Sony AF 50mm F1.4 A-mount lens review by wingedpower
 wingedpower#12101 date: Jan-23-2015 | |
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| sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 3 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.2 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | * Tamron 17-50/2.8 XR * Sony 85mm/2.8 * Sony 35mm/1.8 * Minolta 50/1.7 |
| price paid: | 450 |
| positive: | * Very bright/fast 50mm prime. * Very light(plastic construction) * Fairly sharp,if stopped down a bit. |
| negative: | * Slight blur when wide open * Build quality found wanting. (plastic construction) * VERY noisy when auto-focusing * AF speed is slow for the lens. |
| comment: | As a previous owner of the Minolta 50/1.7, I had really high hopes for the Sony 50mm/1.4. This lens is fairly compact. It will DISAPPEAR when mounted on a A77/A99 with vertical grip. It is very light. This lens works very nicely in tough lighting conditions. Though at 50mm on an APS-C, it's a bit long, not wide enough. On a full frame, I find the fall-off in the corners to be very noticeable. The lens' focusing ring up front is very small and very thin, making manual focus with this lens to be a bit of a pain. The wiggle and give does not help. I found I missed the pull out lens hood of the Minolta 50/1.7. The provided plastic lens hood often added bulk and would twist off easily. When the above issues were not at play, I found the images taken with the lens to be sharp, provide good subject/background separation, and were pleasing. The AF gears on the lens are noisey, which greatly detracts from video shots and for when you want to remain in the background. :( I find myself thinking fondly of the Minolta 50mm/1.7, Tamron 17-50/2.8, or one of the new 50mm lenses with silent drive systems. This isn't a bad lens. But it's just not built as well as it can be. |
rating summary
- total reviews: 138
- sharpness: 4.70
- color: 4.78
- build: 4.20
- distortion: 4.79
- flare control: 4.49
- overall: 4.59