(SR5) New A-mount Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 SSM coming with the A9x!
After a long pause I can finally share a new SR5 (top rumor) with you! According to trusted sources Sony will release a new A-mount Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 SSM lens in 2012. I am not sure yet about the exact month but it could be announced along the new A9x in Spring. I have also no idea yet about the price. Easy to guess it will be more expensive than the Sony 50mm f/1.4 lens ($399). It should be more in the price league of the manual Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4 lens ($700).
A couple of months ago the Japanese blog Egami found a new Sony patent that describes the characteristics for two new standard lenses. A new 50mm f/1.2 and a new 50mm f/1.4 fullframe lens. You see the lens specs on top of this post.
One more info: Sony postponed all Sony fullframe lens releases from 2011 to 2012. They will all come with the new FF cameras. So expect a nice bunch of new lenses! Stay tuned on SonyAlphaRumors! And don’t forget to join us on facebook (Click here).
Poll:
Loading ...Links:
Sony 50mm f/1.4 lens at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
Zeiss Planar 50mm lens Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
Current Zeiss fullframe lenses for Sony:
SAL-1635Z 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA SSM Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* AF SLR Lens Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
Distagon T* 24mm f/2 SSM Wide Angle Lens Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
SAL-2470Z 24-70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* Autofocus Lens Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
SAL-85F14Z Telephoto 85mm f/1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T* Autofocus Lens Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
SAL-135F18Z 135mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* Autofocus SLR Lens Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
SAL-135F28 135mm f/2.8 Manual Focus SLR Lens Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!
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Arnold
2 years ago |Hope it is as excellent as the Zeiss 85mm f1.4 and 135mm f1.8 !
Now if these ones could be adapted for E mount…
I know that I can use the adapter, but the result is huge.
matgay
2 years ago |yes i have both those lens with adapter, and it is gigantic with the translucent adapter. and its very hard to get a good shot handheld with the 135 on apsc nex5n. but tripod is beautiful.
mabye try the nontranluscent adapter? theres no way around the bulk because of required flange distance though.
Todoke
2 years ago |Isn’t 50mm the lens that probably a lot of people already have in a f1.4 version without autofocus but just needing to be adapted (cheaply)!?
z
2 years ago |Well.. if the price is the same, then SSM would be a nice bonus. Not to mention old zeiss 1.4/50 has tons of aberration. Hopefully the retrofocus design can perform better.
matgay
2 years ago |$700 for a zeiss doesnt sound so high quality. was expecting is to be around $1400, near the pricing of the 85
Richard
2 years ago |Price sounded low to me as well so might be some concern there. Then again, if it’ll be the standard lens perhaps the quantity (and supposed ease of design) brings down the price.
Spoon
2 years ago |A 50mm is much smaller and less complex, so it should be much cheaper.
David
2 years ago |50mm much easier to design optically.
The minolta 50 1.7 is only $80 or something. The existing Sony 1.4 is only $300 or so.
I don’t think $700 is exactly cheap for a standard lens. And Zeiss won’t release junk.
And fwiw, this is the lens I wanted most. Not having a quality 50mm was a bit of an error from Sony. Good that they’re fixing it.
emopunk
2 years ago |Mine on day one, if it keeps up to the Zeiss name. Together with A99. I really can’t wait for these goods!!!
RTI
2 years ago |You need the zeiss badge or expect the quality from it?
emopunk
2 years ago |Should I laugh at this one?
Jack
2 years ago |What series badge will be on the 1.2 version? Are they doing away with the G series primes?
Maximus
2 years ago |i doubt there will be a 1.2 50mm, not every patent becomes a final product
RDoe
2 years ago |Hell yes! Same color and sharpness rendition as the 85mm and I’m happy. Couple that with a 24Mpx A99 with new AF, Better EVF and 2stops ISO improvement! I will brake my saving account…
matgay
2 years ago |already have a 85mm 1.4, which is amazing except for the high fringing.
was really hoping for a zeiss 50mm f1.2 instead. f1.4 is still a little ordinary for 50mm. is the f1.2 coming later? because it is pictured in the chart above
Sky_walker
2 years ago |Yep. That’s an interesting question: will f/1.2 version come later on?
It could work as very decent APS-C portrait lens.
WTH
2 years ago |WTH Sony!!!
You already have a nice 50mm 1.4 lens at a price point of $340.
It’s sharp as hell at > f1.8 and has less distortions (~ -0.62)
Why don’t you release a lens that replaces that 35mm f.14 G (the G stands for Garbage not Gold series).
matgay
2 years ago |+1 i would much rather have a high quality zeiss 35mm than a 50mm. perhaps sony is planning for a 35 also? since they wouldnt just release a single zeiss lens with 3 ff cameras???
but the current 50mm is not really “nice”
WTH
2 years ago |I have the 50mm 1.4, it is very very very nice for the price!
At 1.4 it has some softness around the edge, however the center is always sharp! Very comparable sharpness to that of my 24-70mm Zeiss.
It’s Bokeh is very descent, just a bit of LoCA. The focus speed is average to good, not as fast as a SSM, but remember the price point of $340.
The build quality is pretty good, and best of all, it is tiny and light.
This lens can hold a candle to many Canon counterparts.
Maximus
2 years ago |beacause it’s relatively weak at the Borders and at the large apurtures and has a noisy and not so fast AF.
And a new 50mm does not mean that there will be no new 35mm 1,4, in the opposite i would say if SOny replaces the old 50mm its very likely they replace the old 35mm as well
emopunk
2 years ago |I would say that they are between the most important lenses in a system. 35mm, 50mm, and a mighty 70-200 f2.8
Richard
2 years ago |Well buy the 1970′s design if you want it, there are more than enough copies out there.
Spoon
2 years ago |The current 50 F1.4 is a good performer on APS-C in most respects, but suffers on FF (borders). So it makes sense, especially with the addition of SSM.
RVN
2 years ago |be patient
i believe sony will replace 35mm f/1.4 with zeiss name as soon aftter looking 35mm G not selling to much 
well finnaly my dream come true with cz 50mm
my prediction was right, because two week ago i sell my sigma 50mm for anticipate this lens 
yes!! lucky
Pebble
2 years ago |@WTH
Yes please give me the Zeiss 35mm F2.0!!!
Chris Lewis
2 years ago |yes, me too! a 35/2 Zeiss or 35/1.4 Zeiss would be welcome, more than a 50/1.4 in fact!
Jack
2 years ago |What is wrong with the current 35G lens? I haven’t tried one, but many reviews sound negative. However, many other reviews rave at the “magical” colors and out of focus smoothness. Why exactly is it “garbage”? Are any of the competitions’ 35mm 1.4 any better?
Honestly, I’d like to know to determine whether I should wait for a new design.
Carl
2 years ago |It’s a highly resolving lens with a lot of spherical aberation. Depending on how you test it and what you’re looking for, it can be either very good or very bad.
Lies and statistics, as they say.
Andrew
2 years ago |I happen to like my 35/f1.4G a lot! It’s my second favorite lens right after my CZ 135/f1.8. While I prefer the 135 on FF, the 35 does well on both formats. Yes, they are both screw drive and it would be nice to have them in SSM but for the results, I am happy with what I have.
Adam Maas
2 years ago |High resolution, poor contrast, lots of abberations. It’s very good in its way but very limited in application. The old 35/2 is a far better general purpose lens (as are the various Zeiss 35′s in C/Y and ZF/ZE forms)
David
2 years ago |That 50 1.4 is rubbish!
And what’s wrong with the 35? It doesn’t test well if you like shooting test charts at minimum focus distance, but every review I’ve seen where someone actually OWNS the lens absolutely loves it. The bokeh, background rendering, the way it renders skin texture, the vignette. It’s sexy as hell.
Adam Maas
2 years ago |Having shot with the G extensively, the 35/2 and DT 35/1.8 both simply destroy the G in performance. I bought the DT after comparing the two (would have got the 35/2 but they’re hard to find).
The G is a character lens, but aside from high resolution and the claasic G colour it’s actually kinda lousy. Mediocre Bokeh, lots of vignetting & spherical abberation. Unless you’re shooting shallow DoF with a central subject, it kinda sucks. And if you are shooting that a Samyang, Contax or Leica R 35/1.4 will all significantly outperform it (and the Contax & Samyang are cheaper too)
David
2 years ago |Hmm, most people say the bokeh is great. And I appreciate thw soft corners and vignette, but I don’t mind really and most of that is gone by 2.2-ish anyway, right?
I don’t own one but I’ve been looking and reading reviews for ages and can’t make up my mind. People either LOVE it, or say it should be thrown in the bin!
David
2 years ago |Btw Adam, I should mention that of course I’m looking at buying the 35 1.4 for full frame. Buying for APS-C would be kinda silly since the 35 1.8 is available.
And fwiw, I use the 35 1.8 on my a580 and love it but it’s a completely different focal length on full frame.
FK
2 years ago |I own a Minolta 70200G SSM and a Minolta 85 1.4G RS and off course the Minolta 50 1.4 RS being the next wider step to be honest i was allays pretty unhappy with it and the results it produced so that i even bought a Sony 50 2.8 Macro to make up for it. The Zeiss 50 1.4 is a great step in building up a system that has the power to attract professional photographers.
@900 wed photag
2 years ago |I just bought the Sigma 50mm 1.4 figures!
The 135 zeiss is hands down my favorite lens in my bag
DP
2 years ago |Ha! I know what you mean–I was so close to buying the Sigma, having more or less given up!
You’ll get a good 6 months out of the Sigma though before anything else is released, so just enjoy it. Hell, I still might get one. I like the Minolta 50, but not below f/2.
@900 wed photag
2 years ago |Yeah DP I actually love the lens its not a bad buy and for $500 you can’t go wrong. I personally would rather have a 1.2 since I mostly work in low light. I am really looking forward to the new offerings from sony I am really hoping sony blows us away with the A99.
DP
2 years ago |Good to know! I might still get one to use over the Winter when available light is a bit scarce.
But hopefully Sony and Zeiss nail it like they did with the 85 and 135 and we’ll be selling our Sigmas in April
Amit Zinman
2 years ago |I’m baffled by this information. I’ve already decided that I’m going to purchase a FF Sony Camera as I need something that will print well. That said, how can I know if my lenses, which I spent quite a lot of money on will work with the new camera? What *is* the meaning of a FF lens?
matgay
2 years ago |apsc lenses will not work on fullframe. unless you want to shoot in handicapped sensor mode.
Amit Zinman
2 years ago |My main lens is a brand new Sony SAL 50/1.4
will it work?
matgay
2 years ago |will work if it doesnt say “DT” on the lens. DT is for apsc only. DT = dont try on ff
matgay
2 years ago |i tried a DT lens on fullframe and was frightened by how ugly it looked through the viewfinder.
MVKregg
2 years ago |Sony’s Full-Frame cameras (at least my A850) are smart enough to know when a DT lens is mounted, and they only use the center (APS-C sized) of the sensor to record the image. So it works, and you won’t have to throw away your APS-C lenses (but what’s the point, right?).
Seeky
2 years ago |Well, I tried the 35 f1.8 DT on my dynax 7 and I was surprised about the low amount of vignetting; I used it in low light but you can clearly see it when looking at a white door or sky.
Spoon
2 years ago |It will work fine.
Amit Zinman
2 years ago |Good, as I’m planning to get one for my birthday in April.
David
2 years ago |Hi Amit,
Yes your 50 1.4 will work great.
@900 wed photag
2 years ago |Some lens are designed for aps-c sized senors (A77) and other are full frame (a900)
for instance the ziess 16-80mm is designed to only work on a smaller aps-c sized senors, if you put that on a FF camera you would see a black round circle around the edge of your frame. all full frames will work on the smaller sized senors they just become cropped. like a 50mm will be cropped to 70mm
up side old Minolta lens like the 70-210 (beer can lens) will work better on your full frame.
Hope this helps
David
2 years ago |That’s an awful description. It doesn’t “become cropped to 70mm” at all.
With aps-c you’re only capturing the middle of the image circle produced by the lens.
It’s like watching a news reporter on TV. He’s in the middle of the screen with some empty space above him and to the sides. That’s the full frame view. If you put a frame of black cardboard around the edges of the screen, the guy fills more of the viewing area. But he hasn’t actually got closer. The focal length is still 50mm.
I assume that you do actually understand this, but your explanation confuses newbies.
hanugro
2 years ago |My cash will go to superwide FF first to pair with my A77. Already got old Minolta 50mm f/1.7 to cover this for a while. Hopefully Sony will come up with 14 mm prime FF lens next year. Don’t have to be Zeiss but SSM please.
Daemonius
2 years ago |Finaly decent 50mm with AF.. (ok there are few for Canon .. for example converted Contax N
).
Very curious how it will perform..
SRL
2 years ago |This is good news if true…
Most photographers, even pros that can afford to own many lenses or to rent one as needed for a project learn to “build” their photography around what they have in their bag. Sony has a limited selection in general but has an incredibly sharp lens in its Zeiss 135/f1.8 so if you are lucky enough to have this lens you tend to use it and use it in places that you might not if had something else as good.
Having said this, if this prime lens can live-up it the high standard set by optics like the old Zeiss 135mm then this 50/f1.4 can be one of those foundational lenses in the bag.
My standard work-bag has room for one body, for lenses and a flash and it’s been years since I’ve carried a 50mm prime, for several reasons the main one being that my Minolta 50/f1.4 SUCKS below 2.8 on my alpha a850 and I have the range covered with the Zeiss 24-70/f2.8
And to those who are complaining in their posts that Sony already has a 50/f1.4 so why is Sony wasting its time on a new one, are missing the point, which is image quality.
And before I’m accused of being a pixel counter, let me say that YES I am, and proud of it.
Image quality is important, so I shoot everything in RAW and process it through Photoshop and sharpen every pixel if I think it’s needed to make the customer happy. And often I end up cropping the image and then blowing it up so corner to corner lens sharpness is important.
Look, it comes down to this; you only have so much room it you camera bag, and you can only carry a limited number of lenses, so spend the money to make each and every lens in your bag high quality and part of the overall foundation.
I hope to buy this lens, and will buy it if the image quality and product build lives up to the high standards set by lenses like the Zeiss 135/f1.8.
matgay
2 years ago |not gonna happen. a $700 lens wont give you the 135f1.8 quality
Maximus
2 years ago |you forget that a 50mm 1,4 is ways easier to build than a 135mm 1,8
Carl
2 years ago |Somewhat. They’re both 7-8 element double gauss designs. A fast 135mm has a larger entrance pupil than a 50/1.4 so will use more glass, and the cost of achromatic correction increases with focal length. The differences beyond that aren’t so big.
In the old days a fast 50 was sold with a camera as a kit lens, and needed to be affordable to produce for market share reasons, but I don’t think that mentality is relavent today. A 50mm prime is a specialty product just like all other primes are.
Erriv
2 years ago |What all the ones complaining here about “Oh, I wish it was more expensive, so it would hold greater image-quality” or “No way will a $700 lens match my $1400 135/1.8″. Remember that a 50mm lens is one of the easiest, and thus cheapest, designs there is, even when making it ultra-fast. Look at Sigma for example, their 50/1.4 is half the price of their 85/1.4, and that design is NEW and never done before when compared to other 50/1.4-lenses (older designs are even simpler). So no, the lens might very well be superb, even at that price-point.
Spoon
2 years ago |What Maximus says.
SRL
2 years ago |I think sony will price it closer to $900
Zeiss sells its manual lenses at $725.00
Sony will add SSM
And this is cheaper than the 24/f2.0, 84/f1.4 and the 135/f1.8
Remember Canon sells it 50/1.2 at over $1,500 USD
Spoon
2 years ago |But the discussion was about the F1.4 and the Canon 50 F1.4 USM is close in price to the current Sony one. Plus this is primarily a Sony lens with Zeiss design. Sony will determine the price and I doubt they’ll create such a gap between the existing 50mm F1.4 plus competition and the suggested new one.
Wong
2 years ago |I have a good feeling that I’m going to hit poverty soon. ^_^
PEN
2 years ago |If this means the end of the Sony 50/1.4, then, in my opinion, it’s not good news at all. Yes it’s Zeiss and so on.. But 50/1.4 is one of the most common primes used by anyone, so it’s always good to have a low/reasonable cost option for it, both APS-C and FF. But I’m sure Sony won’t be dumb enough to actually stop production of the Sony 50/1.4
Obviously this lens is targeted at professionals/people with lots of money to spare. It would make more sense to make it a f/1.2 instead, and also more variety for Alpha consumers.
That said, if it has a metal body, SSM, and most importantly no rubber of any form on the lens barrel, I’m taking it
Sky_walker
2 years ago |Great news
Finally some very good news for A-mount lenses
Bit pity that the price will be so high, but never the less: Lens like this was “must have” ever since Sony announced cooperation with Zeiss and I’m very happy it finally gets released!
thundersha
2 years ago |ohhh, still hope it will be 50mm f/1.2 at last!!!
MVKregg
2 years ago |Ditto. I have great memories of Konica’s old, monstrous and heavy f/1.2 and I’d love to have a successor.
Joe
2 years ago |I’m starting my big-boy glass collection early. 85mm f/1.4 or 135mm f/1.8 – which one do you think is better? I am leaning toward the 85mm.
SRL
2 years ago |In my opinion all serious FF photographers should have an 85/f1.4
I love it for street work, its smaller, lighter and faster than a 24-70/f2.8 and has better reach than a 50mm
After the credit-card is paid off for the 85mm then get the 135/f1.8
Joe
2 years ago |Good advice. That’s what I am going to do…
Edgars
2 years ago |135mm IQ is better, its writen in every 85mm review. 135mm ZA is one of the sharpest lenses ever made.
Froo
2 years ago |The 135 is crazy good. A spectacular lens. An absolute must have.
andy
2 years ago |85mm if you care about low light. 135 if you care much about bokeh. IMO.
@900 wed photag
2 years ago |depends on what style of photography you plan to shoot more of… I love the 135 for its buttery mushy boken. the 85 is a great port lens both are great in low light.
andy
2 years ago |i have both 85 and 135. i love them!
Froo
2 years ago |The 135 hasn’t got a particularly good bokeh. It’s quite typically Zeiss-y, actually. Just look at your own picture:
http://aziccardi.zenfolio.com/cdn/pub/qjocduzlrf4q/0/null/mk/vshzx2yhoydholt9niuk/s11/v29/p821246111-4.jpg?ts=&tk=bn7h7z35dx-fBfvl-l5kuUG5a2q2FiCoLolINoYFMlU=
This isn’t good bokeh. This is short DOF for sure, but pretty ho-hum bokeh.
@900 wed photag
2 years ago |http://aziccardi.zenfolio.com/elizabethkyle2012 Here is a link to an engagement photo shoot I did using mostly my 135 and 85 mostly in available light, I hope this help
David
2 years ago |Dude what on earth did you do to the colours? So saturated!
JB
2 years ago |At last! It is going to be a long wait.
I agree that the 35mm must go! Sony needs to address that next.
Sony, we need more lens!
RVN
2 years ago |that’s why i love sony ^0^)/ they have zeiss on it
i think after this zeiss 50mm1.4 and 1.2 there would be come new zeiss 35mm, 90 or 100mm for macro, and prime ultra wide 14mm or 18mm zeiss. because for all that range zeiss have a very good experience
for prime tele lens or prime super tele lens, i believe sony still give label G for that
because they have minolta experience 
for speciality lens like tilt shift lens maybe zeiss will work for it, i belive
C
2 years ago |Posting itt to tell haters what’s up.
The old 50mm harks from the Days of Minolta. Not bad, but not a low light performer. If this rumor is true, then we should have a better low-light performer and it should perform better then Sigma’s offering.
Carl
2 years ago |I was really hoping for something faster. I can’t see myself replacing one 50/1.4 with another 50/1.4, short of the latter being earth shatteringly good.
JonasM
2 years ago |F1.4 is not fast enough? What are you shooting sir?
Carl
2 years ago |I do a lot of selective focus stuff. Not mainstream perhaps, but it’s not like I’m the only one.
Wing Wong
2 years ago |50mm/1.4/SSM isn’t so much interesting as inevitable, given that Sony is positioning itself for DSLT video. Let’s face it, screw drive lenses will generate audio noise for those wanting to shoot video with full AF. An SSM solution is really the way to go here.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out… hopefully the ol’wallet will have recovered by then.
Just myopinion
2 years ago |Mh… I’d really prefer the 1.2 version, but if it perfoms like the 85mm or 135mm I’m going to buy it right away, even if it is much more expensive (at least if i decide to stick with sony and the slt crap)… The current sony 50 1.4 is not really satisfying at all…
JonasM
2 years ago |SLT crap? The F1.4 not satisfying? You actually have any of the lenses you mention? Have you used an SLT? just being opinionated?
JonasM
2 years ago |As a previous owner of the Sony 50mm F1.4 as well as the Sony 50mm F1.8 (I sold the F1.4 and then missed it soo much that i bought the F1.8 and was utterly disappointed and sold that after a few weeks), I think this is great news for FF users.
I don’t really see why crop sensor users should rejoice however: the good old F1.4 is fantastic in my opinion and for us NEX guys, the SEL 50mm seems promising enough.
And there’s no way this will sell for as little as 700USD, that’s more like what I paid for my 16-80 APS-C Zeiss lens and anything FF will cost more.
Japanese companies are also losing billions in currency translations back to Yen, so I wouldnt be surprised if Sony tries to use the Zeiss label to push the dollar price a bit next year.
Jimmy
2 years ago |haha its so funny that people are whinging that $700 is too much for a 50mm 1.4. I wonder if those same people would be the ones whinging if it was priced at $1000 because that is too expensive for a 50mm lens. It wouldn’t sell if it was much more than $700. I believe it is important that Sony should have Zeiss branded primes with ssm from 14or15mm, 24, 35, 50, 85, 135 and maybe 200. This is good news not something to complain about, the 50mm lens is an important one in my kit and goes great on my a850 and my a700. Bring an upgrade with ssm and zeiss branding to go with the new video enabled bodies I will be purchasing next year.
Three cheers.
SLTPro
2 years ago |Excellent news but you guys really need to stop slagging the current 50mm 1.4. Ok it has no SSM and that’s a minor disadvantage but the image quality is great and more importantly it’s sharper and has better contrast than it’s Canon equivalent, if you don’t find that then you need to learn how to focus your Camera properly! Was hoping for a 50mm 1.2 but I’ll certainly settle for a 50mm 1.4 Zeiss, just really want the them to hurry up with the new 35mm 1.4 Zeiss mainly!
Froo
2 years ago |It suffers from a hotspot in backlit situations. I have a 50/1.4, and I am likely to buy the Zeiss version — if it has the right price.
butch
2 years ago |is it jsut me but the 1.4 looks full frame and the 1.2 looks NEX due to the short distance to the frame maybe its jsut FF vs apsc
stewe
2 years ago |For about $900-1200 i ready to buy 50/1.2.
Joe
2 years ago |I went with the 85mm. I am going to get the 135mm once the CC is paid off. Good advice.
HD
2 years ago |Would rather have the 50mm f1.2. Sony needs a new lens they can call magical and unusual.
JonasM
2 years ago |@admin any news on this lens?
Billy Jean
2 years ago |It’s April 1! I hope an announcement happens this week! And a release soon after!
Wally
2 years ago |Any news any news? I’m holding off buying the Sigma 50mm f1.4 hoping and wishing for a Zeiss instead
With a wedding coming up in July that I am shooting I will need to get something..
Jay
2 years ago |I too am ready to buy this lens after I see sample images. I am far more excited about this Zeiss than the new FF cameras Sony will release.