I recently procured a Zeiss 35mm lens for my Sony a7. It’s a full frame lens and one of the few Zeiss’ that has auto-focus capability (Zeiss AF is available only with Sony at this time). I decided to take it for a spin last weekend at the Washington County Fair in Hillsboro, OR.

I figured a night photo walk would be a good test, to see how it handles low light and the fluorescent or neon conditions of a fair. Documentary photography, particularly of people, in these light conditions seemed a good run out for it too. I must say the results were great. We all know Zeiss makes a top quality lens, but having one with AF on a compact full frame camera is truly a fantastic thing. This will most often be my street photography lens and camera going forward.

The images are tack sharp and rich in detail. It did very well with hand-held shots and low ISO in an environment where the range between dark and light was extreme. Best of all, photos did not require much development or sharpness adjustment in post-processing, which is something you would expect from Zeiss. With that all said, Sony and Zeiss are doing some cool stuff together and hopefully they keep it going. I recommend giving it a try.

As for the photos, I like them for their human quality and their Americana. It feels genuine to me. Hopefully you like them too.