Sony 35mm Prime Lenses

This is a CAD rendering of the 3 Sony PL Primes introduced this week with Sony’s affordable PMW-F3 35mm sensor camera. The 3 Primes, as part of the F3K package, will add about $7,000 to the cost of the camera-only package. That’s about $2,300 a pop. It appears that definitive focus index marks are lacking, probably to keep costs down. This is strange, but it isn’t the end of the world: some 16mm primes and zooms also just have numbers — no lines. You pay for what you get. The workaround will be a roll of 1/4″ wide white chart tape. Attach the tape to the focus scale on the lens. Mark off your critical focus distances with a Finepoint Sharpie marker. Use a tape measure to position the camera, and then eye focus on a target (Siemens Stars work best).