Sony Corp. issued an apology on March 2nd to its customers for not being able to deliver adequate supplies of the Zeiss 24mm ƒ/1.8 ZA Sonnar T* E lens introduced with the new NEX 7. According to Google Translate, which speaks Japanese far better than I do, the press release was subheaded "Apology and Notice of shortage of supply," and says the $999 lens "received orders far exceeded our expectations since its launch, making it production status can not keep up with the request. Customers are deeply apologize that you get time to deliver."
The words may be a bit garbled, but the meaning is clear.
Mike
(Thanks to John Hogg)
UPDATE: I should have checked. The lens is in stock at B&H Photo. Thanks to Mike in the Comments for pointing this out. (Sheesh. You'd think after seven years of doing this, I'd be getting better at it by now.)
UPDATE #2: ...And now they're gone.
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Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by Chad Thompson: "I've had my lens since January and didn't learn to love it until the NEX-7 arrived late last month. Until then I just had a jewel of a lens sitting in my cabinet and that's no fun. The most recent photos on my blog were taken with the NEX7/24mm combo."
Photo by Chad Thompson. Sony NEX 7, Zeiss 24mm ƒ/1.8.
I am glad I got mine. It has taken up near permanent residence on my NEX-5, at least until my NEX-7 arrives.
Posted by: Keith I | Tuesday, 06 March 2012 at 10:30 AM
Hah, exceeded their expectations. Sony should have marketed the Nex-3 and Nex-5 with a 24mm lens instead of the 16mm in the first place. My main reason for not buying into that system was the lack of a proper 35mm equivalent. While this 24mm fixes that problem, it's too expensive, too much. An f2.8 for a quarter the price would have sufficed.
Posted by: ggl | Tuesday, 06 March 2012 at 10:44 AM
A logical conclusion: at 1K$ the price is much too low. Sony sell at a loss while the company is in a rather weak financial position. What kind of game is Sony playing?
Posted by: jean-louis salvignol | Tuesday, 06 March 2012 at 11:33 AM
Interesting, - it's still in stock at B&H.
Posted by: Mike | Tuesday, 06 March 2012 at 02:02 PM
Any explanation of the mysterious non appearance of the E mount 50mm f/1.8? Promised by Amazon UK, amongst others, for early 2012, it's not even listed by them any more. Other suppliers have it for pre-order only. I do hope Sony can fix their supply issues soon.
Posted by: Dave Wilson | Tuesday, 06 March 2012 at 04:04 PM
Dave, I got my 1.8 50mm just today (Foto-Colonnaden, Hamburg, Germany). Just wonderful on the 5N.
Posted by: Christer | Tuesday, 06 March 2012 at 05:17 PM
Dave: It probably has a lot to do with the Thailand floods or the Japan Triple Disaster (earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown).
Posted by: Kevin Schoenmakers | Wednesday, 07 March 2012 at 04:28 AM
I'd like to say I got tired of waiting, but really I just couldn't afford it. :) So instead I picked up a $20 Nikon to NEX adapter, and have been bringing my collection of manual focus Nikon lenses back to life on my NEX. I'm loving it!
Posted by: Matt Needham | Thursday, 08 March 2012 at 09:48 AM
I just got my NEX-7 and I LOVE this combo.
Posted by: Keith I | Friday, 09 March 2012 at 03:09 PM