Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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.