Issues with Sony/Zeiss 35mm 1.4 FE

[jhemp]

I'm hoping somebody can relate to what I'm dealing with.  About two weeks ago I got the Sony/Zeiss 35 1.4 for my A7RII from B&H  and right from the start something didn't feel right about lens.  The images at 1.4 were kinda soft and not that great, and even @f8 things never sharpened up across the frame.  So I sent it back for another copy after about a weeks worth of use.  I just got the new copy today and started firing off some test shots at f1.4 of my kids and the images were beautiful and sharp, MUCH better than my first copy, I was excited!!  BUT.... as soon as I started shooting things that were 10ft or so away from me I started to notice that the images were not in focus.  Everything was focusing several ft in front of the subject!  More testing proved the same that the lens only focuses correctly at close range and SEVERELY front focuses on things further away.   Example:  If I focus on my neighbors house across the street(40-50yrds) with spot center focus and take the image at f8 his house will be soft but the front of his yard in in perfect focus.
So, I thought I could try Autofocus micro adjust but the camera says this option is not valid with this lens! Grrrrr!  Now I'm trying to decide if I should send this copy back for another or go through Sony Pro service and see if it can be fixed.  I'm really just worried about getting another shitty copy of this $1600 lens!

[E.J. Peiker]

Micro adjust is only for A-mount lenses mounted through the LA-EA4 adapter since that adapter has it's own PDAF array in the adapter so it needs to be adjustable for varying tolerances in distance to the sensor.

In your case, with two lenses having a problem, there may be a problem in your caemra's lookup table that matches focus performance to the lens.  A bad bit in the flash memory in the camera (not your card but the flash memory that firmware is written to) could cause something like this.  You may have to send both camera and lens for repair although my confidence in the third party that handles repair for Sony in the USA (assuming you are in the USA) to actually fix this is pretty low.  Before you do anything, you should try to find another a7RII to mount the lens to and see if it works properly on another body.  If it does then I am almost certain that there is a problem in the lookup table for focal length to AF module matching in the firmware.

One other thing you could try is to see if you can reflash your firmware.  Not sure if Sony's software allows this though.  Basically simply redo the latest firmware update if possible.

[Dr Tone]

Maybe try a camera reset as well.  Do you have AF-S priority set to Focus?

On a side note I sent my 35mm 1.4 FE back to Sony today.  My right side was soft and doesn't sharpen up at F8.

[jhemp]

The plot thickens!  So the lens seems to focus fine on my A7II, both close range and at distance. (I set up a test scene in my garage with tripod) Then I tried my 55 1.8, 35 2.8, and 16-35 on the A7RII and all of them focused perfectly at multiple apertures focus modes and distances.  So only the 35 1.4 fe has focus problems on the A7RII.  Whats funny is the lens will focus correctly at distance @1.4 but each time I stop down(I re-autofocus each shot)the focus comes forward?? to the point that @f4 the object being targeted by the autofocus is soft and objects several feet in front are sharp.  The same behavior I notices testing the lens out around town today.  Perplexing! 

I could not redo my firmware update.

[JaapD]

You mention” the lens will focus correctly at distance @1.4 but each time I stop down(I re-autofocus each shot)the focus comes forward?? to the point that @f4 the object being targeted by the autofocus is soft and objects several feet in front are sharp”.

Why do you stop down and re-autofocus? Autofocusing at smaller apertures, combined with wide angle lenses, creates a difficult situation for the AF function due to the increased depth of field. What’s the situation when you don’t do this and just focus at maximum aperture, then stop down while taking the picture?

[jhemp]

I'll test that out today.  The reason I refocus as I stop down is because I'm worried about focus shift.  Many lenses exhibit this to a varying degree, if you focus wide open or close to it and then stop down your focus will actually shift.  I don't know if the lens exhibits this behavior but I plan on finding out later today.
I'm starting to think that this lens has one specific purpose and that is for shooting wide open, the results I'm getting when the lens is stopped down are ok(manually focused) and not as good as the Sony 35 f2.8.  So later today I'll spend some more time trying to figure out the autofocus issues.  I think I'll end up with multiple 35mm lenses each one with a specific purpose.   I would say that if your considering this lens and you don't care about being able to shoot at f1.4 then get the Sony 35 2.8 or the Loxia 35 f2.

[bob162]

I tried my A7RM2 and 35/1.4 yesterday with no issues. I'm with the look up table scenario; it would explain why your other lenses are OK.
On stopping down and re-focus: I noticed my copy of said lens does go a tad soft at 5.6 ~ 8 relative to 1.4/2.0 if I don't refocus. Yes, it does get flaky at smaller apertures and low light.

[ario]

I'll test that out today.  The reason I refocus as I stop down is because I'm worried about focus shift.  Many lenses exhibit this to a varying degree, if you focus wide open or close to it and then stop down your focus will actually shift.  I don't know if the lens exhibits this behavior but I plan on finding out later today.
I'm starting to think that this lens has one specific purpose and that is for shooting wide open, the results I'm getting when the lens is stopped down are ok(manually focused) and not as good as the Sony 35 f2.8.  So later today I'll spend some more time trying to figure out the autofocus issues.  I think I'll end up with multiple 35mm lenses each one with a specific purpose.   I would say that if your considering this lens and you don't care about being able to shoot at f1.4 then get the Sony 35 2.8 or the Loxia 35 f2.

If you stop down the Zeiss 35mm 1.4 FE and focus, the Sony A7RM2 with the current FW will open up to approx f:2 to catch the focus and then closes again at the aperture you have selected. Easy to check looking into the lens. Most probably does not open completely to f:1.4 in order to mitigate the focus shift effect.

[photodan]

I've found the same thing as Ario, in that for focusing the camera stops the lens down from max aperture to whatever is closest to the taking aperture as long as there is enough light. E.g if the taking aperture is set at f/8 but the light is dim then it may stop the lens down from f/1.4 (or whatever the max f-stop of the lens is) to f/2, but if the light is bright it may stop down to something like f/4, 5.6, or maybe even to the taking aperture of f/8.  This seems like a very smart way to balance the desire to account for focus shift while keeping in mind the limitations of AF in low light plus the potential for the greatest precision (or accuracy) you get by focusing at wider f-stops.

Unfortunately I also had the same experience as Dr Tone in that my 35/1.4 FE was sharp on the left side when focused in the center but the right side was significantly blurred, and it was obvious even at f/5.6, and detectable even at f/8. I compared it to my 35/2.8 FE at stops from 2.8 to f/11 with the same scene just a couple of minutes apart and the problem with the 35/1.4 was obvious. The 35/2.8 was consistent across the frame but the 35/1.4 was not.  The 35/1.4 had superior sharpness in the very center and somewhat on the left side at 2.8 to about 4 or so, but other than that it was a dud and I returned it. This behavior of right-side skew has been noted by many other people. I have a  55/1.8 FE and I don't see any such problems with that. 

Combined with Jhemp's experience it makes think that there are a variety of teething problems with many copies of the 35/1.4 lens.

[jhemp]

So after a couple of weeks working with the lens I have decided to hang on to it because it is simply awesome from f1.4-f2, especially on the A7II.  I still have focus issues on my A7RII but in reality I won't use the lens on that camera very much if at all.  This lens will mainly stay on my A7II for event work and environmental portrait work where 24mp is all I need. 
I will not use this lens for landscape work as it never gains that biting sharpness of the Sony/Zeiss 35mm 2.8 lens or even the 16-35,  even stopped down to f8-f11. I'm not saying the IQ from the lens is bad stopped down, but when viewed at 100% next to the same images from the 35 2.8 or the 16-35 @35mm it is clear that it's not that great either.

[Rohman]

Has anything been figured out on this? I'm having the same problem on 2 different a7r2's. My lens seemed to work fine when I first got it in February 2016 but has gotten continually worse. It will focus well when used close to the subject 90% of time. i.e. head and shoulders in a horizontal shot. When shooting full lengths horizontally, now the focus is at least a foot or two in front of the subject. This is at f 2 or 2.8 or f 4 even. When shooting a building in a downtown area from across the street stopped down to f 2.8 the stop sign on the near corner will be tack sharp and the building soft. This is all shot in single auto focus with the small spot or medium spot. Doesn't matter. I rented one along with camera bodies and other lenses for a couple of jobs and it was so sharp and crisp that I decided to give the system a try and bought into it. I now own 2 a7rII's the Sony1.4 35, Sony55 1.8 and the new Sony85 1.4G. The 55mm has been pretty trust worthy at hitting focus and is good and sharp. The 85 is super sharp and is also pretty trust worthy to hit focus but in low light they all can have problems and at times they all can miss focus when the subject is at a distance and the focus miss will always be front focused. Frustrating when your getting paid to travel around the country to shoot for corporations and ad agencies and you can't trust your gear. Still have my Canon gear but it also had focus issues. That's what I loved about the Sony when I first started using it. It hit focus all the time. Didn't matter what I shot or at what distance. My on focus rate had to be 98% where with the Canon gear it could be 50-75%. I'm not shooting action. Most stuff is posed. I also have seen the blurry right side image issue.
I have a rental lens coming tomorrow to test with the cameras. We'll see what that shows.

[Rohman]

Well it's been a few weeks since I last posted this and no one has replied. I did receive the 35mm rental lense and it did the same thing only worse. I'm sticking with my Canon 35mm f1.4 L on an adapter for now. From what I've read online it seems these lenses have an issue with soft edges outside the center sweet spot of the lens. From what I've found testing with a couple lenses is, if your not in close and use a focus point other than the center one the camera has a hard time hitting focus. If you use the center focus spot and recompose the focus will be much much better but still softer than shooting in the center of the lens. I went back and looked at some of my first shots with the lens and realized it was front focusing in the same situations I just wasn't shooting many pictures backed off and off to one side or the other with lens. Maybe someone will make a better 35mm sense for the system.Maybe Sony will make a G Master 35mm. Eh. Doubt it but that would be nice.

[stevesanacore]

I too am waiting for a better 35mm solution for my A7R bodies. I'm hoping that Zeiss will make an f2 Batis that performs better than all the other options at the moment.

[jhemp]

Hey Rohman,
I never figured it out!  I sent it into Sony twice and they returned it both times saying it was ok.  Like I said earlier, I'm keeping the lens for certain types of work because it's absolutely gorgeous at 1.4 and I do a lot of event work and environmental portrait work and this lens delivers as long as I stay at f1.4-f2.8ish.  For some reason when I stop down the auto focus goes to shit, unless I'm within a few feet of the subject.  For example I cannot take a multi layered group shot at f5.6 with auto focus.  The people in the front row will be just in focus and the folks in the second row will be out of focus, even at f8!?!?!?!  So then I just manually focus.  Another strike against the lens is it's performance stopped down for landscape work.  I find it weak compared to my Loxia 35 or the Sony/Zeiss 35 f2.8.  It never really gets tack sharp anywhere in the scene, it's just meh!  I'm lucky enough that I can afford multiple 35mm lenses but I would be furious if this was my only 35mm lens!  Right now if I had only one choice for a 35mm lens on the Sony system I'd get the Sony/Zeiss 35mm f2.8.  It has a nice character to it and I personally like it's vignetting wide open.  It has fast autofocus and the copy I have is tack sharp wide open and stopped down.  Only the loxia 35 is a tad better stopped down in the edges but not by much.  I do love the manual focus experience with the loxia lenses and they have become my lenses for all my personal landscape work where auto focus isn't necessary.

[Phil Indeblanc]

INteresting to read this, and particularly this below

From what I've found testing with a couple lenses is, if your not in close and use a focus point other than the center one the camera has a hard time hitting focus. If you use the center focus spot and recompose the focus will be much much better but still softer than shooting in the center of the lens.

"\

I was having this issue with the 55/1.8. Center point it likes for most lenses, and the 55mm was having hunting issues at night. I noticed that if you focus on a vertical subject like a door way, it cannot lock focus with back light, but as soon as there is horizontal intersection in the shape, it can lock on quick. 

Honestly, overall, having the A7rII for about a week, with the 35/2.8 and 55/1.8.... the lenses, and the way it focuses, for the price seams a bit "toy-ish".
I do love the images it can make.... when I have the chance to reshoot and actually get the shot :-) But I am still practicing.

A interesting YouTube video on this lens line up I watched today was from a tog called Darren Miles in Florida. He does some nice lens comparisons, and I recommend you take a look at his observations.