The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G is an outstanding ultra-wide-angle prime lens with a fast maximum aperture at a more attractive price-point than the comparable FE 24mm F1.4 GM lens. This very compact, lightweight optic delivers excellent sharpness in the centre of the frame throughout its aperture range, even performing well wide-open at f/1.8, with performance at the edges not too far behind. The near-circular 9-blade aperture in conjunction with the 18cm minimum focusing distance makes it possible to create some appealing bokeh effects, despite the ultra-wide-angle nature of the lens. Coupled with a high-resolution camera like the Alpha A7R III that we tested it with, it’s capable of producing incredibly detailed, very sharp images when stopped down. The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G delivered fast, near-silent and reliable auto-focusing on the A7R III camera, with the Click switch for the aperture ring making it well-suited to both stills and movies. It offers an acceptable level of build quality, plus it’s usefully weather-tight too. In summary, the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G is a fantastic ultra-wide-angle prime lens that is another great addition to the Sony Alpha range.
During the various press events for the Fujifilm X-T4 launch, Fujifilm has shown this video comparing the autofocus between their flagship camera and the Sony A7rIV. But as noticed by some it looks like the settings on the Sony camera where off.
First:
I do own the A7rIV and did never experience the tracking to be so bad as show in the video.
Second:
Readers of Fujirumors themselves noticed that settings of the camera seems to be off. For example they didn’t lock in the AF on the Sony
Third:
As a principle the more depth of field you have the easier it is for the camera to focus. So it should have been more proper to set the A7RiV lens aperture to match the X-T4 depth of field (in the video both cameras are at f/2.8)
But please check out the video. maybe you will find more odd things…
The new Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 FE lens uses an improved AF motor that works faster than the one used on the current 28-75mm FE. And today we can finally see it in action!
The German youtuber Valuetech posted the first quick autofocus test (watch from minute 2):
Seems to work very fast and accurately! Not bad if you consider they used the “older” Sony A7rIII af system and a prototype lens.
The first new Sony FE Lens of 2020! Here’s the 20mm f/1.8. Not an ultra wide prime, but a nice little fast wide angle that could be great for a number of uses. Sony asked me to try this lens out for a few days. One week in between 2 trips and during the moving of my house, my first response was : “sure!” . The bad weather in the Netherlands certainly didn’t help much, but I managed to test the lens in a variety of conditions. In this little article I’ll be addressing my first responses after having tried this lens for a few days.
Design
First things first: It’s tiny! And light! It’s great to see Sony really pushing the size of mirrorless for what it was meant: smaller and lighter. This lens follows the design of the 24mm GM, and is surprisingly no GM lens, but merely a G. We might also see this reflect on the price tag :) (I don’t know the retail price yet). Being a G lens, this lens still looks quite identical to the 24mm GM lens. It has a similar design, has a dedicated ring for the Aperture (nice for video), has a dedicated AF/MF switch and is small and tiny like the 24mm.
I finally took some time to read all reviews and tests of the new lens. It’s clear that this is basically a more affordable but still very high quality version of the excellent 24mm GM lens. This is a lens I myself am considering to buy :)
Here is quick roundup of the conclusions of early testers:
All in all, this lens greatly impressed me from a technical standpoint, but the results of this still leave a few questions to be answered; does it deserve it’s own spot in my camera bag? Is it THAT much different from the 24mm GM to justify a separate purchase? If I already have a lens that shoots at 20mm, is the additional aperture from f/2.8 to f/1.8 worth an additional purchase?
For me, in every single instance, the answer is a resounding yes. This is by far one of my favorite lenses I’ve ever had the pleasure of using, and I have no doubts it will be by far one of the most-used lenses for me in 2020. If I wasn’t lucky enough to have one sitting right beside me for the purposes of this review I would be purchasing one the absolute instant that pre-orders are available. A wide field of view, extremely fast aperture, and extraordinary sharpness, corner to corner: the holy trinity of lens requirements, all packed into the smallest and lightest body in its class. Performance that professionals used to only dream of, at a price that even beginner and intermediate shooters can appreciate.
While some may consider and use this lens as a ‘fit all in’ lens, I have found it to be very versatile and useful to be able to draw more of the environment into the shot when shooting a portrait. I have found the level of detail the Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens renders to be of a high quality with no evidence of CA and high levels fo sharpness when viewed at 1:1. The ability to shoot a wide angle lens with a wide aperture opens a whole new world of perspective and photographic opportunities and the 20mm f/1.8 G lens is an excellent addition to the current Sony lens line up and will be a firm favourite for astrophotographers, concert photographers, landscapers and travel photographers.
The Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens is a very welcome addition to Sony’s growing lens lineup. It is incredibly small, weighs just 13.2 oz and produces incredibly sharp images, even on the Sony a7R IV that has a tendency to demand the highest resolving FF lenses on the market.
Very compact, tiny and light. Very similar to the Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM 67mm filter size (same as the 24mm) Despite being very similar to the 24mm GM, this 20mm f/1.8 is not a GM, but ‘just’ a G. Great for video and vlogging Performs well on the A7RIV Sharpness across the frame is great on stopped down apertures Edge sharpness suffers a bit on faster apertures (tested on the A7RIV) Wide open f/1.8 center sharpness is impressive Good for astrophotography with little coma and chromatic aberrations . Silent Autofocus Beautiful soft bokeh Close focus distance, you can get some beautiful creative results by using it wide open and playing with depth of field. Nice sunstar and stars around lights at night.
With the FE 20 mm F1.8 G, Sony has once again achieved a very good ultra-wide-angle fixed focal length after the FE 24 mm F1.4 GM, which enriches the full-frame system in a meaningful way. With a mix of materials made of high-quality plastic and metal, as well as seals against the ingress of dust and splash water, it is robustly processed and, thanks to the many controls, including aperture ring locking that can be deactivated for video recordings, offers a wide range of possible uses. The autofocus is fast, quiet and the focusing distance is surprisingly low, which opens up very unusual perspectives. Above all, the image quality is impressive. Bokeh and backlight behavior as well as optical errors are not objectionable. The resolution in the image center is already very good from the open aperture, but for a high edge resolution, the lens should be dimmed down by around two f-stops. The highest image quality is achieved with F4. The lens is definitely worth the target price of just under 1,100 euros, especially since the street price will soon drop below the 1,000 euro mark.
