Sony SEL24F18Z Lens Unboxing

I have been yearning for a nice fixed wide angle lens for my NEX-5N DSLR platform for a while now. My kit had a large gap in functionality. I retain a 16mm pancake lens, 55-210mm telephoto and 50mm prime. I traded the kit 18-55mm for a nice Konica Hexanon AR 57mm f1.4 lens which provides a nice and slightly muted color to images. The functionality gap appears when trying to shoot while walking about on the street or casually photographing friends. While the pancake can do this it has a lot of distortion and takes in too much for many situations. The Konica and 50mm are great for portraiture but are frustrating to use unless your subject is posing for you. The problem is exacerbated by the Konica since it needs to be manually focused.

Enter the SEL24F18Z. The Z denotes that this lens is designed by Zeiss. Zeiss has a history of collaborating with Sony to make some very nice glass which provides the usual quality expected from both prestigious and experienced companies. This model in particular was introduced in 2011. It comes with a massive retail price tag of $1,100 but after some mild searching I found many sellers on eBay which had them for about $750 new in box. I was wary of these sellers at first but after reading the positive feedback they have received and assuming there is not much of a counterfeit market for E-mount Zeiss glass, I decided to bite. I am more than happy with the result. I bought the lens from a seller in Japan on a Wednesday. By that Friday it was dropped off for shipping in Tokyo. Delivery was attempted the following week on Wednesday and I picked it up from the local post office on Thursday. Tokyo to Maryland in 5 days including the weekend! Did I mention the shipping was free? Not having to pay taxes also factored into my decision to purchase on eBay. I am not interested in paying the state of Maryland $66 at a retail store or even on Amazon now that there is a warehouse in Baltimore city.

Initial impressions are positive. The lens is solid and the focusing ring is smooth and buttery. The bokeh presents itself in a similar fashion due to seven aperture blades and an f-stop of 1.8. It must be stopped down for sharpness but that is the nature of the beast. Despite the focal length the lens is physically long but I do not mind. The NEX series was designed to target those concerned with portability but professional photographers have adopted it for reasons beyond size. I would not have paid $1,100 for this lens but $785 definitely leaves no room for second guessing.

Some unboxing pictures are presented here. I will follow up with some sample shots after I have had time to play!