Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS
Stabilized E-Mount APS-C (2011-)
Performance Compared Recommendations
Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS (APS-C, 49mm filters, 7.1 oz./201g, 1.3'/0.39m close focus, $348 new or about $200 used if you know How to Win at eBay). bigger. I'd get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H, at Crutchfield or used at eBay. It also comes in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H, at Crutchfield or used at eBay.
This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
January 2020 Sony Sony Lenses Zeiss Nikon Canon Fuji LEICA All Reviews
Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 (full-frame, no stabilizer)
Why Fixed Lenses Take Better Pictures
Sony A6600 with Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS.
Sample Images
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Shot hand-held as Standard JPGs; no RAW or FINE JPGs or tripods were used or needed:
Palm, 29 December 2019. Sony A6600, Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS, f/8 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Introduction
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This Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS is a stabilized, super light, distortion-free, compact and fast normal lens for Sony's E-mount APS-C cameras.
This was Sony's first ever mirrorless short telephoto, coming out with Sony's first mirrorless cameras in 2011.
It's small, focuses silently and reasonably fast, works great in low light, it's sharp and it's reasonably priced and has image stabilization. What more could you want?
This 50mm lens sees the same angle of view on APS-C cameras as a 75mm lens sees on full frame; it's a short telephoto on APS-C.
This lens is is all plastic on the inside, with a metal mount and aluminum vanity cover on the outside, so it weighs next to nothing. You can take it everywhere and have it ready for anything.
I'd get my 50/1.8 OSS in silver at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Good
Fast f/1.8 aperture is four times more sensitive to light than an f/3.5 zoom.
Optical Steady Shot (OSS) Image Stabilization.
Reasonably fast and silent autofocusing.
Aluminum external trim.
Tiny.
Light.
Inexpensive.
Bad
Electronic focus ring, like most mirrorless lenses, has no direct mechanical connection to the optics. It only works when you have the camera set just right.
Offshored China; not made domestically in Japan.
Missing
No focus or depth-of-field scales.
No aperture ring.
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS. bigger.
Format
Top Sample Images Intro Format
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I'd get my 50/1.8 OSS in silver at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This is an APS-C (cropped-sensor) lens and I'm testing it as such.
It also works on full-frame cameras, which automatically crop their sensors to APS-C.
Compatibility
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I'd get my 50/1.8 OSS in silver at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This is an APS-C (cropped-sensor) lens that works on all Sony E-mount cameras. This includes all the variations of NEX, A9-, A7-, A6xxx and A5xxx series cameras.
Full-frame cameras will automatically crop to APS-C.
It will not mount on any Sony A-mount DSLR or any Minolta MAXXUM 50mm SLR of any kind. Those use the old A mount which was actually the Minolta MAXXUM mount from 1987.
Specifications
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I'd get my 50/1.8 OSS in silver at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Name
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS. bigger.
Sony calls this the E 50 MM F1.8 OSS:
E: E-mount (APS-C).
OSS: Optical Steady Shot Image Stabilization.
Sony's model number is SEL50F18.
Optics
Sony E 50mm f/1.8 internal optical construction.
9 elements in 8 groups.
Internal focus.
Diaphragm
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS (diaphragm not seen). bigger.
7 rounded blades.
Stops down to f/22.
Focal Length
50mm.
When used on APS-C, it sees the same angle of view as a 75mm lens sees when used on a full-frame camera.
See also Crop Factor.
Angle of View
32° diagonal on APS-C.
Autofocus
Internal focus.
No external movement as focused, so no air or dust is sucked in.
Close Focus
1.28 feet (0.39 meters).
Maximum Reproduction Ratio
1:6.2 (0.16×) life size.
Optical Stabilizer
Yes.
Filters
49mm filter thread.
Hood
Included ALC-SH116 hood. bigger.
ALC-SH116 plastic bayonet included.
Size
2.44" maximum diameter × 2.44" extension from flange.
62 mm maximum diameter × 62 mm extension from flange.
Weight
7.095 oz. (201.1 g) actual measured weight.
Rated 7.1 oz (202 g).
Included
Lens (SEL50F18).
ALC-SH116 plastic bayonet hood.
ALC-F49S front and ALC-R1EM rear cap.
Announced
Late 2011.
Sony Model Number
SEL50F18.
Price, USA
January 2020
$348 new or about $200 used if you know How to Win at eBay.
I'd get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H, at Crutchfield or used at eBay. It also comes in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H, at Crutchfield or used at eBay.
Performance
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Overall Autofocus Bokeh Distortion
Ergonomics Falloff Lateral Color Fringes
Macro Mechanics Sharpness Spherochromatism
I'd get my 50/1.8 OSS in silver at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Overall
This weightless Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS focuses fast and takes great pictures in any light for a bargain price.
Autofocus
Autofocus is fast and silent.
Bokeh
Bokeh, the feel or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is pretty good.
Here's a photo from headshot distance wide-open at f/1.8:
Made-in-USA Davis 6250 weather station, 20 December 2019. Sony A6600, Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS at f/1.8 at 1/3,200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.3). bigger or camera-original © file.
The green and red fringes you see around the weather station and on the DAVIS logo are caused by this lens' strong spherochromatism on slightly out-of-focus areas, which also helps smooth green backgrounds.
As with all lenses, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible shoot wide open (f/1.8) and get as close as possible.
Distortion
I can't measure any distortion, with or without my A6600's distortion correction turned ON or OFF.
This is excellent performance.
Ergonomics
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS. bigger.
There's an electronic focus ring and that's it.
It's all hard aluminum on the outside.
Falloff
Falloff is invisible with the camera's default correction ON (usually at MENU > Camera 1 > Lens Comp. > Shading Comp. > Auto).
I've greatly exaggerated it here by shooting pure gray and displaying it against more gray. It won't look this bad in actual photos:
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS falloff at infinity, correction ON.
© 2020 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
If you go out of your way to turn correction OFF then you can see some at f/1.8 and f/2, and for actual photos (not tests of flat fields) it's gone by f/2.8:
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS falloff at infinity, correction turned OFF.
© 2020 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
Lateral Color Fringes
There are few lateral color fringes as shot on Sony's cameras which usually correct for them anyway. This is excellent performance — but there is a boatload of spherochromatism at large apertures, which are different kinds color fringes in a different dimension.
Macro Performance
It gets close, and it's very sharp at f/8:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance at f/8 on Sony A6600, 20 December 2019. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel 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 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
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 20 × 30" (50 × 75cm).
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 40 × 60" (1 × 1.5 meters).
It's softer at f/1.8, caused by lots of spherochromatism:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance at f/1.8 on Sony A6600, 20 December 2019. bigger or camera-original © file.
Spherochromatism at f/1.8 causes the psychedelic red and cyan fringes on out-of-focus elements (which is most of the picture with any lens this close) that make it look like a 1960's newspaper's funny pages with really bad color alignment:
1,200 × 900 pixel 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 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
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 20 × 30" (50 × 75cm).
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 40 × 60" (1 × 1.5 meters).
Mechanical Quality
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS. bigger.
This Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS is all plastic on the inside, with a plastic filter ring but a metal mount and aluminum outer skin and manual focus ring.
The glass is glass and the electrical contacts are metal.
Sharpness
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. 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.
This lens is super-sharp at normal apertures, while it gets softer mostly due to the crazy chromatic effects of spherochromatism wide-open at f/1.8. It sharpens up quickly as stopped down from f/1.8.
This Chinese special is not the huge Zeiss 50/1.4 which costs four times as much, but is also flawlessly sharp in the corners in the lab wide-open where no one cares.
Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS MTF.
Spherochromatism
This 50/1.8 has a boatload of spherochromatism.
Spherochromatism, also called "color bokeh" by laymen, is an advanced form of chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral color. It causes colored fringes on out-of-focus highlights, seen as green-cyan fringes on backgrounds and magenta-red fringes on foregrounds. Spherochromatism is common in fast lenses of moderate focal length when shooting contrasty items at full aperture.
These spherochromatic color fringes are this lens' weakest point. They go away as stopped down, and are the limiting factor in performance at f/1.8:
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB, 20 December 2019. Sony A6600, Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS at f/1.8. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel 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 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is 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 this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is 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).
Compared
Top Sample Images Intro Format
Performance Compared Recommendations
I'd get my 50/1.8 OSS in silver at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Versus the Sony FE 50mm f/1.8
The Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 is newer, costs $100 less, has better optics and covers full-frame, however the FE version has no optical stabilizer.
If your camera has built-in sensor-shift stabilization or you have a full-frame camera, get the newer FE 50mm f/1.8 instead.
If you have an APS-C camera that doesn't have built-in stabilization, get this E 50/1.8 OSS lens.
This 50/1.8 OSS lens dates from the earliest days of Sony's NEX APS-C mirrorless cameras that had no built-in stabilization.
They both take 49mm filters.
This E APS-C OSS lens weighs a tiny bit more (7.1 oz./201g versus the full-frame's 6.6 oz./186g) and this APS-C lens focuses a little bit closer (1.3'/0.39m with a 1:6.2/0.16× macro ratio versus the full-frame's 1.5'/0.45m and 1:7.1/0.14× macro ratio).
Recommendations
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Performance Compared Recommendations
This little stabilized lens is great at as a short tele and portrait lens. With both stabilization and a fast aperture, you're prepared for anything.
Consider this lens if your camera has no built-in stabilizer, however if you have a full-frame camera or if you have a built-in stabilizer (see All Sony Cameras Compared for which have in-camera stabilization), get the newer and less expensive Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 instead. The FE 50mm f/1.8 is unstabilized but sharper at large apertures, while this E OSS lens has a built-in stabilizer.
I'd get my 50/1.8 OSS in silver at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or in black at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear, otherwise I leave a clear protective filter on my lens at all times instead of a cap so I'm ready to shoot instantly.
The very best protective filter is the Multicoated Hoya HD 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 HD is the toughest and the best.
Filters last a lifetime, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt.
This junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. 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, store demo or used lens. I use the stores I do 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 use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
Thanks for helping me help you!
Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.
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