Category: Photography Gear

Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T✻ FE 55mm F1.8 ZA

This is one of my favourite lenses for portrait photography and also for general photography. It is also quite compact and doesn’t leave a big footprint in my bag. I also like this lens due to its weight and I can handheld when recording videos.

I like this focal length more than the 35mm as the angle of view is a bit more “tight” hence reducing the surrounding “noise”. It also works fine for product photography when I could not quickly get the Sony FE 50mm F2.8 Macro.

But, I find that it is not a “fast” focussing lens. I missed a lot of shots because it was taking some time. But, the thing that I really dislike about this lens is the purple fringing (chromatic aberration). A very strong one even! Check the photo below and it was just annoying.

I like the bokeh produced from this lens. The subject and the plane separations are really good as well. I find that f/2.8 is the best aperture setting for my camera. But my interview video recording works nicely at f/1.8.

I acquired this lens in March 2022 and it is one that travelled with me the most and always is in my bag (even my I don’t plan to use it, you just don’t know when you might need it). But of course, 50mm GM F1.4 is on the list 🙂

Aperture range: f/1.8 to f/22
The angle of view: 43°
Minimum focus distance: 50 cm
Maximum magnification ratio: 0.14×
Filter size: 49 mm
Dimensions (ø × L): 64.4 × 70.5 mm
Weight: 281 g

Sony FE 85mm F1.8

Really sharp for portraits and an “almost” a close-up for small objects

It has a focus hold button on the barrel, and I customized it for Eye AF. It is a very sleek short-telephoto prime lens that is easy to be carried around. It is lightweight, fast and produces creamy photos when the aperture is wide open.

Even though it was meant for portraits, I have used this lens to take photos of small objects in nature. The results were surprisingly good! I tried this lens for landscape but really have to walk back quite far to put large/tall objects into the frame.

Verdict

I prefer to keep this lens for object close-up and for half-body portraits.

I used this lens for a wedding. It works fantastic for a one-person or two-person half-body portrait. It is also good for small object close-ups; for example, flowers, table-setting and food at the buffet area. During speeches, it works amazing as I can stand a bit far away and do not need to invade the space between the speaker and the audience. Somehow, other situations require 28mm (group photos) and 50mm (guests and other larger objects).

While this lens (can) works on all occasions, it has to be complemented by other lenses when it comes to tight space.

Sample Photos

Half-body portrait using 85mm. It separates the subject from the creamy background.
ISO 100 f/1.8 1/250 sec.
Snowdrop. Taken from 1 meter away and cropped.
ISO 200 f/3.5 1/125 sec.
Copenhagen, winter sunset.
ISO 100 f/3.2 1/500 sec.
Two full-body portraits were taken using 85mm.
Left: ISO 100 f/3.2 1/250 sec.
Right: ISO 100 f/3.2 1/320 sec.

Key Features

Aperture range: f/1.8 to f/22

The angle of view: 29?
Minimum focus distance: 80 cm
Maximum magnification ratio: 1:7.7 (0.13?)
Filter size: 67 mm
Dimensions (? ? L): 78 ? 82 mm
Weight: 371 g

Sept. 2022: I sold this lens off as it duplicates Sony FE 90mm Macro G OSS.

Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM

It pulls the duty for being sharp but the weight and size are bulky for a daily walk-around

This lens (SEL2470GM) is a Premium G Master Series Mid-range telephoto prime wide-angle to a short telephoto lens with a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture. It is claimed to have Sony Nano AR Coating to eliminate flare and ghosting.

It was acquired primarily to help with data collection for my experiments. Especially when it comes to seeing the movement of facial muscles. It works well with ɑ7R III as this camera captures at 42.4 megapixels, allowing zooming and cropping. The settings for data collection are set as a “distance between the camera and a volunteer is 1.5 meters, 1/80 – 1/125 sec, f/5.60 at 50mm”.

A nice clear and sharp portrait, with a flash, fired from on top of the camera.
49mm ISO 100 f/3.50 1/80 sec.

I think it is a great general-purpose travelling lens as covered by the focal length range. But because of travel restrictions, it will be some time before I can take this lens for my next holiday trip.

It also works well for videography! Due to the weight, I could not use the word excellent. I used Røde VideoMicro when recording and there was no noticeable noise from the lens’ focus adjustment.

It produces a barrel distortion on wide (24mm) and pin-cushion as it gets tele (70mm). It is said 1Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM Lens Review to have the lowest distortion focal length at around 28-30mm. Of course, these can be corrected in Lightroom very easily.

Forest photography at Hareskov-Værløse (on mini-tripod and remote clicker).
24mm ISO 100 f/9.0 1/13 sec.

I took this lens for forest photography, once. The focal range is good, but the size and weight are not very flexible, especially if you are mounting on a mini-tripod. Cityscape and street photography can benefit from the medium-range focal length but for these genres, I, however, prefer my 28mm prime.

Aperture range: f/2.8 to f/22
The angle of view: 84º (24mm) to 34º (70mm)
Minimum focus distance: 38 cm
Maximum magnification ratio: 1:4.2 (0.24×)
Filter size: 82 mm
Dimensions (⌀ × L): 87.6 × 136 mm
Weight: 886 g

Sony FE 28mm F2

Lightweight, compact and my best companion for the majority of the time

This 28mm (SEL28F20) is my second prime lens, which I use 99% of the time when going out. The price was in the lower range as the target market is entry-level photographers. The cheapest market price in 2021 is DKK2,550 (around ?340).

This lens is attached to my Sony A7Riii and has been the go-to lens for most of my photos. Sometimes, it is the sole lens that I took with me when I can’t pack a lot of gear.

I like this lens because it is lightweight and compact, hence the system works well on my hands and with my shooting style. It also locks focus rather quick. The wide aperture is helpful, especially in low light conditions and handled handheld. I like the wide-angle view as I can fit more scenes without the need to move too far back.

The Hermitage Hunting Lodge, Klampenborg.
ISO 100 f/3.50 1/640 sec.

It works really well with my landscape, architecture, cityscape and street photography with its wide perspective. It also works well for full-body portraits. I do actually feel a bit pleased with the portrait produced by this lens even for ? headshot. But for ? headshot seems awkward as I have to be quite close to the person. And yes, the face distortion is there when taking a close-up portrait!

Cityscape photography at Copenhagen Central Station.
ISO 1000 f/2.8 1/100 sec.

This lens is discreet and does not really attract attention when used in the public. Because of its wide-angle and close focus distance, I also use this for food photography.

Cantaloupe shrimp cocktail.
ISO 200 f/4.0 1/160 sec.

My sweet spot is between f/2.8 and f/5.6 depending on the situation. For food, I prefer f/4.0 and street photography at f/2.8 but sometimes I do go wide between f/2.0 to f/2.2. Somehow for landscape, I prefer something from f/3.50 and narrower.

However, it has a strong barrel distortion which of course can be corrected in Lightroom.

Aperture range: f/2 to f/22
The angle of view: 75?
Minimum focus distance: 29 cm (AF) / 25cm (MF)
Maximum magnification ratio: 1:7.7 (0.13?) (AF) / 1:6.25 (0.16?) MF
Filter size: 49 mm
Dimensions (? ? L): 64 ? 60 mm
Weight: 200 g

Sony FE 50mm F1.8

Prime for portrait, it does the job and probably that’s it!

My first prime lens. The cheapest I can afford as a student. At first, I thought I can use this lens for all occasions as an all-in-one. But after I tried street and landscape photography, I found this lens is quite tight in terms of viewing-angle, noisy focusing motor and also slow at that.

Receipt for the lens SEL50F18F, around ?175 (17-10-2021)

Noisy! You can hear the motor keeps on locking focus during a playback, definitely is not for videography (unless the sound is not needed or using a wireless audio unit). Also when it hunts to lock a proper focus when pressing the shutter button for photography.

At a platform sandwiched by trains (Copenhagen Central Station, 2021).
ISO 100 f/2.2 1/60 sec.

For me, this lens is probably not suitable for street photography because of its slow focusing. For landscape, the focus is sharper when using Manual Focus (MF) instead of Auto Focus (AF).

A landscape view from Viking Ship Museum towards the shore as it was covered with thick fog (Roskilde, 2022).
ISO 100 f/2.2 1/160 sec.

However, it works pretty well and I mostly use this lens for portraits. The results came out sharp. The good thing about this lens is the size. Petite and it doesn’t take much space. I carry this lens with me most of the time.

The aperture can be opened wide to f/1.8 but my sweet spot for this lens is between f/2.8 and f/5.6. The output has no barrel distortion but Lightroom seems to correct the darkened areas (vignetting) around the edges.

Prognosis: it’s a keeper! ?

Aperture range: f/1.8 to f/22
The angle of view: 47?
Minimum focus distance: 45 cm
Maximum magnification ratio: 1:7.1 (0.14?)
Filter size: 49 mm
Dimensions (? ? L): 68.6 ? 59.5 mm
Weight: 186 g

A commentary video on this lens by Chris Brockhurst (2022).
https://youtu.be/iO6wZUvDzC4
A review by Aron Andersen (2018).

UPDATE

May 2022: I sold the lens as I no longer use it after getting the Sony Sonnar T* FE 55 mm F1.8 ZA.