The Sony Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 is very sharp from edge-to-edge, but it shows some distortion and is on the expensive side.

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  Impressively sharp. Excellent depth of field control. Captures a ton of light. Great build quality.

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  Some barrel distortion. Big. Expensive.

What this budget prime might lack in acronyms is more than made up for in overall image quality as this WDC review of the Sony 50mm f/1.4 lens discovers.

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  Great real-world results

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  AF is noisy and non-IF

Having reviewed four other 50mm F1.4 lenses of similar design over the past few months, we weren't expecting any major surprises from the Sony version. And in broad terms it's not hugely different from its Canon, Nikon and Pentax equivalents; as befits a quality prime it gives excellent image...

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  Unusually good performance on APS-C even at wide apertures, Excellent image quality when stopped down on both full-frame and APS-C, Low distortion

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  Very soft across most of the frame at wide apertures on full frame, Bokeh chromatic aberration, most visible at wide apertures, Vignetting at wide apertures on full frame (essentially disappears by F3.3), Corner softness on full-frame - never quite sharp even at F8, Somewhat susceptible to flare

The Sony 50mm f/1.4 feels junky, but works great, especially with the newest Sony A99 which corrects its distortion and gives this old-design lens instant manual-focus override. I prefer this fast fixed lens to zooms. Midrange zooms are bigger and slower.

There is very little to complain about with the Sony Zeiss 50mm f1.4 lens. It’s sharp, not too contrasty, delivers excellent colors, and is built like an early tank. When using this lens, we highly doubt anyone will be disappointed with the results that it can yield.

The Sony lens displays strong corner shading (vignetting) when it's used at or near its maximum aperture, and the resolution is weak too. In fact, this lens doesn't really sharpen up until you stop down to around f/5.6, which rather undermines the value of a fast prime lens.

This takes absolutely AMAZING photos and I love how much control I have over the manual settings of the camera. I have had it for 8 months and have not experienced any issues at all - would definitely buy this brand again for my Sony Alpha!!

Z letter at the end of SAL50F14 does not only add extra $1000 to the price but also significantly improves image quality. Everything - colors, sharpness and bokeh look great. Super fast and accurate AF thanks to SSM, and finally this is the first dust and water proof Sony/Zeiss lens!

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  Exceptional image clarity, beautiful bokeh, fast and quiet SSM motor, weather proof

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  No lens case, no AF-D support in 1.01 firmware

easy to use I am absolutely in love These are really cool Very functional. Love how easy it is. brilliantly designed The product is worth the price, it looks very beautiful. I am very satisfied with it, since received, I have been using.Overall, I am very satisfied with it.

Bough this for my recently acquired Sony α5000. It does make nice portraits with super nice blurred background, but if you're new to photography, beware - this is a "prime" lens so it has fixed zoom, you can't change it, and by default it's zoomed in a lot!

nice lens - good quality

I've shot with Rokinon lenses on a Sony A6000 for the past 2 years and own a 12mm, an 85mm, and now this 50mm and this is by far my favorite. While the 12mm is excellent for landscape and the 85mm is great for portrait, this lens is a wonderful combination of the two.

Nice len for my A7II but a bit heavy.

This is a fantastic lens I would say is on par with the SAL135F1.8

For its price, this is the best prime lens you can get for your sony e mount camera. It shoots potrait sharply and isolates the subject from the background quite fast. Thanks to autofocus. Very low aperture helps to take pictures in low light too.

When I bought my first DSLR with its kit lens, I couldn't see what the fuss was about. Then I got this, and I did. It is quite wonderful for indoor work. With so much coming in through the lens, you can work with the available light where other cameras / lenses need to use a flash.