Review of Sony 35mm F/1.8:
Real World Images from the Sony 35mm F/1.8:
I’ve been waiting for the Sony 35mm F/1.8 for a long time. 35mm is a standard classic focal length comprising a wide-normal view. Next to nifty-fifty (50mm), it’s probably the most common prime focal length. As such, it’s a bit surprising that Sony didn’t launch a 35mm F/1.8 lens until recently in 2019. At 35mm, Sony already had their $1500 Sony ZA 35mm F/1.4 (reviewed here) and $750 Sony ZA 35mm F/2.8 (Reviewed here). The Sony 35mm F/1.4 may be too heavy and expensive for many people, especially those seeking to use mirrorless as a path to a smaller system. Meanwhile, the 35mm F/2.8 is a rather slow aperture for a prime lens. Sony did have an aps-c 35mm F/1.8 lens, but not a full frame model. (Do NOT buy the aps-c version for a full frame camera, it will not fill the image circle).
Both Nikon and Canon launched their mirrorless full frame systems with 35mm F/1.8 lenses. Nikon has a nearly $850 Nikkor Z 35mm F/1.8 S while Canon offers a $450 Canon RF 35mm F/1.8 Macro lens (with 0.5x macro capability). A 35mm F/1.8 lens has long been on my Sony lens wish list.
Summer of 2019, Sony finally announced a 35mm F/1.8 lens, priced at $750. It’s finally here!!
So was it worth the wait? It’s the same price as the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 while being a full stop faster, but is it a better lens?
A price tag of $750 isn’t exactly cheap compared to older dSLR lenses, but the price represents something of the new normal for a high quality consumer/enthusiast mirrorless lenses. It’s $100 cheaper than the Nikon version. As noted, it’s the same price as the slower 35mm F/2.8. It’s actually Sony’s sixth cheapest lens at the time of this post.
So read ahead to see if it’s worth the price tag….
Body and Handling of the Sony 35mm F/1.8
The build quality is really excellent, far better than most “consumer” lenses. The barrel has just the right heft, with a feel of metal and high quality plastics. It is weather sealed. With a weight of 280 grams, it feels good in the hand without being exceptionally heavy.
As soon as I picked up the lens, I was struck by the similarly to another Sony prime: the much loved Sony Zeiss 55mm F/1.8. (Review of the Sony 55mm F/1.8 here). As shown in the photos below, the lenses are virtually identical in size except for the 55mm F/1.8 having a larger hood. If anything, the Sony 35mm F/1.8 feels like a new and improved version of the 55mm F/1.8 body. A shown in the comparison photos below, the Sony 35mm F/1.8 has a more substantial manual focus ring, adds a customizable focus hold button, and adds an AF/MF switch. If you like the compactness and feel of the Sony 55mm F/1.8, you’ll love the 35mm F/1.8 even more.
The size is compared in the image below. I don’t currently have the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/1.4, but I did compare it to the similarly sized Rokinon 35mm F/1.4. The Sony 35mm F/2.8 is basically half the size and weight, at a mere 120 grams. Still, while the Sony 35mm F/1.8 is “more than double the weight,” an addition of 160 grams just isn’t very much. Nobody is going to hurt their back and neck dragging around the 35mm F/1.8. Meanwhile, you can see the Sony 35mm F/1.8 is indeed much much smaller than a 1.4 aperture lens. Both the Rokinon/Samyang 35mm F/1.4 and the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/1.4 weigh in at over 600 grams.
Autofocus is very fast and almost completely silent. In some situations, there is a very faint buzz from the lens but it’s nearly negligible.
IBIS Tested
The Sony 35mm F/1.8 does not have in-lens stabilization but utilizes the in body stabilization (IBIS) found on most Sony bodies. Different lenses seem to get differing degrees of benefit from the IBIS system. It’s also dependent on your personal hand-holding technique.
As demonstrated by the below image crops, though I was able to get a few sharp images at very slow shutter speeds, I could only get consistently sharp images at shutter speeds of 1/20 or faster. I’d likely need to be 1/50 or faster to get the same consistency without IBIS. To my surprise, overall, I needed somewhat faster shutter speeds on the 35mm F/1.8 to get consistently sharp images that I might typically need at 35mm.
Image Quality of the Sony 35mm F/1.8
Keeping the size and weight down on the Sony 35mm F/1.8, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some compromises in the image quality. Let’s examine further to see just how much compromise went into keeping the lens so compact..
Vignetting of the Sony 35mm F/1.8
Vignetting is definitely a point of compromise on the Sony 35mm F/1.8. Rather strong vignetting is evident even upon stopping down to F4. Stopping down further still fails to entirely correct the vignetting. By F5.6 it’s moderate. It’s negligible but still visible even at F8.
The good news is that it’s a pretty easy correction either with in-camera jpegs or correcting raw files in lightroom. Where vignette correction becomes a problem is when you’re already pushing higher ISO, vignette correction will add noise into the corners.
Unless you want the vignette for artistic purposes, you’re going to want to apply corrections on the 35mm F/1.8, especially at wide aperture.
Distortion
Below we look at the distortion. Distortion is minimal in most prime lenses.
No complaints, there is virtually no evident distortion.
Flare Control and Sun stars on the Sony 35mm F/1.8
Overall, this is a bright spot for the Sony 35mm F/1.8. Flare isn’t totally absent as you can see in the purple blob in the first image. You don’t get a lot of random color blobs and flare, instead you get some minor flare in situations where it would be expected.
You start to get pretty nice sun stars at F13 or so. Stopping all the way down to F 22, you can get brilliant sun stars.
Color Fringing on the Sony 35mm F/1.8
Chromatic aberrations can cause color fringing, typically a purple or green haze, in high contrast situations.
We see a first major weakness of the Sony 35mm F/1.8 when it comes to color fringing. Technically, on the Sony 35mm F/1.8, we are seeing a significant degree of longitudinal chromatic aberration, or bokeh fringing. Specifically, out of focus and high contrast parts of the image take on purple fringes. This is as severe as I’ve seen in any Sony lens. It’s also a weakness of the Sony 55mm F/1.8, but appears slightly worse in the 35mm F/1.8. While on other lenses it corrects as you stop down, even stopping down doesn’t eliminate the issue on the Sony 35mm F/1.8. Stopping down increases the depth of field which reduces the area subject to fringing, but it doesn’t eliminate the fringing.
In the below samples, we see some purple fringing even at F8. The second image shows a close crop of the trees on the right side where you will see some fringing at the branches. In the final image, we see it corrected in Lightroom.
Typically speaking, the purple fringing is correctable using the tools in Lightroom, one click with the fringe color dropper. See a pretty bad F1.8 example:
Below we see the effect in a real world image without correction: Even at F8, if you look at the branches in the top left, you see some purple haze. The moral of the story: Make sure you always apply chromatic aberration correction to images with the Sony 35mm F/1.8.
I previously compared the Sony 35mm F/1.8 to the Sony 55mm F/1.8. The same similarity applies here, as they both suffer from bad purple fringing.
Bokeh and Close Focus
The aperture of F1.8 allows for background separation and bokeh, especially if you get close to your subject. The Sony 35mm F/1.8 allows you to get fairly close to your subject for a 1:4 magnification. While not officially a macro lens, the close focus is good enough for some quasi macro shots. (In comparison, the Sony 55mm F/1.8 only has a 1:7 magnification ratio).
To my eye, it’s a pleasant and soft background separation. Out of focus highlights, or bokeh circles, are well rounded with clean centers. It’s not the most beautiful bokeh you’ll ever see, but very nice for a 35mm lens with 1.8 aperture.
Sharpness of the Sony 35mm F/1.8
When it came to the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/1.4, I wasn’t impressed with the sharpness for a premium lens. While the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 is fairly sharp, sharpness at F2.8 isn’t exactly a spectacular achievement. How does the Sony 35mm F/1.8 do…..
Center Sharpness
Starting with center crops (click for large):
Before commenting, Center crops from closer focus distance:
So far, so good. While not the first lens to achieve these types of results, you can’t get much better. The center of the frame is tack sharp at all apertures. Wide open at F1.8, there is some purple fringing. Stopping down even slightly to F2.2 brings up the sharpness even more eliminates the purple fringe.
Border Sharpness
And borders from closer focus:
This is where I wasn’t sure what to expect. Some of Sony’s consumer lenses, like the 28mm F/2 and the 50mm F/1.8 start to get a bit soft at the borders. I would not call the borders of the Sony 35mm F/1.8 soft at any aperture, not even a little soft. The worst I can say is that wide open, the borders aren’t quite as sharp as the center. Yet that’s extreme nitpicking. Even wide open, you get a very sharp aps-c border region. By F2.8, it’s as sharp as the center of the frame.
Extreme corners are the most challenging. Many of Sony’s lenses struggle in the corner without stopping down significantly….
Corner Sharpness
And close focus:
Under this extreme pixel peeping, certainly the corners aren’t as good as the center of the frame. Yet they are still surprisingly good. The corners never look really bad, not at any aperture. They are perfectly acceptable wide open and become tack sharp by around F2.8 or F4.
In sum, the Sony 35mm F/1.8 is spectacularly amazingly sharp. It is one of the sharpest lenses I have ever tested for the Sony system, which is saying a lot.
Let’s compare it to other 35mm lenses I had handy for some direct testing…
Sony 35mm F/1.8 vs Sony 35mm F/2.8 vs Rokinon 35mm F/1.4
As noted above, I don’t currently have the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/1.4 for comparison but I found the Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 a little sharper anyway. My testing wasn’t an anomaly — opticallimits.com recently agreed that the Samyang/Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 is optically superior to the Sony 35mm F/1.4. So if the Sony 35mm F/1.8 can beat the Rokinon 35mm F/1.4, then it should be able to beat the Sony 35mm F/1.4 as well…
Comparing the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 with the Sony 35mm F/1.8
The above comparisons are extreme pixel peeping, at about 300% magnification. I compared both lenses at the widest aperture of the sSony 35mm F/2.8. Looking at the center and corner of the frame, the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 puts up a decent performance but the Sony 35mm F/1.8 is still noticeably sharper, especially in the corner at 2.8 aperture.
Comparisons of the Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 with the Sony 35mm F/1.8:
Since the maximum aperture of the Rokinon is 1.4, it should theoretically have an advantage at F1.8, since it gets the benefit of some stopping down. Let’s look at some comparisons at F1.8 and F2.8, again at 300% magnification:
These comparisons confirm my findings of the incredible sharpness of the Sony 35mm F/1.8. I found the Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 to be an acceptably sharp lens but it looks darn ugly compared to the Sony 35mm F/1.8. Even with the benefit of stopping down, the Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 looks soft compared to the Sony 35mm F/1.8. (Please note this is extreme pixel peeping. When viewed at normal sizes, the sharpness differences may not even be very noticeable).
Sony 35mm F/1.8 Overall Evaluation:
The Sony 35mm F/1.8 was worth the wait. (See the Sony FE 35mm F/1.8 on Amazon / Adorama). If you love the Sony 55mm F/1.8, you should love the Sony 35mm F/1.8 even more. It’s the same size as the Sony 55mm F/1.8, $150 cheaper than the Sony 55mm F/1.8, with an improved build and it’s even sharper than the Sony 55mm F/1.8.
It’s not a perfect lens by any stretch. Vignetting is poor and longitudinal chromatic aberration is pretty horrible. The Sony 55mm F/1.8 shares similar weaknesses.
But considering the size and price of the Sony 35mm F/1.8, it is overall a winner. It’s helpful to look at what I said in some prior reviews:
Here is what I wrote about the Sony 35mm F/1.4:
at nearly $1,500 for a prime lens, I want to be blown away by spectacular image quality. While the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/1.4 produces overall very solid image quality, it doesn’t blow me away.
What I wrote about the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/2.8:
I often prefer F1.8 primes and F4 zooms for their size advantages over F1.4 primes and F2.8 zooms. If this was an ultra compact F1.8 lens, I could see the price being more justifiable. While a 1.8 prime would be expected to be bigger, it could still be a very manageable size. The Canon rf 35mm F/1.8 is a mere 305 grams and the Sony 50mm F/1.8 is a mere 186 grams. I’d gladly haul around an extra 100 grams for an extra stop of light.
And what I wrote about the Rokinon 35mm F/1.4:
It’s the best value in a 35mm lens you can currently buy for Sony. If and when Sony does a high quality 35mm F/1.8, it may supplant the Rokinon/Samyang, but for now, the Rokinon/Samyang 35mm F/1.4 is my most recommended 35mm lens for Sony shooters.
Simply put, the Sony 35mm F/1.8 wins. For most enthusiasts, it is now my most recommended 35mm lens for the Sony system. I’ll be selling my own Rokinon 35mm F/1.4. Of course, other lenses do have advantages. The Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 is actually a little cheaper than the Sony 35mm/1.8 and it has a faster aperture. (See the Samyang/Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 on Amazon ). But it’s also less sharp and weighs a whole lot more. The Sony 35mm F/1.4 also has the aperture advantage, but it’s twice the price, more than twice the weight and optically inferior. (See the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/1.4 on Amazon ). The Sony Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 is a bit smaller, but it’s the same price while having a slower aperture and generally being optically inferior. (See the Sony Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 on Amazon ).
Every lens choice involves compromises. For those looking for a high quality, light weight, reasonably affordable 35mm prime lens, the Sony 35mm F/1.8 represents the best compromises in my opinion. The vignetting and chromatic aberration prevent me from giving it a perfect score…..
Rating (1-10): Score: 8.5
(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)
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See the Sony 35mm F/1.8 on Amazon / Adorama
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As of this writing, we have reviewed 23 Sony FE lenses… almost every Sony FE lens that would be of interest to enthusiast Sony photographers. Reviews of the Sony 50mm F/2.8 macro and Sony 135mm F/1.8 are currently in the works. Is there any particular lens from Sony or third party that you would like to see reviewed? Please leave a comment below.
Sony 35mm F/1.8 Review
