Full 50mm f/1.8 E-mount review by Kurt Munger
While the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 is certainly the highest quality lens for the NEX system the 50mm f/1.8 is the real must have lens if you want a good and fast lens for less than a thirds of the price you pay for the Zeiss. And to see how good the lens is switch over to Kurt Munger (Click here) that just posted the full 50mm review.
If you are on the waiting list than you might be happy to know that first stores are already shipping the lens and most will do so within the next 2-3 weeks. Here is my usual full preorder list I check to see what’s going on with Sony stuff. Click on the shop name to see if they have the 50mm lens:
Australia: Sony.au, Digitalrev, Amazon, Adorama, B&H, eBay.au
Austria: Amazon.at, Sony.at, eBay.at
Belgium: Sony.be, eBay.be
Canada: Sony.ca, B&H, Adorama, eBay.ca
China: Amazon.cn, Digitalrev, eBay
Denmark: Sony.dk, eBay
Finland: Sony.fi, eBay
France: Sony.fr, Amazon.fr, eBay.fr
Germany: Amazon.de, Sony.de, eBay.de
Hong Kong: Amazon, Digitalrev, B&H, Adorama, eBay
Ireland: Sony.ie, Amazon.uk, eBay.ie
Italy: Sony.it, Amazon.it, eBay.it
Japan: Amazon.jp, Rakuten, eBay
Netherlands: Sony.nl, eBay.nl
Norway: Sony.no, eBay
Poland: Sony.pl, Redcoon.pl, eBay
Singapore: Digitalrev, B&H, eBay
Spain: Sony.es, Amazon.es, Redcoon.es, eBay
Sweden: Sony.se, eBay
Switzerland: Sony.ch, Amazon.de, eBay.ch
United Kingdom: Amazon.co.uk, Warehouseexpress, eBay UK
USA: Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
Vivek
2 years ago |Fair review.
The best E prime that money can buy.
Dan
2 years ago |And with the black hood on a silver can, its also the ugliest! What on earth were they thinking?
SonyA77
2 years ago |Ugly? Maybe. But this lens is a steal for $199!
bas076
2 years ago |Where?
Rooru S.
2 years ago |And the same goes to big white telephoto like SAL70200G…and no body complained about that.
Even people didn’t complain about Canon telephoto lenses being bundled with Black hood instead of a matching white (putty) colored hood.
Hood goes for functionality, not look.
Vivek
2 years ago |I covered mine with mat black vinyl and it has a simple, very short and extremely low profile hood.
Also, I got rid of the shiny mirror ring in the front with the inscriptions. That is a dull black now as well. It is possible to get sharp images at 1/25s hand held with this (with OSS) on a NEX-7.
bas076
2 years ago |Yes it is, but for more then 400$ I am not going to buy it. Still there is no place where I can buy it for recomended price now without preoder.
RVN
2 years ago |can’t wait for SEL 35mm large aperture
Linh
2 years ago |+1. And 85mm!
Gian
2 years ago |Agree with Vivek.. If only I could find it in Italy.. I’m currently with no lens attached to the Nex5 as I sold my 18-55 to buy this one, but still waiting!
räven
2 years ago |Lens might be awesome but that there is one butt ugly lens hood.
bas076
2 years ago |Who cares? I am going to make portraits with it, not sitting an looking at its hood.
räven
2 years ago |Send it to me and I’ll paint a penis on the side of it for free, it won’t matter because you don’t care at all how it looks right?
Dan
2 years ago |ROFLMAO
bas076
2 years ago |Funny?
http://img2.moonbuggy.org/imgstore/centaurs-with-big-penises.jpg
You already ask him for help?
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/dog_on_a_duck.jpg
bas076
2 years ago |Thank you offering me your personal portrait grafiti on the portrait lens…but it can be recognised as sign of quality and will cause damage to my personal relations…
saiman
2 years ago |Non-black lens hood defies the purpose of flare control, in my opinion, especially when the interior of the hood is also non-black.
C
2 years ago |Eh its large but I’m not a big fan of the petal hoods.
NEXfive
2 years ago |Yeah, the hood looks disgusting, but this seems to become the must-have lens beyond that anyway and will hopefully mark all future E-Mount lenses’ quality level (or probably better not, since I don’t planned to spent that much money)…
Jonathan Geach
2 years ago |Why use the hood? Just use your hand.
Unless you want to shoot without a filter.
Just my two cents.
Still waiting for mine.
BTW – made in China, so why the 9 month delay???
bas076
2 years ago |Who use the hood? Everybody who don’t want to decrease piture quality when the sun is shining. This is interesting suggestion for hands using, but I would call such a using by another english word….
SONYCON
2 years ago |i think sony should provide a black colour selection for their e-mount lens, many people are waiting for it.
It look strange when apply a black hood to sliver len,
sow
2 years ago |even more strange if it’s a silver hood
Ned
2 years ago |Why use a filter?and who uses filters anymore ? I know, polarizers, but that’s only if you are shooting with blue skies (not the ideal conditions for photography anyway)…
Linh
2 years ago |If you think polarizers are only good for bringing out the blue skies…
There are also ND filters.
bas076
2 years ago |Evrebody who will not want to have hard work with cleaning of the front element and also whant to evoid possible damage. Personaly I never buy second hand lens if the seller not declare that the lens was under protected filter from the first day of using.
Keith
2 years ago |I would LOVE an E-mount 85 now.
Rooru S.
2 years ago |+1… 85mm f/2 at least
Charlie
2 years ago |This is a very good lens with pretty bokeh and nice color rendition. I like it very much on my 5N.
zstan
2 years ago |“If you’re wondering how this lens compares to Sony’s AF 50mm F/1.4; be advised the Sony NEX 50mm F/1.8 OSS will out-perform it in almost all areas. ”
wow.
wth
2 years ago |Damn, and I really liked the 50mm F/1.4
Wong
2 years ago |After reading the reviews, it makes me want to get it even more. Too bad there’s no available stock at the moment. T_T
Clyde
2 years ago |Why is this E-Mount 50 f1.8 nearly twice as long as the FF Max 50′s… and still not as bright as either?
zstan
2 years ago |Because there’s OSS…………..
Clyde
2 years ago |OOS makes things longer than normal?
Vivek
2 years ago |No. Not at all. All 3 glass primes in E mount(24, 30, and 50) are the same size. It appears to be the design that Sony wants to stick to.
I also doubt there will be anything faster than f/1.8. Most likely the 30 or 35mm fast normal would be f/1.8 and the same size as the rest of the real glass lenses.
Xian
2 years ago |The lens is not what I have been waiting for. He has tested the Lens at a Nex C3, but at a Nex 7 this Lens is something of a Mixed bag, only. On the other hand the lens is to big for a 50mm. Further readings at http://www.photozone.de/sony_nex
bas076
2 years ago |Corners? Vingetting wide opened? Man, this is the portrait lens, not universal fast lens, portrait lens.
Almazar80
2 years ago |You know, using a single camera to do your testing may not be the greatest way to test lenses. I wish that they had different copies of the lens and the camera to test with (to check for sample variations, camera defect, etc.). Alas, there aren’t too many places that can do that nowadways.
Tonis
2 years ago |But it’s the only 50mm with stabilisation and non-extending design.
Klipsen
2 years ago |We so need black lenses!
Sonni
2 years ago |need the 35mm , with black of course…and please made in Japan, like what you did on 18-55 Black Version
Cyrus
2 years ago |Any review on the 30mm sigma?
Oliver
2 years ago |50mm on APS-C? No thanks. 24mm is what I want and what I recently got together with the N7. Wonderful combo.
Now, a high quality zoom lens please.
Steve S
2 years ago |NEX lenses are the same as the Alpha lenses. the only difference is the extension they add to distance the lens from the sensor. my 50mm is smaller than that. they could of put an alpha mount and put the extension on the camera and not on the lenses.
ageha
2 years ago |I’m always amazed how many people are raving about a 50mm f/1.8 lens for APS-C. lol
AGEHAHAHAHA
2 years ago |I’m always amazed at people like you talking down 50mm on aps-c with the whole “50 was for 35mm cameras!! hahaha!” without knowing a damn thing about why or how that is supposedly better… LOL LOL1 YOUR SO FUNNY! LOL! YOU MUST BE AN AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER! LOL!
chris
2 years ago |I spoke with a sony rep and she said that Sony will most likely maintain all e-mount lenses in the silver color to distinguish them as e-mount lenses.
I was in the same boat as many others, waiting for this lens to stock at any online or local shops. By chance I checked amazon and they listed a third party seller. I contacted that seller directly (a reputable online retailer) and I should have it in hand by this Friday. Lesson is to check sites frequently, especially ones that do not have waiting lists!
SONYCON
2 years ago |so, why there is black colour 18-55 kit lens with NEX 7 and the black colour zeiss lens？
it doesn’t make sense if sony wants all e mount lens in silver
Radec
2 years ago |The Black 18-55 and Zeiss 24F18 pretty much invalidates their purpose though.
But then again, the NEX-7 changes everything.
aj
2 years ago |Sorry, bit of a noob here. I have the 24mm 1.8 and the kit lens on the 5n. Just getting into photography.
Is there any reason to get the 50mm as well? I know its more natural for portraits but I am also intersted in the stabilization..A lot of my shots indoors with the 24mm at 1.8 are at 1/60th of a second and I have shaky hands lol so I was thinking I could get at least 2 stops with the stabilization? Any thoughs?
Thanks
Maley
2 years ago |Shooting indoors with 50mm isnt that easy. Its a bit long for that purpose but 2 stops with OSS should be possible.
bas076
2 years ago |4 stops
Chris
2 years ago |I agree. This was merely the message I was given.