p.6 #1 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
I was expecting maybe a 600gm lens which alone would be about half the Sigma Art tanks weight, but to get it under 500g is impressive and the cost again seems reasonable to me. These last 3 GM releases are impressive to say the least. Goodbye trusty old Samyang, hello Sony.
p.6 #2 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
hiepphotog wrote:
I strongly believe that Sony optimized the infinity performance on this lens and sacrifice the closer distance performance to keep the size and weight down; a few reviews pointed out at closer distance, the corners are smeared/soft, very much in line with what Lenstip is testing. So I don't think the Lenstip's copy is defective, just that they were testing the lens at the non optimized range. A few direct comparisons out there between the GM and Sigma show that the GM is sharper in the corners at WO. I already have the Sigma DG DN zoom but I'm sure to pick this up. I think it's time to sell my CV 50 APO to go full on GM....Show more →
Thanks Hiep. So which 50 GM do you have in mind? TIA, K-H.
p.6 #3 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
So does anyone know when this will be delivered if you buy it on 21-Apr-21 here in the US? Will it be in May or since the 50/1.2 GM ships ~ 14-MAY-21will this be a June delivery or something even later? I could not find this in any of the posts i have seen. Not seeing it on B&H but just might not be looking in the right places. If you please share.
Even with the dpreview samples you can see that the lens is not outstandingly sharp if you look very closely.
I think size / weight and sun stars are great. The sharpness wouldn't convince me. There is no practical and portable solution (for travel) for filters.
Albert's pictures are (as always with every lens) outstanding, but they rarely show the true potential of a lens because they are extremely heavily edited (though I like the processing style very much) and are often composed of several images. All lenses look great when Albert uses them. With the less edited images (for example the bokeh examples), the images don't look very sharp on my screens.
Even with the dpreview samples you can see that the lens is not outstandingly sharp if you look very closely.
I think size / weight and sun stars are great. The sharpness wouldn't convince me. There is no practical and portable solution (for travel) for filters.
Albert's pictures are (as always with every lens) outstanding, but they rarely show the true potential of a lens because they are extremely heavily edited (though I like the processing style very much) and are often composed of several images. All lenses look great when Albert uses them. With the less edited images (for example the bokeh examples), the images don't look very sharp on my screens. ...Show more →
The question is what is defined as outstanding. Focus distance is certainly another issue which needs to be considered. Lenstip tests differently than lensrentals.com, for example.
When I compare lensrentals measurements against other lenses, then it is _clearly_ better than Batis 18, certainly better than Sigma 14-24 DN (raved about here at FM) at equal apertures, for example, too (extreme corners over 10 lp/mm better at f5.6).
I don't see where sharpness wouldn't convince you, center, corner? It certainly doesn't break a resolution record, that would be expecting a bit too much. It likely is a bit trickier to design, too, compared to a 50mm or 35mm GM. But being even better than the Sigma 14-24DN and being small, light and f1.8 is a big selling point to me.
I would like to see lensrentals measurements, too, for better comparison against other lenses, but sharpness should be easily fine for almost everything.
p.6 #6 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
Holger wrote:
The question is what is defined as outstanding. Focus distance is certainly another issue which needs to be considered. Lenstip tests differently than lensrentals.com, for example.
When I compare lensrentals measurements against other lenses, then it is _clearly_ better than Batis 18, certainly better than Sigma 14-24 DN (raved about here at FM) at equal apertures, for example, too (extreme corners over 10 lp/mm better at f5.6).
I don't see where sharpness wouldn't convince you, center, corner? It certainly doesn't break a resolution record, that would be expecting a bit too much. It likely is a bit trickier to design, too, compared to a 50mm or 35mm GM. But being even better than the Sigma 14-24DN and being small, light and f1.8 is a big selling point to me.
I would like to see lensrentals measurements, too, for better comparison against other lenses, but sharpness should be easily fine for almost everything. ...Show more →
In my experience, Lenstip is one of the better websites and I consider the results as understandable when I look at my lenses. Therefore I take theire results quite seriously. In addition, Lenstip seems to me to be quite objective.
For me, the test results look disappointing at 14mm, for example at f4 and f5.6.
And when I had a look at appropriate samples on the internet (DPreview/Lenstip/...), I could easily see that this is not true: "The forthcoming SONY 14mm 1.8 will be 1600€. It is a stellar lens, and performs (on the paper) like a beast, neat perfect."(Sonyalpharumors).
From a brand new 1600 Euro primo, I expect that it clearly surpasses the older zooms in this focal length in terms of resolution.
But I'm obviously also a more critical person than you regarding Sony gear. As far as I read here on FM, you are very impressed with every new high-priced Sony lens / camera.
So you will probably buy it and even if not, you will find it extremely good, but I will not buy it, I will keep my Laowa 15mm f2.
By the way, I think it's pointless to compare a much older lens (for example the Batis you mentioned) with a more expensive lens which has a completely different focal length.
p.6 #7 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
I think what was suggested by one of the posters here might very well hold true:
the GM is heavily optimized towards infinity performance.
That would explain the differences between lenstip results and other test sites, also confirmed by not sharp corners up close.
Still, I think if you expect a major jump in sharpness between 14-24DN and the new GM, you will be left wanting...
HelBen85 wrote:
In my experience, Lenstip is one of the better websites and I consider the results as understandable when I look at my lenses. Therefore I take theire results quite seriously. In addition, Lenstip seems to me to be quite objective.
For me, the test results look disappointing at 14mm, for example at f4 and f5.6.
And when I had a look at appropriate samples on the internet (DPreview/Lenstip/...), I could easily see that this is not true: "The forthcoming SONY 14mm 1.8 will be 1600€. It is a stellar lens, and performs (on the paper) like a beast, neat perfect."(Sonyalpharumors).
From a brand new 1600 Euro primo, I expect that it clearly surpasses the older zooms in this focal length in terms of resolution.
But I'm obviously also a more critical person than you regarding Sony gear. As far as I read here on FM, you are very impressed with every new high-priced Sony lens / camera.
So you will probably buy it and even if not, you will find it extremely good, but I will not buy it, I will keep my Laowa 15mm f2.
By the way, I think it's pointless to compare a much older lens (for example the Batis you mentioned) with a more expensive lens which has a completely different focal length. ...Show more →
p.6 #8 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
j4nu wrote:
I think what was suggested by one of the posters here might very well hold true:
the GM is heavily optimized towards infinity performance.
That would explain the differences between lenstip results and other test sites, also confirmed by not sharp corners up close.
Still, I think if you expect a major jump in sharpness between 14-24DN and the new GM, you will be left wanting...
Is there a source for that? I only took that as a guess.
I don't expect a major jump. But a poorer resolution outside the center of the image (according to Lenstip, only the center resolution is better) in comparison to the zooms (Sony and Sigma) is certainly disappointing.
p.6 #9 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
HelBen85 wrote:
In my experience, Lenstip is one of the better websites and I consider the results as understandable when I look at my lenses. Therefore I take theire results quite seriously. In addition, Lenstip seems to me to be quite objective.
For me, the test results look disappointing at 14mm, for example at f4 and f5.6.
And when I had a look at appropriate samples on the internet (DPreview/Lenstip/...), I could easily see that this is not true: "The forthcoming SONY 14mm 1.8 will be 1600€. It is a stellar lens, and performs (on the paper) like a beast, neat perfect."(Sonyalpharumors).
From a brand new 1600 Euro primo, I expect that it clearly surpasses the older zooms in this focal length in terms of resolution.
But I'm obviously also a more critical person than you regarding Sony gear. As far as I read here on FM, you are very impressed with every new high-priced Sony lens / camera.
So you will probably buy it and even if not, you will find it extremely good, but I will not buy it, I will keep my Laowa 15mm f2.
By the way, I think it's pointless to compare a much older lens (for example the Batis you mentioned) with a more expensive lens which has a completely different focal length. ...Show more →
The new GM 35/1.4 and 50/1.2 are absolutely insane here. But I tested now 3 copies of the 35 GM against the Sigma DN 1.2 and although measurements show a clear advantage, I need to go to 200% at 61MP to see a clear difference in perfectly controlled images. The main difference being field curvature, here.
I think the lens will perform clearly better at infinity shots instead of photographing close flat test targets like lenstip does, esp. field curvature should be considered, too. Nevertheless, a tradeoff possibly was being made and people need to ask themselves whether f1.8 at 14mm is important to their photography (not for me).
Regarding corner sharpness, Cameralabs shows a nice aperture series and this looks quite good.
Fototrainer (German), too
performance unsurprisingly is clearly better than the 14/1.8 Sigma.
p.6 #11 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
No, but it makes sense .
HelBen85 wrote:
Is there a source for that? I only took that as a guess.
I don't expect a major jump. But a poorer resolution outside the center of the image (according to Lenstip, only the center resolution is better) in comparison to the zooms (Sony and Sigma) is certainly disappointing.
p.6 #12 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
Holger wrote:
The new GM 35/1.4 and 50/1.2 are absolutely insane here. But I tested now 3 copies of the 35 GM against the Sigma DN 1.2 and although measurements show a clear advantage, I need to go to 200% at 61MP to see a clear difference in perfectly controlled images. The main difference being field curvature, here.
I think the lens will perform clearly better at infinity shots instead of photographing close flat test targets like lenstip does, esp. field curvature should be considered, too. Nevertheless, a tradeoff possibly was being made and people need to ask themselves whether f1.8 at 14mm is important to their photography (not for me).
Regarding corner sharpness, Cameralabs shows a nice aperture series and this looks quite good.
Fototrainer (German), too
performance unsurprisingly is clearly better than the 14/1.8 Sigma.
Sorry, but regarding sample images I prefer to have a look at the raws and the raws of DPreview look good, but not outstanding. But our personal standards might be different.
The term 100 percent crop / 100 percent view is used inflationarily. Among other things, it depends on the resolution and size of the respective display.
For example: On my 27 inch 5k screen everything looks very sharp in the 100 percent view, on my 24 inch full HD screen the 100 percent view is much more critical. This means that I use the 200 percent view on the 5k screen to assess sharpness, just as I used to use the 100 percent view on the Full HD screens.
Because I can't check it, I'm skeptical about 100 percent crops in general.
Furthermore, the Sigma 14mm is four years old. We can then compare the Sony lens with future competition lenses. At the moment, the image sharpness should be compared with the Sigma 14-24mm or the Sony 12-24mm and as a newer fixed focal length the 14mm GM should actually surpass both at 14mm.
p.6 #17 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
nehemiahphoto wrote:
Pre-ordered from B + H!
edit: It was open even at 9:59 for me.
You know, one thing I always wish sites would do is put their official time on their site, so that you actually know "when" 10am is actually 10am for them. I had been refreshing the page in the last 2 mins, and never saw it open early. Literally the second my laptop clock turned to 10, I refreshed and pre order was open. I'm not griping mind you.
I do wonder exactly how many of us were literally putting in our orders as soon as we could though. Hopefully placing it right in at 10am gets me high on the ship list. I just noticed anticipated ship date is 5/27. I'm leaving for Iceland roughly 2 weeks later, so hopefully I'll have it for that trip.
p.6 #20 · Pre-order: Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM ($1,598)
I’ll give it a try, figure having the 12-24 GM already I can’t go wrong if I decide to just return it and I don’t see the 12-24 GM retail taking a hit from this lens as it is more niche.
The weight and size difference is significant, and paired with the 24GM I might find the two primes to be more flexible than the zoom when needing to account for night video or time lapse shooting (24GM is a must-have) and lower weight by pairing the 14GM instead of the 12-24.
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