Sony 50mm F/1.8 Real world images:
Sony 50mm f/1.8 lens review:
Every system has an affordable 50mm prime lens. Over years, these lenses have been called nifty fifties, plastic fantastics, etc. While most prime lenses are designed and marketed towards enthusiasts, prosumers and professionals, the nifty fifty lenses are geared towards the consumer market. If you asked most serious photographers, they probably had a nifty fifty early in their photography course, such lens was often part of the bridge from being a purely amateur consumer photographer to becoming more serious. While Sony didn’t launch such a lens with the start of the full frame mirrorless system, they got around to releasing the Sony 50mm F/1.8 in 2016 priced at a relatively reasonable $200.
With the Sony Zeiss 50mm F/1.4, the Sony Zeiss 55mm F/1.8 as well as a couple of third party options, the Sony 50mm F/1.8 is by far the cheapest option. In this review, we will look at whether photographers can save money by purchasing the Sony 50mm F/1.8 or whether they should be looking at the more expensive lenses.
Body and Handling:
You can see the lens is tiny when compared to the Sony 55mm/F1.8 and 50mm/F1.4. At 186 grams, the lens barely adds any heft to the camera body.
The Sony 50mm F/1.8 is a relatively simple construction. The body feels plastic and includes a simple small hood and its focus ring is hard plastic. There are no switches or controls. In the last photo (click for large), you can see the lens has seven aperture blades which leads to fairly well rounded bokeh.
There is no stabilization but the Sony 50mm F/1.8 will work well with the internal stabilization system (IBIS) found on most Sony bodies. The degree to which you can rely on IBIS will depend on your hand holding technique. As demonstrated below, personally I am comfortable at about 1/13th of a second but by 1/8th of a second I got a very low percentage of keepers.
Focus speed is not particularly fast. Compared to most Sony lenses, the Sony 50mm F/1.8 focus system is quite loud. Autofocus is accompanied by a buzz which makes the lens sound like a cheap toy. The lens focus noise certainly leaves the lens inappropriate for video shooting. Still shooters may not feel bothered.
Image Quality
One shouldn’t expect premium image quality out of a $200 lens. As will be demonstrated below, the 50mm F/1.8 doesn’t pull off any miracles but can still deliver decent image quality.
Vignetting
Vignetting is a strong point for the Sony 50mm F/1.8. Wide open, there is modest correctable vignette. By F/2.8 it is mostly gone and completely gone by F4. I’ve seen worse results from more expensive lenses.
Flare – Chromatic Aberration
Flare isn’t great but isn’t horrible. At small aperture, as in the example at F16, you actually can get some pretty ugly flare. Ghosting resistance is poor as you clearly see a lost of contrast in back lit situations.
At small aperture, you do get brilliant sunstars.
Chromatic aberration is poor at wide open apertures. At F1.8, you see a horrible purple haze in high contrast portions of the frame. It’s bad enough that it isn’t super easy to correct. More examples below:
On the Sony 50mm F/1.8, you see really bad purple fringing stopped down to F2.8. At F4, the purple fringing continues but it is more modest.
Bokeh and Background blur
On the positive side, in the center of the frame, wide open bokeh is well rounded but it becomes cat’s eyes just a bit off center. The bokeh and background blur appear a bit nervous to my eye. Bokeh isn’t terrible but not particularly smooth. It will depend on the lighting, but the bokeh does get onion ring effect.
Distortion:
As one would expect, distortion is minimal:
The Sony 50mm F/1.8 shows moderate barrel distortion. It is correctable. Distortion does exist on the Sony 50mm F/1.8, but it is mild enough that it should not bother most shooters.
Sharpness
To give a bit of a spoiler, the Sony 50mm F/1.8 is not nearly as sharp as Sony’s premium lenses. But the sharpness may be perfectly acceptable to many shooters.
Starting with center crops (click for large):
Center crops from closer distance:
The center is a bit soft wide open but becomes tack sharp at F 2.8. At 1.8, I wouldn’t call the center unusable but I would avoid it if you want critical focus. Still, many users will be shooting portraits with the Sony 50mm F/1.8 where hyper critical focus may not be necessary. Center sharpness may be adequate for such use.
Looking at the off center/border area:
And borders from closer focus:
Border area sharpness is a bit worse than the center. Wide open at F 1.8, I can’t say the Sony 50mm F/1.8 is better than mediocre. It is acceptably sharp at F2.8 and becomes quite sharp at F4.
Turning to the more extreme corners:
I can’t sugar coat it. The Sony 50mm F/1.8 exhibits pretty ugly corners at F1.8. Corner sharpness becomes acceptable at F2.8 and pretty good at F4.
If you are really using the entire frame, you will need to stop down. When shooting a portrait in the center of the frame, you may not be very concerned about the corners. But if you’re pixel peeping or shooting corner to corner landscapes, you won’t love the corners at wide aperture.
Comparing the corners side by side with the 55mm F/1.8:
You get what you for ultimately. For $800 more, the 55mm F/1.8 (Review here) certainly delivers superior image quality, as shown in this example of the far corner, wide open. Whether these types of differences are worth an $800 difference will depend on the photographer.
Price:
With MSRP of $198, the Sony 50mm F/1.8 is the cheapest native Sony full frame lens you can purchase. While more expensive than the Canon 50mm F/1.8 ($125), it is actually a little cheaper than the Nikon version ($216). Accordingly, the price is entirely reasonable.
Overall:
While the Sony 50mm F/1.8 doesn’t push any boundaries of image quality, the 1.8 aperture is significantly faster than any Sony zoom lens. Thus, for $200, the Sony 50mm F/1.8 delivers possibilities that you can’t get with a zoom lens.
The focus is loud and slow. Build quality is simple basic plastic. Image quality is fair for a prime lens. If you’re going to pixel peep, you absolutely must stop down. If you aren’t demanding of critical sharpness, you may be perfectly happy with this lens wide open. Stopping down between F 2.8 and F 4, the Sony 50mm F/1.8 can deliver very good results.
If you’re a high end shooter looking for optimal image quality and usefulness, I cannot recommend the Sony 50mm F/1.8. But for someone just looking to add a lens good in low light and a lens that will allow for narrow depth of field portraits, the Sony 50mm F/1.8 may be a good choice. It is cheap, it is light weight. If you’re buying a camera like the Sony A7iii as your first serious camera, I can wholeheartedly recommend pairing it with the Sony 50mm F/1.8.
Rating (1-10): Score: 5
(About my scoring: 9-10 is a superb lens which could have a place in the bag of almost every photographer. 6-8: recommended with caveats. 3-5: A compromised lens that may still be suitable for some shooters and situations. 1-2: Just stick to your phone camera)
If you’re interested in purchasing this lens from Amazon.com, please consider using this link to help support this site.
The Sony 50mm F/1.8 uses a 49mm filter thread. I recommended the B+W UV filter to protect your lens from scratches.
I suspect pre-orders of the Sony A7iii to back up. If you were interested in the Sony A7iii and the 50mm F/1.8, you can pre-order them together with this link: (You won’t pay any extra but will help support this site):
