New NEX 50mm f/1.8 lens tests
From all new NEX lenses this is probably the lens that has the highest probability to become a hotseller. The new Sony 50mm f/1.8! According to Sonystore (Click here) the lens will be available in mid December. The lens is relatively cheap but the specs are tempting and image quality now proves to be very good. Just look at the latest review posted by ThePictureDesk (Click here): “I shot a fair number of images with the Sony Zeiss 24mm on the NEX7 but it was a bit wide. Once I switched to the Sony E-mount 50mm f1.8 I realized what a great little lens this is. All the press and buzz has been around the Zeiss 24mm. There have been a couple discussions about the 55-210 and a few about the new 50mm. I think the 50mm is one lens most NEX photographers would appreciate.“. You can also see some image samples posted at DC.watch (Click here).
This is definitely a lens to go! Preorders are available at (Click on shop name to check price and availability). To bad it’s not available in black color too. Would look amazing on my current Sony NEX-5n and future Sony NEX-7!
And here are all NEX cameras and lens preorder links (Click on shop name to check price and availability):
Sony NEX-7 Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Sony NEX-5n Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Sony 50mm f/1.8 Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Sony 55-210mm Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
NEX-5n viewfinder Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
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Comment from oscar: ...and it´s also the fastest prime in t...
Comment from camerman: It's about time. I don't know why these ...
Comment from markino: indeed, why so much complaints. if is ex...
Comment from Matt: Sadly, not yet. I have NEX3 and the new ...
emopunk
7 months ago |Well, not that difficult to build a 50mm lens. It has never been, actually. Moreover 300 bucks is not exactly cheap. But well, let’s hope they can make a 35mm f1.8 or f2.0 in this range of quality and price.
matgay
7 months ago |35 is a 50 on apsc
emopunk
7 months ago |Wow thank you for clarifying!! I thought it was 500mm with a 10x crop factor. Now I really understand what we’re talking about!
Geir E
7 months ago |If your sarcasm should be correct, wouldn’t that be 5mm with 10x crop factor? given the 500mm with 10x crop factor would be similiar to the field of view of a 5000mm on a fullframe.
emopunk
7 months ago |I wasn’t making any serious calculations. I wrote first numbers I had on my mind. Just couldn’t get any meaning in that reply.
Matt
7 months ago |No it isn’t ‘cheap’ for a 50mm 1.8 to be sure, but I would imagine the fact that it is SSM, Stabilized and metal mount / metal body would be a big part of that – and personally for the price and utility of a 50mm I would certainly pay the bit extra to have those features.
oscar
4 months ago |…and it´s also the fastest prime in the world with a optical stabilizer. I preordered this aparently gem of a lens – and the price is just right.
- thx. SONY again you listened to the users.
- next 35mm 1.4 E-mount stabilized
ronnbot
7 months ago |Price is reasonable considering that the Nikon 50/1.8G is not much cheaper at $220, but it has no stabilization, simpler optical design with less elements and groups.
Also, the Olympus 45/1.8 is even more expensive at $400, which I have and it’s worth it; better IQ than my vintage Minolta 50/1.4 or 45/2, and my cheap Canon 50/1.8.
Aside from OSS and AF, you should expect beter optical performance from this new 50/1.8 than the old ones, so the price is justified.
That said, I still have beef with its size – probably the longest 50/1.8.
jacek
7 months ago |Now give me 85mm f1.8 and something around 35mm f2 and NEX-5n will be my only cam.
_core
7 months ago |the 50/1.8 is 75/~2.0 on KB and the zeis 24/1.8 is 36/~2.0 so i dont know what u whant. its all there
what we need is a 35/1.4 or 1.8 what will be on the nex a 50/2.0
Maximus
7 months ago |crop factor does not change focal length!!!
it changes the angle of view expressed with the equivalent focal on 36*24mm film or sensor.
so he wishes a fast portrait lens with more focal length than the 50mm and a fast standard prime. so what?
_core
7 months ago |it is like i wrote. the 50/1.8 on the nex does pretty much the same job like a 75/2.0 whats damn close to 85mm on FF. same thing with the zeiss – 24/1.8 on nex = 35/2.0 on FF
crop focallenght AND aperturestops and u have the FF equivalent.
jacek
7 months ago |I wrote exacly what i wish for NEX (I am aware of it’s crop factor):
35mm (~50mm on FF) – standard prime
50mm (~80mm on FF) – short tele prime
85mm (~130mm on FF) – medium tele prime (for me, best length for portrait)
All pretty fast (but with reasonable price).
24mm Zeiss is ok, but too expensive for me.
Matt
7 months ago |I think jacek already knows what they will be equivalent to on his NEX – he/she isn’t asking for full frame equiv lenses, he/she wants a 35mm and 85mm for his/her NEX. Telling him/her that the existing lenses are already those focal lengths in 35mm equiv is pointless.
JR
7 months ago |You might get your wish for the 85mm. I’ve heard though I’m not sure they might produce another prime lens in that focal length next year. Hopefully, it will also be an OSS lens though that would add to the cost.
NEXfive
7 months ago |Well, hopefully next year there’s an European WHITE NEX-5N (or successor) bundled with this lens, that is “relatively cheap” only compared to Sony’s other overpriced E-lenses. But it’s definitely the hottest one until the announced G Series Standard Zoom next year…
Geir E
7 months ago |I’m curious to see which lens(es) you think is overpriced? And I suggest you add a correctly priced alternative (without regard for lens mount) which performs as good or better both optical and mechanical.
I’m not saying the nex-lenses are cheap, but they are not overpriced.
NEXfive
7 months ago |Just checked Sony’s official prices and would say these all are prices for lenses serving a full frame image circle, instead of only APS-C. Especially the slower ones are damn overpriced, also the wider ones without OSS and keeping in mind they’re leaving a lot of correction to the camera’s firmware these days, which isn’t a bad thing, but makes it much cheaper to produce lenses than while the analogue era:
VCL-ECF1 = € 179,–
VCL-ECU1 = € 159,–
SEL-16F28 = € 249,–
SEL-24F18Z = € 999,–
SEL-30M35 = € 270,–
SEL-50F18 = € 299,–
SEL-1855 = € 299,–
SEL-55210 = € 349,–
SEL-18200 = € 799,–
…and I really doubt the 24mm produces a picture quality of three times the 50mm. It’s not that I dislike these lenses, but thinking about their limitations (like better don’t use the 16F28 and 1855 below f/5.6 and that so far their distortion is corrected by the 5N, but not the 5, 3, C3, VG10 or FS100) I can’t really say you get what you pay for. Fairer prices simply would increase the fun and probably make people buy more lenses anyway.
NEXfive
7 months ago |…and, Geir E, to answer your question about a fairer priced lens than Sony’s E-Mount series, here’s one example, which I’ve got to admit is officially priced € 599,– by Samsung, but available for € 220-245,– on Amazon, which is cheaper than the price for Sony’s SEL-30M35 there, while other dealers would send it for the same street (!) price as Sony’s SEL-16F28:
http://www.photozone.de/pentax/534-samsung30f2
Mr Mom
7 months ago |I’m really happy with my WHITE NEX-5N. Real life has been interfering with my chances to go out and shoot with it but I should get some shooting in this coming weekend.
NEXfive
7 months ago |You’re making me jealous, since Sony does not sell the white version in Europe. Could have got one from the US, but that’s 30p instead of European 25p. Would have to go for an Asian white NEX-5N for that…
ANDY
7 months ago |Digitalrev
Thats where I got my white 5n…does 25p
NEXfive
7 months ago |So you’ve got an Asian one. Thanx for the hint, mate.
Alfonso Cuitiño
7 months ago |Maybe Rokinon or Samyang or one of those brands can make a pancaky 35…
emopunk
7 months ago |Maybe Sigma could make a nice 35mm f2.0 HSM OS
SRL
7 months ago |+1
Yes I do agree!
Any decent lens that sells for less than $400.00 is a good price.
I doubt that most of the posters that complain about paying $299.99 USD for camera lens likely are moving up directly from a cell-phone camera and are experiencing sticker-shock.
As someone who has been buy lenses for cameras as long as I have, and shoots full frame, I’ve learned to expect to pay a great deal more for something worth buying.
A-mount Zeiss prime lenses start around $1,300 for the 24m/f2 and for a Sony 70-200/f2.8 G lens it’s now up to $2,000
I’m not saying that the price is worth it, but compared to similar top of the line optics from Nikon and Canon, Sony’s price for quality is a bargain.
NEX is a different product, but If it turns out that I can get image quality I need from a $300.00 lens on a $700.00 camera I’m all for it.
$300.00 is not a lot of money for a Sony camera lens
Like most here, I dream of having a camera the size and weight of a NEX that delivers image quality as good as my a850 AND has a set of high quality zoom optics ( 16-35/f2.8, 24-70/f2.8 and 70-200/f2.8) that match the small size of the NEX body so I wait and watch and hope like others that Sony somehow comes through.
Today,(election day in the US) I’m at an Occupy site carrying two a850; one with a Sony 70-200/f2.8 and Zeiss 24-70/f2.8 with a Zeiss 85/1.4 basically in my pocket, dreaming on replacing all of this with a system the size and weight of a NEX!
C
7 months ago |You haven’t shot medium format yet. $3k? That’s a total steal!
derdawoist
7 months ago |wasnt the 50mm announced with OSS??
JR
7 months ago |Yes, it has OSS. I think it’s the only image stabilized prime lens at this short telephoto focal length.
Yu
7 months ago |A MD Rokkor 50 f/1.4 only costs me 40GBP, and I believe people have paid even less for one. I don’t see the reason to pay that much more for a slower lens adding just the AF and OSS, which you get in the kit lens anyways.
Zstan
7 months ago |You don’t get f1.8 in the kit ….
JR
7 months ago |People are willing to pay a lot for AF convenience and OSS. However, the old manual lenses offer a tremendous bargain if you’re willing to manual focus.
Matt
7 months ago |Yes you can buy a second hand 40 year old lens cheaper than a new one – how observant?! Who would have thunk it? AF and OSS in the kit – I don’t understand, do you believe that it should be somehow transferable? Or that the kit lens is in some way cheaper than this lens?
Slazo
7 months ago |Its fun reading the comments and having a hearty laugh. People demand like some royalty. I cannot find a lens comparable to the 50f1.8 emount anywhere. It is stabilized which means about 3 more stops to pull and that my frens is a never heard of handheld shooting speed. ISO 3200 which is very good on the 5n + 50mm1.8 + OSS = awesomeness. Surprisingly I do not see the ISO freaks jumping who whine like babies when half a stop of light is lost. Cmon dance like goons now atleast or are you guys finding other resources to whine :p
JR
7 months ago |Sony claims a 4 stop improvement with this lens. Hopefully, they can actually produce that.
Matt
7 months ago |Yes 3ish stops, but only for subjects that aren’t moving, OSS can only compensate for hand movement. Still awesome for sure, but it isn’t exactly the same thing – and no I am not one of those whiners
armando
7 months ago |I just love the fact that it’s an 50mm prime 1.8 with OSS, everyone knows about the prime vs zoom debate lol
(Though the big seller with me is the 1.8 / oss (for video) – prime a bonus)
Would be awesome if all the primes after this canon 50mm 1.2 or the sigma 85mm 1.4 came with oss/is built in
Jiri
7 months ago |24mm a bit wide? Not wide enough for many purposes.
WilliamLeong
7 months ago |Focal length needs are case to case basis. How about shooting your steak with a 16mm?
Then maybe I’ll hear someone screaming “16mm a bit tight? Not tight enough for many purposes.”
PhotoNut
7 months ago |Since the NEX line is APS-C exclusively then why is Sony releasing lenses as if NEX were full frame? Why 50mm f/1.8 before a 30-35mm f/1.8?
Why a slow 30mm f/3.5 slow focusing Macro instead?
C
7 months ago |It’s not like Canon has a cheap 35mm lens yet, either. It could be a long time before we see a 50mm equivalent for NEX.
The Lotus Eater
7 months ago |Because 50mm is better than 35mm for portraits.
JAV
7 months ago |maybe there is no full frame nex for a couple years again..
decato
7 months ago |I agree with most of the replies here.
50mm on APS-C is just not the best focal length. Too short to be a real portrait, too long to be normal.
Same thing happened in A-mount. 50mm 1.8 was the first cheap normal-like lens, then came the 35mm 1.8 which is an awesome little lens. I had to buy that one in addition to my 50mm.
The price… I think it is a good price. For a light 1.8 with OSS, and silent focusing. I hope the focus is fast. This is probably going to sell good, until a ~35mm comes out.
doug
7 months ago |Luckily, it’s really small…oh wait.
Sahaja
7 months ago |For an APSC camera like the NEX it would have been more useful as a portrait lens if it was 55mm or 60mm.
Why do they copy full frame focal lengths for crop frame cameras – instead of making equivalents?
WilliamLeong
7 months ago |The most obvious reason I can see is that a 50mm optical formula is the easiest and cheapest to produce and it already have a mass market awareness on that particular focal length.
So Sony is fulfilling YOUR (not you in particular) rants about why there isn’t enough lens in the NEX lineup and therefore pushes out the 50mm 1st. Then slowly expanding into other less established (in terms of market awareness) focal lengths, like the 35mm and 85mm for example.
nopt
7 months ago |The NEX 50mm optical formula is not the typical 6-element design like you find on Canon, Nikon, or alpha-mount 50mm f1.8 lenses:
http://www.microglobe.co.uk/cimages/Canon_ef_50mm_f1.8_mII_bd.JPG
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/images1/50mm-f18-d/50mm-f18-d-diagram.gif
http://www.sony.jp/ichigan/products/SAL50F18/images/prod/m/SAL50F18_002.jpg
The e-mount 50mm is a more complex design with 9 elements:
http://www.sony.jp/ichigan/products/SEL50F18/images/prod/m/y_SEL50F18_comosition.jpg
MaxNex
7 months ago |Thank you Sahaja. I wish Sony Product Management could hear you, EQUIVALENTS! that’s where it’s at. I have the E kit lens which is slow, and 105mm/f2.5 and 55mm/f3.5 Nikon lenses used with a Fotodiox adapter, and the E mount 16mm/f2.8. In equivalent terms, Sony needs to fill the big gaping hole between 24mm and 75mm. This gap is not even on the roadmap. The 24mm Zeiss E mount dosn’t count. Way too much to invest without a commitment from Sony to the E-mount platform. The E 30mm/3.5, Huh! Why not E 30mm/f2.0 ! How about a 20mm something around f2.0, or f2.5 heck even f2.8! Come-on SONY.
Matt
7 months ago |‘Way too much to invest without a commitment from Sony to the E-Mount platform’?! What the hell are you going on about?! What sort of commitment are you looking for? Are you worried they are going to abandon E-Mount?
Want a 35mm 1.8 on your NEX, go and buy one, they are super cheap and actually pretty good. Oh wait you want one that is much smaller than the A-Mount + LA-EA1/2? Well this takes time! Sony aren’t holding out on you, just to annoy you, just to mess with your day! If it were a case of taking one of the existing 35mm and slapping it on the front of an extension tube they would have already done it, but people like you wont stand for it, ‘it’s too big! Waaaah, Wahhhh, WAAAAAA’.
I have an idea – stop using/reading/talking about NEX for say, 5 years? Just imagine it doesn’t exist. Besides, according to your logic it will have disappeared by then anyway!
ANDY
7 months ago |Matt
Do you have the LA-EA2 adapter? Is it any good with the 35mm? I was tempted myself!
Im looking for reasonable fast af for video
Matt
7 months ago |Sadly, not yet. I have NEX3 and the new firmware is not yet available for the LA-EA2. Soon though
I have an a55 though and the AF in that is the same, so I know what to expect.
Marsico
7 months ago |I found The Picture Desk review quite distasteful; a fat old white guy taking photos of black kids. A perfect example of 1960 low level journalism.
The Lotus Eater
7 months ago |What a ridiculous thing to say!
Your post demonstrates more predjudice than anything the Picture Desk review could be accused of.
JonasM
7 months ago |I always get the impression from people bitching about 35mm, 85mm and the absolute need for pancakes, that they don’t actually own any SEL lenses apart from their kit lens. They are cheap interet warriors with little practical photography under their belts. Buy some Sony lenses and give Sony the incentive to introduce new lenses. Don’t just buy nothing and ask for more.
decato
7 months ago |I get that point. But to give some demographics on someone who is ‘bitching’. I bought the Nex-5N with 18-55 kit and also purchased the 16mm. I don’t like zooms in general so the E-mount zooms are never going to be in my bag.
On the A-mount I have both 50mm 1.8 and 35 1.8 (in addition to a few other Sony / Minoltas). I wouldn’t have bought the 50mm if the 35 was available back then.
I already have adapted lenses for Nex that covers these focal lengths. I have some M42 mount 28 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 58 2.0, 135 3.5. I would love to have a reasonably priced E-mount 35 1.8 because it is my favorite focal length and is very useful. OSS, fast aperture and silent AF. Would be great for video as well. Also it would probably be much lighter and slightly smaller in volume than the adapted options.
I think the argument against the 50mm is very valid. During the analog era, there was no 75mm lens, and that tells a lot.
And while talking about bitching, the true issue is, people just talk, and forget about taking pics.
Joe
7 months ago |This is the lens to get for e mount. Fast lens and affordable with oss. If sony comes out with more lens like this they will take over mirrorless sales.
markino
5 months ago |indeed, why so much complaints. if is expensive dont buy it, get a manual lens, most people serious about photography actually make money doing it.
and is not like any company out there cares about a coupl of people not ready to pay the prices, i men these sony nex stuff is not available nywhere and wen i comes it goes, stop acting like spoiled kids
camerman
5 months ago |It’s about time. I don’t know why these csc makers have such a hard time making affordable small prime lenses.The first word in csc is COMPACT, and yet many of the makers come up with big fat expensive sausage zooms. Do they expect people to stick a 300mm 2.8 on one those things? The 50mm 2 or apcs 35mm f2 were the easiest and cheapest lens to make for dslr’s.