This wide-angled lens provides viewing angle
that is equivalent to the 36mm lens used on a 35mm camera and has the price of
$1,142. It has fast max aperture of f/1.8, silent focusing and is one of the highest-end
lens of Sony having the Carl Zeiss brand and the optical anti-reflection T8
coat.
This
wide-angled lens provides viewing angle that is equivalent to the 36mm lens
Feature and processing
Since metal is used to create much of the
body and lens barrel, this lens seems to be incredibly sturdy when putting side
by side, in maintaining its high-class position in the product line of Sony. Even
with all the metal used, it’s still not a heavy lens, keeping at 225g, making
it the best companion for the Sony NEX-5R body used to test.
Auto
focus is fast and accurate
Auto focus is fast and accurate, with the
inspiration of confidence when using the lens at quick aperture. A wide,
lightweight curbed focus ring make applying hand-held focus adjustment become
comfortable. Min focus is 16 cm from the sensor surface, perfect for infrequent
close-up shooting, or shooting in narrow space.
The non-rotating 49 mm filter ring
Since the focusing is performed interiorly,
the 49-mm filter ring doesn’t rotate, making the lens ideal for using with
polarized and graduated filters (NGD).
Performance
While maintaining the high-end structure,
this lens also provides advanced performance. At max aperture, the sharpness is
already excellent in the center of the frame, though heading toward the edge of
the images the clarity indicates as pretty good. Stopping at f.4 improves
sharpness for the image edges into good level and the prominent clarity can be
reached in the center of the images. Incredibly good sharpness can be reached
for the frame edges at aperture stopped between f/5.6 and f/11.
24mm
resolution
Instruction
for reading the diagram
The blue column represents the reading from
the center of the frame at many apertures and the green column is from the
edge. Their average value ends up in the red column.
The metric on the left side is the real-life
resolution indicator. The higher the column is, the better the lens performance
will be. Just simple
For this review, the lens will be tested on
a Sony NEX-5R using Imatest.
The chromatic aberration level is quite a
little on the top edge of the border, just surpassing ¾ of a pixel width. Though
this edging level is acceptable for many, you should notice when putting
high-contrast edge near the edge of the frame.
Chromatic
aberration at 24mm
Instruction
for reading the diagram
Chromatic aberration is the helpless of the
focusing lens on the sensor or filming all the colors of invisible light at the
same time. Strong chromatic aberration creates purple edge or nimbus effect
around the sharp edges in the image. It can be removed with the software.
Apochromatic lens has special lens components
(no aspheric, low dispersion…) to minimize that, so they normally have higher
price.
For this review, the lens is tested on a Sony
NEX-5R using
Imatest.
Illumination reduction for the frame angle
is well-controlled., especially for a lens with such max aperture. At f/1.8 the
corner is 2.8 point darker than the image center and visually synchronous
illumination is reached with the lens at f/4 or more.
Imates detects 1.05% needle-shaped
distortion in the test, which is an extremely low level and proves that there’s
no problem with shooting. If the absolutely straight lines are important, the samples
are uniformly distorted all over the frame, which is edited in the image
editing software in a reasonably simple way.
Contrast is maintained well when shooting
against the light and there’re a few situation being washed-out, even in the
most severe light condition.
Sample
images
This
lens provides viewing angle that is equivalent to the 36mm lens used on a 35mm camera|
1/250 sec | f/6.3 | 24.0 mm | ISO 100
Accurate
focus inspires confidence when using fast aperture and keeping good contrast
when shooting against the light | 1/640 sec | f/1.8 | 24.0 mm | ISO 100
16cm
min focusing | 1/250 sec | f/2.8 | 24.0 mm | ISO 100
Sharpness
are excellent in the image center and good at image border when reduced | 1/60
sec | f/6.3 | 24.0 mm | ISO 100
1/60
sec | f/8.0 | 24.0 mm | ISO 160
1/80
sec | f/2.8 | 24.0 mm | ISO 100
1/60
sec | f/5.6 | 24.0 mm | ISO 100
1/80
sec | f/3.5 | 24.0 mm | ISO 100
Cost
Though the price seems to be high at about $1,148,
this is fair because the structured quality and optical performance are good.
Now, there’s no other alternative at this focal range for the Sony NEX system,
if you want a 24mm fixed lens, so it must be this one.
Conclusion
This lens provides performance that deserves
the Carl Zeiss name, especially in the image center, where the sharpness is
excellent, or even outstanding when reduced.
It’s a high-class piece of glass, and
thanks to that it has a high-end price tag. Those who’s willing to pay $1,148 for
this lens won’t be disappointed.
Advantages
·
Good structured quality
·
Light weight
·
Fast and accurate focus
·
Excellent sharpness
Disadvantages
·
CA level is pretty high for the frame border
Rating
·
Feature: 4.5/5
·
Processing: 4.5/5
·
Performance: 4.5/5
·
Value: 3.5/5
·
Overall: 4.5/5
Technical specs
|
Overall
·
Lens barrel : Sony E Mount
Lens
·
Focal length: 24mm
·
Viewing angle: 61°
·
Max aperture: f/1.8
·
Min aperture: f/22
·
Filter size: 49mm
·
35mm equivalent: 36mm
·
Inner focus: yes
Focusing
·
Min focus: 16cm
·
Stabilization: no
Structure
·
Blade: 7
·
Component: 8
·
Group: 7
Container
·
Container: front and back cover, lens hood,
sleeve.
Size
·
Weight: 225g
·
Height: 65.5mm
|
