First outing with the legendary Zeiss 55.

[Shanghai Steve]

Hello all
So, I went out to Jing 'an Temple today and it was a case of good news/bad news all the way. It turned out to be a special day or something (no-one ever tells me the minor Chinese holidays- I just find myself in a turbulent crowd for no apparent reason and think "What the hell??") as entry was free but as my new supercool lens equates to 82.5mm, it is rather inappropriate for Street The sun was strong but I got flare in some of my shots as I stupidly had not brought along my lens hood. But, I persevered and noted a distinct difference between the Sony APS-C 50/1.8 I have been using for about 2 years and the full frame Sony/Zeiss 55/1.8.

1) First things first, I have unwittingly been benefitting quite a bit from the OSS on the crop lens. I set it and forgot it 23 months ago, so returning to a non-stabilised lens resulted in some pretty crappy shots from my shaky hands.

2) The AF seems sluggish compared to the smaller, lighter lens. I waited the usual 0.5s between acquiring focus and activating the shutter, but found myself staring incomprehensibly at the results in my LCD. The shot below is a classic example from today.


and yet this inpromptu shot came out fine.


I am a little disappointed about this, although I did change my AF setting to AF-A for today's shoot on the basis that if I was shooting more static subjects without a tripod, I might need this flexibility. It is entirely possible that I have done this to myself and will update this thread in due course.

3) Sharpness does not seem better on the Zeiss apart from in yet-to-be-determined circumstances. The shot below is the sharpest of today's batch and yes it is pretty sharp ( I have sharpened it in post just a smidgeon too much, but hopefully this will not be evident at screen sizes). But of course, the 50/1.8 is very sharp also.


4) Colour rendition does seem to be 'cleaner', more of a Nikon look and if I were pushed, I would say the shots have less of a generic look.

5) 82.5mm is far too long for a general purpose lens. Strangely, that extra 7.5 mm seems to have broken the camel's back in terms of usability. I must buy an A7 at the earliest opportunity.

All in all, this was not what I was expecting from today, but I will put it down as a learning experience and see what happens on future shoots.

[Shadowman]

2nd and 3rd shot came out pretty good, lighting was your friend.

[Shanghai Steve]

Thanks shadowman.

[Black Pearl]

Doesn't your Sony have a 1.5x crop sensor - that would make the FoV equivalent to 75mm not 82.5mm.

[george013]

The first post looks like being in a selfie temple.

I am a little disappointed about this, although I did change my AF setting to AF-A for today's shoot on the basis that if I was shooting more static subjects without a tripod, I might need this flexibility. It is entirely possible that I have done this to myself and will update this thread in due course.
[/IMG]

Why. I checked to be sure. AF-A lets the camera choice your subject to focus on. With Nikon. I also found that on the more pro-camera's there's no AF-A.

George

[Shanghai Steve]

Er, 55 X 1.5 = 82.5.
As to AF-A, I understood that this allowed some micromovement of focus while waiting for shutter activation, no? I have disabled it anyway. I also moved my "Autofocus speed" to Fast, which I think has helped, though I only did this at the end of my shooting today. With the 50/1.8, Fast AF speed seemed to upset it- possibly due to firmware or mechanical limitations from being a cheaper lens.

Selfie Temple? Yeah. There were a lot of (admittedly, very attractive) young women indulging in that. "Smart"phones are the bane of the modern world. I refuse to own one, instead opting for a black and yellow RugGear brick. One of my younger colleagues actually asked me what it was a few months back. She didn't recognise it as a phone!
I am literally just back from a few hours riding around in The French Concession; getting a bit hot now, but I love being out in the hussle and bussle. Better than riding from Jing An Temple to People's Square at on a wet winter's night- that can get quite dangerous. Will post any decent shots later on.

[IzzieK]

Very interesting experiment, Steve...It seems that when you got to the settings, #3 and #4 works well there...

[george013]

Er, 55 X 1.5 = 82.5.
As to AF-A, I understood that this allowed some micromovement of focus while waiting for shutter activation, no? I have disabled it anyway. I also moved my "Autofocus speed" to Fast, which I think has helped, though I only did this at the end of my shooting today. With the 50/1.8, Fast AF speed seemed to upset it- possibly due to firmware or mechanical limitations from being a cheaper lens.

Selfie Temple? Yeah. There were a lot of (admittedly, very attractive) young women indulging in that. "Smart"phones are the bane of the modern world. I refuse to own one, instead opting for a black and yellow RugGear brick. One of my younger colleagues actually asked me what it was a few months back. She didn't recognise it as a phone!
I am literally just back from a few hours riding around in The French Concession; getting a bit hot now, but I love being out in the hussle and bussle. Better than riding from Jing An Temple to People's Square at on a wet winter's night- that can get quite dangerous. Will post any decent shots later on.

I can only talk about Nikon, but I don't think other brands are that much different. AF-A focuses on the nearest subject and sticks to it. AF-S focuses on the selected focus field and sticks to it. AF-C continues focusing on the selected subject and is anticipating on the, lineair, movement of that subject.
Your other lens has OSS meaning Optical Steady Shot. I think something like VR on Nikon. Anyway it's in the lens and not in the camera. I don't know what AF fast means but I don't think it's of value for the pictures you showed.


Why are you disappointed about that picture?

George

[Shanghai Steve]

No, it works differently on Sony cameras.
What picture? You mean the bowing lady? It's out of focus.

[Shanghai Steve]

Hi Izzie. I don't know how many members use Sony cameras but the 55 is kind of a staple of the range ( if an expensive one), so I thought my experience would be relevant to Sony users.
These are the best two from today.

[george013]

No, it works differently on Sony cameras.
What picture? You mean the bowing lady? It's out of focus.

The second picture. Where you mentioned your AF-A.

The bowing lady, I'm not sure if it's a focus problem. If so, something else should be in focus. There's no exif.

George

I mean the first bowing lady. There're two.

[Shanghai Steve]

Focus is fine on the second shot, which I noted.
I think the first shot's problem is that the focus is so close to the camera that nothing in the frame is in focus.

[tao2]

Hi Steve,

from George...

AF-A focuses on the nearest subject and sticks to it.

, Nah, not on a Sony.

AF-A, automatically switches between AF-S (single shot AF) and AF-C (continuous AF).

AF-S is for static subjects. Pressing the shutter button half way, the camera focuses and focus is locked.

AF-A, if the subject is static, it apes AF-S .Pressing the shutter button halfway and the camera continues tae focus if the subject is moving.

AF-C is simply continuous focus, while the subject is moving the camera continues tae focus 'til ye press the button down fully.

I think the first shot's problem is that the focus is so close to the camera that nothing in the frame is in focus.

There's no exif, Steve, so no-one can make a completely informed comment on any of the shots.

PS ah wouldn't call the Zeiss a "staple" of the range at $1000 when new. It' s in the exotic, luxury class - not the bread and butter.

[Shanghai Steve]

Thanks Boab. I thought that was how it works. So I was correct in my assumption but in practice it didn't help.
That's the thing with modern cameras; they are very complex pieces of machinery and increasingly, computers. We all know by now that the average mid-range smartphone has more computing power than NASA had to bring-about the Moon Landing. When I was looking at the GH4 I was astonished (and thrilled) to find out that it has a quad-core processor. I texted my non-tech mate and he replied "What the hell are you talking about?" It also occured to me today that the 55 might be using different firmware. I mean, software updates...for your lenses. It's all a bit crazy.

If I had the money I'd be all over Leica. Of course I can't be certain that I would prefer the experience or get the results I'd like, but I really admire the philosophy, the build & optical quality. Really, Leica's monochrome is just perfection to me.