Sony 14mm F1.8 GM review by Marc Alhadeff: “a must have”
Preorders: Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM at BHphoto, Adorama, Focuscamera, Fotokoch, Calumet DE, Park Cameras UK, Wex UK.
Marc Alhadeff from SonyAlphablog reviewed the new 14mm GM lens and concluded:
The Sony 14mm F1.8 GM (1600 euros) is a new masterpiece from Sony and a new demonstration you can achieve outstanding results in a very small from factors. All the recent GM are a demonstration of this level of excellence (Sony 35mm F1.4 GM, Sony 50mm F1.2 GM, Sony 24mm F1.4 GM…)
Image quality is excellent : excellent to outstanding sharpness wide open , corners are also very good to excellent, color rendition and contrast are excellent, distorsion is minimal, coma is minimal. background blur is quite soft for a wide angle lens. AF is fast , silent and efficient, Ergonomics are excellent (small, light, click or click-less aperture ring) and the price stay reasonable for a GM lens compared to the Sony 12-24 F2.8 GM (3300 Euros!)
The lens will also be at ease on all situations : Astrophotography, Landscape, architecture and will also perfom very well in video handled or on a gimbal or for Vlog to film yourself providing a big frame around you and allowing for an important stabilisation crop if need be
- The only competitor with the same specs is the Sigma 14mm F/1.8 DG HSM Art , at same price, that is 50% bigger and almost 3 times heavier ! for a sharpness that is clearly less good wide open and with corners that never reach the level of The Sony GM. If you like Sigma then the Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN Art will offer the same optical performance than the prime at a same price but with more versatility and much less weight and size
- If you own the Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM, you won gain a lot in term of image quality but you will gain in term of weight size and price
- The Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE (600 euros) is a good price/quality option for a 24Mpix camera or if 14mm is a focal length you won’t use often. but there is a clear image quality gap between the Samyang and the Sigma/Sony lenses a better alternative is the very good NiSi 15mm F4 (479 euros) , a manual lens with a more modest aperture but providing better sharpness , color rendition and very nice sunstars and compatible with classical filters (72mm thread)
A must have for pro Landscape / Architectural / Indoor real estate / Close Actions / Astro photographer or for vlog