Weight: 10.6oz & 7.8oz
$1,000 & $300
Filter Sizes: 49mm
This is by no means an exhaustive fest, but I'm sure some other NEX and
A6000 are curious what an extra $700 gets you. At the moment I
happen to have both lenses in my possession and figured a quick test
was in order. Both lenses make quite nice portrait lenses on aps-c with
the
Sony Zeiss 55mm being a touch longer and more ideal in the ~90mm
equivalent range. In fact they are the only two true auto focusing
portrait lenses for E mount cameras. I leave out the Sigma 60mm f/2.8
because of the slow aperture.
These images were shot back to back on a tripod with remote release and
fast enough shutter to stop slight motion (1/320). White balance was
set to cloudy because it was cloudy. Shot on a Sony A6000. Mouse over
to compare images.
Here
is a nice busy background, great to see if a dedicated portrait lens
justifies owning it.
;
No budget for a model? How about a scowling author? Both lenses do well for such a busy background. I moved back one
step to help subject size stay the same for the slightly longer 55mm.
At 100% the Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS really looks quite good. Note some
purple fringing in the hair. What does $700 more get us? Damn near
perfection on a demanding sensor.
;
Is
the Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 worth 333% more than the Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS?
That's really up to the user and their budget. It's certainly a better
lens, yet diminishing returns for the investment. That's the nature
high end of photography.