Does anyone have experience with Zeiss lenses on both Sony an Hasselblad? How do the alpha lenses compare?
There are 2 types of Zeiss lenses in the Alpha system. There is the APS-C-only Zeiss 16-80 f/3.5-4.5, which is not truly a professional-grade lens. This is supposed to be a high-end Kit-lens on the current list of APS-C crop cameras and in fact is sold as as Kit with the A700 in some markets. The build quality on this is not upto pro-grade snuff, even though the optics are supposed to be good.
Then there is professional-grade Zeiss AF lenses in the Sony Alpha mount, which includes the Planar 85mm f/1.4 and the Sonnar 135mm f/1.8, both of which are currently being sold in stores. These have metal bodies and even the hood is aluminium. Solid, heavy with terrific optics.
Some upcoming professional-grade Zeiss lenses are the Vario-Sonnar 24-70 f/2.8 SSM and a 16-35 f/2.8 SSM OR 14-24 f/2.8 SSM (most probably a 16-35 f/2.
. There is also a probable Vario-Sonnar 70-200 f/2.8 SSM, since Sony is pulling out the current 70-200 f/2.8 G SSM from the market. I hope this 70-200 Zeiss comes in Black ! There are several other longer primes also in the pipeline, which I am not including, since those are not Zeiss, even though top-end glass.
All of the pro-grade Zeiss lenses are accompanied by an individual Quality certificate in the box.
Obviously, the above CZ lenses will almost certainly have pin-sharp resolution, corner-to-corner, being a Zeiss design with *T coatings, but also will carry a price premium over the corresponding Canon/Nikon equivalents.
Now it is time for the market to wait and see what the Full-frame A900 will be like, since Sony has billed it as a Professional-grade product, but without the integrated grip a la the 1D-series Canons and the D2/D3 Nikons. I suspect this will be like a Canon 5D with better build quality.