[neokind]

Okay so it's a bit of a strange one because I happened upon this one at £400 which is undeniably not a short sum of money.
It, at first light, replaces my Samyang 45mm f/1.8 and Samyang 35mm f/2.8 (the latter being comparable in size/etc to the 35mm f/2.8 you have), which both total around the same money on the used market as the Sony commanded, but not offering weather sealing and suchlike.

The 35/1.8 is by no means unwieldy despite being that much bigger and heavier than the Samyang which was minuscule, but having that extra speed does come in handy. If I want to eliminate any aberrations then it'd be stopped down to f/2.8 anyway, so is only a small weight/size detriment at that point versus any 35/2.8. I've only had it two days but I'm simply enjoying having it on the camera. I can see it being absolutely beautiful for B&W shots across the board, too*, and it's ferociously quick to focus and frighteningly sharp. I do need to spend a bit more time with it but first impressions were VERY favourable (for me).
[i]Edit: It's also a lot closer focusing than either the SY 35/2.8 or SY 45/1.8. The former is around 35cm, the latter around 45cm and the Sony 35/1.8 around 22cm.


*The one B&W edit I've made with it so far. Had to push a bit in post as well, so left it more on the 'grainy'/noisy side of things for a bit more edge.

Thanks so much for the reply. Can I ask a few questions about your photo? Was it shot wide open? Did you push the texture or clarity? I’m only asking because the the busy bokeh on the trees in the background. I’m curious about how it’s wide open bokeh looks.

I have the 55/1.8, which is fabulous and not too big, and the 35 is a hair smaller. My indecisiveness is because the 35/2.8 is so damn small it reminds me of shooting with the Pentax 40 pancake, which was one of my favorite limited lenses. It’s just such a great lens size for street photography. I even wore the 35 with my A7iii on my backpack strap with the Peak Design capture clip while on a long hiking trip in 2019 and never really noticed it when I wasn’t shooting. But 1.8 would really clean up some interior shots, and give me a little more creative latitude with the DOF. Hmm. ��

[Benz3ne]

Thanks so much for the reply. Can I ask a few questions about your photo? Was it shot wide open? Did you push the texture or clarity? I’m only asking because the the busy bokeh on the trees in the background. I’m curious about how it’s wide open bokeh looks.

I have the 55/1.8, which is fabulous and not too big, and the 35 is a hair smaller. My indecisiveness is because the 35/2.8 is so damn small it reminds me of shooting with the Pentax 40 pancake, which was one of my favorite limited lenses. It’s just such a great lens size for street photography. I even wore the 35 with my A7iii on my backpack strap with the Peak Design capture clip while on a long hiking trip in 2019 and never really noticed it when I wasn’t shooting. But 1.8 would really clean up some interior shots, and give me a little more creative latitude with the DOF. Hmm. ��

Very welcome! Sure thing - if you click on the photo it should take you to Flickr where the Exif is visible, but yes it was wide-open and the clarity was bumped by around +20 in this instance, more than I'd normally go. That said, I'd also bumped the exposure by almost 2EV, dropped the highlights by 80 and raised the shadows by around 70 to get to this end result. It really was a poorly-exposed shot to start with.
I think the busy-ness would be reasonably evident regardless of the lens used. The majority of the highlights, especially in the trees, are fairly specular so a bit more outlined than I guess is 'typical'. The bokeh can be busy, there's no denying that, but that's a personal taste discussion I feel.
Example of bokeh close focus with specular highlights @f/1.8:


Example of bokeh close focus without specular highlights @f/1.8:


The Hymer shot is an example of mid-distance @f/1.8.

Example of bokeh mid-far distance @f/1.8:

[adpo]

Here's some stuff from my a7r2. Glass used was Canon 85L, 35L and Sony 50/1.8

[itshimitis]

Magenta sky at Aberavon Beach, Port Talbot UK

Sony A7r4, FE 24 - 105 f/4 at f/16 1/3 ISO 100 Handheld

[fiveseven]