is that it relies more of PDAF.
• lastly. If you have success focusing wide open, then you can turn the live view settings effect to off. You will lose some of the WYSIWYG in the EVF, but for most lenses this will make them focus wide open.

good luck. let me know if any of those work.

My current go-to settings for pinpoint accuracy is using flexible spot focus and then adjusting the focus box to use either the small or medium focus box setting while using C-AF. What I noticed is that my adapted glass will be quite accurate using this method, while the native lenses tend to struggle and might even hunt a bit in dim conditions. In decent light adapted and native glass are about the same when it comes to focusing.

I just get this feeling that Sony sacrifices a bit of focus speed to accommodate video perhaps. I wouldn't mind a firmware update that completely disables CDAF and relies entirely on PDAF just like an adapted lens.