F55: Has anyone seen the new Sony Pl lenses?

powervideo

powervideo

Well-known member
Just curious if anyone has the new Sony series II PL lens kit. I'm pretty interested in the constant aperture and standardised diameter. I'm hoping to see them at NAB in a couple of weeks. But I've heard they are heavy.
 
I saw them "physically" at the Toronto F5/F55 launch but haven't tried them. They are massive, diameter is quite large, and they look heavy for what its worth.
 
I've shot briefly with the 85mm. Very sharp. A bit on the heavy and bulky side. Very solid metal construction.

Ned Soltz
 
I had the six lenses for almost a week, did a test shoot and I must say the lens is SHARP but is a little bulky and heavy as compared to CP.2 lenses.
 
They're about twice the weight of the CP.2s, and only a 9-blade aperture compared to the lovely 14-blade iris on the CP.2s (so out of focus areas/highlights will tend to look nicer on the Zeisses). But from all accounts I've heard so far, they're tack sharp - and they have a constant aperture across the range (and they're the only cine lenses in their price range that offer that - CP.2s and Canon CN-E are both all over the place).
 
Good range for the price...also, purely my own speculation, but I suspect they are made the same place Red Pro Primes are made.
The Canon CN-E's are lovely, but it's Canon's attempt to double-down and make you purchase into their EOS ecosystem. If they ship them in PL, I'll buy them today!

The Xenar III's are an interesting option, but are more expensive than CPs or CNEs.
 
powervideo said:
I can handle the weight issue, but will the 9-blade vs 14-blader really make the Sony's suffer?
Click to expand...

Well it depends on your priorities. Ultra Primes only have 9-bladed apertures, and they look plenty pretty; but aesthetically, I think that's the one area where Zeiss's CP.2s actually trump their higher-tier Ultra Primes siblings - the 14-blade aperture does produce noticeably prettier bokeh and rounder out-of-focus highlights.

If that's something you really like in your images, then I think you'd probably appreciate the CP.2s more than the Sony glass. If it's not a big deal to you, you may prefer having your widest lens (20mm) be a T/2 rather than a T/2.9 with the 21mm or 15mm CP.2.
 
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