Sony 35/1.4 G Review
by Bob Atkins; created November 2007
The Sony 35/1.4 G is a fast wide-angle on a full frame body and a fast
normal lens on a small sensor body such as the A700. On a small
sensor body, 35mm produces the same field of view as a 52mm lens would
a full frame camera. A fast lens, such as an f1.4, is desirable for
two reasons: when used wide open it allows you to photograph in lower
light than a slower lens; due to a smaller depth of field, it allows
the photographer to blur the background more than a slower lens, thus
concentrating the viewer's attention on the subject. It's a
well-built lens that comes with a lens hood and carrying pouch. The
Sony 35/1.4 G has a nine-blade aperture that approximates a circular
shape in order to render out of focus areas smoothly and a focusing
system with floating elements in order to improve image quality at
close focusing distances. The minimum focus distance is 1ft (30cm) and
at that distance it can fill the frame of a
Sony Alpha A100 (review) or
Sony Alpha A700 (review) with an object 3.1" x
4.65" (119mm x 79mm).
The 35/1.4 is available from
amazon.com for about $1400.
Optical Performance
In order to judge optical performance, I took several sets of images
at different apertures.
The first set of images were of a billboard taken at three
apertures. 100 percent crops from the images captured at f1.4, f4 and
f8 are shown above. There is significant softness at f1.4, but by f4
the image is very sharp. I was somewhat surprised f1.4 wasn't sharper,
so I made a second set of images, crops from which are shown below.
The upper row of images are 100 percent crops taken from the area
outlined in red in the lower image. I looked at images taken at f1.4,
f1.7, f2, f2.8, f4 and f5.6. Again I found that stopping down to f4
seemed to be required to achieve maximum sharpness. Overall I was
disappointed this lens wasn't sharper at wide apertures. Expecting
razor sharpness at f1.4, even from an expensive lens, is unreasonable,
but I would have hoped for more sharpness at f2 and especially f2.8.
Alternatives
The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC for Sony and Minolta, $420, is cheaper and lighter and
accomplishes the same function on a small sensor body. The highly
regarded Minolta AF 35mm f/2 is no longer in production, but may be
worth looking for in the Photo.net classifieds
Conclusion
This is a wonderful high quality fast prime wide-angle lens for a
Minolta film body. It will be a wonderful high quality fast prime
wide-angle lens if Sony ever produces a full-frame digital body. At
$1400 and more than 1 lb. of weight, we cannot recommend this lens for
use on a small sensor camera.
Where to Buy
You can get this lens from amazon.com.
It's normally in stock and overnight shipping is available.
Specifications
| Focal length |
35mm (52.5mm full frame equivalent when used on
APS-C DSLR) |
| Filter Size |
55mm |
| f-stop range |
f1.4 - f22 |
| Aperture |
9 blades (circular) |
| Focusing |
Rear (floating elements) |
| Minimum Focus distance |
1ft (30cm) |
| Maximum magnification |
1:5 (0.2x) |
| Groups/Elements |
8/10 |
| Length |
3" (76mm) |
| Maximum diameter |
2.7" (64mm) |
| Weight |
1.1lb (510g) |
Further Reading
More
Sony 35/1.4G Sample Images
Original text and images ©2007 Bob Atkins
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