Sony 50mm F/1.4 Real world images:
Sony 50mm f/1.4 lens review:
There is no shortage of 50mm lenses but the Sony 50mm F/1.4 (or by the full name, Sony Planar FE 50mm F/ 1.4) is the elite model. With regular pricing at nearly $1,500, it is the most expensive Sony 50mm lens and one of the most expensive 50mm lenses for any system.
Sony badges their top lenses in one of three ways: G, GM, (G Master) and Sony Zeiss. This is a Sony Zeiss lens, meaning manufactured by Sony but designed in partnership with Zeiss (the degree to which the legendary Zeiss actually contributes to the design is unknown.) Recently, Sony’s GM lenses have been the absolute top of unquestioned optical quality. The Sony Zeiss lenses have been more of a mixed bag. While none have been bad, some are more mediocre than others. Considering the price and size of the Sony 50mm F/1.4, one would hope that it is a no-compromise lens built for those demanding the very best in image quality.
Body and Handling:
You can see the lens above compared to the Sony 55mm/F1.8 and 50mm/F1.8. The Sony 50mm F/1.4 is not a petite mirrorless lens. Quite the contrary. The lens is massive, weighing in at 778 grams. To put that weight into perspective, the Sony 24-70 F/2.8 GM is only slightly heavier, weighing in at 886 grams. The body feels entirely metal and includes a generous sized hood. There is a large grooved focus ring.
The Sony 50mm F/1.4 has two switches, on on each side. There is one switch for manual/auto focus. The other switch sets the aperture ring clicks on or off. Video shooters will appreciate the ability to change the aperture with the aperture ring in total silence. There is no focus hold button, which I like using for eye-AF on my portrait lenses.
There is no stabilization but the Sony 50mm F/1.4 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 1/6th of a second, I get a very low percentage of keepers.
With 11 aperture blades, the Sony 50mm F/1.4 should offer fantastic bokeh.
While the click-less aperture is a boon to videographers, unfortunately the autofocus system is not entirely silent. The focus motor is silent but the internal elements of the lens are very heavy and you can hear them shifting into place. When in AF-C mode, you can constantly feel a wobble of the heavy internal elements shifting around. Focus speed is not particularly quick. Sony promises the lens is weather sealed.
Image Quality
One would only spend $1,500 and carry a nearly 800 gram prime lens if it delivered absolutely amazing image quality. In short, the Sony 50mm F/1.4 delivers.
Vignetting
One would expect such a wide aperture lens to exhibit significant vignetting and the Sony 50mm F/1.4 doesn’t pull off any miracles here. Indeed, when uncorrected, the Sony 50mm F/1.4 exhibits rather significant vignette at 1.4 and 1.8, but it becomes very mild by the time you stop down to 2.8. The vignette is fairly easy to correct in post-processing. If you’re shooting portraits, you may not even mind the vignette.
Flare
Zeiss is known for coatings that are resistant to flare and provide good contrast even with back lighting. The Sony 50mm F/1.4 does indeed excel here.
With the sun in the frame and when using the hood, the Sony 50mm F/1.4 cannot claim to be flare-free but even at small apertures, the flaring and ghosting is rather minor. You do not get big blotches of ugly flare and the Sony 50mm F/1.4 maintains good contrast.
Chromatic Aberration / Purple fringing
In high contrast and wide aperture, you will see some purple fringing but it is fairly minor compared to other prime lenses.
In the first image above (click for larger), you will see a purple haze around the tree line when there is extreme back lighting at F 1.4. In the second image, you will notice purple fringing around the water drops on the leaf in the bottom lens corner, at 1.4. By F3.2, the purple fringing appears to be gone. Overall, this isn’t a bad showing. In most cases, you should be able to correct raw files pretty easily in lightroom.
Bokeh
So far in this analysis, we have seen a lot of “not bad.” In evaluating bokeh, this is where the Sony 50mm F/1.4 starts to become something special.
I encourage you to click the above images for larger and examine the bokeh carefully. The bokeh balls are perfectly round, clean and smooth, with some cat’s eye effect to the corners. Transition from the depth of field to out of focus is very smooth as shown by the last image. Overall, this is among the best bokeh I have ever seen.
The downside of such great bokeh performance is that you can’t expect great sunbursts no matter how much you stop down the aperture:
In the above image, even at F16, the Sony 50mm F/1.4 only shows a slight starburst effect. This is the price of such great bokeh and a very fair trade off in my opinion.
Distortion:
As one would expect, distortion is minimal:
Sharpness
Now the main event. Beyond better bokeh and the light gathering ability of 1.4 aperture, does the Sony 50mm F/1.4 offer a sharpness advantage over other lenses.
Starting with center crops (click for large):
Center crops from closer distance:
Center performance is superb. At F 1.4, the Sony 50mm F/1.4 is already acceptably sharp and becomes tack sharp by F 1.8. Stopping down further elevates the sharpness even more to levels most lenses cannot reach. By F8, we aren’t really seeing any effects of diffraction.
Looking at the off center/border area:
And borders from closer focus:
Performance along the borders is very similar as the center of the frame. Acceptably sharp wide open at 1.4. By the time you stop down to F2.2, you are reaching an incredible level of sharpness.
Turning to the more extreme corners:
Now wipe off your glasses and look again, your eyes do not deceive you. Even wide open at f 1.4, the corners are acceptable. You will note the corner images are a bit darker from vignetting but they are still very sharp. Maybe not quite tack sharp, but fairly sharp. Stop down just a little bit, and the Sony 50mm F/1.4 becomes incredibly sharp across the entire frame.
To date, this is the sharpest lens I have ever tested. Below, compare the extreme corner of the 50mm F/1.4 to the Sony 55mm F/1.8, both at 1.8.
The Sony 50mm F/1.4 appears a bit sharper than even the excellent Sony 55mm F/1.8.
Price:
With MSRP of nearly $1,500, the Sony 50mm F/1.4 is not a cheap lens. At first glance, this may seem like Sony has dramatically overpriced this lens. Canon has a 50mm F/1.4 that retails for $330 and Nikon has a 50mm F/1.4 that retails for $450. But this is not a fair comparison. While nominally the same focal length and aperture, the lenses are built to different quality standards. The fairer comparison would be:
- Canon 50mm F/1.2, with MSRP over $1400
- Nikon 58mm F/1.4, with an MSRP of about $1600
- Sigma ART 50mm F/1.4, with an MRSP of about $950.
One would expect the third-party Sigma to be cheaper. The Sony 50mm F/1.4 is priced very consistently with the Canon 50mm F/1.2 and Nikon 58mm F/1.4. If one is to believe the testing of DXOMark, the Sony 50mm F/1.4 beats them both in image quality.
Overall:
As noted above, I can’t really say the Sony 50mm F/1.4 is overpriced. The image quality is absolutely stunning. Wonderful contrast, razor like sharpness, smooth bokeh. I can’t find anything to complain about in terms of image quality. In terms of build, I wish it had a focus hold button and unfortunately, the focus is not entirely completely silent.
In determining my overall score though, I am looking at this lens from the perspective of an enthusiast. Many enthusiasts bought into the Sony system in order to reduce their system size. The size of the 50mm F/1.4 defeats this goal. It starts to push the limits of size that I can comfortably handhold for any prolonged period of time.
If you simply want the absolute best image quality and have no concern for size or price, and this lens scores a 9 or 10 out of 10. For the enthusiast who may be trying to keep system weight down:
Rating (1-10): Score: 8
(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)
As of March 2018, the lens is on sale for $100 off. If you’re interested in purchasing this lens from Amazon.com, please consider using this link to help support this site.
