After finally receiving a well-centered copy of the FE 20mm f/1.8 G, and the weather cooperating today, I tested the new Sony ultra wide prime to several of my own lenses: Loxia 21/2.8 Distagon, Sigma 14-24/2.8 Art @20mm and FE 24/1.4 GM.
Update:The new Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 is now on sale for $798! ($100 off)
From left to right: Loxia 21/2.8, Sony 20/1.8 G, Sony 24/1.4 GM, Sigma 14-24/2.8 Art
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Here is the full image thumbnail showing the areas demonstrated at 1:1 magnification.
Distance: Infinity
Camera: Sony A7R IV
Focus: Center - Best of three @ 12.4x magnification
WB: Daylight for all lenses
All Lenses perfectly centered using my decentering test
Software: Lightroom FM Default Landscape Sharpening. All other settings set to default
PS: Vignetting and distortion NOT corrected
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Sony FE 20/1.8 G vs. Loxia 21/2.8
Center resolution comparison between Sony 20mm f/1.8 G vs Loxia 21mm f/2.8:
Center at f/2.8: The Sony is capable of higher resolution (Keep in mind that the Loxia is wide open and the Sony is stopped down to f/2.8)
Center at f/4: The Loxia improves and both are now very similar at center and f/4
Center at f/5.6: Both lenses improve a little bit and perform very similarly
Center at f/8: Strong performance for both, although diffraction starts to reduce micro-contrast
Indeed. At center and wide open, it looks to be just as sharp as the Voigtlander 21/1.4 @f/1.8 and sharper than the FE 24/1.4 GM @f/1.8. I consider this performance outstanding. The mid-zone and corners look great at f/2.8 and outstanding after f/4. (Loxia 21 level)
My 20/1.8G (and 21Lox) seems to perform about the same as Fred's.
I plan on comparing the 21/3.5 CV to the 20/1.8G and 21/2.8Lox this week since we are supposed to get some sun all week (and Seattle will be shut down).
p.1 #10 · Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Versus Other Lenses
Fred Miranda wrote:
Indeed. At center and wide open, it looks to be just as sharp as the Voigtlander 21/1.4 @f/1.8 and sharper than the FE 24/1.4 GM @f/1.8. I consider this performance outstanding. The mid-zone and corners look great at f/2.8 and outstanding after f/4. (Loxia 21 level)
I will post more comparisons tomorrow.
Great. Thanks.
Looks like a perfect lens for me. Small, fast and great image quality wide open...nice for my travel photography...and great overall image quality stopped down, good for landscapes. Maybe I'll finally sell my Zeiss 21 fe which is my bread & butter landscape lens.
p.1 #11 · Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Versus Other Lenses
I'm also interested in the Sony FE 21, primarily compared to the Loxia 21. I'd include the Batis 18 in that, except it is too bulky for the bags that I prefer to use for travel (thinking mostly of my Mindshift Panorama 22L here, and I believe that the Batis won't fit in the belt pouch).
So far the testing seems to show that the Sony is in the league of the Loxia for sharpness from f4 and up . . . I think . . . .
p.1 #12 · Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Versus Other Lenses
I have owned and shot both. While the g20 sharpness is great and rivals the Loxia 21 at small apertures, the Zeiss colors and contrast are preferable to me, and the Loxia flare resistance is better. The Sony has distinct advantages with better ergo and f1.8 and MFD.
Curious to see what Fred says.
I prefer the renderings of the Batis 18, Loxia 21, Contax G21 and GM 24 to the G 20. All these lenses are easily sharp enough even for large prints or on high res sensors. I think size, ergo, price and rendering are more important unless specific needs like low light, AF, astro, genre or FL specific.
p.1 #13 · Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Versus Other Lenses
nehemiahphoto wrote:
I have owned and shot both. While the g20 sharpness is great and rivals the Loxia 21 at small apertures, the Zeiss colors and contrast are preferable to me, and the Loxia flare resistance is better. The Sony has distinct advantages with better ergo and f1.8 and MFD.
Curious to see what Fred says.
I prefer the renderings of the Batis 18, Loxia 21, Contax G21 and GM 24 to the G 20. All these lenses are easily sharp enough even for large prints or on high res sensors. I think size, ergo, price and rendering are more important unless specific needs like low light, AF, astro, genre or FL specific....Show more →
I prefer the Sony. I prefer AF, speeds up my work drastically. I prefer the standard 67mm filter size of the Sony vs. the Loxia 21 or Batis 18. Price is lower than Loxia and Batis and GM where I live, the Contax is available used.
Rendering is subjective, I like both. I think PP to be much more important than minor rendering differences. The Loxia is too small for me. Mounting and unmounting is difficult. I resorted to doing so with the lens hood at weddings, using it to mount demount the lens.
So the 24GM and 20G are the ones we are using, for different purposes. Both fantastic lenses, imo!
I want to add: We have now a really huge choice of WA lenses, with (imo) only few things missing. So (almost) everybody can be happy now regarding the lens choice available.
p.1 #14 · Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Versus Other Lenses
Holger wrote:
I prefer the Sony. I prefer AF, speeds up my work drastically. I prefer the standard 67mm filter size of the Sony vs. the Loxia 21 or Batis 18. Price is lower than Loxia and Batis and GM where I live, the Contax is available used.
Rendering is subjective, I like both. I think PP to be much more important than minor rendering differences. The Loxia is too small for me. Mounting and unmounting is difficult. I resorted to doing so with the lens hood at weddings, using it to mount demount the lens.
So the 24GM and 20G are the ones we are using, for different purposes. Both fantastic lenses, imo!...Show more →
For sure—there is no bad lens in that group, in fact, all those lenses are pretty impressive. It’s preferences like yours or mine that will dictate which lens we really use. That’s what my post was (or intended) to communicate. I’d take the Zeiss’s for nature and urban, the Sony’s for event or low light, but I don’t do these as much. I do think the Loxia 21’s ergo are low key annoying and it’s heavier than it needs to be (Loxia’s as a whole it seems)
Funny, I remember when the A7 first came out with only the 35 and 55, and wide angle options were so limited, unless you wanted big adapted SLR wides.
p.1 #15 · Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Versus Other Lenses
nehemiahphoto wrote:
I have owned and shot both. While the g20 sharpness is great and rivals the Loxia 21 at small apertures, the Zeiss colors and contrast are preferable to me, and the Loxia flare resistance is better. The Sony has distinct advantages with better ergo and f1.8 and MFD.
Curious to see what Fred says.
I prefer the renderings of the Batis 18, Loxia 21, Contax G21 and GM 24 to the G 20. All these lenses are easily sharp enough even for large prints or on high res sensors. I think size, ergo, price and rendering are more important unless specific needs like low light, AF, astro, genre or FL specific....Show more →
It's still raining here but once the sun comes up, I will do a flare test. Today I will post more infinity comparisons.
