Image courtesy: ThePhoBlographer

Chris Gampat from ThePhoBlographer (Click here) tested the Zeiss 35mm FE lens and writes:

This lens is sharp, not too contrasty, has magnificent bokeh, and is very devoid of any flaws. In fact, it’s tough to find any 35mm mirrorless lens on the market that can beat this lens right now.

And the most unusual test with the Zeiss 35mm FE has been posted on Flickr (Click here). It’s a “Bikini” test:

New Sony A7R Test Photos of Bikini Swimsuit Model Goddess! Carl Zeiss Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens finished in Lightroom 5.3 ! Was using the B+W 49mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer MRC Filter on bright, sunny day. Check out the low glare off the rocks and water and the bright blue sky! Super sharp images and crystal-clear pictures!

I hope for our women followers that someone will do the sampe test with sexy firemans :)

UPDATE: Handheld lowlight testing I did last night with the Sony A7r with 35 Zeiss FE lens at Eruditephotography

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I (Andrea) own this lens since two weeks and now I found the time to start testing it. From the first samples I shot I can easily say I am very happy with the image quality in all his aspects. But for my kind of shooting (low light and interior) I really would love to have at leats 1 stop more (f/2.0 or even f/1.8). Hope Sony will do a faster (althaugh bigger) 35mm lens. Oh, yes, it’s a bit too expensive lens too.

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Specs and Preorders in US and Canada:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony  DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
Sony G 28-70mm lens at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev.
A7 at Digitalrev, Amazon Cina.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.

The three FD 55mm versions. Image source: Olypedia.de. The asperical and latest FD 55mm1.2 lens is on the left.

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Sony stated many times that they will not go after crazy speed on FE lenses. What matters is having top quality in a “not to big” sized lens. That’s ok for me, but what if some A7-A7r owners absolutely needs the extra speed? There are plenty of options out. Today I am going to tell you a bit about one of the lenses I just purchased to make it work on my A7r. It’s the [shoplink 22839 ebay]Canon FD 55mm f/1.2 Asperical lens (to find here on eBay only)[/shoplink]. I will receive the lens soon. Meantime here is a bit of history:

The lens has been announced in 1971 and was Canon’s answer to the Leica Noctilux. There are three versions of it. The first two non-aspherical (and very cheap on [shoplink 22851 ebay]eBay[/shoplink]) and the last aspherical version. That one is the lens I am interested in:

Erwin Puts writes about the aspherical FD 55mm 1.2 lens:

“Some commentators called the Canon FD 1.2 aspherical the best standard lens in the world. It is hard to disagree.”
“In 1971, when the Noctilux was still being produced and sold, Canon introduces their own version of an 1.2 design with aspherics. Presumably they could not stand the humiliation of being defeated by the Leitz construction, at least wide open.
With this lens Canon pulled all stops. See my report on the Canon design here. The Canon aspherical is wide open clearly better than the Noct 1.2. Especially in the outer zones the Canon is much improved and in the center of the image the Canon has an impressive performance, that surpasses the one you get from the Noct. Stopped down the Canon wins easily. Wide open at 1.2 you will note a difference in approach of correcting aberrations. The Canon has a very good image quality ove the whole picture frame, where the Noct concentrates on the center part of the image. Whatever the approach, the Canon design gives the better imagery, aperture for aperture.”

Mir writes:

Despite its large aperture, it is highly reputed for its high contrast and stabilized image definition at full aperture opening. Because of its fast f/1.2 speed, it provides high image quality in low light level photography.
Additionally, this lens incorporates the Floating System which enables aberration-free shooting at close subject distance. Thus, a sharp image is obtained through the entire focusing range. Therefore, the focused image through the viewfinder can be reproduced just as it is.

The crazy news on that lens is that the lens is actually lightly…ehmmm….radioactive! But there is nothing to worry about: Olypedia writes:

“If this lens worries you, DO NOT EXPOSE YOURSELF TO THE SUN! It’s much more dangerous to you and your film…”

Few more images and test can be read here: Comparison with other f/1.2 lenses at Nifty50.nl. Presentation page at Mir.com.my. Image samples on Flickr.

Conclusion:
After reading all these articles and watching many image samples I got mine [shoplink 22839 ebay]Canon FD 55mm f/1.2 Asperical lens on eBay (all cutions are here)[/shoplink]. I can’t wait to test it on the A7r and compare the results with the Zeiss FE 5mm f/1.8 lens which I will get within the next days (yes Sony Europe is shipping mine!). Get yours here at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT.

P.S.: Feel free to contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com if you have tests to share (or if you want to write a full article).