Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G
Unique Full-Frame Ultrawide to Short Tele Macro-Focussing Zoom
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
Sony: A9 III A1 A9 II A9 A7R V A7R IV A7R III A7 IV A7 III A7R II A7S III A7c A7 II A6600 A6400 A6100 A6000 ZV-E10 RX10/4 RX100/7 RX100/6 Flash Lenses
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G (72mm filters, 17.2 oz./488 g, 0.8'/0.25m close focus, 0.39× macro ratio, $1,098). bigger. I'd get mine at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you take the chance of getting it elsewhere. Sony does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, dropped, incomplete, gray-market, store demo or used lens — and my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new lens. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new lens before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
March 2024 Better Pictures Sony Sony Lenses Canon Nikon Fuji LEICA Zeiss All Reviews
Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Full-Frame
Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji & OM SYSTEM Menu Systems Compared.
Sample Images top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
These are just snapshots; my real work is in my Gallery.
These are all shot hand-held as LIGHT JPGs (the smallest file type); no tripods, no FINE or EXTRA FINE JPGs or RAW files were used or needed.
Desert Hideaway, California, 4:42 PM, Friday, 23 February 2024. Sony A9 Mk III VIVID image with +9 Saturation, Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G at 36mm at f/8 at 1/800 at Auto ISO 250 (LV 14⅓), Radiant Photo software. bigger or camera-original © file.
Matador Red 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, La Quinta Car Show, La Quinta, California, 10:43 AM, Saturday, 24 February 2024. Sony A9 Mk III VIVID image with +9 Saturation, Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G at 70mm at f/8 at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 250 (LV 15.0), Radiant Photo software. bigger or full-resolution 24 MP, 5 MB JPG file.
Introduction top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below. |
This 20-70mm lens is the world's first ultrawide to short-tele full frame zoom.
Because of this it can replace both an ultrawide 16-35mm as well as a 24-70mm lens for most practical purposes and save you from having to carry an extra lens as well as allowing you to select focal lengths with a twist of the wrist rather than having to change lenses. Yes, 16mm is different from 20mm, but few people know How to Use Ultrawide Lenses well and 20mm is usually as wide as any reasonable person needs. Bravo, Sony!
It lacks optical stabilization, but will work with in-camera stabilization.
It has the usual excellent optics I expect from a Sony G lens, and has Sony's typically sturdy plastic barrel construction quality.
It also focuses very closely, handles well, has great bokeh and is light and compact and very reasonably priced. All in all, it's sad that neither Nikon nor Canon make anything similar — yet. Sony just pushed out the envelope of what we now expect in standard zoom lenses.
It's normal to make a strong clunking sound when shaken as if there's a loose part inside — because there is! It's the focus groups flopping around with the power off; on a camera with the power ON they lock down.
This is a full-frame lens; avoid using it on APS-C cameras, which will waste most of its performance.
Holy cow, Sony has just done something that none of the world's traditional optical giants at Zeiss, LEICA, Nikon or Canon have ever been able to design: a full-frame zoom that starts at an ultrawide 20mm and zooms all the way to 70mm, and at a constant f/4 to boot!
This compact lens is a HUGE step forward. It is immensely more difficult to make a lens each millimeter wider. It's also extremely difficult to do it in a zoom, much less at a large aperture.
Up until today no full frame lens that could get to 70mm could go wider than 24mm.
This 20-70mm is amazing for much more than laying another milestone in optical history: for many people it now lets us take just this one lens instead of hauling an ultrawide zoom along with our 24-70mm.
This is one of those cases where a manufacturer doesn't realize what an optical engineering milestone this is, and for a change I'm having to tout it more than the manufacturer. In most cases marketers make up things to get us to want to buy the new model of the same old thing, and in this case this is something no other maker has ever been able to do in the entire history of optics.
It's not a matter of marketing never having thought of such a revolutionary ultrawide to short tele zoom; it's the simple fact that no optical designer has ever been able to create any full-frame lens that could go this wide, be this fast and sharp and zoom that long at a reasonable size (takes 72mm filters and is 3.9"/99mm long), weight (just 17.1 oz./488g) and price ($1,098). Sony has broken a new technical barrier — oh, and it also focuses super close!!
I'd get my 20-70mm at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
New intro top
World's first ultrawide to short-tele full frame zoom.
Good intro top
Replaces both an ultrawide and standard zoom, with one lens.
This lens focusses very closely, possibly eliminating the need to carry a separate macro lens!
Sharp.
Fast: a constant f/4.
2 programmable focus lock buttons.
Aperture ring with defeatable clicks (just move a switch).
AF/MF switch.
Bad intro top
Soft plastic filter threads are easy to cross thread, typical of consumer lenses in 2024.
No Image Stabilization, but works with in-camera stabilization.
Production dumped to Thailand, not made domestically in Japan.
Missing intro top
No always-active instant manual-focus override (typical for most Sony lenses).
Mounting index dot is the same white as everything else, so it doesn't stand out when you need to find it to mount your lens.
No focus or depth-of-field scales.
No infra-red focus indices.
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
Format & Compatibility top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
I'd get my 20-70mm at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This is a full frame lens and I'm reviewing it as such.
This works on all Sony E-mount cameras, both full-frame and crop-sensor APS-C.
While it works fine on Sony's APS-C cameras, you're paying a premium price for the privilege of covering full frame. Using it on an APS-C camera throws away more than half of the image from this lens. Ideally use this lens on full-frame cameras (the A1, A9x and A7x series) for the results you deserve, or use an APS-C lens like any 18-55mm for better results for a whole lot less money.
There is no APS-C lens that covers the angles-of-view this lens sees on full frame; that would require a 13-45mm lens which does not exist.
See also crop factor.
It will not work on any Sony A-mount DSLR or any Minolta MAXXUM 35mm SLR of any kind. Those use the old A mount which was actually the Minolta MAXXUM mount from 1987.
Specifications top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
I'd get my 20-70mm at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Name specifications top
Sony calls this the Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G:
FE: Full-frame coverage, E-mount.
G: "Good," meaning Sony's nearly best, but not quite as physically tough and good as Sony's GM "Good Master" lenses.
Sony's model number: SEL2070G.
Optics specifications top
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G Internal Optical Construction. ED, Advanced Aspherical, Aspherical and Aspherical ED elements.
16 elements in 13 groups.
3 ED extra-low dispersion elements, which help reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration.
2 Advanced Aspherical elements. Advanced Aspherical is Sony's secret manufacturing process that yields uncommonly super-accurate and smooth surfaces to 10 nanometers precision; it's not that these elements have crazy shapes.
1 Aspherical ED element.
1 conventional Aspherical element.
Diaphragm specifications top
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
9 rounded blades.
Electronically actuated.
Stops down to f/22.
Filters specifications top
Plastic 72mm filter thread.
Focal Length specifications top
20~70mm.
When used on APS-C, it sees the same angle of view as a 30~105mm lens sees when used on a full-frame camera.
See also Crop Factor.
Angle of View specifications top
94º ～ 34º diagonal, full frame.
70º ～ 24º diagonal, APS-C.
Autofocus specifications top
Linear motors.
No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.
Focus Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Infinity Focus Stop specifications top
No.
You have to focus somehow to get precise focus at infinity, just like at every other distance.
Depth of Field Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Infrared Focus Index specifications top
No.
Close Focus (distance from subject to image plane) specifications top
0.8 feet (0.25 meters).
Maximum Reproduction Ratio specifications top
1:2.6 (0.39 ×).
Reproduction Ratio Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Image Stabilizer specifications top
NONE.
Caps specifications top
ALC-F72S front and ALC-R1EM rear caps included.
Hood specifications top
Sony ALC-SH174 Hood for FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
ALC-SH174 Hood, included.
Case specifications top
None included.
Size specifications top
3.10" ø maximum diameter × 3.90" extension from flange.
78.7 mm ø maximum diameter × 99 mm extension from flange.
Weight specifications top
17.2 oz. (488 g).
Quality specifications top
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
Made in Thailand.
Announced specifications top
17 January 2023, 10 AM NYC time.
Included specifications top
ALC-F72S front and ALC-R1EM rear caps.
Sony's Model Number specifications top
SEL2070G.
Price, U. S. A. specifications top
February ~ March 2024
$1,098 at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.
About $850 used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
January 2023 ~ January 2024
$1,098 at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.
Performance top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
Overall Autofocus Manual Focus Breathing
Bokeh Distortion Ergonomics Falloff Filters
Flare & Ghosts Lateral Color Fringes
Lens Corrections Macro Mechanics
Sharpness Spherochromatism Sunstars
I'd get my 20-70mm at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Overall performance top
This is a great little and unique lens.
It has the usual excellent optics I expect from a Sony G lens, and has Sony's typically sturdy plastic barrel construction quality.
It focuses very closely, handles well, has great bokeh and is light and compact and very reasonably priced.
Autofocus performance top
Autofocus is just about immediate. Great job, Sony.
Manual Focus performance top
Manual focusing is entirely electronic; the manual focus ring isn't connected to anything other than a digital encoder.
There's no always-active instant manual-focus override, typical for most Sony lenses. Good luck with the DMF mode.
Focus Breathing performance top
Focus breathing is the image changing size as focused in and out. It's important to cinematographers that the image not breathe because it looks funny if the image changes size as focus gets pulled back and forth between actors. If the lens does this, the image "breathes" by growing and contracting slightly as the dialog goes back and forth.
The image gets smaller as focussed more closely at 20mm.
Breathing becomes less visible at longer focal lengths.
There is no breathing at 70mm.
Bokeh performance top
Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is excellent, which I attribute to Sony's unique Advanced Aspherical elements whose more precise manufacturing eliminates the "onion ring" effects of other aspherical technologies.
Here are photos from headshot distance wide-open. I'm focused on the DAVIS logo. Click either for its © camera-original file:
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6357 Wireless Sensor Suite (used with 6351 Vantage Vue console), 01 March 2024. Sony A9 Mk III VIVID image with +9 Saturation, Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G at 20mm f/4 at 1/5,000 at Auto ISO 250 (LV 15.0), Radiant Photo software. bigger or camera-original © file.
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6357 Wireless Sensor Suite (used with 6351 Vantage Vue console), 01 March 2024. Sony A9 Mk III VIVID image with +9 Saturation, Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G at 70mm at f/4 at 1/3,200 at Auto ISO 250 (LV 14⅓), Radiant Photo software. bigger or camera-original © file.
As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at 70mm at f/4 and get as close as possible.
Distortion performance top
The FE 20-70mm f/4 G has no visible distortion, which makes sense as Sony cameras always apply distortion correction with this lens— you can't turn off distortion correction.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct the distortion as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
For more critical scientific use, use these corrections in Photoshop's lens correction filter to JPG images. No, I have no idea why my A9 III doesn't correct the distortion completely.
These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires hours of photography and calculations on the resulting data.
On Full-Frame at 30' (10m) |
Correction factor with in-camera corrected images |
20mm |
+1.20 |
24mm |
+0.80 |
28mm |
+0.60 |
35mm |
+0.60 |
50mm |
+0.50 |
70mm |
±0.00 |
© 2024 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
Ergonomics performance top
This is a handy little lightweight, mostly plastic, grapefruit-sized lens:
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Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger. |
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger. |
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Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger. |
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger. |
The filter threads are crappy plastic, so be careful not to cross-thread anything.
The focus ring is purely electronic and mostly ignored unlesyou move the AF-MF switch to MF.
There's no always-responsive instant manual-focus override unless you try the rather limited DMF focus mode (set on-camera).
Sadly the AF/MF switch is in the wrong place towards the bottom of the left side of the lens, not up towards the top where our thumbs live. Therefore one must stop what we're doing and move our hand to bring our thumb down to find the switch when we need it.
The zoom ring is great; it's a real mechanical direct zoom control.
The aperture ring has third-stop clicks. Sadly they lack deeper detents at full stops, making it harder to set apertures purely by feel.
The aperture ring has defeatable clicks, just move the CLICK LOCK switch:
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
The aperture ring has stronger detents between A and f/22, so it's unlikely that you'll get between these accidentally.
There's also a way to lock the aperture ring from moving between A and f/22. Move the IRIS LOCK switch to do this:
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
Falloff performance top
Falloff is invisible with default correction ON.
I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background; it will not look this bad in actual photos of real things:
Falloff on full-frame at infinity, correction at its default of ON:
© 2024 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct this as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
If you go out of your way to turn off the correction, this is what you get:
Falloff on full-frame at infinity, correction deliberately turned OFF:
© 2024 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
Filters, use with performance top
There's no need for thin filters. Even a thick 72mm filter gives no vignetting at 20mm on full frame.
It's unlikely you will get away with stacking filters at 20mm on full-frame, and as you zoom longer you easily can stack several filters.
Go ahead and use your standard rotating polarizer and grad filters, however avoid polarizers at 20mm because the sky's natural polarization can appear as a dark band across the sky.
Flare & Ghosts performance top
There are no significant flare or ghosts, bravo, Sony!
See examples at Sunstars.
Lateral Color Fringes performance top
There are no color fringes as shot with the default automatic correction ON.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct this as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
There is spherochromatism, which can cause color fringes on things that aren't in perfect focus at large apertures. Spherochromatism is a completely different aberration in a different dimension than lateral color fringes.
Lens Corrections performance top
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct these as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
My Sony A9 III corrects for any or all of Falloff ("Shading Comp."), Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberration Comp.") and Distortion.
By default these are all ON.
Falloff ("Shading Comp.") and Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberration Comp.") may be turned OFF if you like.
Distortion correction is always ON; it's part of the lens design to correct it electronically rather than optically. This gives the designers more freedom to make the lens smaller, sharper, less expensive and have this huge zoom range, something we could never do with film.
Macro Performance performance top
This lens gets very close, possibly eliminating the need to carry a separate macro lens!
Wide Open at f/4
It's also reasonably sharp, even wide-open. Know that I'm not really well aligned to the watch, so there is very little in perfect focus; it's not a fault of the lens.
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 22 February 2024. Sony A9 Mk III VIVID image with +9 Saturation, Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G at 70mm at f/4 at 1/3,200 at Auto ISO 250 (LV 14⅓), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 20 × 30" (50 × 75cm).
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 40 × 60" (1 × 1.5 meters).
Click any for the camera-original © files.
At f/8
Of course it gets even sharper, mostly because there is more in focus, at f/8:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 22 February 2024. Sony A9 Mk III VIVID image with +9 Saturation, Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G at 70mm at f/8 at 1/1,000 at Auto ISO 250 (LV 14⅔), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
There is never any depth-of-field at these close distances at wide apertures with any lens, and with me hand-holding not in perfect alignment know that most of this image is out-of-focus; the softness you see in a lot of places is no fault of the lens.
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 20 × 30" (50 × 75cm).
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 40 × 60" (1 × 1.5 meters).
Click any for the camera-original © files.
Mechanical Quality performance top
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
This is a mostly plastic lens, with a metal mount.
Finish
Black plastic.
Hood
Plastic bayonet.
Front Bumper
None.
Filter Threads
Soft plastic, easy to cross thread.
Hood Bayonet Mount
Plastic.
Front Vanity Trim Ring (just behind hood mount, with red index dot)
Metal.
Front Barrel Exterior
Plastic.
Focus Ring
Rubber-covered plastic.
Mid Barrel Exterior
Section with focus lock buttons: plastic.
Zoom Ring
Rubber-covered plastic.
Slide Switches
Plastic.
Aperture Ring
Hard plastic.
Rear Barrels
All plastic.
Identity
Printed around front of lens, also a metallic-look plate on top of barrel.
Internals
Seem like mostly plastic.
Dust Gasket at Mount
Yes.
Mount
Metal.
Markings
All paint.
Serial Number
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
Laser engraved in black-on-black on bottom of barrel.
Date Code
None found.
Noises When Shaken
Strong clunking, presumably from the focus groups flopping around with the power off.
Much quieter on the camera with the power ON, which locks-down the focus system.
Made in
Made in Thailand.
Sharpness performance top
Lens sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness; every lens made in the past 100 years is more than sharp enough to make super-sharp pictures if you know what you're doing. The only limitation to picture sharpness is your skill as a photographer. It's the least talented who spend the most time worrying about lens sharpness and blame crummy pictures on their equipment rather than themselves. Skilled photographers make great images with whatever camera is in their hands; I've made some of my best images of all time with an irreparably broken camera! Most pixels are thrown away before you see them, but camera makers don't want you to know that.
If you're not getting ultra-sharp pictures with this, be sure not to shoot at f/11 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot at ISO 100 or below because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, avoid shooting across long distances over land which can lead to atmospheric heat shimmer, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I set mine to the maximum) and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 or smaller at ISO 1,600 or above at default sharpening in daylight of subjects at differing distances in the same image.
People worry waaaaay too much about lens sharpness. It's not 1968 anymore when lenses often weren't that sharp and there could be significant differences among them; ever since about 2010 all new lenses are all pretty much equally fantastic.
This lens is super sharp corner-to corner at every aperture, limited of course by diffraction at the smallest apertures. Avoid f/16 and smaller unless you really need them for depth of field because diffraction takes its toll.
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MTF at 20mm at f/4. |
MTF at 20mm at f/8. |
10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted).
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MTF at 70mm at f/4. |
MTF at 70mm at f/8. |
10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted).
Spherochromatism performance top
Spherochromatism, also called secondary spherical chromatic aberration or "color bokeh," is an advanced form of spherical and chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral chromatic aberration. It happens mostly in fast normal and tele lenses when spherical aberration at the ends of the color spectrum are corrected differently than in the middle of the spectrum. Spherochromatism can cause colored fringes on out-of-focus highlights, usually seen as green fringes on backgrounds and magenta fringes on foregrounds. Spherochromatism is common in fast lenses of moderate focal length when shooting contrasty items at full aperture. It goes away as stopped down.
It has a bit of spherochromatism:
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance, 22 February 2024. Sony A9 Mk III VIVID image with +9 Saturation, Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G at 70mm at f/4 at 1/5,000 at Auto ISO 250 (LV 15.0), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same high magnification would be about 20 × 30" (50 × 75cm).
If these 1,200 × 900 pixel crops are about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 40 × 60" (1 × 1.5 meters).
Sunstars performance top
With a 9-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get 18-pointed sunstars on brilliant points of light at the smallest apertures.
Ignore the crazy rainbow dots at small apertures; these are sensor artifacts caused by taking a picture directly of the sun and exposing for the dark underside of a huge palm tree, and using that same palm tree to hide the sky to accentuate the stars.
Click any to enlarge:
Click any to enlarge.
Compared top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
I'd get my 20-70mm at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
There is nothing similar in full-frame; nothing else goes from ultra-wide to short tele.
User's Guide top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
I'd get my 20-70mm at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Sadly setting the aperture ring to A does not put you in Aperture-priority mode if you're in Program; all it does is let you control the aperture from the camera in Manual or Aperture-priority modes. A is ignored if you're in Program or Shutter-priority modes.
The CLICK switch controls the clicks. At ON it clicks in third stops (all equally), and at A.
In OFF it clicks only at A, with a half detent at f/22:
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
IRIS LOCK prevents the aperture ring from moving between A and f/22. If you're at a set aperture it doesn't prevent you from selecting others:
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G. bigger.
Recommendations top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Format & Compatibility Specifications
I'd get my 20-70mm at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
I'd much rather have this lens than any Sony 24-70mm lens because it makes a dedicated ultrawide lens or zoom redundant.
I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap (exactly like an iPhone) so I'm always ready to shoot instantly. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear without padding — which is never. The UV filter never gets in the way, and never gets lost, either.
The very best protective filter is the 72mm Hoya multicoated HD3 UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints.
For less money, the Canon 72mm PROTECT, B+W 72mm 010 MRC MASTER, Hoya 72mm NXT Plus and even the most basic Hoya 72mm multicoated UV all work great to protect this lens with varying degrees of environmental toughness, while the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and longest-lasting in the field.
Filters last a lifetime, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt.
All these filters are just as sharp and take the same pictures, the difference is how much abuse they'll take and stay clean and stay in one piece. Since filters last a lifetime or more, there's no reason not to buy the best as it will last you for the next 40 years. Filters aren't throwaways like digital cameras which we replace every few years, like it or not. I'm still using filters I bought back in the 1970s!
I'd get my 20-70mm at Adorama (who also has it as kits with free goodies), at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you take the chance of getting it elsewhere. Sony does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, dropped, incomplete, gray-market, store demo or used lens — and my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new lens. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new lens before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
Thanks for helping me help you!
Ken.
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Help Me Help You top
I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.
The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places always have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.
If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.
If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!
If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.
As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!
Thanks for reading!
Ken.