My first image with this gorgeous lens. Really loving everything about it. I love the AF, size and weight of it. Upgraded from an awesome sigma 24-70 2.8 copy I had but am really happy I did.
Matti6950 wrote:
In fact if i have to choose an amazing thing about GM it's 24-35mm wich are blazingly sharp (making bringing a prime basically piontless). 50mm is very sharp but dof is decreasing, 70mm takes a very sharp drop in Dof (even at f8) making front to back 'in focus' images incredible hard, so far only 1 image was succesful in this job, otherwise the first meters or horizon was always soft. I feel the Sigma ever so slightly is easier to have 70mm everything in focus.
Thanks for your observation on this Matti. I have been shooting architectural and landscape images with the new GM II for nearly a month now, and I am finding on my landscape images (with tree branches) the edges at 70mm are a little soft, even stopped down to f8 or f11. But when I look more closely at them, I can see there is actually a very slim band of focus, where there is decent sharpness. It's exactly as you said, the DOF even at f8 or f11, near the edges especially, is quite narrow. Up till now, I assumed this might just be my copy, so I am glad to hear this from you.
I agree with you on the prime-like sharpness. I tested the GM II against my Loxia 25mm, 35mm GM and 50mm GM, and on a flat subject, they were almost indistinguishable from wide open to f8. If I didn't occasionally need super shallow DOF from the 35 and 50 GM's, then I would think about selling them.
I'm nearing the end of my window to return it, so I am trying to decide if this is a keeper. Other than the 70mm "softness" at the edges, I am loving everything else about the lens.
Here are some landscape images taken with the 24-70 GM II. I would be happy to hear some feedback on the image quality, (good or bad). These were all shot RAW and processed in LR.
p.3 #10 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
chrisd999 wrote:
Thanks for your observation on this Matti. I have been shooting architectural and landscape images with the new GM II for nearly a month now, and I am finding on my landscape images (with tree branches) the edges at 70mm are a little soft, even stopped down to f8 or f11. But when I look more closely at them, I can see there is actually a very slim band of focus, where there is decent sharpness. It's exactly as you said, the DOF even at f8 or f11, near the edges especially, is quite narrow. Up till now, I assumed this might just be my copy, so I am glad to hear this from you.
I agree with you on the prime-like sharpness. I tested the GM II against my Loxia 25mm, 35mm GM and 50mm GM, and on a flat subject, they were almost indistinguishable from wide open to f8. If I didn't occasionally need super shallow DOF from the 35 and 50 GM's, then I would think about selling them.
I'm nearing the end of my window to return it, so I am trying to decide if this is a keeper. Other than the 70mm "softness" at the edges, I am loving everything else about the lens....Show more →
I've had a very similar experience and ended up going back to buying a newer even better copy of the sigma and getting another copy of the gm ii after much thought. Zooms have gotten so good for landscapes that carrying extra primes is not worth it as we tend to stop down.
I ended up getting another gm ii copy from adorama which is set to arrive tomorrow instead of my local store which sold me a not so great copy that I returned. I wasnt very happy about them giving me a fuss also about returning it...I know, pretty expensive solution. Hey i guess if you can't make up your mind have both. 😂
I've been actually experiementing focus stacking with the gm ii and sigma to get sharper corners on my a7rv. I really liked the micro contrast of the gm ii. I need to experiement with it trying to focus in the corners instead of the middle of the frame to see how the images show up. Probably try to focus on hyperfocal distance. I am usually using a gnd filter to darken the sky so focus stacking without having to bracket the shot. I tried it with the sigma and got some good results but having used the gm ii i missed something about it.
I really wanted the gm ii colors, af, size and weight again. It just was amazing to experience out in the field after hiking. When i look at the colors most gm lenses produce, i just don't need to tweak anything but generally with the sigma 24-70 and 35 1.2 i tend to tweak the colors. It's odd but yeah just wanted to share my experiece!
Can't wait to get out again this weekend and take both the gm ii an sigma out and have some fun. The wife gonna be asking why i need two 24-70 lenses. Hey I can't help it, my GAS is really high! 🤣
p.3 #11 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
sismailian wrote:
I really wanted the gm ii colors, af, size and weight again. It just was amazing to experience out in the field after hiking. When i look at the colors most gm lenses produce, i just don't need to tweak anything but generally with the sigma 24-70 and 35 1.2 i tend to tweak the colors. It's odd but yeah just wanted to share my experiece!
Just to clarify, having owned both the Sigma and the GM II, what is your read on colors accuracy and microcontrast?
I've owned both and I find that the GM II requires a lot of color correction to achieve what I remember seeing in reality (temperature and tones), vs the Sigma where I do, but it's mostly just vibrancy. But also, being honest I haven't shot a ton with it in recent weeks. 🤷🏻♂️.
p.3 #12 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
thousandths wrote:
Just to clarify, having owned both the Sigma and the GM II, what is your read on colors accuracy and microcontrast?
I've owned both and I find that the GM II requires a lot of color correction to achieve what I remember seeing in reality (temperature and tones), vs the Sigma where I do, but it's mostly just vibrancy. But also, being honest I haven't shot a ton with it in recent weeks. 🤷🏻♂️.
Honestly i need to spend time shooting both of the within the same scene, same settings to get an idea. I havent experienced the gm ii enough yet to be able to draw a clear conclusion.
The sigma has always impressed me honestly in just about everything it does minus the af department with subjects. And this is with humans not moving really at all. I would get one shot out of focus and 2 others in focus. Just weird but seriously annoyed me when shooting a baptism and birthdays when i missed a critical moment. That is the big let down for me at least but in landscapes i didnt have any af issues.
The one actual scene i can with confidence say i observed a difference is in colors when i shot both the same exact scene in a camera store with same settings. The sigma was warmer in tones than the gm ii. It's a personal taste thing. For portraits I've observed the same thing, warmer colors on the sigma but punchy. I also did notice slightly better micro contrast from the gm ii.
The sony copy i had was softer on left wide open, having focused on same area but its most likely due to field curvature or just having had a decentered copy. I do think sony gm lenses suffer still from copy variation. I had a nightmare experience getting a excellent copy of the 12-24 gm that i am never getting rid of. What matters to me more is the performance at infinity which I need to spend time on testing both.
p.3 #13 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
I just did a quick outdoor test against a building same level as me going through all most common apertures (f/2.8, f/5.6, f/10) and 24/35/50/70. I did one test at mid range and one at infinity. All tests done focusing in same area, 5 sec delay, steady shot off on tripod with no wind.
I can with confidence say that my current GM II copy is FAR better than what I previous had. This version is even better than what my new sigma which surprised me. I thought my sigma was a really great copy until I pixel peeked into the pictures with the new GM II copy. Please take this with a grain of salt as copy variation plays a role.
Colors
The sony is displaying more neutral colors while the sigma is more on the warmer side. Personal taste. I prefer the sony colors as of late with the recent GM lenses like the 70-200 GM II and 50 1.2 GM that I both have.
Sharpness
24mm = Sony consistently getting much sharper corners and especially middle of the frame. Wide open the sony is doing consistently better, getting much better micro contrast on distant objects. Stopping down the sony still does far better until F/10 where they are more equal with sony having still the slight edge in micro contrast and sharper center + corners. This surprised me as I thought the GM II 24mm was its weak FL but it's actually sigma's more weaker FL.
35mm = Same story as 24mm. At 35mm I still see a pretty noticeable difference especially in the corners when shooting wide open and stopping down. The GM II consistently is getting sharper corners with the sigma catching up more at F/10. Still a slight edge in micro contrast to the GM II.
50mm = Same observation as 35mm but even more dramatic as the GM II is leading ahead with better center and corners. Center resolution wide open is really impressive, prime like resolution that reminds me of the 70-200 GM II. Stopping down the GM II takes the lead in micro contrast and sharper center/corners.
70mm = Similar observation as 50 but I notice the sigma is closer to the GM II once stopped down. Still the GM II resolves finer details better until F/10 where they are similar with the GM II having still better corners.
Sharpness at infinity
This is where the GM II really surprised me wide open where it was clearly ahead of the sigma in resolving finer details much better. Upon closing aperture down they get more even where the sigma is displaying great mid range performance throughout the focused area. The GM II to my eyes is having much better performance focusing at infinity than the sigma. The sigma is more even and sometimes does a bit better when shooting more close up so it's kinda weird. I rarely shoot close up and infinity performance is far more important to me.
So just like that my opinion shifted to favoring the GM II much more. What I hate is that just like my 12-24 GM I had to go through 2-3 copies to get a excellent copy. That is NOT fun but it's just the sad reality of tolerances when building lenses. This GM II copy I got is from adorama in case anyone is curious. The bad 2 copies I got were from samy's camera.
p.3 #14 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
And now that I am shooting with this great lens more often, I had an incredible sunset shot today with it. Really happy how it came out! So loving this copy I got. It has the sharpest corners I've seen from a zoom, very similar to the 12-24 GM. I'd still say the 12-24 GM might be a tad better, it's my total landscape killer lens Extremely rewarding day!
30mm | F/9 | ISO 100 | GND 4 stop (resized to 2048)
p.3 #15 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
Going through multiple copies is definitely annoying. But when you get a good one, this lens seems to be as good as a 24-70 can be. Will order my 2nd copy soon, when B&H gets them back in stock. At least it should be a new batch with hopefully better QA.
p.3 #16 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
My 24-70 GM II copy exhibited a strong midfield dip at 24mm, no matter which aperture, and a strong tilt problem on the right side from 55-70mm, also no matter which aperture. Unusable for landscape photography. The only perfect focal length was 35mm. All in all my 24-70 GM was better/sharper, except in the corners wide open. Tested on the A7R IV at infinity. I did not keep that mediocre copy and instead bought a stellar Loxia 25mm plus 85mm kit for the time being.
sismailian wrote:
...Sharpness at infinity
This is where the GM II really surprised me wide open where it was clearly ahead of the sigma in resolving finer details much better. Upon closing aperture down they get more even where the sigma is displaying great mid range performance throughout the focused area. The GM II to my eyes is having much better performance focusing at infinity than the sigma. The sigma is more even and sometimes does a bit better when shooting more close up so it's kinda weird. I rarely shoot close up and infinity performance is far more important to me.
So just like that my opinion shifted to favoring the GM II much more. What I hate is that just like my 12-24 GM I had to go through 2-3 copies to get a excellent copy. That is NOT fun but it's just the sad reality of tolerances when building lenses. This GM II copy I got is from adorama in case anyone is curious. The bad 2 copies I got were from samy's camera. ...Show more →
p.3 #17 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
pwpub wrote:
My 24-70 GM II copy exhibited a strong midfield dip at 24mm, no matter which aperture, and a strong tilt problem on the right side from 55-70mm, also no matter which aperture. Unusable for landscape photography. The only perfect focal length was 35mm. All in all my 24-70 GM was better/sharper, except in the corners wide open. Tested on the A7R IV at infinity. I did not keep that mediocre copy and instead bought a stellar Loxia 25mm plus 85mm kit for the time being.
>> tilt problem on the right side from 55-70mm
My copy had the exact same problem, also on the right side. Wonder if we got the same lens after being returned
p.3 #18 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
It's a real bummer when there are bad copies circulating giving the lens a bad impression.
I do think i will still have a prime kit again along with the 24-70 gm ii lens. I sometimes miss that forced perspective, shallow dof with the bright aperture that allows for some creative shots.
What I am trying to decide next if its worth getting the voigtlander 35 f2 apo since i have the 21 f1.4 and 50 f2 but seeing how the 35 f2 flares easily I dunno. I have the sigma 35 1.2 as well but its not an easy lens to just put in your bag and carry due to its massive weight. It also flares badly. I am going to give the 20 1.8g a shot today and see if i want to add a 24/35 gm.
Edit: I got to shoot with the 20 1.8G and oh man this lens is SO good! Maybe I need to add more sony primes to my kit
p.3 #19 · Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Image Thread
a7rV | 53mm | F/7.1 | ISO 100 (resized to 2048)
a7rV | 31mm | F/7.1 | ISO 100 (resized to 2048)
Moved down, started getting bit more color from the sun after some time and found a better foreground. Not sure which I like more
a7rV | 31mm | F/10 | ISO 100 (resized to 2048)
