New Sony 24mm F1.4 G Master lens for high image quality and portability

Last week, Sony renewed its GM high-end lens series on the eve of Photokina and released the new 24mm F1.4 G Master lens. The new lens features high image quality and portability. Its 445g self-weight is 200g lighter than the Sigma 24mm F1.4 Art lens of the same class, which is 335g lighter than the E-mount version of the 24mm F1.4 Art. When paired with the Sony a7R III, the 24mm F1.4 G Master lens achieves a good balance with the body, and the center of gravity of the whole machine is close to the body, so you don’t have to worry about top-heavy problems. Sony said that the reason why the new lens can be made so small is mainly due to the use of two XA aspherical lenses.

The new 24mm F1.4 G Master lens features 13 elements optical design, including two XA lenses and three ED lenses, to provide excellent sharpness performance under full aperture, XA lenses also help Cope with problems such as field curvature and astigmatism common to wide-angle lenses.

In addition, XA lenses are also known to enhance the off-focus performance of the lens. After a preliminary experience, we found that the lens’s over-focusing was indeed very smooth. According to Sony, these lenses are accurate to 0.01 micron in production, which helps prevent problems such as “onion rings” and softens the focus. Unlike Nikon, Canon, Sigma and other manufacturers of 24mm lens 77mm filter size, Sony 24mm F1.4 G Master lens filter size is smaller, only 67mm.

When it comes to the contribution to the out-of-focus effect, the 11-aperture blades built into the lens are also indispensable, and the 11-aperture blades are also one of the signs of the GM series. After taking the lens aperture to a minimum, using the 24mm F1.4 G Master allows us to take a photo with 22 stars.

In terms of handling, Sony’s new lens is equipped with a physical aperture ring and supports the aperture control to be controlled by the body command dial after the aperture ring is set to the automatic mode. Today, camera video shooting is very popular, the new 24mm F1.4 lens is also very suitable for video shooters. The lens aperture ring can be adjusted to stepless mode, and the manual focus ring also has a good feel and smooth operation experience and linear feedback. Sony said that thanks to the precise internal focusing mechanism, the 24mm F1.4 G Master lens has minimal breathing effect, and the compact body allows the user to easily use this combination on the stabilizer.

On the other hand, the Sony 24mm F1.4 G Master lens also offers a lot of customization features, including buttons for custom functions and custom settings for AF / MF levers. In terms of autofocus, the new lens uses a direct-drive SSM autofocus motor to ensure quiet and fast autofocus, and Sony also promotes this motor to take focus to a new level. In addition, the new autofocus motor offers three times more thrust than the FE 35mm F1.4 lens motor. After the initial experience, we believe that the focus of the Sony 24mm F1.4 G Master lens is quieter and faster than the Sigma 24mm F1.4 Art.

Like all other GM series lenses, the new 24mm F1.4 G Master lens is also produced to a high standard. Despite its lightweight, it still feels solid work in the hands, and it also provides dust and splash protection.

Until now, for those who want to use a large aperture 24mm lens, their first choice is still to use the adapter ring to transfer Sigma 24mm F1.4 Art or Canon EF 24mm F1.4L II lens or Purchase a new E-mount version of the 24mm F1.4 Art lens. Sigma is a very good lens, but even if you don’t consider the weight of the lens, the addition of the adapter ring will make the center of the lens farther away from the fuselage, and it can’t be compared with the GM lens in terms of grip comfort. The E-mount version of the 24mm F1.4 Art lens also has the same problem, after all, its length is no different from the 24mm F1.4 Art lens with an adapter ring. Aside from the adapter ring, the two lenses are more comparable. Although the 24mm F1.4 G Master is 2mm longer than the 24mm F1.4 Art, the difference in weight between the two is obvious, especially for those who often travel or need to The day is taken by the photographer.

Although we have not tested the 24mm F1.4 G Master lens in detail, we have a positive attitude towards the optical quality of the lens. Even at f/1.4 aperture, the lens has a very high contrast and is also sharper than Nikon and Canon lenses when the aperture is fully open.

When the aperture is fully open, the image is sharp. Of course, after shrinking to F2 or F2.8, the picture is not only sharper but also the purple fringe on the screen disappears. The lens is soft outside and there are no problems with onion rings. Like all large-aperture wide-angle fixed-focus lenses, the 24mm F1.4 G Master also has purple and green edges, but it is well controlled and easier to solve by post-processing. The vignetting angle of the lens is more obvious, but after the aperture shrinks to f/2.8, there will be no obvious vignetting. In addition, if you are shooting the sun, there will be some ghosts and glare, especially when the aperture is small, but Sony is better than Sigma in this regard. We believe that the 24mm F1.4 G Master lens fills the gap in the Sony ecosystem, and this focal length and aperture make it ideal for news and event photography.

Source/Via: dpreview/nphoto