FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS lens

[dandrewk]

I'm interested in this lens. I do macro work, and this could also be a good portrait/people lens. Owning this lens would also mean the end of all Nikon gear ownership for me.

However, I'm very disturbed by this hands on report from SAR:

Very funny lens, with push and pull focus ring.

A few great pictures of the new FE lenses (look how big that 24-240mm FE is). | sonyalpharumors

Push/pull focus on a lens that needs ultra precise focusing? Autofocus many times doesn't work well when approaching 1:1 magnification. I'm hoping this is inaccurate. I just can't see his type of manual focusing as ideal.

 

[MGrayson]

Perhaps it is a push pull AF MF clutch. Some Oly and Pentax lenses work that way.

 

[ecsh]

+1, as i would understand it to be this way as well. It eliminates a switch.
I am also waiting for this lens.

 

[mjm6]

Look at the photos online. You can see that there is an AF/MF designation at the end near the front element with arrows, out for AF, in for MF. So it is the clutch.

Personally, I find that bothersome as it will disturb the lens or focus to move the clutch. Canon introduced clutchless AF in the 90's in many higher end lenses, and I can't imagine that Sony can't do that properly in a G lens in 2014?

Anyway, it's not for focus, just the clutch.

---Michael

 

[pingu666]

on sar someone mentioned the tamron 90mm had that clutch, and its reportidly front heavy.... so it may well be a rebadged or alteration on there slr one, be interesting to see the rear of the lenses, so far theres been no shots?

 

[serhan]

I have the Canon EF version of Tamron and find it very balanced on A7R. It is a light plastic lens and very easy to manual focus. Clutch switches btw af and mf. Here is pushing boundaries with A7R, hand held with ground support, 1/10s f/2.8 at 90.0mm iso12800:

on sar someone mentioned the tamron 90mm had that clutch, and its reportidly front heavy.... so it may well be a rebadged or alteration on there slr one, be interesting to see the rear of the lenses, so far theres been no shots?

 

[serhan]

SAR: Lesnumeriques new FE lens hands-on: The 90mm FE macro is the very sharpest lens!

The French site LesNumeriques already got the new Sony FE lenses in their test labs. They promise that detailed test will be publsihed “very, very soon“. As a heads up they said the 90mm FE macro lens is razor sharp and definitely the best of the four new lenses.

 

[Annna T]

I have the Canon EF version of Tamron and find it very balanced on A7R. It is a light plastic lens and very easy to manual focus. Clutch switches btw af and mf. Here is pushing boundaries with A7R, hand held with ground support, 1/10s f/2.8 at 90.0mm iso12800:

I have the 90mm F2.8 macro Tamron in Canon mount too. It is the old version, without stabilisation, but from the reviews I have read it is a little bit sharper than the newest one. I can confirm what you say : it is a very light lens and well balanced on the A7r and very agreeable to use. As for MF, depending on the subject distance the slightest movement will throw the focus out , so sometimes it becomes a little tricky (that is using the Metabones smart adapter Mk III). AF is slow, but nailed most of the times.

To sum up : it is a lens I like to use and it pairs well with the A7r.

 

[dandrewk]

602 grams. That's nearly 200 grams lighter than the Nikon 105mm macro lens.

 

[philip_pj]

Same weight as the Canon L macros, which PZ found not as good as they expected. And add an adapter and the extra length/weight to any off brand macro, and 600 grams looks pretty good for OSS and AF with a useful MFD.

How it handles near infinity focal distances will be interesting, 62mm filters are not too bad. Focus fade and bokeh quality are fundamental requirements, as well as good control of LoCA and near absent LaCA even in tough light. F2.8 performance must be very good as it will get plenty of work there used as a street lens.

The more I think about it, this thing on an a7r (let alone the 50Mp number yet to come) might smoke everything. Short telephotos of that FL are really capable anyway and Sony look to have put plenty into this one. Their lens making craft is very good indeed these days. Hopefully this macro is stacked with plenty of that substance the promotional material likes to refer to as 'special glass'. lol.

 

[biglouis]

I've got into a bit of spat on Facebook by decrying the size of this lens.

I really would like a macro with AF for the FE and something which is fast.

At present I am using my Sigma DP3M for macro and it creates very good shots but I've noticed more and more that the A7r is very close to DP3M in terms of output.

I wouldn't mind rationalising my kit which is why the FE 90/2.8 interests me but I am going to have to see one in the flesh (so to speak) before buying it as it looks like a beast in the photos I have seen.

Am I expecting too much for FE lenses to match the diminutive size of the Alpha cameras?

LouisB

 

[iiiNelson]

In most of the pictures I've seen it looks to be close in size to the medium range zooms. I think it's large for a prime but not unwieldily so. I'm interestd in this lens as well.

 

[jaspat3]

Noting is said in "Les numériques" about the lenses optical quality.

In the forum following the article:
"We were able to take pictures of the lenses, but no picture with the optics. So I will say that I know nothing of their quality".

 

[Vivek]

I've got into a bit of spat on Facebook by decrying the size of this lens.

I really would like a macro with AF for the FE and something which is fast.

At present I am using my Sigma DP3M for macro and it creates very good shots but I've noticed more and more that the A7r is very close to DP3M in terms of output.

I wouldn't mind rationalising my kit which is why the FE 90/2.8 interests me but I am going to have to see one in the flesh (so to speak) before buying it as it looks like a beast in the photos I have seen.

Am I expecting too much for FE lenses to match the diminutive size of the Alpha cameras?

LouisB

Not at all.

Aside from the bulk, the weight is not going to go well with plastic mounts of the A7/A7r.

Except that 28/2 (I hope it is not a lemon) nothing interests me.

I think Sony needs a brand new optics division. They should start from scratch.

I, for one, do not want any of their bulky, slow and overpriced lenses. Also, I do not see any benefits from the Zeiss badged Sony ones.

 

[Knorp]

Latest rumours: Sony to announce the FE 90mm f/2.8 G OSS Macro lens on Wednesday 4th of March: price 1149 Euro.

:watch:

 

[philip_pj]

The way I see it presently is this: I wanted a decent AF short telephoto from Sony much like the FE55, say an 85/1.8 or f2. Didn't happen. Looking around at the better ones even for M mount, they are bloody heavy, quite a surprise.

Zeiss ill-fated Sonnar 85/2 is 450 grams, Leica's 90AA is 500 grams, the iffy Summarit 90/2.5 is 360 grams, Elmarit 90/2.8 is 395 grams. All need a fiddly adapter so add maybe 60-80 grams, and all these come up to 450-550 grams.

So 600 grams with filter size not much more than the 55mm I use for most CY lenses, with AF puts this one in the ballpark, provided the optics are there, as with the ZA FE primes. F2.8 is fine at this FL, the MFD is a bonus, and flat field slow lenses can be fabulous performers. So I remain hopeful, as R L Stevenson said: 'It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.'

 

[Knorp]

Stop complaining: the Sony Macro 1:2.8/90 is a featherweight compared to my Apo-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100mm with R/E adapter weighing a hefty 820 grams.
And the Sony having and AF and OSS, it seems a perfect walk-around package to me !

Kind regards.

 

[Vivek]

Bart, Just wondering if you ever shot with that on the orphaned Leica R system bodies?

The 90/2.8 from Sony is hardly a feather weight. It appears to have too many buttons on it, especially for a lens, as well.

 

[Bob Parsons]

Stop complaining: the Sony Macro 1:2.8/90 is a featherweight compared to my Apo-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100mm with R/E adapter weighing a hefty 820 grams.
And the Sony having and AF and OSS, it seems a perfect walk-around package to me !

Kind regards.

Don't forget to add another 200g for the Elpro 16545 auxillary lens needed for a 1:1 reproduction ratio. I find the combination quite cumbersome on the A7R, hence my interest in the 2.8/90.

Bob.

 

[Annna T]

I just weighted my two 90mm lenses :

The Zeiss Contax G 90mm F2.8 weight only 239 gr. without any caps.
with hood and caps, it weight 281. gr. The DeoTech smart adapter weight 78gr. The whole, adapters and all (rear cap, front cap and hood) weight 369gr. Filter size is only 46mm.

The Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro (an older version without stabilization) weight 382gr. naked (without any caps or hood). With hoods and caps it weight 426gr. I have a Canon mount, so the metabones smart adapter is heavy : 150gr. So with Adapter hoods and caps that makes 587gr. But this lens balance very well on the A7r (probably because the adapter is standing very near of the body, while the rest of the lens is light. Also that lens is quite slim and as I have seen when comparing the 70-200 F4 G to the Canon 70-200 F4, having a thinner lens makes the whole more friendly to use.

Both of the lenses are sharp and produce good results on the A7r. So I don't think that I'll get the new Sony Macro. Hopefully we will get one lighter 90mm from Zeiss, so that I can use AF more conveniently.