Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA SEL50F14Z lens

      Photo Review 8.7
      -/

      In summary

      Optically and mechanically, the Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA performance is up there with the best lenses we’ve tested.  

      Because of its size and weight, the SEL50F14Z works better on one of the ‘full frame’ α7 camera bodies. It’s a bit too heavy for the smaller, lighter cropped-sensor models. The 50mm focal length covers an angle of view close to normal human vision and is considered a ‘standard’ focal length for photography. At a pinch, it could be suitable for use as the only lens for travellers.

      Its minimum focusing distance of 45 cm limits its value for close-up work, unless the subjects are moderately large. It could be used for close-ups when used on a camera with a 23.5 x 15.6 mm sensor, where the effective focal length becomes equivalent to 75mm.

      Its high price tag in Australia may put it out of reach of some hobbyists; it’s likely to appeal more to professionals and very serious enthusiasts who require its high-level performance and rugged construction. Those who can afford it are likely to be impressed.

       

      Full review

      Announced on 11 July 2016, the Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA is a fast, Carl Zeiss-branded prime lens with weather-sealing and a ‘Super Sonic Wave Motor’ for fast and near silent autofocusing. Designed primarily for Sony’s α7 cameras it can also be used on cameras with APS-C sized sensors, where it covers an angle of view equivalent to 75mm. Its f/1.4 maximum aperture enables it to be used with fast shutter speeds in dim lighting and provides plenty of scope for creating images with shallow depth of field and smooth bokeh.

       

      -

       Side view of the Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA lens without its lens hood. (Source: Sony.)

      The refined Planar double-gauss optical design comprises 12 elements in nine groups and includes two advanced aspherical and one ED (extra-low dispersion) lens elements to suppress field curvature and distortion while maintaining image-wide resolution and contrast. The lens has 11 aperture blades as well as aperture and focus rings.
       

      -

       This diagram shows the positions of the exotic elements in the optical design of the lens. (Source: Sony.)

      A feature of the lens is its Zeiss T* coating, which suppresses spurious reflections that can degrade image quality and minimises flare and ghosting. While not totally waterproof, the lens is environmentally sealed, enabling it to be used in challenging environments.

      The lens is supplied with the usual front and end caps plus a lens hood and a soft carrying pouch.  The review lens was supplied with two camera bodies: the Sony α7R Mark II and the α6300, giving us a chance to test its performance with Sony’s ‘full frame’ and APS-C sensors.

      Who’s it For?
       Because of its size and weight, the SEL50F14Z works better on one of the ‘full frame’ α7 camera bodies. It’s a bit too heavy for the smaller, lighter cropped-sensor models. The 50mm focal length covers an angle of view close to normal human vision and is considered a ‘standard’ focal length for photography. At a pinch, it could be suitable for use as the only lens for travellers.

      Its minimum focusing distance of 45 cm limits its value for close-up work, unless the subjects are moderately large. It could be used for close-ups when used on a camera with a 23.5 x 15.6 mm sensor, where the effective focal length becomes equivalent to 75mm.

      Its high price tag in Australia may puts it out of reach of some hobbyists; it’s likely to appeal more to    professionals and very serious enthusiasts, who require its high-level performance and rugged construction. Those who can afford it are likely to be impressed.

       Build and Ergonomics
       As noted, the SEL50F14Z is a large and heavy lens for its focal length. Constructed entirely of metal, with a very solid metal mounting plate that fits closely to the camera body, even though it lacks the usual rubber flange that keeps out moisture in most ‘weather-sealed’ lenses. Its physical size is one of the prices you pay for the fast maximum aperture.    

      Without the hood, we measured it at just under 108 mm in length, with a girth of 83.5 mm and a weight of   778 grams, which means it’s not much smaller than the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM (model SEL85F14GM) lens we reviewed in April 2016. The SEL50F14Z   shares many of the characteristics of that lens.

      As well as dust and moisture resistance, it has a similar dedicated aperture ring with click-stops that provides direct manual control over aperture settings. Users can opt to ‘de-click’ the ring for silent aperture switching while shooting movies.  

      Autofocusing is driven by a ring SSM (super-sonic motor) system.   All focusing is internal so the lens doesn’t extend and the front element doesn’t rotate when focus is adjusted.  

      Right at the front of the lens barrel is a bayonet fitting for attaching the supplied, petal-shaped lens hood, which is nice and deep and provides good shielding against stray light. The hood reverses over the barrel for transport and storage. The lens accepts 72 mm, which screw into the inner side of the bayonet fitting.

      The manual focusing ring starts roughly one centimetre behind the bayonet fitting. It’s 24 mm wide and entirely clad with fine ribbing that provides a good grip. The ring is   well damped and smooth to operate in manual focus mode.

      The lens uses electronic coupling to focus when AF mode is selected. Manual focusing in the AF mode is not supported because the mechanism that drives it is not engaged in AF mode.

      Immediately behind the focusing ring is a fixed section of the lens barrel, Around the left hand side of this section you’ll find the AF/MF switch. Stabilisation is not provided because SteadyShot stabilisation is built into all Sony camera bodies.

      The aperture ring slots in behind this section of the barrel. It’s 14 mm wide, with a 7 mm wide band of ridging around its trailing edge. In front of the ridges are the aperture settings, stamped in white numbers along the leading edge of the ring with full f-stops identified numerically and intervening 1/3EV stops by lines.

      When shooting with the camera’s Auto and P modes, the aperture ring should be set to the A position (left of the f/16 mark) to engage auto aperture control. This actually happens electronically inside the camera by default so you can’t over-ride the auto aperture control in P mode by turning the aperture ring.

      Around the right hand side of the fixed section of the outer barrel is the Click on-off switch that lets you shift between audible clicks as you adjust aperture settings and de-clicking the aperture to make adjustments noise-free. This switch is easily reached by your left hand fingers when you’re cradling the lens.

      The lens barrel slopes inwards for about 16 mm immediately behind the aperture ring before straightening out for a final 13 mm run down to the lens mount. A cinnabar-coloured branding ring is located at the junction between the lens and the camera body.

      Performance
      The 42-megapixel resolution of the α7RM2 camera presented a tough test for the review lens but also provided it with a chance to show its capabilities. The α6300 was a lot less demanding, partly because its 24-megapixel resolution is much lower, but also because the cropped frame eliminates the edge softening that happens when the full frame it utilised.   NOTE: All in-camera corrections were switched off for our Imatest tests.

      On the α7RM2 camera the SEL50F14Z came very close to meeting expectations for the sensor’s resolution in the centre of the frame with JPEGs, which showed it to be capable of high resolution. Although we don’t use raw files when evaluating lens performance, a quick check of raw files recorded simultaneously with the JPEGs showed centre resolution was comfortably higher across aperture settings from f/1.8 to f/4.

      Edge softening was significant at the wider apertures but largely resolved by f/4, which is the point at which diffraction began to kick in. Fortunately, resolution remained relatively high through to f/16, the limit for the lens, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results below.

      -

      When fitted to the α6300, JPEG files comfortably exceeded expectations for centre-of-field resolution and edge resolution wasn’t far behind, even at wider aperture settings. Diffraction took effect at f/11, where there was a rapid drop in resolution, as shown in the graph of our test results below.

      -

       
       Interestingly, lateral chromatic aberration was consistently negligible when the lens was on the α6300  camera but moved into the low band when it was fitted to the  α7RM2. Neither camera produced coloured fringing in test shots. In the graphs below, the red line separates negligible from low CA, which the green line indicates the start of the moderate CA band.
       

      -

       On the α7RM2 camera.
       

      -

       On the α6300 camera.

      We took most of our shots with the Single-shot AF mode, using the Centre and Flexible Spot area modes. With these settings, the linear SSM system and internal focus mechanism provided fast, quiet and accurate autofocusing for shooting both stills and movie clips, regardless of the shutter speed or aperture settings used. Setting the Click lever to the ‘off’ position slightly reduced AF speeds but had no other impacts on performance.

      We found obvious vignetting at wide aperture settings when the lens was on the α7RM2, although not when the lens was on the α6300. This isn’t surprising as the cropped sensor would eliminate the areas that reveal edge darkening. Rectilinear distortion was effectively negligible with both cameras, suggesting this lens has potential for use for architectural photography.

      The quality of the bokeh (out-of-focus softening) was much as we expected and generally very smooth at wide apertures. Bright out-of-focus highlights tended to merge gently into the smooth background blur. Outlining was rarely seen around bright blurred highlights. We found no evidence of bokeh fringing, a common characteristic with fast lenses, which manifests as halos that change from magenta in front of the focus point to green beyond.

      Conclusion
      Optically and mechanically, the Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA is a very good performer and up there with the best lenses we’ve tested. Our main reservation about this lens is its price, which is inexplicably high (even for a lens with premium performance).

      Sony has this lens listed on its local website at AU$2599 (GST included). When we checked the price on Sony’s US website, the same lens was listed at US$1399.99 (effectively US$1400), which converts to around AU$1825 at the exchange rate that applied when this review was posted.

      That’s a discrepancy of AU$774, which is more than you would pay for shipping and insurance if you purchased this lens from an off-shore reseller. We can’t see that difference as being justified if Sony wants to encourage local sales.

      A check of the Australian re-sellers that had the SEL50F14Z listed on their websites when we published this review showed prices ranging from between AU$2258 to Sony’s local price. The US-based re-seller B&H, which markets aggressively into Australia, has the lens listed at US$1398 ($2 short of the MSRP), which translated into AU$1822.50 when we checked it on 25 February, 2016.

      To that you would need to add between AU$55 and AU$70 for shipping along with AU$182.25 for tax, which totals up to just under AU$2060 at the lowest shipping cost. So instead of paying Sony’s price, you could obtain the lens for less by shopping off-shore.

      This is something we are reluctant to encourage because you won’t gain the benefits of local consumer protection laws and after-sales support.   Not to mention support for local photo specialists. Maybe Sony should evaluate the price of this lens again, given this situation.

      If the price of the SEL50F14Z is too high for your budget, Sigma’s 50mm f/1.4 DG HAS Art lens has similar specifications for less than half the price of the Sony lens.    

       

      SPECS

       Picture angle: 47 degrees (35mm); 32 degrees (APS-C)
       Minimum aperture: f/16
       Lens construction: 9 elements in 12 groups (including one precision AA   element and one ED element), Zeiss T* coating
       Lens mounts: Sony E-mount
       Diaphragm Blades: 11 (circular aperture)
       Focus drive: SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor) ring drive
       Stabilisation: No (Sony cameras have body-integrated stabilisation)
       Minimum focus: 45 cm
       Maximum magnification: 0.15x
       Filter size:   72 mm
       Dimensions (Diameter x L):   83.5 x 108 mm
       Weight:  778 grams
       Standard Accessories: Lens front and end caps, petal shaped bayonet type hood, case

       Distributor: Sony Australia; 1300 720 071; www.sony.com.au.  

       

       

      TESTS

       Based on JPEG files from the α7RM2 camera.

      -
      -
      -

       
       Based on JPEG files from the α6300 camera.

      -

       

      -

       
       

      -

       
       

       

      SAMPLES

       

      -

       Vignetting at   f/1.4 with the α7RM2  camera.
       

      -

       Vignetting at f/1.4 with the α6300  camera.
       

      -

       Rectilinear distortion with the α7RM2  camera.
       

      -

       Rectilinear distortion with the α6300  camera.
       

      -

      α7RM2  camera: close-up at f/1.4, ISO 100, 1/3200 second.
       

      -

      α7RM2  camera: close-up at f/2, ISO 100, 1/1600 second.
       

      -

      α7RM2  camera: close-up with f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/640 second.
       

      -

      α7RM2  camera: close-up with f/4, ISO 100, 1/300 second.
       

      -

      α6300  camera: close-up at f/1.4, ISO 100, 1/640 second.
       

      -

      α6300  camera: close-up at f/2, ISO 100, 1/200 second.
       

      -

      α6300  camera: close-up at f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/100 second.
       

      -

      α6300  camera: close-up at f/4, ISO 100, 1/60 second.
       

      -

      α7RM2  camera: strong backlighting, ISO 200, 1/160 second at f/5.6.
       

      -

      α6300  camera: strong backlighting, ISO 100, 1/1250 second at f/8.
       

      -

      α6300  camera: backlighting, ISO 100, 1/200 second at f/6.3.
       

      -

      α7RM2  camera: ISO 320, 1/60 second at f/5.6.
       

      -

      α6300  camera: ISO 400, 1/80 second at f/5.
       

      -

      α7RM2  camera: ISO 100, 1/250 second at f/8.
       

      -

      α6300  camera: ISO 100, 1/250 second at f/8.
       

      Rating

      RRP: AU$2599; US$1400

      • Build: 9.0
      • Handling: 8.9
      • Image quality: 9.0
      • Versatility: 8.7

       

       

      Buy