Sony Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm F1.4 SSM

Planar T* 1.4/50 ZA

Sony expands its ZA lens line with the Planar T* 1.4/50. The Japanese Sony website says Sony is developing this lens and plans to release it from spring 2013. This will be a full frame auto focus lens according to the existing ZA lens line. 

This lens was rumored for years. The lens was broadly expected along with the launch of the Sony a900. Some sources claim the CA 1.4/50 was already rumored 2 years before. Sony got criticized for not offering a premium standard prime lens so far.  

The Planar T* 50mm F1.4 ZA SSM could be the construction equivalent of the manual focus Planar T* 1.4/50 already existing for Canon and Nikon mounts. The MF version gets excellent ratings disturbed by some users claiming this lens not to be good enough from F1.4 to F2.0. The latter can not be confirmed: If the focus confirmation flash is adjusted (eg. Canon 5DII C.Fn III) or the lens is used with live view, the lens attests it’s technical potential even for close distances. The colors and contrasts are equally excellent. Consequently there is no reason to worry about the quality of the coming ZA version.