Evaluation: Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM

Introduction

After the primary fullframe E-mount cameras hit the market there was numerous advertising fluff from the rivals that the E-mount was too slim for quick excessive efficiency lenses. I can not assist however suppose this Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM had primarily been designed to show them incorrect and from the whole lot I can see it greater than succeeded at that, however let’s have a more in-depth look.

Pattern Photographs

Many of the pattern photographs on this evaluate could be present in full decision right here.

Disclosure

The Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM was kindly supplied freed from cost by our reader Eugen for evaluate functions, thanks so much!

Specs

The Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM was Sony’s first lens with a most aperture of f/1.2, it has the next specs:

• Diameter: 87 mm
• Size: 108 mm
• Weight: 778 g (no hood, no caps)
• Subject of view: 47° (diagonally)
• Filter Diameter: 72 mm
• Variety of Aperture Blades: 11 (rounded)
• Parts/Teams: 14/10
  
• Shut Focusing Distance: 0.4 m
• Most Magnification: 1:5.6 (measured)
• Mount: Sony E

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Dealing with / Construct High quality

If in case you have used any of the opposite GM primes you’ll really feel proper at residence right here.

The rubberized focus ring has respectable damping and it takes 180° from the minimal focus distance (0.40 m) to infinity – irrespective of how briskly you flip it, because the coupling is linear.
Once you flip your digital camera off, the lens will bear in mind the final focus place and can nonetheless be there while you flip the digital camera on once more.

On the left aspect of the lens there is among the programmable buttons and the AF-MF swap.

The aperture ring has 1/3 of a cease click on stops and you may also set the ring to “A”(utomatic) and let the digital camera select the aperture worth or use the digital camera dial to alter it. As is typical for the GM primes there may be additionally a de-click lever discovered on the suitable aspect of the lens.

The outer casing appears to be comprised of a top quality polycarbonate and all markings are engraved and stuffed with paint.

The lens comes with a typical GM-style construct high quality lens hood that contains a rubber bumper on the entrance and black felt on the within.

The Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM is sort of the identical measurement because the Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM, the incorporation of extra lens buttons result in a barely modified casing design although.

AF efficiency

I’m not capturing sports activities or fast-paced animals/people so if you wish to know if the lens is quick sufficient for this or the way it compares to different lenses on this phase you will have to search for a distinct evaluate with a extra detailed evaluation of this facet.

Nevertheless, this time I received the possibility to take photos at a nightly fireplace efficiency and I’ve been astonished by how properly the AF of this lens performs.

Vignetting

Gentle falloff

The vignetting figures are about common for a lens like this. Huge open they’re much like the Samyang 50mm 1.2 XP and the Sigma 35mm 1.2 Artwork DG DN and barely higher than these of the Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM and Voigtländer 50mm 1.2 Nokton E.

The stopped down values are much like the Voigtländer 50mm 1.2 Nokton E and about half a cease worse in comparison with the others.

It’s endorsed to take a look at this text first to get an concept how this brightness graph works.

Optical vignetting

Quick lenses often present a noticeable quantity of optical vignetting, particularly so the compact ones. With out going an excessive amount of into technical particulars optical vignetting results in the truncation of sunshine circles in direction of the borders of the body.
Within the heart of the body virtually each lens will render an ideal circle, however solely lenses with very low optical vignetting will maintain this form within the corners.
So within the following comparability we transfer from the middle (left) to the intense nook (proper) and see how the form of the sunshine circle modifications.

Sony A7rII | Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM | focus distance 1.0 m

The Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM reveals a reasonably respectable efficiency right here. It reveals much less optical vignetting than the Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM, Samyang 50mm 1.2 XP and Meike 50mm 1.2. The Voigtländer 50mm 1.2 Nokton E reveals the same quantity. The form of the out of focus highlights additionally nonetheless appears to be like pure within the corners.

Regardless of the utilization of a number of aspherical parts you possibly can hardly see any onion ring constructions right here.

Sharpness

MTF Graphs

The MTF graphs promise very excessive distinction in addition to decision at f/1.2 over many of the body, solely the nook areas present some astigmatism and barely worse (but nonetheless good) efficiency. Stopped down the lens appears to be like just about flawless.

Focus shift

50% crops, A7rII

Being a contemporary AF lens that often focuses at working aperture, focus shift would not likely be a problem, however for the sake of checking, I nonetheless checked if there may be any and I’m blissful to report there isn’t.

infinity (42mp Sony A7rII)

The efficiency right here matches what we noticed within the MTF graphs very properly. Heart and midframe look nice from f/1.2, the corners profit from stopping down a bit.

If we evaluate this efficiency to the one different excessive efficiency f/1.2 AF lens for E-mount, the Sigma 35mm 1.2 Artwork DG DN, the Sigma performs a bit higher right here at wider apertures, however this isn’t actually a discipline related distinction in my view.

portrait 1.5 m (42mp Sony A7rII)

Let’s see what the efficiency is like at a typical portrait distance for a 50mm lens of ~1.5 m.

f/1.2 <—> f/2.0

Sony A7rII | Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM | 100% crops

Within the heart and midframe we already see some Moiré at f/1.2, stopped all the way down to f/2.0 we see numerous it all over the place. Once more the Sigma 35mm 1.2 Artwork DG DN does a bit higher at f/1.2 off-center right here, however the Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM follows far behind and likewise the equally huge and sophisticated Samyang 50mm 1.2 XP doesn’t stand an opportunity.

Shut 0.4 m, 1:5.6 (42mp Sony A7rII)

100% crops from heart, A7rII

With a minimal focus distance of 0.4 m this Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM is among the closest focusing quick 50mm lenses. If the efficiency at 0.4 m wasn’t nice in comparison with lenses not focusing as shut, we must put issues into perspective first, but in addition right here the efficiency from f/1.2 is de facto good.

Flare resistance

As at all times evaluating flare is a fancy matter since you may get any lens to look unhealthy in the event you push it exhausting sufficient and a slight change of state of affairs can have an effect on outcomes so much.

I used to be pleasantly stunned by Sony’s late lenses on this class, but tremendous quick lenses typically didn’t fare very properly, so I used to be undecided what to anticipate right here.

Lengthy story brief: the efficiency on this class is superb, so I don’t have so much to point out you right here. I don’t suppose I ever encountered any ghosts with this lens

The one factor that did occur to me twice is, that when capturing straight into the solar with the lens set to f/1.2 a faint ring flare seems along with some veiling flare:

The hood makes this already cumbersome lens even bulkier, so I attempted in numerous situations if it truly makes a distinction and this wasn’t actually the case. In some instances shading the lens with my handcrafted a notable distinction although, so possibly the hood ought to have been even barely longer in spite of everything:

Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM | f/11

This was a staged state of affairs although and it’s only one particular angle the place you possibly can create this veiling flare,

The Voigtländer VM 50mm 1.2 Nokton nonetheless holds the crown for the very best performing 50mm 1.2 lens on this class, however this Sony lens does come very shut.

Coma

100% crops from excessive nook, centered at heart, A7rII

We see slight Coma from f/1.2 to f/1.4, already at f/2.0 the lens is sort of free from it although. As was already the case for the Sigma 35mm 1.2 Artwork DG DN, additionally with this lens I’d not thoughts taking photos throughout blue hour at f/1.2 with out a tripod if wanted.

I additionally took an image of precise stars that are much less demanding than the cityscape above:

Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM | f/1.2 | 4s

Once more it’s a good suggestion to see the place we’re coming from and what a flagship 50mm 1.2 from solely 15 years in the past appeared like on this class.

Distortion

Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM | f/2.0

The Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM reveals noticeable pincushion distortion. A profile is included in-lens for correcting Jpegs, Lightroom additionally contains a profile for correcting Uncooked recordsdata that works very properly, as could be seen from this comparability.

Bokeh

For me personally, that is crucial class for a lens like this. If you wish to save a while: that is the very best I’ve seen in a 50mm 1.2 AF lens to this point.

Shut distance

For creating a way of depth not solely how the out of focus areas are rendered is vital, but in addition the distinction and backbone inside the aircraft which is in focus. And right here the Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM is an actual winner, in any respect distances.

The Voigtländer 50mm 1.2 Nokton E and the Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM have a bit undercorrected spherical aberration at their most aperture, resulting in very easy out of focus rendering. This isn’t the case with this 50mm 1.2 GM, due to this fact among the shut distances samples already present a slight tendency in direction of double edged constructions within the out of focus areas.

Mid distance

For an f/1.2 lens distinction and backbone are astonishing on the most aperture. In most conditions I additionally discover this lens’ bokeh very interesting. You’ll find many extra samples taken at this distance all through the evaluate.

Lengthy distance

Longer focus distances are had been many of those lenses wrestle. Tailored M-mount lenses present points with discipline curvature (as does the Laowa 45mm 0.95), the Samyang 50mm 1.2 XP has a scarcity of sharpness at these distances with an off-center topic and triangle bokeh within the corners and the Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM additionally didn’t look notably nice.

This Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM doesn’t have any of those points and I used to be usually very pleased with its rendering. These which are after the smoothest out of focus rendering should choose the Voigtländer 50mm 1.2 Nokton E although.

Sunstars

Sony A7rII | Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM

Like many of the different GM primes this Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM makes use of a diaphragm with 11 aperture blades. The alignment of the blades is fairly good, so we see good sunstars from f/5.6 to f/16.
If you wish to know extra about sunstars take a look at this text.

Chromatic aberration

lateral

The Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM contains a built-in lens correction profile for lateral CA that will even be acknowledged in most uncooked converters, so ultimately: you received’t see any.

longitudinal

Sony A7rII | Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM

One other class with a surprisingly good efficiency. You’ll find some minor bokeh fringing while you search for it, however in not one of the photos I took with this lens it was bothersome not to mention one thing that might smash the image.

Sony A7III | Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM | f/1.2 

In a high-contrast, backlit scene like this, the older f/1.2 lenses just like the Canon EF 50mm 1.2 L USM would have appeared terrible and never solely that, additionally Sony’s earlier, slower FE lenses just like the FE 55mm 1.8 ZA and FE 35mm 1.4 ZA would have. This Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM reveals an exemplary efficiency although.

Conclusion

If somebody had requested me, what my “dream” 50mm 1.2 AF lens would seem like, my description would have matched this Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM lens fairly properly. However to be sincere, this particular lens would have exceeded my expectations, as a result of I’d haven’t thought {that a} lens like this might appropriate CA in addition to it does and likewise function such a quick but correct AF.

Additionally it is price noting, that Nikon’s and Canon’s 50mm 1.2 fullframe mirrorless choices are larger and heavier whereas – from the whole lot I’ve seen to this point – they’re under no circumstances higher.

If I used to be a 50mm man (trace: I’m a 35mm man) searching for a quick AF lens I’d undoubtedly purchase this one.

purchase from Amazon.com | B&H | ebay.com (affiliate hyperlinks) for $1898

Alternate options

Sigma simply launched their very own 50mm 1.2 lens for E-mount, however I didn’t but get my fingers on that. You’ll find the slower AF alternate options in addition to the MF alternate options in our Information to the very best 50mm fullframe E-mount lenses.

Pattern Photographs

Many of the pattern photographs on this evaluate could be present in full decision right here.

Additional Studying

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