Sony SEL55F18Z.AE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens - Black

Product Information

With a maximum diameter of 94.7mm, a length of 99.3mm and a weight of 780g / 1.72 lb, the Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR is relatively compact and lightweight considering the very fast maximum aperture of f/1.7 that it offers. The FE 55mm F1.8 can also be used on Sony's APS-C E-mount bodies, on which it will behave like a classic short telephoto 'portrait' lens. However most users of these cameras will probably find the Sony E 50mm F1.8 OSS to be a better choice, as it's much cheaper and includes optical image stabilisation, while offering decent optical quality too. Headline features Notice the very minor flaring on the bottom of the image frame: ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 320, 1/200, f/16.0 9) Chromatic Aberration

Vignetting is kept pretty well under control, at 1.6 stops wide open, which is perfectly respectable for a fast prime. The falloff profile is rather gradual too, which tends to make any vignetting less visually objectionable. Enjoy high quality performance, low cost prints and ultimate convenience with the PIXMA G series of refillable ink tank printers. The FE 55mm F1.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* is one of the first three lenses available for Sony's full-frame E-mount system, having been announced alongside the Alpha 7 and 7R camera bodies. It's a slightly long 'normal' prime designed for everyday photography, and its relatively fast F1.8 aperture makes it a good choice for selective focus work or shooting in low light. Its 7-element, 5-group optical design includes three aspherical elements to minimise aberrations, which is unusual for this type of lens. And here is an image at f/1.8, followed by center, mid-frame, and corner crops: ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 1000, 1/160, f/1.8 f/1.8, center crop f/1.8, mid-frame crop f/1.8, corner crop 5) Vibration Reduction

When shooting in AF-S single shot mode, the camera needs to de-focus the lens before focusing on the subject which leads to a noticeable slowdown. Nevertheless, overall focus speed is good enough for most uses and accuracy is superb for static subjects including good accuracy in low-light conditions.

As with all of the the other GF lenses that we've previously reviewed, the build quality of the Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR is excellent. The lens is dust, freeze and moisture resistant and it features a metal bayonet. Sharpness is simply spectacular. At F1.8 the 55mm is impressively sharp, outperforming the 50mm F1.8s for Canon and Nikon SLRs by a substantial margin (and the 50mm F1.4s for that matter, too). It just gets better on stopping down; at F4 and F5.6, central sharpness is literally off the charts (helped here by being tested on the 36MP, AA filterless A7R). Diffraction takes the edge off sharpness at F22, as usual, but this setting should still be perfectly usable when depth of field is a priority. Seeking the best printer for your business? Hit your productivity targets with inkjet and laser printers that are a perfect fit for any workspace – including home offices. The focal length of 55mm is the same as the diagonal measurement of the large-format sensor used in GFX cameras, which has dimensions of 43.8mm x 32.9mm, providing a field of view which is close to that of human vision, thereby creating a more natural perspective.Distortion is extremely low, with just a little barrel-type visible if you look closely. This will also be corrected automatically by the camera when shooting JPEG. This lens has a dust-, freeze- and weather-sealed physical construction that's sealed in nine different places and is capable of operating in environments as cold as -10°C. The front element features a fluorine coating to help repel dust, dirt, and moisture. Light fall-off is quite noticeable wide open at f/1.7, though this can easily be corrected in Photoshop. Stop down to f/4 and the vignetting is already much less prominent, but it is still visible when shooting pale scenes that fill the frame. Distortion The scale of Sony's achievement here becomes clear when comparing the FE 55mm F1.8 directly to the Zeiss Otus 55mm F1.4, which lays a strong claim to being the best lens for which we have test data. The Otus still just about comes out on top - it measures as slightly sharper wide open - but it's unlikely any difference will be particularly visible in real-world photography. The Otus also just about wins out on chromatic aberration and distortion, but overall the Sony can certainly wear its Zeiss badge with pride. In conjunction with the GFX 100 II's high-resolution electronic viewfinder, we found it very easy to accurately determine critical sharpness when manually focusing .