dkeysser Loc: Minneapolis

I have the Sony A7riii (just got it) and I want to get a fast high-quality 35mm for it. I am considering the new Sony Zeiss 35mm f1.4 GM lens versus the Sigma Art f1.2 lens. I have other Zeiss and Sigma lenses (for my Sony A6500) and am very pleased with both. Ignoring price difference for now, what are your thoughts about those two lenses? Thanks.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

I would go for the Zeiss.Great lens and enjoy spending your money

dkeysser Loc: Minneapolis

Thanks. Yes, a lot of money.

rkaminer Loc: New York, NY

Since money is no object, always buy the brand name of the camera; that's why they cost more. People feel more comfortable with the same brand of lens and camera. I think the QC and electronic compatibility is greater in the branded lens. Now, if money is an object, then i would go for the less expensive one since both are great lenses.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

I have your camera also with the Zeiss 85mm 1.8 and I love it.

Ltgk20 Loc: Salisbury, NC

From a sharpness standpoint, the Sigma is sharper and much loved, though huge. The Sony Zeiss isn't known to be terribly sharp with a bit of variation, but many love the lens (I have neither). With the recent Sony 35f1.4 GM, there are quite a few of the Zeiss lenses available used at pretty good prices.

dkeysser Loc: Minneapolis

Thanks, guys, good input

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

People say this stuff and it may have been true in the past but it is not true anymore. I am a Canon shooter and have an assortment of both Canon L lenses and Sigma Art lenses, there is no problem shooting the Sigma Arts and in some cases their Art series lenses are just simply better than their Canon L equivalents.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Minolta and Zeiss did a deed several years ago. When Sony bought Minolta out, the Zeiss partnership came with it. Zeiss only makes auto focus lenses for Sony. If you own a Nikon, Zeiss lenses are manual focus only. Advantage Sony.
The reviews on B&H for that lens are excellent, all fives and one 4, and the 4 liked the lens, so everyone who reviewed it liked it.
I used to shoot Zeiss manual lenses on my Nikon, loved the color and sharpness.

ggenova64

Good Morning dk
I have the Tamron 35mm Sony E-Mount Lens. For $250 not including a $50 Rebate you can’t go wrong! That’s a $199.00! Great weather sealed, color and Bokeh! Sony has 20% interest in Tamron.

gwilliams6

First of all let me correct you, the new Sony 35mm f1.4 GM is NOT a Zeiss lens. It is a Sony GM lens and none of Sony GM lenses are Zeiss lenses. GM lenses are wholly designed and made by Sony. Early Sony-Zeiss collaborations had Zeiss help Sony design some of their first fullframe mirrorless lenses, but Sony and Zeiss make no new lenses in collaboration anymore. So while you can still buy some Sony-Zeiss lenses, there are no new ones from that collaboration.

Second the Sony 35mm f1.4 is more compact and lighter weight than the excellent optical quality Sigma Art 35mm f1.2 lens. I have tried both. The Sigma is superb in optical quality but a bit big and heavy to carry around all day like I do on some shoots. The Sony 35mm f1.4 GM is superb optically and less weight to carry around and has the latest dual-linear focusing motors and will focus a touch faster than the stepping motors on the Sigma.

Both the Sony 35mm f1.4 GM and the Sigma Art 35mm f1.2 DG DN lens rated "Outstanding" in SAB MTF-Standard sharpness test ratings, the top rating, so there will be virtually no difference in sharpness between them. You will need to make your decision on other factors. Yes you would get more shallow depth of field effects at f1.2 vs f1.4. But is it worth the extra size and weight to achieve that, only you can decide.

The Sigma Art 35mm f1.2 DG DN weighs 2.4 pounds and costs $1499 USD. The Sony 35mm f1.4 GM weighs 1.2 pounds and costs $1398 USD. The Sony is half the weight of the f1.2 Sigma and $100 less in price.

Gordon Laing tests and compares newest Sigma Art 35mm f1.4 DG DN lens vs Sony 35mm f1.4 GM lens vs Sigma Art 35mm f1.2 DG DN lens and Sigma 35mm f 2 lens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvmbJzcGaqU

Cheers

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

Listen to him, he knows his stuff!

dkeysser Loc: Minneapolis

Thanks, that is very helpful. And thanks for the correction on Zeiss/Sony. I wasn't aware of that distinction. I have shot both Sony and Zeiss; when I had a Contax G2 in the film days, those were Zeiss lenses, and were superb, easily the equal to the Leica lenses. The 55mm f1.8 lens I now have on the Sony A7riii is marked as both Sony and Zeiss; perhaps it is an older lens, but it is very sharp with beautiful color.

gwilliams6

Yes that 55mm f1.8 Sony-Zeiss lens was first made and released in 2013. That was long before Sony started making its own GM lenses.

Here is the link to Sony Lens development: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_E-mount_lenses

Sony's first G-Master lenses were the 85mm f1.4 GM, 24-70mm f2.8 GM , and 70-200mm f2.8 GM all released in 2016

Note: those first three GM lenses are all in need of a refresh IMHO, and have been surpassed with newer and sharper optical lens designs and new faster linear focus motor designs in the more recent GM lenses. And even some-third party E- mount lenses from Sigma, Tamron, Samyang have surpassed those three first GM lenses.

Cheers

BarbHall

I really like the 55mm Zeiss on my Sony I am sure you will be happy with the 35mm.