INTRODUCTION
YES YES AND YES! You probably noticed in the supplied photos that my Sony A7rII and the Sony 28mm f2.0 do have a few bumps and bruises. Thus is why I'm doing this review on the Sony 28mm that is coming in a bit late in the game. I HAVE PUT IT THROUGH THE TEST and what I say and believe is 100% true! MAN! Let me tell you this magical lens and camera have seen it all.
From the slamming shore breaking waves of the Wedge in Newport beach to capturing Orion rising over Bryce canyon national park on a below 10 degree snowy night this lens has stood up to the test time and time again. I have had this lens since Sony released it out to the public and couldn't be more happy on it's construction and amazing image quality. The Sony 28mm f2.0 is a wide angle prime lens under $500 that I hold everything up to.
If another lens can't match up to the sharpness, images quality and WOW factor I aint having it. Seriously! If your into a semi-wide angle lenses and own a Sony A7 this lens is a MUST HAVE! I've been on a spree these days renting lenses to see what's out there including the Leica 28 Elmarit. A lens that cost almost 4 times as much as the Sony 28mm. The Leica is a amazing piece of engineering don't get me wrong. Leica makes some of the best products out there. But for the price and how close the Sony 28mm comes to it in terms of everything I listed above, It was a no brainier and enough proof in the pudding for me to make up my mind to stick with this puppy for a long time.
SPECS
Focal Length28mm
Comparable 35mm Equivalent on APS-C Format Focal Length: 42 mm
Aperture Maximum: f/2
Minimum: f/22
Camera Mount Type Sony E (Full-Frame)
Format Compatibility35mm Film / Full-Frame Digital Sensor
Angle of View75°
APS-C Picture Angle: 54°
Minimum Focus Distance11.42" (29 cm)
Magnification0.13x
Elements/Groups9/8
Diaphragm Blades9, Rounded
Image Stabilization No
Auto focus Yes
Tripod Collar No
Physical Filter Thread Front:49 mm
Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 2.52 x 2.36" (64.01 x 59.94 mm) Weight 7.05 oz (200 g)
IMAGE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE
WOW! Sony made a huge leap and basically gave other competitors a hard smack in the face! I seriously would have paid much more for this lens. But man I'm a glad I got it for around $450. It's unbelievable sharpness and rendering of color is truly outstanding straight out of the camera. Like I mentioned above It's a hard lens to beat! Almost my entire gallery was taking with this lens. I also found the auto focusing of this lens to be the fastest yet of any Sony available lens out there at least to my knowledge. I've tried the Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8 / Sony Zeiss 16 - 35mm f4 to name a few. The 28mm beats these both out in my opinion. Here are a few sample images that I have recently taken in January 2016.
A beautiful winter sunrise above Crescent bay in North Laguna beach, California.
A line up image of Aliso Creek beach in South Laguna beach, California utilizing the Sony APS-C/ Super 35mm crop mode to get closer to the action.
For all you astrophotographers out there lets switch it up and talk about capturing the beauty of night sky with the Sony 28mm. Not only does this lens rock it out during the day time hours. It stands as my favorite semi-wide angle lens to shoot the Milky Way and to photograph stunning imagery of the night sky. So sharp! Particularly from corner to corner with barley no signs of distracting aberration even WIDE OPEN @ f2.0! None of those stretched out / blooming stars at the corners that many lens suffer with.
This problem is almost non-existent. It's there but barley noticeable. The only other lens in this price range that I can personally think of and used on my Sony A7 cameras that bares the same characteristics during the night time hours is the Rokinon 24mm f1.4.
The Rokinon is bit of a wider lens and faster which helps out with gathering more light from the heavens above but the Sony has it beat by being a smaller lens certainly in size and weight and the BEST walk around lens EVER!!! PLUS! the Rokinon can't send metadata to the camera and dose not have the capability of quick and precise auto focus like the Sony 28mm can.
The Milky Way shot high atop Glacier point in Yosemite national park, California. Shot wide open @ 2.0 for 15 seconds using the 500 rule to keep the stars nice and tight.
An extreme close up of the top right corner of the photo. The arrow is pointed at no particular star in general just a guide line to show focus on how this lens has barely any to no drop off and distracting aberration.
CONSTRUCTION
When it come down to the durability of the lens I would give it a 8 out of 10! It's been through some serious testing within the time I have owned this lens. Like I said previously I got the lens when it first came out. I was so excited about the promise of this new lens I actually put it on per-order. I never do that!
Yes, its not a tank nor weather sealed or water proof to a certain point I should know. I got drenched many a times shooting right next to the edge of a reef break. That poor guy got it's share of a good salt water cleaning but still keeps ticking! In the snow, rain, below freezing temperatures the plastic body does a great job and and hasn't let me down yet.
SO WHATS WRONG WITH THE LENS
This lens is basically the stud of the market in semi-wide angle lens department in my mind. So at a whopping $450 there has to be something wrong with it right!?! (It has some distortion if you choose to shoot in RAW.) Well not to worry, I don't! That problem is totally correctable in Adobe Light Room with some simple profile correction and if your fancy is to shoot in JPEG well you wont even see it at all since the correction is done automatically. That a awful problem right! PAUSE HERE... JUST JOKING! Like I said it's not a big deal. Here is a photo below with the Lightroom profile correction off then on.
CONCLUSION
Well if I was a first time owner of a Sony A7 and was looking for that very special FIRST LENS to purchase to your new life into the world of Sony, it sure would be this one. Or even if you have owned a A7 for a while now and on the hunt for a killer range finder type of lens this one is your GOLDEN TICKET that's for sure! Trust me when I say I have been shooting with this piece of magic for almost a year now and I have not noticed any major problems. NO CA, NO DISTRACTING ABERRATIONS, NADA!!! Just pure awesomeness!
Another heads up. There is also two converters that I do not own which is why I didn't make much reference to the them. They are the Sony SEL075UWC, FE 21mm f/2.8 and the Sony SEL057FEC, FE 16mm f/3.5 which basically make your one lens capable of being more than just a 28mm. I am thinking about picking up the FE 21mm converter to use primary for my surf photography, If I do I will defiantly do a update to this review.
AS ALWAYS, IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING PURCHASING ANY OF THESE FINE PRODUCTS. PLEASE DO USE THE LINKS PROVIDED ON THE SITE. THEY DON'T COST YOU A PENNY AND THEY HELP KEEP THE SITE RUNNING IN TURN BRINGING YOU MORE TUTORIALS, REVIEWS, AND AWESOME NEW CONTENT.
TILL NEXT TIME HAPPY SHOOTING