Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
I had this lens ages ago but was on crappy body. Has anyone tried this on the A7 or A7r. Like to hear your thoughts.
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Sony 20mm any good
- Thread starter Guy Mancuso
- Start date
Rand47
Active member
Of course it covers FF. At the time of original design & mfg. there weren't APS cameras.
Reviews on Dyxum: Sony AF 20mm F2.8 A-mount alpha lens reviews
Rand
Reviews on Dyxum: Sony AF 20mm F2.8 A-mount alpha lens reviews
Rand
I have the Minolta version which is supposed to be the same optically, but who knows. I've used it on A900 and A99, but not an a7 or a7r. I think it is a decent lens but not spectacular. I rarely use anything this wide and for how I use it, I don't feel any need for something better. It is not as sharp as the 35mm on the RX-1 but better in the corners than the 35/2 Minolta lens I have.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Thanks folks.
I'm actually quite fond of this lens on FF. I have the Minolta version and use it on both the a7 and the a850. I may have a very good copy, but it is very sharp and has little light fall off. Don't judge by the first two below as they were shot with a polarizer, which results in some vignetting. Here are a few recent shots on the a7:
Date Taken: 2014-04-16 07:00:09
Camera Make: SONY
Camera Model: ILCE-7
Lens: 20mm F2.8
Date Taken: 2014-04-16 07:05:24
Camera Make: SONY
Camera Model: ILCE-7
Lens: 20mm F2.8
Date Taken: 2014-02-08 14:06:33
Camera Make: SONY
Camera Model: ILCE-7
Lens: 20mm F2.8
Focal Length: 20 mm
Date Taken: 2014-04-16 07:00:09
Camera Make: SONY
Camera Model: ILCE-7
Lens: 20mm F2.8
Date Taken: 2014-04-16 07:05:24
Camera Make: SONY
Camera Model: ILCE-7
Lens: 20mm F2.8
Date Taken: 2014-02-08 14:06:33
Camera Make: SONY
Camera Model: ILCE-7
Lens: 20mm F2.8
Focal Length: 20 mm
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Looks pretty nice.
Rawfa
Active member
There is so much talk about e-mount on this sub-forum that sometimes I forget it's a Sony sub-forum. I thought you guys were talking about this 20mm Sony 20mm f/2.8 Alpha E-mount Lens SEL20F28 B&H Photo Video
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Zf 25 I want the 18 though
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Looks nice. Thanks
Thanks Guy. Unfortunately there is some compression with the embedded links posted here, which don't do justice to the sharpness of the lens. I have the original full resolution images posted in my Flickr account if you care to see them.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
No I can get a good idea of what's going on. This helped a lot. I just need something smaller than my 14mm so I'll sell that which is on the buy and sell now and grab this in NY this week. I have a ton of shooting in the city which will be a lot of walking so I'm going as light as possible. Right now I got a 24-70, 55 FE and my 85 1.4 ZA and I could fit this lens easy in my sling bag. But I will probably make changes in the wides later so this will get me through things.
mhespenheide
New member
Guy,
I've got one. On a trip in February to Death Valley I did some landscape work with it. I don't think it's at the level of the 24-70 ZA, 55 FE, or 85 ZA, but it's good enough. It's not magical like the Zeiss 21, but stopped down to f/8 or f/11 it's not going to detract from your images. I think there's some field curvature in the farthest corners, so if you're doing a hardcore near/far landscape shot on a tripod, make sure to do some focus bracketing. If you're trying to shoot architecture, it might not be the absolute best lens. If you're shooting indoors with your subject anywhere near the center of the frame, I think it's going to do fine.
I will say it's my first "ultrawide" lens and I was surprised that the depth-if-field wasn't infinite by f/8. You probably have more experience with them and already know that...
I've got one. On a trip in February to Death Valley I did some landscape work with it. I don't think it's at the level of the 24-70 ZA, 55 FE, or 85 ZA, but it's good enough. It's not magical like the Zeiss 21, but stopped down to f/8 or f/11 it's not going to detract from your images. I think there's some field curvature in the farthest corners, so if you're doing a hardcore near/far landscape shot on a tripod, make sure to do some focus bracketing. If you're trying to shoot architecture, it might not be the absolute best lens. If you're shooting indoors with your subject anywhere near the center of the frame, I think it's going to do fine.
I will say it's my first "ultrawide" lens and I was surprised that the depth-if-field wasn't infinite by f/8. You probably have more experience with them and already know that...
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Yea I'm not expecting the performance like my Zeiss 25mm F 2 that's my workhorse for landscape and commercial work. I just wanted this more for street and travel. The 24-70 is actually rented for this trip
I mostly use this lens on my A99. I have used it a few times on my A7. You get about similar performance. I agree that stopped down the lens is good enough for most purposes. You will also appreciate its lightweight and speedy focus. It's a far superior experience to the ZM 18 I recently contemplated replacing it with. The Zeiss lens on the A7 was a huge disappointment
mhespenheide
New member
I think that, for street and travel, it's pretty good. It's pretty small and lightweight for its focal length. Bigger than some of the Olympus primes, but a lot smaller and lighter than the Zeiss 21/2.8 or any of the ultrawide zooms.
mjm6
Member
Guy,
I had one for a while, but sold it a few years ago.
At the time, I had the 21mm Leica SA, the 20mm Sony/Minolta (last generation), and the 19mm Leica. I did a comparison with the a900.
The 19mm was clearly the best of the three. However, the Sony/Minolta was better than the 21mm Super Angulon with respect to corner sharpness.
Overall, I would be happy with the 20mm Sony/Minolta, but I felt the Leica was slightly better, so I went with that one.
Today, I'd just stay with the Sony/Minolta for the price difference between the Leica and the S/M.
---Michael
I had one for a while, but sold it a few years ago.
At the time, I had the 21mm Leica SA, the 20mm Sony/Minolta (last generation), and the 19mm Leica. I did a comparison with the a900.
The 19mm was clearly the best of the three. However, the Sony/Minolta was better than the 21mm Super Angulon with respect to corner sharpness.
Overall, I would be happy with the 20mm Sony/Minolta, but I felt the Leica was slightly better, so I went with that one.
Today, I'd just stay with the Sony/Minolta for the price difference between the Leica and the S/M.
---Michael