Sony’s f/4 G full-frame E-mount lens reviewed
£1,700/$1,700 Sony’s new ultra-wide lens fills us with wonder
Any missing pieces in the jigsaw of Sony’s E-mount lens map for full-frame cameras are
rapidly being filled. At opposite ends of the range of zoom lenses, there’s a 100400mm super-telephoto that we’ll be reviewing in next month’s group test, and this ultra-wide 12-24mm lens. A little more expensive than Sigma’s 12-24mm Art lens for Canon and Nikon full-frame DSLRs, the new Sony delivers the same phenomenal viewing angle of 122 degrees. Both lenses are rectilinear rather than curvilinear (fisheye), aiming to keep distortion to a minimum.
As a G-series lens, the Sony doesn’t gain the top-flight G Master designation of the new 16-35mm (opposite) but still has an impressive set of features. The optical path includes four aspherical and three ED (Extralow Dispersion) elements, plus a Super ED element, along with Nano AR coatings. The plan is to maximise corner-to-corner sharpness, while minimising chromatic aberrations, ghosting and flare.
Build & handling
Autofocus is based on Sony’s DDSM (Direct Drive Super Sonic Motor) system, which is practically silent and well suited to both stills and movie capture. The fly-by-wire manual focus ring operates smoothly and with excellent precision.
The zoom mechanism isn’t fully internal, but the extending inner barrel remains within the confines of the outer barrel, so the overall physical length remains the same at all zoom settings.
Performance
Even at the widest aperture of f/4, vignetting isn’t too obvious, while the drop in corner-sharpness is quite minimal at both ends of the zoom range, and negligible at mid-zoom settings. When you hit f/5.6, sharpness is excellent across the frame. Autofocus is speedy and highly accurate, and the lens is very resistant to ghosting and flare.