Sony 24mm f/2.8
FE Full-Frame G
Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G (49mm filters, 5.8 oz./162g, 0.8'/0.24m close focus (0.6'/0.18m in manual-focus), $598). bigger. I'd get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually 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 get 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 all of 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.
September 2021 Better Pictures Sony Sony Lenses Canon Nikon Fuji LEICA Zeiss All Reviews
Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Full-Frame
Why Fixed Lenses Take Better Pictures
Sample Images top
More samples throughout this review at Bokeh, Macro, Spherochromatism and Sunstars.
These are just snapshots; my real work is in my Gallery.
These are all shot hand-held as STANDARD JPGs; no tripods, no FINE or EXTRA FINE JPGs or RAW files were used or needed.
Canary Palm Tree Trunk, 9:33 AM, 22 September 2021. Sony A7R IV, Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G at f/5.6 at 1/400 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or 60 MP camera-original © JPG file (20 MB).
Introduction top
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This is a compact Chinese-made full-frame fixed wide lens for all Sony mirrorless cameras. It's sharp, reasonably well made by today's lax standards, moderately priced and works very well.
I'd get my FE 24mm f/2.8 G at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
New intro top
Sony's first compact 24mm full-frame mirrorless lens.
Good intro top
Sharp.
Compact.
Light.
Close-focussing.
Great sunstars.
Dedicated aperture ring. (It's sad when a basic control like this merits being called out as a nice feature; all lenses should have this!)
Defeatable aperture clicks.
Programmable function button.
Tiny hood included.
Metal exterior trim (mostly plastic elsewhere).
Claims to be gasketed against the elements:
Bad intro top
Production dumped to China, not made domestically in Japan.
Electronic manual focus; no real mechanical connection between lens and focus ring.
Plastic filter threads, hood, hood mount and most internals (outer trim is metal).
AF/MF switch is in a weird place which requires minor acrobatics to reach.
Missing intro top
No Image Stabilization, but will work with in-camera stabilization (same as any other adapted 1930s manual-focus lens).
Mount is light-duty, lightweight aluminium, not chromed brass.
No always-responsive instant manual-focus override. This is a system problem with Sony.
No Stabilizer switch for in-camera stabilization.
No case included — so?
Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G. bigger.
Format top
I'd get my FE 24mm f/2.8 G at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This is a full frame lens and I'm reviewing it as such.
It works fine on APS-C cameras, but 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.
Specifications top
I'd get my FE 24mm f/2.8 G at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Name specifications top
Sony calls this the FE 24mm f/2.8 G:
FE: Full-frame coverage, E-mount.
G: "Good," meaning Sony's nearly best, but not quite as physically tough and good as the GM "Good Master" lenses.
Sony's model number: SEL24F28G.
Optics specifications top
Internal Optical Construction. Aspherical and ED elements.
8 elements in 7 groups.
3 aspherical elements.
1 ED extra-low dispersion element, which helps reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration.
Diaphragm specifications top
Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G (diaphragm not seen). bigger.
7 rounded blades.
Electronically actuated.
Stops down to f/22 in 1/3-stop clicks.
Filters specifications top
Plastic 49mm filter thread.
Coverage specifications top
Full-Frame (24 × 36mm) and APS-C (16 × 24mm).
Focal Length specifications top
24mm.
When used on an APS-C camera, it sees the same angle of view as a 35mm lens sees when used on a full-frame or 35mm camera.
Angle of View specifications top
84º diagonal on full-frame.
61º diagonal on APS-C.
Autofocus specifications top
"Dual 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
Auto Focus: 0.8 feet (9.4" or 0.24 meters).
Manual Focus: 0.6 feet (7.1" or 0.18 meters).
Maximum Reproduction Ratio specifications top
Auto Focus: 1:7.7 (0.13 ×).
Manual Focus: 1:5.3 (0.19 ×).
Image Stabilizer specifications top
NONE, but works with in-camera stabilization if your camera has it.
Caps specifications top
ALC-F49S front and ALC-R1EM rear cap, included.
Hood specifications top
Tiny ALC-SH165 plastic bayonet hood, included.
Case specifications top
None.
Size specifications top
2.68" ø maximum diameter × 1.77" extension from flange.
68 mm ø maximum diameter × 45 mm extension from flange.
Weight specifications top
5.8 oz. (162 g).
Quality specifications top
Made in China. bigger.
Made in China.
Announced specifications top
Tuesday, 23 March 2021, 10 AM NYC Time.
Included specifications top
Lens.
ALC-F49S front cap.
ALC-R1EM rear cap.
Sony's Model Number specifications top
SEL24F28G.
Price, U. S. A. specifications top
September 2021
$598 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.
Performance top
Overall Autofocus Manual Focus Breathing
Bokeh Distortion Ergonomics Exposure Falloff
Filters Flare & Ghosts Hood Lateral Color Fringes
Lens Corrections Macro Mechanics Sharpness
Spherochromatism Stabilization Sunstars
I'd get my FE 24mm f/2.8 G at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Overall performance top
The FE 24mm f/2.8 G is a solid little lens with great optics.
Autofocus performance top
Autofocus is unexceptional; it's about as fast or a bit slower than everything else.
Manual Focus performance top
Manual focusing is entirely electronic; the manual focus ring isn't connected to anything other than a digital encoder.
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.
This lens' image grows as focussed more closely.
Bokeh performance top
Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, doesn't matter with this lens because it's so wide and slow that almost nothing is ever out of focus. If you care, bokeh is poor.
As a multi-aspherical lens that uses traditional aspherical manufacturing methods rather than Sony's brilliant "extreme aspherical" process, you'll see rings inside the blur circles of out-of-focus point sources — but only if you're looking way too hard.
Here's a photo from headshot distance wide-open. I'm focused on the DAVIS logo. Click for the © camera-original file:
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6250 weather station, 22 September 2021. Sony A7R IV, Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G wide-open at f/2.8 at 1/4,000 at Auto ISO 100, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.9), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file.
As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at f/2.8 and get as close as possible.
Distortion performance top
My A7R IV always corrects for distortion; in-camera correction can't be turned off. With this correction, there is no visible distortion.
For more critical scientific use, use a correction factor of +0.60 in Photoshop's lens correction filter to camera-corrected JPG images. Even after this correction of the corrected image there is a little bit of residual waviness — but you won't see any of this in real-world shooting.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images and use non-Sony software to convert this data into images, it probably won't correct the distortion. Good luck.
These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires hours of photography and calculations on the resulting data.
Ergonomics performance top
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Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G. bigger. |
Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G. bigger. |
The ribs of the aperture ring look - and feel - like gear teeth for a cine rig. It's harsh on my fingers, even short term, but easy to find by feel.
Sadly there are no deeper detents at full stops; every click is the same as every other.
Thankfully it requires a much stronger twist to get to A.
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Aperture Ring CLICK Switch. bigger. |
Button & AF/MF Switch. bigger. |
The CLICK switch is well hidden so it won't get knocked by accident.
The worst thing about this lens is that the AF/MF switch is in the wrong place. It should be up between the unmarked button and the G vanity logo, but NO, the AF/MF switch is way down where you can't reach it unless you let go of the lens and futz around trying to find it. Good luck.
Falloff performance top
Falloff is invisible with 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, Shading Comp ON:
© 2021 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
Of course if you turn off correction (Shading Comp OFF), then you'll see more at f/2.8 and f/4:
Falloff on Full-Frame, Shading Comp ON:
© 2021 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
Filters, use with performance top
There's no need for thin filters. I can stack about an inch of standard 49mm filters without vignetting on full frame.
In fact, I probably could use a reducing ring and use tiny 29.5mm filters if I really wanted to.
Go ahead and use your standard rotating polarizer and grad filters.
Flare & Ghosts performance top
No problems here.
See examples at Sunstars.
Hood specifications top
The tiny hood doesn't do much other than keep your fingers out of the lens, but that's OK as flare isn't a problem.
Lateral Color Fringes performance top
There are none with my Sony A7R IV's default correction ON.
There are some red/cyan lateral color fringes if you turn off the correction - or shoot raw data and use non-Sony software to turn this data into images.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
My Sony A7R IV corrects for any or all of Falloff ("Shading"), Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") and Distortion.
By default, all these are ON (AUTO).
On my A7R IV, I can turn OFF Falloff ("Shading") and Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") corrections, while Distortion correction is always ON and cannot be turned off.
Macro Performance performance top
Macro gets reasonably close:
Wide-open at f/2.8
It's not that sharp at f/2.8 at macro distances, limited by spherochromatism:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at manual close-focus distance, 22 September 2021. Sony A7R IV, Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G wide-open at f/2.8 at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 100, +1 stop exposure compensation (LV 13.6), as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (7.9× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 16 × 24" (1.3 × 2 feet or 40 × 60 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 32 × 47½" (2.6 × 4 feet or 0.75 × 1.2 meters).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 63 × 95" (5.3 × 7.9 feet or 1.6 × 2.4 meters).
At f/8
Like every lens, it's super sharp at f/8:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at manual close-focus distance, 22 September 2021. Sony A7R IV, Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G at f/8 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100, +1 stop exposure compensation (LV 14.0), as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (7.9× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 16 × 24" (1.3 × 2 feet or 40 × 60 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 32 × 47½" (2.6 × 4 feet or 0.75 × 1.2 meters).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 63 × 95" (5.3 × 7.9 feet or 1.6 × 2.4 meters).
Mechanical Quality performance top
Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G. bigger.
It's a poser lens with metal vanity trim on the outside but with lots of plastic where its less obvious.
Finish
Black anodized aluminum.
Hood
Plastic bayonet.
Front Bumper
None.
Filter Threads
Plastic.
Hood Bayonet Mount
Plastic.
Front Identity Ring
Plastic.
Focus Ring
Metal.
Aperture Ring
Metal.
Rear Barrel Exterior
Metal.
Button & Slide Switches
Plastic.
Identity
Printed around front of lens, also "24" engraved and filled with paint on top of barrel.
Internals
Seem like plastic and metal.
Dust Gasket at Mount
Yes.
Mount
Aluminum.
Markings
Mostly painted.
Aperture ring and "24" on barrel top are engraved and filled with paint.
Serial Number
Serial Number. bigger.
Laser engraved in black-on-black on bottom of barrel (I've made it more clear here than it is in actual life).
Date Code
None found.
Noises When Shaken
Moderate clunking from the uncaged focus group flopping around.
Made in
Made in China.
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/16 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, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I often 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 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 very sharp corner-to corner at every aperture, limited of course by diffraction at the very smallest apertures.
Sony's MTF charts at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted). These are fairy-tale calculations from Sony's marketing department ignoring diffraction and flare, and certainly do not represent actual measured performance.
MTF at f/2.8. |
MTF at f/8. |
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 relatively strong red-cyan spherochromatism if you go out of your way to look for it. At large apertures this is the strongest aberration in this lens. It goes away as stopped down.
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at f/2.8, 22 September 2021. Sony A7R IV, Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G wide-open at f/2.8 at 1/4,000 at Auto ISO 100, +1 stop exposure compensation (LV 14.9), as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (7.9× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 16 × 24" (1.3 × 2 feet or 40 × 60 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 32 × 47½" (2.6 × 4 feet or 0.75 × 1.2 meters).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 63 × 95" (5.3 × 7.9 feet or 1.6 × 2.4 meters).
Image Stabilization performance top
This lens has no Optical Image Stabilization (OIS, OSS, IS or VR (Vibration Reduction)).
It works with in-camera stabilization if you have it.
Sunstars performance top
With a 7-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get soft 14-pointed sunstars on brilliant points of light at moderate apertures and sharper, stronger stars at smaller apertures.
Ignore the the huge smear of the sun at large apertures, this is a sensor artifact called interline transfer smear caused by huge levels of overexposure of the sun and not a lens defect.
Likewise 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.
User's Guide top
I'd get my FE 24mm f/2.8 G at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
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Aperture Ring CLICK Switch. bigger. |
Button & AF/MF Switch. bigger. |
CLICK ON/OFF Switch user's guide top
CLICK ON means that there are clicks at every third stop of the aperture ring.
OFF means the aperture ring turns smoothly, without clicks.
Unmarked Side Button user's guide top
The button between G and AF usually is FOCUS LOCK.
You can change this button's function in your camera's menu system.
AF - MF Switch user's guide top
AF: Auto Focus. You may have manual override under some very limited conditions.
MF: Manual Focus only, like a forced focus lock.
Recommendations top
I'd get my FE 24mm f/2.8 G at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
The great thing about this little lens is that it can replace a zoom if you assemble your system properly. For instance, I can shoot all day with this lens and a tele zoom and never miss not having a wide or midrange zoom. Galen Rowell famously traveled the world for National Geographic for years with no more than a Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AI-s and Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 Series E and was never at a loss for lenses.
I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap 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 Multicoated Hoya HD3 49mm which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints.
For less money, the B＋W 49mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated B＋W and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best. Fuji sells a PRF-49S filter if you prefer.
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 FE 24mm f/2.8 G at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually 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 get 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 all of 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.
© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Ken Rockwell® is a registered trademark.
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