Our sample images indicate that to be the case, with very little barrel or pincushion distortion visible. Macro With the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA featuring the Zeiss brand logo on its lens barrel and a price tag to match (being three times more expensive than the Sony FE 50mm f/1.8), I expected the lens to produce very sharp images and to do so without the need to stop down from its native aperture. Thankfully, the lens doesn’t disappoint with a very strong performance right from the get-go at f/1.8 where sharpness and contrast are on a high level. At this aperture, sharpness in the center of the frame is very good with the corners showing a good if an unimpressive level of sharpness. Dramatic improvements can be seen at f/2 and especially so at f/2.8, with the lens now extremely sharp over most of the image frame with the corners improving gradually improving as you stop down. In the center of the frame, you the lens is jaw-droppingly sharp from f/2.8 until f/5.6 where it starts to feel the effects of diffraction. The corners reach peak sharpness at the f/5.6 settings where the performance is truly outstanding. Overall, the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA is extremely sharp with a truly outstanding performance that rivals the best 50mm wide aperture lenses on the market. Take complete creative control of your images with PIXMA and imagePROGRAF PRO professional photo printers.

Distortion is extremely low, with just a little barrel-type visible if you look closely. This will also be corrected automatically by the camera when shooting JPEG. Seeking the best printer for your business? Hit your productivity targets with inkjet and laser printers that are a perfect fit for any workspace – including home offices. As with all of the the other GF lenses that we've previously reviewed, the build quality of the Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR is excellent. The lens is dust, freeze and moisture resistant and it features a metal bayonet. Having four different options isn’t surprising given the broad appeal of the 50mm focal length across a range of different photographic disciplines including portraiture, fashion, documentary, architectural and travel photography. The Sony FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA lens is situated in the middle of the lineup, sitting above the entry-level FE 50mm f/1.8 and below the faster, bigger and more expensive FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA lens. Sharpness is simply spectacular. At F1.8 the 55mm is impressively sharp, outperforming the 50mm F1.8s for Canon and Nikon SLRs by a substantial margin (and the 50mm F1.4s for that matter, too). It just gets better on stopping down; at F4 and F5.6, central sharpness is literally off the charts (helped here by being tested on the 36MP, AA filterless A7R). Diffraction takes the edge off sharpness at F22, as usual, but this setting should still be perfectly usable when depth of field is a priority.This lens has a dust-, freeze- and weather-sealed physical construction that's sealed in nine different places and is capable of operating in environments as cold as -10°C. The front element features a fluorine coating to help repel dust, dirt, and moisture.

Enjoy high quality performance, low cost prints and ultimate convenience with the PIXMA G series of refillable ink tank printers. The focusing ring is very wide, buttery smooth and beautifully well-damped in action without being loose, and it has a ridged, rubberised grip band. There are no “hard stops” at either end of the 50cm-infinity focus range though. When it comes to handling chromatic aberrations the Sony FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA turns in a mixed result. On one hand, lateral chromatic aberration is very well controlled with very little of it showing at f/1.8 and almost none showing two stops down. Unfortunately, the lens exhibits a significant amount of bokeh fringing (color fringing in front of and behind the focused area) with this especially prominent with the lens used wide open at f/1.8. The fringing remains quite noticeable until the lens is stopped down to f/4 where things improve markedly. By f/5.6 the lens exhibits only a small amount of fringing. This is certainly one of the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA’s biggest optical weaknesses though it isn’t all that difficult to correct in post-processing. ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 125, 1/320, f/1.8 10) Comparisons The FE 55mm F1.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* is one of the first three lenses available for Sony's full-frame E-mount system, having been announced alongside the Alpha 7 and 7R camera bodies. It's a slightly long 'normal' prime designed for everyday photography, and its relatively fast F1.8 aperture makes it a good choice for selective focus work or shooting in low light. Its 7-element, 5-group optical design includes three aspherical elements to minimise aberrations, which is unusual for this type of lens. When shooting in AF-S single shot mode, the camera needs to de-focus the lens before focusing on the subject which leads to a noticeable slowdown. Nevertheless, overall focus speed is good enough for most uses and accuracy is superb for static subjects including good accuracy in low-light conditions.Note that there is no built-in optical image stabilisation in this lens, so make sure to choose a suitably fast shutter speed when hand-holding the camera/lens. The FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA lens features a linear autofocus motor that focuses internally and makes very little noise. Overall, focus speeds are good but an important aspect to consider when judging a lens focusing ability is that the camera body plays an integral role in the quality of the autofocus and because of this, it is essential to match your lenses with high-quality bodies that can deliver good focusing performance. I was able to test the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA lens alongside the very good Sony Alpha A7III body whose focusing capabilities make the most of the lens. ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 400, 1/3200, f/1.8 Vignetting is kept pretty well under control, at 1.6 stops wide open, which is perfectly respectable for a fast prime. The falloff profile is rather gradual too, which tends to make any vignetting less visually objectionable. With a maximum diameter of 94.7mm, a length of 99.3mm and a weight of 780g / 1.72 lb, the Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR is relatively compact and lightweight considering the very fast maximum aperture of f/1.7 that it offers. The focal length of 55mm is the same as the diagonal measurement of the large-format sensor used in GFX cameras, which has dimensions of 43.8mm x 32.9mm, providing a field of view which is close to that of human vision, thereby creating a more natural perspective.

Chromatic aberration is pretty low. There'll be some green/magenta fringing visible towards the extreme corners of the frame if you look closely, but it's unlikely to be hugely objectionable. It will be automatically corrected in the camera's JPEGs, too. Measuring just 64.4mmx70.5mm, the FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA is a very small and lightweight lens which perfectly captures the original intent of compactness of Sony’s mirrorless camera system. In use, the lens makes for a perfect companion to the Sony A7 series of cameras and is a joy to use during extended shooting sessions as you rarely feel you’re even carrying a camera with you. At the front of the lens is a non-rotating 49mm filter thread, surrounded by a bayonet mount for the lens hood supplied with the lens. The petal shaped hood is well made and attaches firmly. It’s quite large and nearly doubles the overall length of the lens but does a great job of protecting the front element. The 55mm f/1.8 has three aspherical elements, but its internal design is otherwise quite simple, helping to make for such a small lens. Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are apparent in very high-contrast images, particularly when shooting wide-open at f/1.7. Light Fall-off It has a very large rotation angle which enables precise focusing and moves smoothly without any play. Two different focusing aids are provided - auto magnification and focus peaking.The scale of Sony's achievement here becomes clear when comparing the FE 55mm F1.8 directly to the Zeiss Otus 55mm F1.4, which lays a strong claim to being the best lens for which we have test data. The Otus still just about comes out on top - it measures as slightly sharper wide open - but it's unlikely any difference will be particularly visible in real-world photography. The Otus also just about wins out on chromatic aberration and distortion, but overall the Sony can certainly wear its Zeiss badge with pride. With a standard focal length of 44mm (35mm equivalent), we wouldn't expect this lens to have too many problems with distortion. The lens exhibits a strong amount of vignetting, with light falloff reaching around 2.5 stops with the lens used wide open at f/1.8. One stop down, things greatly improve with there now being about 1.5 stops of corner shading. By f/5.6, this number further improves with the lens exhibiting less than one stop of darkening in the corners. ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 250, 1/500, f/1.8 8) Flaring

Light fall-off is quite noticeable wide open at f/1.7, though this can easily be corrected in Photoshop. Stop down to f/4 and the vignetting is already much less prominent, but it is still visible when shooting pale scenes that fill the frame. Distortion The Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR lens has a traditional aperture ring on the lens barrel which allows you to set the aperture in 1/3 steps, complete with full aperture markings. The aperture is also shown in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen as you change it.

The Fujinon XF16-55mm f2.8 is as good as it gets for an X-mount standard zoom

And here is an image at f/1.8, followed by center, mid-frame, and corner crops: ILCE-7M3 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA @ 55mm, ISO 1000, 1/160, f/1.8 f/1.8, center crop f/1.8, mid-frame crop f/1.8, corner crop 5) Vibration Reduction It doesn't feel particularly unwieldy when mounted on the equally new Fuji GFX 100 II camera that we tested it with, with even one-handed use not completely out of the question! We didn't experience too much "hunting", with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time, even in low-light conditions. A minimum focus distance of 50cm / 1.6' and a maximum magnification ratio of 0.17x doesn't make the lens particularly useful for shooting close subjects, although the fast maximum aperture does at least make it easy to isolate the subject. Bokeh Optically the Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR lens is comprised of 14 elements in 10 groups including two ED elements and two aspherical elements and it accepts 77mm filters via metal threads.