N°328504 · Family detail
Carl-ZeissCinema·SONY FE mount
Carl-Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F/4 ZA OSS Sony SEL2470Z
Specifications01
MountSONY FE
Focal length24-70mm
Max aperturef/4
TypeCinema · Zoom
Weight426 g
Filter size67 mm
Physical length94.5 mm
Min focus distance0.4 m
Max magnification0.2
Aperture blades7
Optical elements12
Groups10
Lens hoodsupplied, petal-shaped, bayonet mount
Additional Info02
Category["Sony","Sony FE (Full Format)"]
Keywords["E-mount","Sony","Standard","Zoom"]
Review AuthorKlaus
Review Rating5
Other FeaturesWeather Sealing, Optical Image Stabilizer
Review VerdictThe Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4 OSS ZA didn't really convince us completely - not at this price point for sure. While it is a joy to use the lens thanks to its high quality finish and super smooth controls, the optical characteristics aren't quite as impressive. Sony/Zeiss seems to follow the ugly trend of under-designing lenses based on the assumption that digital correction will fix the flaws. This may be an acceptable compromise when decreasing weight, size … and price. However, the Zeiss lens isn't really a hell of a lot more compact than e.g. the Canon EF 24-70mm f/4 USM L IS. Thus why is it necessary to design a lens with such massive distortions ? Now distortions aren't really a primary concern for most users but the lens is also not all that sharp - at least at the extreme ends of the zoom range. The corners are generally soft at 24mm and it's not all that hot at 70mm @ f/4 either - even with activated (lossy) distortion correction. This is rather surprising given the moderate max. aperture which should make things comparatively easy for the lens designers. The CAs are well corrected except in the corners at 24mm. The vignetting characteristic is rather typical for a full format lens in this class. However, another downside is the quite rough bokeh. Combined with the high price point, this offering leaves a couple of question marks. For sure it proves again that it isn't trivial to design a really good standard zoom lens for mirrorless cameras.
Review Criteria{"Build Quality":9,"Optical Quality":5,"Price / Performance":4}
Review Published2014-03-06T04:57:00+00:00
Optical Construction12 elements in 10 groups inc. 5x aspherical and 1xED elements
Field Notes02
Sony FE Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS zoom lens for full-frame E-mount cameras. It covers wide-to-short-telephoto focal lengths with optical stabilization for general photography.
AI-assisted summary — verify against linked sourcesSources03
opticallimits.comVisit ↗
Other Mounts03
No alternate mounts are indexed for this family yet.