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Sony 50mm 1.4GM

lensfan
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p.4 #1 · p.4 #1 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

This borderline varies for different people. My personal classification has ~300g MF lenses or Sony tiny G as compact set up. But I notice that at 35GM size lenses are already big enough for me so that I don't care if it is a 35GM, 50GM 1.2 or 135GM or a standard 2.8 zoom - can carry this thing in my hand all day. I don't carry more than 1 lens with me.

Aug 21, 2023 at 01:16 PM

tuomkok
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p.4 #2 · p.4 #2 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

genjy wrote:
Yeah, the weight of the 1.2 has never really bothered me... I just carry it and use it. I walk around and shoot for hours, and it's not the end of the world. Not much different than slinging a 2.8 zoom or fast mid tele.

I feel 50mm 1.4 GM heavy for its specs. It is much larger than 24 GM and 35 GM. Actually this is the first time for me when a 50mm is larger than same max aperture 24mm or 35mm.

I am happy with 50 1.4 GM but I think I made a mistake when selling the Zony 55mm to fund the new lens. I light 50mm(ish) would have practical for travel and street photography. Oh well... I just use the 35 GM more

Aug 24, 2023 at 03:08 AM

Ondrej
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p.4 #3 · p.4 #3 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

To me it's very light and with high image and build quality, but a bit pricey.
Optically (nearly) comparable lenses from others are bigger and much heavier...

Aug 24, 2023 at 03:40 AM

Jonas B
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p.4 #4 · p.4 #4 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

tuomkok wrote:
I feel 50mm 1.4 GM heavy for its specs. It is much larger than 24 GM and 35 GM.[...]

That goes to show how different we are. When I held the 35GM (now sold) in one hand and the 50/1.4GM in the other i could feel the difference; the 50mm diameter is 5mm bigger than the 35mm diameter. The length and the weight are the same.

The diameter makes no difference to me; the 50 fits in the same place in the bag as the 35mm did. With the same weight I don't fell any difference. When mounted and in use the diameter difference doesn't matter. Well, that's my take on the 35GM and the 50/1.4GM. One note here is that i don't use the supplied hoods but instead replace them with smaller screw-in metal hoods.

Sony will never be able to satisfy us all. What is it making you feel the 50mm is much larger?

Aug 24, 2023 at 03:45 AM

Lifeinpictures
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p.4 #5 · p.4 #5 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

I got the 50mm 1.2 GM purely for emotional reasons.

The 50mm perspective doesn’t really work for me. But my beloved Bullmastiff has agressive mast cell cancer and I don’t take him out that often anymore. The 50mm focal length works really well at home to capture portraits of him.

If I was in a different situation, the 50mm 1.4 GM would be logical, with an optically more balanced and cutting edge design. I needed the “Je ne sais quoi” of the 1.2 to make memories under a very difficult situation.

This is similar to the Samyang 135mm 1.8 vs 135 GM. I have both, but like the rendering of the Samyang better, and it is plenty sharp. I use it to to document him.

Coincidentally B&H had a summer special for a day that reduced the difference in price to $300 between the 1.4 &1.2 - Fate.

Aug 24, 2023 at 04:14 AM

Q111H
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p.4 #6 · p.4 #6 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

The more I use this lens the more I like it. It is by far the best 50 mm lens I have used in my many years of photography. I have tried the 50 mm 1.2 in the past and sent it back due to the weight and size. IMO the image quality of this lens is every bit as good as the 1.2 version at a far smaller size and much less expensive. The background blur to me is nearly indistinguishable and honestly not that important to me. I think my 1.8 lenses create awesome bokeh.

Aug 24, 2023 at 06:19 AM

Lifeinpictures
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p.4 #7 · p.4 #7 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

Q111H wrote:
The more I use this lens the more I like it. It is by far the best 50 mm lens I have used in my many years of photography. I have tried the 50 mm 1.2 in the past and sent it back due to the weight and size. IMO the image quality of this lens is every bit as good as the 1.2 version at a far smaller size and much less expensive. The background blur to me is nearly indistinguishable and honestly not that important to me. I think my 1.8 lenses create awesome bokeh.

Yup, I definitely agree that the 50 1.4 GM is an amazing lens. It would have been great to complement the anchor of my Sony system - the 35mm 1.4 GM. They use the same filters.

When the 50mm 1,4 GM was announced, I really felt that it made the 1.2 GM more of an impulse buy.
From what I read, the performance of the 1.4 GM is spectacular with nearly even sharpness wide open.

I think it’s really great that Sony came up with this lens, even though it would eat into the 1.2 GM sales, at a lower price too.

Aug 24, 2023 at 10:11 AM

Peire
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p.4 #8 · p.4 #8 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

lensfan wrote:
Have you got a conclusion on autofocus performance difference 1.4 vs 1.2?

I saw no discernible difference for what I do.Yet most of my subjects are pretty static or slowly moving.

Aug 24, 2023 at 11:29 AM

philip_pj
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p.4 #9 · p.4 #9 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

'it made the 1.2 GM more of an impulse buy' because of the peceived competition at the time, with f1.2 lenses appearing from the new competitors. Sony are developing their style in these most important focal lengths, remember they were a bunch of Minolta guys a few years more than a decade ago, working with Carl Zeiss.

The 35/1.4 GM is the lead lens for the evolving style, which we see now in this 50/1.4:

GM 35/1.4: 14/10 design, 525 grams, 67mm filters, 11 blade aperture, one ED/two asph elements.

GM 50/1.4: 14/11 design, 515 grams, 67mm filters, 11 blade aperture, one ED/two asph elements.

Who else offers two (AF) lenses of this performance for the money ($2700) and the bulk (both ~80x95mm) and weight (just over 1kg for the pair)?

Aug 24, 2023 at 05:45 PM

skatemurai
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p.4 #10 · p.4 #10 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

= Me reading this forum AFTER I bought used 50 mm 1.2

Sep 07, 2023 at 03:31 PM

DavidBM
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p.4 #11 · p.4 #11 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

tuomkok wrote:
I feel 50mm 1.4 GM heavy for its specs. It is much larger than 24 GM and 35 GM. Actually this is the first time for me when a 50mm is larger than same max aperture 24mm or 35mm.

I am happy with 50 1.4 GM but I think I made a mistake when selling the Zony 55mm to fund the new lens. I light 50mm(ish) would have practical for travel and street photography. Oh well... I just use the 35 GM more

In DSLR days sure 24 and 35 lenses tended to be bigger than similarly specced 50mm lenses, but that’s because they needed and aggressively retrofocus design to clear the mirror box. With modern mirrorless designs, you can up to a point expect wide lenses to be smaller than 50mm lenses, as they can be closer to the “natural” design where length is proportional to focal length.

Sep 07, 2023 at 04:09 PM

j4nu
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p.4 #12 · p.4 #12 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

skatemurai wrote:

= Me reading this forum AFTER I bought used 50 mm 1.2

Haha, 1.2 still has that edge in separation and bokeh, if that's what you're after

Sep 07, 2023 at 04:37 PM

catacore
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p.4 #13 · p.4 #13 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

skatemurai wrote:

= Me reading this forum AFTER I bought used 50 mm 1.2

You shouldn't, really.

From what it have read about it, the 50/1.4 GM is a "perfect" lens.

From my brief experience with my (now sold) 50/1.2 GM lens, that's a "special" lens. I'll surely re-purchase it, despite 50/1.4 GM being on the market.

Sep 07, 2023 at 05:01 PM

philip_pj
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p.4 #14 · p.4 #14 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

Important to realise that each high end lens has its own character. It's not a competition, but something for you to explore to get a good understanding of each one before you decide to 'upgrade' or 'crossgrade'. All three of these Sony 50s are excellent.

Some believe a range should consist of lenses that only differ in focal length. Others want the variety of character and behaviours. The problem with the 'one look' ranges comes when potential buyers don't enjoy the rendering style.

Sep 07, 2023 at 05:29 PM

JD07
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p.4 #15 · p.4 #15 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

Accordingly to Sony's spec, the 50mm f/1.4 GM is actually very fractionally lighter than the 35 GM (35 GM is 524gm while 50 f/1.4 GM is 516gm), and they are exactly the same length (96mm) but the 50mm about 5mm wider. I can only assume it's that extra width which is making you feel like the 50mm is much larger than the 35mm. The Zony 55mm is definitely smaller/lighter though, of course.

Sep 07, 2023 at 09:26 PM

devin.choi
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p.4 #16 · p.4 #16 · Sony 50mm 1.4GM

skatemurai wrote:

= Me reading this forum AFTER I bought used 50 mm 1.2

I don't think you should have any regrets. I've said it several times on this forum, but the 50mm 1.2 is my favorite lens I own at the moment, edging out the excellent 70-200GM II. and this is with 50mm being a "boring" focal length for me, and one that I never cared for previously.

A lot is said about the size/weight difference, and while there is definitely a case to be made one way or the other, to me personally, 250g diff is nothing. that's 2.5 boxes of paperclips.

Sep 08, 2023 at 12:20 AM

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