Sony 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Lens

I’ve recently been shooting with the Sony 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA prime lens (on the new Sony a7iii body). I’m posting a more detailed review separately, but here are some sample images I’ve taken with it to give a bit of a sense of the results in real-world shooting.

But firstly, a quick summary of some of its key features. This is one of the higher-end Sony primes. Its formal name is the Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA Lens. It’s an E-mount lens designed for Sony full-frame sensors. And it’s fast, with a maximum aperture of ƒ/1.4 that makes it especially good for low-light shooting or when you’re after a very shallow depth of field. It’s constructed in such a way to make it somewhat resistant to moisture and dust. And it uses high-quality Zeiss optics.

I’ve also posted some shots taken with Sony’s 35mm ƒ/1.4 ZA prime, which you can find here.

Sample Images Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA Lens

These were all taken on a Sony a7 iii. They were minimally processed in Lightroom, but I haven’t applied any extra sharpening or any of the lens profile corrections such as distortion correction or chromatic aberration.

If you’d like a closer look, you can click on each image to open a full-size version.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 11.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.8. A shot to get a sense of the bokeh at close to wide open.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 8.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 6.3.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.8.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.0. Again there’s no obvious barrel distortion or chromatic aberration on contrasty lines.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 4.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 11.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 8.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 8.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 3.5.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 11.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 3.2.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.8.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.0. There’s no macros, and it doesn’t have a notably close focusing range, but you can still get away with some reasonably close shots.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 8.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.8.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.5.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 4.0. I included a bunch of difference edges in the background at difference ranges to try to get a sense of the bokeh at ƒ/4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 3.5.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 8.0. There’s remarkably little lens vignetting in the corners at any aperture, let alone by the time you get to ƒ/8.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 11.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.8.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.0.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4. You can see some odd little spots in various places from small light sources in the distance.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 5.6.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.8.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.8.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.4.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 2.8.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 1.6.

Taken with a Sony Planar T* FE 50mm ƒ/1.4 ZA Prime Lens at ƒ / 3.5. I was looking for two things in this short: barrel/lens distortion and chromatic aberration. There’s practically none of either.