Reader Comments: Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM gets rave reviews

2021-05-15 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: Chris R, reader comment, Roy P, Sony, Sony FE, Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM, Sony Lenses, Tigger the Feral Feline Friend

re: Sony GM Lenses: World-Class Performance, Why Look Elsewhere?
re: Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM Examples: Strikingly Beautiful Image Rendition with Outstanding Sharpness

Richard C writes:

If you could only have (afford) one Sony GM lens, which would you choose: 35 mm or 50mm or…?

DIGLLOYD: Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM. Please use my links to buy (any link on this site, or Sony wishlist, etc)

Roy P writes:

The Sony FE 50/1.2 is fantastic, as in delivering a fantasy-level performance. I can’t think of another 50mm lens that I was so impressed by – maybe the Zeiss Otus 55/14, but this is an f/1.2, so much more compact and lighter, and has killer AF to boot.

It does have slight pincushion distortion, and I don’t have a lens profile in Capture One (either that, or C1 is using some wrong “Manufacturer’s Profile”). So I have to manually correct it when it gets too distracting. But apart from that, this is an incredible lens.

Here’s an actual pixels crop from a street shot last evening as I went for a walk through downtown...

I also love the way the 50/1.2 handles bright sources of light in the background. From shots like below, you’d expect the bright areas to be quite harsh, with rough edges. But this is almost like the Sony FE 100/2.8 STF.

Very impressive.

DIGLLOYD: yep, this is what I have been trying to show in my examples. The Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM is a lens that pulls so many good things together in one package that it’s hard to believe. Lens of the decade?

I have 3 samples of the 50/1.2GM now, but one has to go back. Of the remaining two, I will pick the best one to shoot for a month on my upcoming travels. Ditto for two samples of the Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM.

Chris R writes:

Just to sy iv’e been really enjoying your recent Sony lens reviews, especially the Sony FE 50mm f1.2 and alike. lovely simple images as well in your back yard, it’s like going back to some of your early reviews of the Zeiss Milvus 100mm f2.

DIGLLOYD: the Canon EOS R5 is definitely a camera I need to cover.

Sony Mirrorless System

Sony Mirrorless wish list • Deals on Sony

$6498 Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera BACK IN STOCK in Cameras: Mirrorless	$2898 SAVE $100 = 3.0% Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 FE GM IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless	$1498 SAVE $100 = 6.0% Sony 14mm f/1.8 FE GM IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless	$1298 SAVE $100 = 7.0% Sony 24mm f/1.4 FE GM IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless	$1298 SAVE $100 = 7.0% Sony 35mm f/1.4 FE GM IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless	$1898 SAVE $100 = 5.0% Sony 50mm f/1.2 FE GM Lens (Sony E) IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless
$1698 Sony 85mm f/1.4 FE GM OUT OF STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless	$1498 Sony 100mm f/2.8 FE STF GM OSS IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless	$2398 SAVE $100 = 4.0% Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 FE GM OSS IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless	$2098 Sony 135mm f/1.8 FE GM IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless	$12998 Sony 600mm f/4 FE GM OSS IN STOCK in Lenses: Mirrorless

Tigger in Fig Trees

f1.2 @ 1/1250 sec handheld IBIS=on electronic shutter, ISO 800; 2021-05-11 19:40:32
Sony A1 + Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM
RAW: LACA corrected, pull 0.66 stops, +30 Whites, +10 Clarity

[low-res image for bot]