With Sony having just announced its brand new 35mm f/1.4 GM lens, you might be curious to see how it performs. Photographer Julia Trotti takes it for a spin and sees how it compares with the older Sony equivalent: the Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4 ZA as designed by Zeiss.
Sony’s new lens is surprisingly compact for a 35mm with such a wide aperture and pairing with the Sony a7C, though big, doesn’t look quite as awkward to me as I’d expected. The other advantage is the price: while it’s definitely not an affordable option, at $1,398, it’s cheaper than the Zeiss which is $1,598. Having launched in March 2015, the Zeiss has held its price (if not increased!) and certain Sony shooters might be delighted that the new GM is not more expensive.
Notably, it’s literally half the weight of the faster Sigma 35mm f/1.2 DG DN Art which weighs in at 2.4 lb (1.09 kg) compared to the Sony’s 1.2 lb (524 g).
The number of 35mm lenses available to Sony shooters has exploded in the last couple of years. There’s now a wealth of options from Tamron, Sigma, Samyang, Zeiss and Sony at everything from f/1.2 through to f/2.8.
Will you be swapping out for Sony’s new 35mm GM? Let us know in the comments below.
The distagon is soft (see the MTF test on https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2019/04/just-mtf-charts-sony-fe-mount-p...). I choose the FE 35mm/1.8 because of the weight. I'm sure the f/1.4 is better but my A7c (24Mpixels) won't see the difference.