(P)review Sony FE 24mm F2.8 G

Due to its dimensions and weight, the Sony FE 24 mm F2.8 G is an ideal lens for travel and street photography.

IntroductiON

After a series of very good lenses with good to very good brightness such as the Sony FE 20mm F1.8 G and the Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM, Sony has released a small series of lenses with low brightness. They are the Sony FE 24 mm F2.8 G, the FE Sony 40 mm F2.5 G and the Sony FE 50 mm F2.5 G. The lenses may be the answer to the compact Sigma DG DN lenses like the Sigma 24 mm F3.5 DG DN and are intended for photographers who are looking for good image quality in a small package. With the compact dimensions of the new Sonys, they also have an answer for the fixed focal points of Tamron with F2.8 brightness, such as the Tamron 24 mm F2.8 Di III OSD. Although they are light, with their 67mm filter size, they are not very compact. The Tamrons are a lot cheaper.

G lens

Sony already has a number of reasonably compact and affordable focal length lenses for full frame such as the Sony FE 28 mm F2.0 and the Sony FE 50 mm F1.8. These lenses are of lower quality both optically and in terms of design than this new series. The new lenses are G-models. Despite the small dimensions, Sony has succeeded in providing the lenses with an aperture ring, an AF/MF switch and a button to lock the focus. This comes at the expense of the width of the focusing ring, but the additions are very welcome. The aperture ring can be made clickless, and the Sony FE 24 mm F2.8 G is thus ideal for videographers, who can adjust the exposure continuously during shooting. It is also a solution for photographers who work with a Sony A7C. That camera does not have a front dial. An aperture setting on the lens makes up for that and ensures that you can regulate the exposure on M without problems.

BUILD

The Sony FE 24 mm F2.8 G is compact. The length is 45 mm and the diameter is 68 mm. It is also light, with a weight of 168 grams. That makes it not the smallest lens for Sony full-frame cameras that you can buy. The Samyang AF 24 mm F2.8 FE, the Samyang AF 35 mm F2.8 FE and the Sony FE 35 mm F2.8 ZA pancake are even smaller. However, they all lack the additional capabilities of the G lenses, and the Samyangs are not comparable with the Sony G series in terms of build quality.

The Sony FE 24 mm F2.8 G is weather-resistant and has a gasket at the rear. This is also a difference with Sony’s cheaper, non-G lenses and makes these lenses a better choice on Sony’s newer, well-weatherproof bodies. The optical design of the Sony FE 24 mm F2.8 G consists of 8 elements in 7 groups. The lens has 3 aspherical elements and 1 element of glass with a special refractive index. The diaphragm has 7 blades, and the filter size is 49mm. The lens comes with a lens hood.

FOCUSING

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For autofocus, the Sony FE 24 mm F2.8 G uses double linear motors. Especially on the latest Sony models with Real-time tracking, fast focusing is necessary in order to make optimal use of this system. Hopefully the Sony will perform well on this point. Both the Tamron FE 24 mm F2.8 Di III OSD and the Samyang FE 24 mm F2.8 AF are not very fast. For manual focus, the Sony FE 24 mm F2.8 has a focus ring and an AF/MF switch. This allows you to switch easily. The shortest setting distance is 18 cm. This is noticeably longer than the 12cm of the Tamron, which can photograph up to 1:2. The magnification scale of the Sony is 0.19x.

IMAGE QUALITY

We have not yet been able to test the lens in practice. As soon as that is the case, we will publish a full review. Until then we have to rely on the MTF curves, here at 10 and 30 line pairs per millimeter. The MTF graphs look good, with a small loss of sharpness towards the corners for subjects with fine details. That’s not uncommon for a super-wide angle.

ConclusiON: REVIEW Sony FE 24mm F28 oN Sony a7R III