By technical editor Matt Allard:
At CP+ in Tokyo, Sony were showing their new Distagon T* FE 35mm F1.4 ZA. The lens wears the Zeiss badge which means it is manufactured by Sony according to Carl Zeiss specifications. The 35mm has a constant F1.4 aperture which is controlled manually on the lens itself. The clever design features a a selection switch to enable hard click stops or click less aperture, making it ideal for video use. The only way of controlling the aperture via the camera is if the camera is in Aperture Priority Mode. Focus speed was snappy and responsive.
The new lens felt very solid in the hand and although not a light lens it did not feel unbalanced on a Sony a7. The lens features a 72mm front and comes with a nice lens hood. From the limited time I had using the lens I was left with a positive impression. It is vey sharp, produces nice bokeh and seems to have good control of chromatic aberration and vignetting. I was not allowed to record any vision or take any photographs as Sony said it is still very much a pre production version of the lens that was on display.
There is no information about pricing or avalability currently available from Sony.
