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Author Topic: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility  (Read 9457 times)

Gary Mulcahey

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Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« on: August 18, 2011, 02:55:51 pm »

I come from years of shooting Nikon and Hasselblad professionally.
I have used a900 system almost exclusively over the last two+ years.

I don't have much experience with the Sony repair service but I'm getting a glimpse of a very poor, we don't give a damn, you are a total inconvenience to us type of system. But my main issue is not so much to do with the repair system. It's more to do with the quality of the equipment that Sony is making and selling. I can understand my a900 has some quality issues. It's a cheap piece of crap really, compared to the D3X. But it has amazing image quality and it was only $3,000.00 so I thought "why not". So I gave it a shot. I thought with these new Zeiss lenses this system could be tolerable. And it is. I could go on about the focus points and the auto focus but I work around those issues and have come to love the image quality that the combo produces.
I purchased the Zeiss 135mm lens. Beautiful optics. Too sharp at times. A month or two of use and the ring at the front of the lens that holds the shade is loose. No biggy. But if you are charging pro money for equipment, which the price fro these Sony Zeiss lenses suggests, it should live up to that price.
Most of my summer was spent shooting a coffee table book for a publisher. I've been using the Zeiss 16-35mm quite a bit and again I have no complaints about the optics. This lens decided to fall apart on a shoot day on location. It was unusable. I suspect a screw came out of the focus mechanism and got caught up in the zoom ring and seized the lens up.
This equipment has been used but never abused. I have Zeiss lenses I bought in 1982 for my Hasselblads and they have had hundreds of thousands of exposures put through them and not one of them ever needed to be repaired.
If Sony is going to charge pro prices for their Zeiss lenses, they should be of pro build quality. I have not seen any indication of this. After my total disappointment in all this I sent the lens to Sony repair and left a message with the product rep at Sony Canada explaining I was a pro and had been using Sony gear etc, etc and that I was a not a happy camper. He couldn't be bothered to get back to me.
So here I am with a toy camera system with great image quality and brilliant optics (love my 50mm 1.4) and very poor build quality. The camera vertical grip has now started to rattle with a piece of what ever floating around inside. My dilemma now is, do I wait for a new flagship from Sony or dump this system and head back to Nikon?
Thanks for reading. Had to bitch to someone.

G

K.C.

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2011, 04:31:50 am »

My A850 and SONY/Zeiss lenses have performed flawlessly for 2 years +.

My Hassy lenses needed constant maintenance and the last rebuild I had done on the 60mm cost more than the lens was worth. Still have them all and wish they were worth something, by comparison to what I paid for them.

My 5DII and 7D have been fine but I've had a couple of my L lenses fail me on the job. Plus there's the whole, have you got a sharp one question, with most of their glass.

I do have an old Rolleiflex mini that still works like new.

My point is, user experience vary.

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MBMPhotography

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2011, 05:17:34 am »

I have a Zeiss 24-70/2.8 that I bought in late April 2008 from the first ever arrival of these lenses to Europe. There are some slight issues with it some little movement of the barrel when fully extended at 70mm but it is not worth servicing for the moment as it does not have any optical effects of image quality. The other Zeiss that I have 16-35/2.8 as for the 1.5 years that I use it is operating without any problems. Still that it true that some very old Minolta lenses that I have are still operating without any problems. The Zeiss logo and the so called quality control is maybe not as good as you expected :( Please kep us informed about the service reply...
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pegelli

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2011, 05:21:13 am »

As K.C. says all systems show a large variety and range of reliability problems for different users.

For a Pro shooter (buying/using Pro equipment) the big difference is that Canon and Nikon have Pro service as well as much bigger availability of loaner/rent equipment than Sony has. Sony will currently not (and some say will never) offer such a service. However some of their prices are so low that you can afford to buy 2 for much less than 1 of the Pro Canikon version. So if you need Pro service, reliability and availability of spares Canikon is the only option. If as a Pro you can live with "Advanced Amateur" service, reliability and availability of spares (maybe complemented with some own spares for contingency) Sony is still a great option as IQ of the A900 and many of the lenses is on par or better than their Canikon equivalent (my opinion, I know others disagree but that's not the point we're trying to discuss here).

« Last Edit: August 19, 2011, 05:23:35 am by pegelli »
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pieter, aka pegelli

MBMPhotography

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2011, 05:30:55 am »

Pegelli I totally agree with your point :)  ;D
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JohnKoerner

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2011, 06:44:18 am »

I come from years of shooting Nikon and Hasselblad professionally.
I have used a900 system almost exclusively over the last two+ years.
I don't have much experience with the Sony repair service but I'm getting a glimpse of a very poor, we don't give a damn, you are a total inconvenience to us type of system. But my main issue is not so much to do with the repair system. It's more to do with the quality of the equipment that Sony is making and selling. I can understand my a900 has some quality issues. It's a cheap piece of crap really, compared to the D3X. But it has amazing image quality and it was only $3,000.00 so I thought "why not". So I gave it a shot. I thought with these new Zeiss lenses this system could be tolerable. And it is. I could go on about the focus points and the auto focus but I work around those issues and have come to love the image quality that the combo produces.
I purchased the Zeiss 135mm lens. Beautiful optics. Too sharp at times. A month or two of use and the ring at the front of the lens that holds the shade is loose. No biggy. But if you are charging pro money for equipment, which the price fro these Sony Zeiss lenses suggests, it should live up to that price.
Most of my summer was spent shooting a coffee table book for a publisher. I've been using the Zeiss 16-35mm quite a bit and again I have no complaints about the optics. This lens decided to fall apart on a shoot day on location. It was unusable. I suspect a screw came out of the focus mechanism and got caught up in the zoom ring and seized the lens up.
This equipment has been used but never abused. I have Zeiss lenses I bought in 1982 for my Hasselblads and they have had hundreds of thousands of exposures put through them and not one of them ever needed to be repaired.
If Sony is going to charge pro prices for their Zeiss lenses, they should be of pro build quality. I have not seen any indication of this. After my total disappointment in all this I sent the lens to Sony repair and left a message with the product rep at Sony Canada explaining I was a pro and had been using Sony gear etc, etc and that I was a not a happy camper. He couldn't be bothered to get back to me.
So here I am with a toy camera system with great image quality and brilliant optics (love my 50mm 1.4) and very poor build quality. The camera vertical grip has now started to rattle with a piece of what ever floating around inside. My dilemma now is, do I wait for a new flagship from Sony or dump this system and head back to Nikon?
Thanks for reading. Had to bitch to someone.
G


If I already had a Nikon D3x I would not waste my time with the Sony. The Sony alternative seems to be for those who either cannot afford (or choose not to spend) the price of a Nikon D3x. But, as a person who already has the Nikon D3x, it makes no logical sense why you'd waste some further money on the Sony when (yes!) it is a cheaper-made camera.

Since you are asking for opinions in public, if I were you I would unhesitatingly dump the Sony et al, and use the vastly better-built Nikon you already have, especially given the distaste you have clearly developed for the Sony equipment by comparion. As a professional, the build quality of your equipment is part of "professionalism" IMO (not to mention it just gives you, as a user, a better feeling using better equipment). In keeping with this, as a Canon user, I got rid of my EF-S lenses after experiencing the superior build quality of lenses like the 24-70L, 180mmL Macro, etc. (The EF-S 10-22 felt like a cheap, plastic toy by comparison.)

So I would dump the plasitcky toys and stick with professional equipment if I were you.

Jack

PS: Surprised to hear some of the Zeiss lenses were like that too! (Maybe they offer "dressed-down" versions for Sony??)


.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2011, 06:47:50 am by John Koerner »
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urbanpicasso

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2011, 08:54:48 am »

http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27798&page=3  (page down to fotografz response)
The above mirror my findings. After shooting Nikon pro body's for 9+years, D1/D2X/D3 including the 17-35/17-55/28-70/24-70/80-200/70-200/14-24..all AFS, I bought into the Sony system when the A900 was first introduced. I kept the D3 and the so called holy trinity to see how the Sony would pan out. I outfitted the 900 with the 16-35/24-70/135 in ziess and added the 70-400/50 1.4/100 macro in Sony. The Nikons are long gone.
I had one mishap with the 24-70 ziess, where I inadvertently scratched the front element. I sent it in and it was repaired, no charge.
 
« Last Edit: August 19, 2011, 08:58:13 am by davidbogdan »
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JohnKoerner

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #7 on: August 19, 2011, 09:00:44 am »

If Zeiss glass is your preference, I still don't see the need for the cheaper A900 body compared to the D3x.

After all, can't you buy Zeiss glass for Nikons too?

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pegelli

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #8 on: August 19, 2011, 09:34:47 am »

If you want Zeiss AF Sony is the only option
MF there's many more options (including Canon and Nikon).
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pieter, aka pegelli

urbanpicasso

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #9 on: August 19, 2011, 09:45:26 am »

I have to disagree on build quality. I find the build an easy equal with the sensor shake on the 900 being a must have. In 3years I've only needed to, simply, blow off the sensor once. I have sensor wipes, fluid, specially shaped tools and an arctic butterfly collecting dust on the shelf from my Nikon days. For whatever reason, the Nikons needed a bath on a regular basis.
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SecondFocus

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2011, 03:30:27 pm »

I was intrigued with the Sony cameras especially because of the Zeiss lenses. However I was suspect of a consumer based company providing any kind of professional service.

Whenever I inquired about what a pro could expect for service (such as Nikon or Canon Pro Service) of any reps at the shows like PMA I was often met with a blank look or some nebulous response like "we leave that up to the dealer".  One guy even said to me something like "we don't intend to be a professionals camera system". How lame is that! So very simply I scratched Sony off my list and never looked back.

Canon Professional Service has always been there for me from service to loaner gear; no need to look any further. And I am sure it is the same with Nikon.
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aaykay

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2011, 10:09:14 pm »

I have had the A900 for almost 3 years now (since Oct 2008) and never had a whisper of a problems.  Have all of the lenses you mentioned, including the 16-35/2.8ZA, 24-70/2.8ZA, 135ZA, 85ZA etc and they have all performed without a hitch till date.  What more can I say !  Sorry, could not be of more help.
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jfirneno

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #12 on: August 20, 2011, 12:26:20 am »

I've had the 135 f1.8 for a couple of years and there is no hint of the loose front element.  But I knew about the problem in advance and never use the heavy metal lens shade.  Also I'm careful to protect it well when transporting it.  The problems people have had lead me to believe that the build isn't as robust as some of the old metal lenses.  But the optics are so fine I bought the lens despite my reservations.  And I'm really glad I did.

Regards
John
« Last Edit: August 20, 2011, 12:53:24 am by jfirneno »
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250swb

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #13 on: August 20, 2011, 04:15:05 am »

I don't know about the AF lenses with Zeiss branding, but many of the Zeiss primes built to fit Nikon, Canon, Leica etc are built by Cosina Voigtlander. Only a very few of the more specialist lenses are built by Zeiss themselves.

Steve

Robert55

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #14 on: August 20, 2011, 04:47:19 am »

And those are really Zeiss branded, the Sony Zeiss ones are developed [whatever that may mean exactly] by Zeiss, but they are made and sold as a Sony product
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pegelli

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #15 on: August 20, 2011, 05:17:55 am »

And those are really Zeiss branded, the Sony Zeiss ones are developed [whatever that may mean exactly] by Zeiss, but they are made and sold as a Sony product

But they do have two serial numbers, one from Sony and one from Zeiss.
They also carry a Zeiss quality/inspection certificate in the box.

I've never understood the whole story on "who does what" for these lenses.
On the other hand, depite I only have one (the 135/1.8 ) I can say that the IQ it delivers is stellar and the small dof is wonderful to play with.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2011, 03:15:00 pm by pegelli »
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pieter, aka pegelli

David Watson

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #16 on: August 20, 2011, 02:21:45 pm »

If Zeiss glass is your preference, I still don't see the need for the cheaper A900 body compared to the D3x.

After all, can't you buy Zeiss glass for Nikons too?



I have switched from a D3X to a pair of A850's.  Why?  In body stabilisation and those Zeiss autofocus lenses.  No problems with reliability or build quality - everything works well and reliably.  Oh and by the way the A850 cost approx 40% of the price of a D3X - perhaps this is the problem and Sony should have charged a lot more.  In addition they could have renamed their service department "Sony Professional Services" and given all pro's a nice black membership card and the same excellent service referred to in this thread.   ;D
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FlyPenFly

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #17 on: August 21, 2011, 05:55:51 pm »

The Zeiss ZA 85mm F1.4 is the best 85mm I've ever used on any platform AF or MF. It easily beats the AF-S G version IMO. Now when you factor it also has stabilization due to the body, it's even better. Now on top of that compare the price to the AF-S G.

That said, I have heard about many problems with the 135mm F1.8. Sony also offers the Sony/Minolta 135m F2.8 T4 which is a completely unique lens without equal. The 16-35mm also seems to be a system winning lens with only vignetting being the major problem.

If you think about it, in terms of raw R&D $ for imaging equipment, Sony has no equal when you factor in their Pro Video. Sony is no stranger to pro imaging services but their photography warranty service seems to be hit or miss and something they really should improve.
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K.C.

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #18 on: August 21, 2011, 10:26:37 pm »


That said, I have heard about many problems with the 135mm F1.8.

Please define 'many.'

SONY Alphas being relatively rare cameras I'd really like to know how many other users you know. Particularly those who own the Zeiss 135 and have had a problem with it.
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FlyPenFly

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Re: Sony Zeiss lenses and build quaility
« Reply #19 on: August 22, 2011, 12:22:51 am »

Big thread I think in the Dyxum forum.

I say "many" because it seems like it for that one lens relative to other lenses people own in that forum. That said, nobody really knows how many besides Sony.
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