p.9 #2 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
From May to January. That's how the time has went by since first getting the 40G. I have come to appreciate the lens a lot. Optically it is mediocre (as in average), at least if you don't care for hard edges in the background bur. Now that is often possible to fix in post, depending on what kind of image and print of course, but annoying. In other aspects it is close to a perfect walk around lens.
The little darling is small. As a result it is easy to do handheld panos. During this time I have made several, or many, handheld images stitched together from 2-6 exposures when the focal length has been too long.
An example:
A7C, 40G, 3 images stitched together
These images are often nothing special but they are very possible to get. My old version of PTGUI has deemed them all as "Good" or better with regards to control points for the stitching. Easy. The image above falls in the documentary category. The site is very different compared to what it looked like when I lived in the area 25-30 years ago.
I still think the lens is too expensive and a little on the slow side for my taste but all in all it works very well.
p.9 #5 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
I"m loving the 50mm 2.5. I think it may be the best buy I made last year. Thinking of picking up the 40mm 2.5 but I have the Sigma 45mm 2.8. Diff. rendering. The sharpness and contrast though of the 50mm is preferable and I wouldn't mind that same look at 40mm.
The Sigma's strength is the OOF rendering and short MFD (I love it for foliage shots up close stopped down heavily. Mid aperture bokeh is smooth as butter and the sharpness picks up considerably).
p.9 #6 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
k-h.a.w wrote:
Thank you Jonas.
Great info and images.
Will you keep that lens?
If not, what would you replace it with?
Hi K-H
You may be too kind but thank you!
I'll keep the 40G. I can think of replacing of course but that will be when there is a good replacement. To me that would be a slightly faster lens, maybe f/1.8 or f/2, better (softer bokeh, proper manual focusing with a focusing scale) without sacrificing the good features of the 40G.
Here is another 40G documentary "pano" with the camera in landscape position. This time four images were stitched together. There is an stitching error at one single spot but that's my fault.
A7C, Sony 40/2.5G.
Deconstruction of the old Hisingsbron, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2022.
I wish there had been a lower vantage point. And better weather. One can't get everything.
p.9 #7 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
Very helpful thread, thanks Jonas!
I just found out about this lens. This winter, I went to NYC with my gal and decided not to take a camera of any sort (too much time in museums) or even a laptop. I used my phone for museums snaps which was...okay. There were a couple things I missed that I would have liked to have taken pictures of. I went to the store to review buying a point and shoot, but hated the idea of yet another camera.
I saw these lenses recently and thought that if I could bring one lens on my A7RIV, it might not be too onerous with size/weight. I really liked traveling light this time. I shoot with manual lenses, but thought for travel the AF would be a nice benefit if needed, or for video. Also, I like the ability to manually focus without the hateful focus by wire of all the other lenses. I can't stand AF lenses a a result. I thought 40mm would be wide enough for me and using APS-C mode I could pump that a little longer.
What I find great about this thread, is to see how well this lens does for all the boxes it ticks. I really only want to bring one lens. I went to the store and they showed me the Sigma, but it was definitely heavier.
Today I saw this thread and realized that though I was prepared to accept lesser quality, so far what I'm seeing is that it's pretty good. For the ability to make sure I don't miss something when weight constrained, this looks like the ticket.
p.9 #8 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
Thanks for this thread. There's not really a ton of good reviews on this series of lenses surprisingly. Based on the feedback from others here, I decided to rent the 40mm 2.5 G for the weekend and have mixed feelings about it.
Pros:
* Small
* Practically weightless
* Very sharp throughout, except for edges of the frame
* Perfect AF. Not noticeably different from any GM lens I've rented
* Nice ergonomics. Easy to use and feels good in hand.
* 40mm is actually a really good and fun focal length.
Cons:
* It could be smaller (see Zony 35mm 2.8, Canon's 40mm pancake)
* It could be faster (see Nikon's 40mm f2)
* It's very expensive for what it is
All of those cons are very reasonable ones for a highly portable and compact lens, but all of them together makes it hard for me to justify buying one. It's a great Every Day Carry kind of lens but 2.5 is just a bit frustrating if you're doing anything at a bar or at night. it's small, but I think it could be smaller for the kinds of sacrifices they were willing to make. $600 MSRP just seems very silly when you could put that into so many other options. If any one of those cons were to go away, I would think this would end up as one of the most popular Sony lenses.
Unless it ends up deeply on sale or I see a really good deal on a used copy, I'll have to pass.
p.9 #9 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
lostinaustin wrote:
Thanks for this thread. There's not really a ton of good reviews on this series of lenses surprisingly. Based on the feedback from others here, I decided to rent the 40mm 2.5 G for the weekend and have mixed feelings about it.
Pros:
* Small
* Practically weightless
* Very sharp throughout, except for edges of the frame
* Perfect AF. Not noticeably different from any GM lens I've rented
* Nice ergonomics. Easy to use and feels good in hand.
* 40mm is actually a really good and fun focal length.
Cons:
* It could be smaller (see Zony 35mm 2.8, Canon's 40mm pancake)
* It could be faster (see Nikon's 40mm f2)
* It's very expensive for what it is
All of those cons are very reasonable ones for a highly portable and compact lens, but all of them together makes it hard for me to justify buying one. It's a great Every Day Carry kind of lens but 2.5 is just a bit frustrating if you're doing anything at a bar or at night. it's small, but I think it could be smaller for the kinds of sacrifices they were willing to make. $600 MSRP just seems very silly when you could put that into so many other options. If any one of those cons were to go away, I would think this would end up as one of the most popular Sony lenses.
Unless it ends up deeply on sale or I see a really good deal on a used copy, I'll have to pass....Show more →
While it’s true that there are smaller and faster options, in both cases that’s traded off against resolution. Both the canon and Nikon (smaller and faster) are simple Gauss designs that. The Canon of course is only illusorily small, since on an adapter it’s large.
As for the Nikon, I totally get that someone might prefer a faster and cheaper lens and be prepared to sacrifice a little resolution for that. Personally I prefer the 40G tradeoff: resolution that is almost indistinguishable from the very best modern glass over most of the field, top of the line AF, good close up IQ, fairly light. If the price for that at is a few mm of length and half a stop of speed compared to the tiniest mirrorless lenses, that’s a price I’d pay. I’m surprised how decent the bokeh is: while it’s not as smooth as a GM stopped down to f2.5, or a sigma ART stopped down, by the standards of slower lenses that are well corrected close up its very good, and way better than most vintage glass. YMMV.
p.9 #10 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
Nice to see two posts furthering the conversation.
I would see the lens as simply a limited use case item. It would sit in a box gathering dust except for those two trips a year where I don't have time to use a camera and don't want to carry any gear. With the setup not being so bulbous (the bane of the mirrorless shooter) I could see taking on the extra weight, just in case. I had been thinking about some of those kit zoom lenses, but my experience with those has been crappy AF, slow (f4) and terrible performance. So, I can live with 2.5, great AF, solid IQ and a better manual focus feel. The key is APS-C mode. That gives me a little more reach when I need it.
I'll be heading back to my local store to check it out again. Not sure about the price, to be honest, I was thankful it wasn't a grand, so the price tag didn't seem that onerous to me. But maybe getting one used is the ticket.
p.9 #11 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
letchhausen wrote:
Nice to see two posts furthering the conversation.
I would see the lens as simply a limited use case item. It would sit in a box gathering dust except for those two trips a year where I don't have time to use a camera and don't want to carry any gear. With the setup not being so bulbous (the bane of the mirrorless shooter) I could see taking on the extra weight, just in case. I had been thinking about some of those kit zoom lenses, but my experience with those has been crappy AF, slow (f4) and terrible performance. So, I can live with 2.5, great AF, solid IQ and a better manual focus feel. The key is APS-C mode. That gives me a little more reach when I need it.
I'll be heading back to my local store to check it out again. Not sure about the price, to be honest, I was thankful it wasn't a grand, so the price tag didn't seem that onerous to me. But maybe getting one used is the ticket. ...Show more →
As someone who is often in situations where good pictures are valued, but I'm not getting paid and have other things to worry about the 40 G is a godsend.
I can see where if you stray outside these use cases the 40 G might seem less valuable.
p.9 #12 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
letchhausen wrote:
Nice to see two posts furthering the conversation.
(...)
I was thankful it wasn't a grand, so the price tag didn't seem that onerous to me. But maybe getting one used is the ticket.
Hi,
Thank you for commenting. Now, 10 months later, the 40g is still my most used lens. I do think it's to expensive but I have also learned to appreciate the feature set.
I like the size (it could have been a few mm longer)
I like the weight,
I like the AF (no complaints actually),
I like the handling and the button.
I like that the lens is weather shielded.
I can stand the rendering. Most of the time it is actually fine. When not I give the images a few minutes extra in Photoshop.
Simply put, you buy this lens for its feature set. There will be no songs written about the the 40G and I fully understand anyone not buying the lens.
But, as you guess, no regrets here and I seldom miss the 35GM.
p.9 #14 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
After too much time reading and comparing, I purchased the Sony, and for me, the 40 2.5G is a keeper.
I'm finding it improved in many ways over the FE 35mm f2.8 ZA (now sold ).
The hood is fine IMO - functional and different but not ugly. Size and the controls are small, but for me the dedicated aperture ring is a MAJOR plus.. Plus manual focusing is actually better than expected.
.
I also have the Samyang AF 45mm F1.8 FE, but I don't seem to use the fast aperture that often. It renders nicely , but differently, doesn't focus quite as quickly or as accurately, feels plasticky -- AND lacks the dedicated aperture ring -- so off the the sales barn it will go.... The Samyang is priced appropriately though..
p.9 #16 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
Since this thread seems to be the most robust discussion on the Sony 40mm...I'm curious how many people here have the 40mm and 35mm f1.4? If so, when does one lens comes out vs. the other?
p.9 #17 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
I have the 24/40/50 G lenses and also the 35GM. The Gs only come out for travel and I have the three because I shoot video on a tiny gimbal which works great when traveling. I have found all three of them to be sharp, tiny, and fun to shoot with (photos and videos) and have many keepers taken with the 40 and 50. Why both? Cuz I love 50mm but need the 40mm when locations don’t give me enough room like dinner events.
p.9 #19 · Sony FE 40/2.5 G - A little darling. Samples and opinions welcome!
Just bought the 40mm 2.5. Should have it tomorrow. I'm on a bit of a sharpness kick right now and have been delighted with the 50mm 2.5. I'd like to thank all the contributors on this thread for the images that have been shared.
I was really close to buying the 35mm F2 Sigma. I'll probably end up buying that one as well to go along with my Sigma 45mm 2.8. I just wanted a close match to the Sony 50mm 2.5 and 85mm 1.8. Those three should round out my Sony branded kit for small and lite.
