There are almost no lateral color fringes, at least as shot on the A7R II. There may be a fraction of a pixel of blue-yellow, but you won't see it outside the lab. An extremely low lens element count (7 elements in 5 groups) along with Zeiss T* anti-reflective coatings helps control flare and our standard flare testing that uses the sun in the corner of the frame produces almost no flare effects from this lens, even at f/16.

The score of 2[-]/3[0]/7[+] shows that the Sony FE 35mm f2.8 ZA has some good and some weak points: It’s very small and light – but then it offers a focal ratio of only f2.8. Its maximum magnification of 1:7.5 is a bit disappointing compared to the other lenses and although the lens is cheaper than the alternatives with a focal ratio of f2.0 or f1.4 it still costs a pretty penny – especially compared to the Samyang which looks almost like a clone of the Sony FE 35mm f2.8 ZA.Size (diameter x length): At 61 x 36mm (2.4 x 1.4in.) the Sony FE 35mm f2.8 ZA is a very small lens and the tiny lens hood adds only 12mm. It is dwarfed by its larger sibling, the Sony FE 35mm f1.4 ZA, at 79 x 112mm plus 37mm for the lens hood. The Zeiss Batis is somewhere in between at 81 x 87mm plus 40mm for the lens hood. Only the Samyang is of similarly small proportions: 62 x 33mm (without lens hood). [+] Red Mercedes, 10 September 2015. Sony A7R II, Zeiss FE 35mm f/2.8, f/8 at 1/320 at Auto ISO 100. bigger or full-resolution. Focus breathing (the image changing size as focused) is mostly of interest to cinematographers who don't want the image changing size ("breathing") as the lens is focused among different subjects. Image stabilization: No optical stabilization of the lens. The Sony A7 Mark II bodies onwards provide built-in sensor-shift stabilization. Same with the other lenses in this comparison. [0]

The Tamron lens has slight barrel distortion that is slightly stronger than the Sony lens' slight pincushion distortion. I was a disappointed by the fact that it hardly improves when it is stopped down. The corners are sharp enough but much cheaper lenses are sharper in the corners at f/8 This design is very handy, because the hood is very small I always left it attached to the lens and it also comes with it’s own lens cap. Coma is absent in the center of the frame, gets worse toward the edges/corners, and generally appears as a comet-like or triangular tail of light which can be oriented either away from the center of the frame (external coma), or toward the center of the frame (internal coma). The Carl Zeiss 2.8/35 work on any camera with an E-mount. Be it a full frame camera like the Sony a7 or an APS-C camera like the Sony a6000. On an APS-C camera it is equivalent to a 52.5/4 on a full frame camera. Build QualityAll in all the FE 2.8/35 has some strong selling points: It is very small, feels very nice and it performs remarkably well at f/2.8, if this matters to you the price might be justified. If you remove the size from the equation it is a good performer wide open but below average at smaller apertures and the high price will be hard to justify. Benefiting from being stopped down 2 stops, the f/1.4 lens shows less spherical and axial CA at f/2.8 and the f/2.8 lens shows less lateral CA.

As usual I’ll have a look at the technical data of the Sony FE 35mm f2.8 ZA first. I’ve rated the features with a [+] (or [++]), when it’s better than average or even state of the art, a [0] if it’s standard or just average, and [-] if there’s a disadvantage. For comparison I use the Samyang AF 35mm f2.8 FE (“Samyang” for short), the Zeiss Batis 40mm f2.0 CF (“Zeiss Batis”), and the Sony FE 35mm f1.4 ZA. Sony FE 2/28– A different focal length of course but many people buy just one of both lenses for their kit. The FE 2/28 is quite a bit larger and the FE 2.8/35 has sharper edges and corners at f/2.8. I think the FE 28 is a bit sharper in the corners around f/8 but of course you will sometimes have to correct the spectacular distortion. I think the 28 works great in a kit with the FE 1.8/55 while the FE 2.8/35 is the better one lens solution. Our standard flare testing uses the sun in the corner of the frame and most lenses show noticeable flaring at narrow apertures in this test. Even for a prime lens, this lens' minimum focus distance is not very short, only 13.8" (350mm), and that focus distance gives this lens a very low 0.12x maximum magnification.Coma occurs when light rays from a point of light spread out from that point, instead of being refocused as a point on the sensor. At f/2.8 vignetting is severe at close to 2.5 stops. At f/4 it is reduced only a little to about 2 stops and by f/8 it is still at 1.5 stops which is about the highest value I have ever seen at f/8. The lens focuses in around 0.5 sec on a Sony A7R II from infinity to 0.43m (1:10 magnification), which is fast. The Sony FE 35mm f1.4 ZA lens is equally fast while the Zeiss Batis is even faster at 0.35 sec. The focus ring is 16mm wide. It moves very smoothly and can easily be operated with one finger just like other mirrorless lenses with focus by wire operation. Canon FD 2.8/35– I think the Canon is the better landscape lens because it is sharper at f/8 and it has a real focusing ring. With adapter it is about twice as large and costs only a small fraction of the Sony.