Sony SEL35F18 35mm f/1.8 Prime Fixed Lens

MAKE SURE you update your lens' firmware (and camera firmware) to get the most from this lens. I have this, and the 50mm prime from Sony and I love both of them. I'm not an expert but I can tell you practically what these lenses are good for: - the 35mm is better for making sure you get SHOTS IN FOCUS (much more forgiving depth of field), it's better for video (because you don't want to use autofocus for video), and it gives you a wider field of view of course. It is similar to a 50mm on a 35mm. - the 50mm has more "reach" (zoomed in more if you like) and a smaller field of view. However, you get a MUCH shallower depth of field which makes getting beautiful bokeh very easy. That said, it can also make it a royal pain to get things in focus because especially at close range, the depth of field is super shallow. Still good for video, when you can't be right up in the action, but less useful than the 35mm. The 50mm is also going to show more hand movement (even with OSS) than the 35mm though OSS is EXCELLENT on both. The 1.8 aperture is good for indoors and low light situations, again, with the depth of field issue in mind for the 50mm. In confined spaces the 35mm would be better for both field of view and depth of field reasons ESPECIALLY in low light. I can generally shoot video at 1/50th at ISO 100 or 200 with some help from some small portable LED lights with no issues whatsoever. If you have any of the NEX cameras, then you probably know that you need to stay below ISO 400-800 for video unless you're a fan of noise. While it's fine up to ISO 1600, you really get a much nicer quality video in the lower ISO numbers. Past ISO 1600 you might as well be using a cheap camcorder. The 1.8 really opens up that door and when used properly can produce some really nice looking video. The 35mm also doesn't SEEM to moire as badly as the 50mm. I'm not sure if my 50mm is sharper than my 50mm or what the technical reason is, I just know that while moire is still present (that's a camera body issue not a lens one), it's not as bad in stuff I shoot with the 35mm. While I prefer my 50mm for the image it produces raw, I usually reach for my 35mm when I'm going to be walking around or maybe covering a birthday party or something silly like that. Mostly because I find that 35mm is wide enough for most indoor shots, though I might take my 16-50 with me in case I really need that super wide angle for some reason. If you can only pick one, between the 50 and the 35mm. I'd say that if you do a lot of video or shooting in something like a bedroom sized room (10x10) that you might want to grab the 35mm. It's more flexible than the 50mm. I do use the 50 quite a lot though. Oh, and the 35mm is roughly the size of the 16-50 kit lens, the 50mm is much larger and heavier to boot. That said, if you want that delicious bokeh, the 50mm is better for stills imho. As far as image quality...well, I'll leave that up to the pixel peepers and lens experts to explain. They look pretty sharp to me and BLOW THE KIT LENS AWAY.

EDIT #2: I have gotten ahold of and thoroughly tested the new Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8, with a review both here on Amazon and my website. Though the below review still stands, the Zeiss is overall an optically better lens. For handheld low-light and video applications, the Sony inches ahead. EDIT: As of February 4th, Sony has officially announced the release of a firmware update to the NEX-5r/6 to allow this lens (and many others) to function with the on-sensor PDAF. There is now even less to complain about on this lens' performance. END EDIT Original Review: I've already written a rather extensive review of this fine lens on my website (look up Matthew Durr Photography if you want to read more detailed information), but let me distill down the lens' major high points and bottom low points: The Good: -Even on the NEX-7, the 35mm f/1.8 provides good to great sharpness at most apertures -The OSS gives about 3-4 stops of shutter speed advantage, depending on how steady your hands are -Out-of-focus areas are generally pleasing for a lens of this type, save for some busyness with complex backgrounds (tree branches, for example) -Extremely compact, focuses quick, and is a good value for the money The Bad: -Even being a good value (the OSS is accounting for a majority of the lens' cost), $450 for a 52.5mm f/2.8 equivalent Field-of-View lens (on a full-frame 35mm sensor) is pretty high -Longitudinal chromatic aberrations at the wider apertures, mainly in the backgrounds, can be distracting (but can mostly be edited out) Okay, so why did I give it five stars with the above listed cons? It's simple. In nearly every shooting situation that calls for the 50mm field-of-view, this 35mm f/1.8 delivers. Low-light? OSS. Subject separation? f/1.8 Sharp landscapes? Shoot at f/5.6. Traveling? It's a compact kit! Ignore the naysayers griping about how it's not compatible with the NEX5r/6's PDAF yet, or that it's "just as good" as the kit lens at 35mm. For one, Sony will surely come out with an update eventually to allow the PDAF to function (though it isn't needed for anything besides moving subjects). Secondly, this lens lets in over five times as much light wide-open than the kit lens does at 35mm. This means that, all other image parameters made equal, a shot taken at 1/10 with the kit lens can be accomplished at 1/50 with this lens. Or, given the same shutter speed in a low-light scenario, the 35mm f/1.8 can shoot at ISO 400 while the kit lens' camera has to go up to over ISO 1600. Bottom line? The 35mm f/1.8 is a great lens that provides excellent image quality at the "normal" field-of-view that so many NEX photographers have been waiting for since the camera line's inception.

UPDATE: Really glad I bought this lens still. I think it could have been $350 instead of $450 considering some of the competing lenses for not much more(Zeiss) or far less(sigma). Either way I'm enjoying it a lot as a big improvement over the kit lens. This review comes from a novice so it will just touch breifly on my first impressions for now and expand as I learn more and have more experience with the lens. I am using this on my NEX 5TL after researching the best first lens to get. I wanted something basic and general that could improve on the kit lens and I wanted something sharp with a fast focus and good photo quality in low light. I wanted something that I could leave on for a vacation. This lens is exactly what I was looking for and surpasses my requirements. The lens came fairly well packed and looked great upon opening. It is metal and feels solidly constructed and the focus ring has a really good amount of resistance compared to the kit lens which I felt had too little resistance. The glass looks flawless and after a few test shots I threw a filter on it to add piece of mind for my investment. The autofocus seems reasonably fast and I haven't had issues with it. I've been taking some pictures in lower light that my kits lens was incapable of producing clear pictures without a tripod in. The results have been great and very impressive. 35mm seems to be ideal for taking pictures of just about anything. I wish I had more detailed information about this lens but I am a novice photographer and about all I can say is that I like it. It takes great pictures in all situations and lighting conditions and it's easy to recommend as a great upgrade to the kit lens on the NEX 5TL. I will continue to update this review as I learn more and have more experience with this lens.

This lens is both a marvel of modern engineering for its size and weight, and a tack sharp, fast "nifty 50" equivalent lens. The main criticism you'll read about this is that it is overpriced. I don't think that's the case. You can't find another lens of this quality and at this size and this speed (for mirrorless cameras) anywhere else. Not to mention the built-in Image stabilization which gains you an (approximate) extra stop. I recently purchased this for my Sony a6000 and used it as my primary lens during a vacation. It was perfect for capturing just about everything except really wide landscape shots and tight interior spaces for which it felt a bit claustrophobic. I will say that if you're like me, and you do a lot of manual focusing and/or aperture adjustments, this lens is slower to use then and adapted "old-school" manual lens. Because you need to adjust the aperture with the camera, instead of a ring on the lens, and the focus by wire nature of this lens can be a bit slow (as I feel they have got the ratio off by a small amount). In other words, you have to turn on ring on the lens way more than you should have to. This is great for very very fine adjustments, but for large adjustments it can be tiresome. The autofocus, on the other hand is an absolute delight. Fast. Silent. Enough said.

Outstanding lens. Great for indoor / low light use. Using a prime does force you to move around to compose your shot, and occasionally it's a little long for indoor shots in tight spaces, but in general I find I get better composition with this than when using the wide end of the kit zoom. The tighter shots usually look better and have more subject and less background clutter. I love that I can take indoor shots at ISO 400 instead of 1600 all the time. Focusing is silent, so great for movies too (unlike the Touit 32mm). OSS works great, bokeh is great, and lens is very sharp. This lens is on my NEX-7 most of the time now. Only problems are some longitudinal chromatic aberration when shooting wide open in bright light -- this is not fixed by the internal CA compensation, but can be reduced or eliminated in post-processing by DxO Optics or PhotoNinja quite readily. Really, this is minor overall -- usually outdoors you can afford to stop down a little and it goes away. Also the narrow depth of field at f/1.8 takes some getting used to. Even with spot focusing, the NEX-7 may not know exactly what part of the face to focus on and it can make a big difference. Overall, highly recommended.

company hasn’t accepted my return I made November 14th. i’m not paying for a product that was broken and never worked

I've been waiting for Sony to make a good standard prime for NEX for more than a year that I own a NEX 5n. So far NEX primes were somewhat of a mixed bag: with nice (and expensive) 24mm Zeiss and 50mm on one side and weak 16mm and fairly useless 30mm F3.5 macro on the other. I'm happy to say that 35mm is there together with the 24mm and 50mm (which I also own). It's quite good even wide open, with only slightly lower contrast and softer corners. At F2.8 it's very good especially in the center and at F4 it's really excellent and sharp across the frame. Focusing seems about as good as it is with other nex lenses: a bit faster than 50mm and slower than 24mm. It also has IS which is especially useful for video and low-light (static) scenes. Another great things about the lens is that it's size is a good match for NEX bodies and it's built very nicely with thin metallic casing and mount (although most of the body is plastic like on 50mm). On the negative side of things: 1. The biggest issue is actually in using this (and any other fast) lens on NEX cameras. In order to use the lens below F4 (which is how you always want to use it) you need to have the lens in Aperture priority or Manual. In Manual there is no AutoISO so you'll need to tweak the shutter speed and ISO manually to get a correct exposure (which is quite a pain given the lack of manual controls on all NEX cameras but NEX-7). In Aperture priority with AutoISO when there is not enough light for ISO 100 the shutter speed is fixed to 1/60. This is very limiting: for example it's too slow for shooting kids who do not stay still. So you again need to tweak ISO manually so as to make sure that the shutter speed is right for the conditions (you can check my review of NEX-6 for more information on this issue). (N.B. other major camera systems and Sony's professional cameras do not have this limitation). 2. Bokeh fringing (purple and green colors in out-of-focus bright areas) is very strong. This is not unusual for fast primes but it's rather strong on this lens (although not worse than on the 50mm F1.8) Overall the bokeh is reasonably smooth but strong out-of-focus can some times be ugly and distracting: with onion-ring structures and weird shapes. So far I've only seen this come up only with bright lights in the dark scene (such as lights on a christmas tree) so I don't consider this a significant issue) Overall I still recommend this lens. Of course I wish it was cheaper but given its qualities it's priced reasonably compared to the competition. Hopefully the issue 1 will be resolved at some point (via firmware or at least on future cameras) and then the lens would deserve 5 stars.

This has become my go to lens. Its almost always the lens I leave attached on my camera. As an enthusiast, and not a pro, I don't have much to say about the technical brilliance of the photographs I can take with this lens. But I can say that it is brilliant at taking night shots, the bokeh is really pleasant, and I've got very pleasing portraits and landscapes with it. The OIS is very good, and results in eerily steady videos despite the fact that I don't take too much care to keep my hands shake free. The lens is quick to focus, and was readily compatible with the a6000's PDAF. Build quality wise, I love the old heavy lenses. This lens lacks that comforting heft, but the lens is light yet sturdy. It certainly doesn't feel cheap. With respect to cons, I would say that the "fly by wire" focus ring, which is an unfortunate presence in all Sony lenses, can sometimes be a pain. Its great to silently alter focus while taking videos, but not so intuitive when you need to quickly take some stills. The distance indicator in the new a6000, however, has gone a long way in making this length more usable. This, along with the SEL 50f18 are my two most used primes on my camera. The 35f18 is somewhat pricey, but I'd say it easily delivers all I could have hoped for at this price.