Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G
(23mm eq.) APS-C
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
Sony A1 A9 II A7R IV A7R III A7 IV A7S III A6600 A6400 A6100 ZV-E10 Lenses
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G (55mm filters, 7.7 oz./219g, 0.6'/0.17m close focus, 0.15× macro ratio, $748). bigger. I'd get mine at B&H, at Adorama 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.
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Sample Images top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
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, 12:28 PM, Thursday, 26 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G wide-open at f/1.4 at 1/2,500 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.3), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.
As you can see at the camera-original © JPG file, it's super-sharp and contrasty all the way out the the edges even wide-open at f/1.4. (Remember that depth-of-field is about zero as shown here at f/1.4; lenses are only sharp where they are in perfect focus.) Lenses don't get sharper than this. This is a great lens even for astronomy and scientific uses.
Under the Pier, 1:50 PM, Thursday, 26 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G at f/5.6 at 1/30 at Auto ISO 640 (LV 7.2). Skylum Aurora HDR and Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © JPG file.
Electric Utility Truck, 1:41 PM, Thursday, 26 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G at f/8 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.0). bigger or camera-original © JPG file.
Rental Scooters, 1:42 PM, Thursday, 26 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G at f/8 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.6). bigger or camera-original © JPG file.
Pier under Overcast Skies, 1:55 PM, Thursday, 26 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G at f/8 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.0), Perfectly Clear, split-toned print. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.
Biggie's Great Burgers & Shakes, 2:09 PM, Thursday, 26 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G at f/2.8 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 9.9), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.
Introduction top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
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This is a fast, sharp, compact ultrawide APS-C lens for Sony's APS-C cameras. It has no stabilization.
It's ultra-sharp, especially wide-open at f/1.4 all the way out the the edges, and has great bokeh and sunstars. This Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G has superb optics.
It works on full-frame cameras, however they crop automatically to use only the central APS-C sections of their sensors.
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G. bigger.
I'd get my Sony E 15mm f/1.4G at B&H or at Adorama, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
New intro top
World's smallest, fastest wide APS-C lens.
Good intro top
Small.
Sharp.
Great Sunstars.
Programmable focus lock button.
AF/MF switch.
Bad intro top
Production dumped to China, not made domestically in Japan.
Plastic filter threads and plastic exterior.
Missing intro top
No Stabilizer switch for in-camera stabilization.
No focus or depth-of-field scales.
No infra-red focus indices.
Compatibility top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
I'd get my Sony E 15mm f/1.4G at B&H or at Adorama, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This works on all Sony E-mount cameras, both full-frame and crop-sensor APS-C.
This is an APS-C lens, so full-frame cameras automatically will use only the central APS-C portions of their sensors.
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
Compatibility Specifications Performance
I'd get my Sony E 15mm f/1.4G at B&H or at Adorama, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Name specifications top
Sony calls this the Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G:
E: Sony "E" lens mount.
Sony's model number: SEL15F14G.
Optics specifications top
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G internal optical construction. Aspherical , ED and Super ED elements. smaller.
13 elements in 12 groups.
3 Aspherical elements.
1 ED extra-low dispersion element, which helps reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration.
1 Super ED extra-low dispersion element, which helps reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration.
Diaphragm specifications top
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G. bigger.
7 rounded blades.
Electronically actuated.
Stops down to f/16.
Filters specifications top
Plastic 55mm filter thread.
Coverage specifications top
APS-C (16 × 24mm).
Used on a full-frame body, the sensor will be cropped (most of the pixels are thrown away). It will look OK when shooting, but you'll notice the image sizes are much smaller than when shot with full-frame lenses on the same camera.
Focal Length specifications top
15mm.
When used on Sony's APS-C cameras, it sees the same angle of view as a 23 mm lens sees when used on a full-frame camera.
See also Crop Factor.
Angle of View specifications top
87º diagonal on APS-C.
Autofocus specifications top
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
Manual Focus
0.56 feet (6.7" or 0.17 meters).
Autofocus
0.66 feet (7.9" or 0.2 meters).
Maximum Reproduction Ratio specifications top
Manual Focus: 1:6.7 (0.15×).
Auto Focus: 1:8.3 (0.12×).
Reproduction Ratio Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Image Stabilizer specifications top
NONE, but will work with in-camera sensor-shift stabilization.
Caps specifications top
ALC-F55S front and ALC-R1EM rear cap, included.
Hood specifications top
ALC-SH171 Hood for 15mm f/1.4 G. bigger.
Size specifications top
2.62" ø maximum diameter × 2.74" extension from flange.
66.6 mm ø maximum diameter × 69.5 mm extension from flange.
Weight specifications top
7.740 oz. (219.3 g) actual measured weight.
Rated 7.7 oz. (219 g).
Quality specifications top
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G. bigger.
Made in China.
Announced specifications top
10 AM, Wednesday, 01 June 2022, NYC Time.
Promised for specifications top
July 2022.
Included specifications top
Lens.
ALC-SH171 hood.
ALC-F55S front cap.
ALC-R1EM rear cap.
Sony's Model Number specifications top
SEL15F14G.
Price, U. S. A. specifications top
June 2022
$748.
Performance top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
Overall Autofocus Breathing Bokeh Distortion
Ergonomics Falloff Filters Flare & Ghosts
Lateral Color Fringes Lens Corrections Macro
Mechanics Sharpness Spherochromatism
I'd get my Sony E 15mm f/1.4G at B&H or at Adorama, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Overall performance top
The 15mm is a fast, wide little gem that works great. Bravo!
Autofocus performance top
Autofocus is fast as we expect; ultrawide lenses always focus quickly.
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.
There is no breathing.
Bravo!
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. Backgrounds just melt away.
Here are photos from headshot distance wide-open. I'm focused on the DAVIS logo. Click any for the © camera-original file:
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6250 weather station, 11:49 AM, Friday, 26 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G wide-open at f/1.4 at 1/2,000 at Auto ISO 100, Tiffen ND 0.9 (3-stop) filter (LV 14.9). bigger or camera-original © file.
As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at f/1.4 and get as close as possible.
Distortion performance top
The Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G has no visible distortion as shot on Sony cameras, which correct it automatically.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from that raw data may or may not correct the distortion as done in-camera with JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
For more critical scientific use, you might want to use a correction factor of +0.80 in Photoshop's lens correction filter to JPG images, after which there is a tiny amount of waviness left, but otherwise all the distortion is invisible.
Ergonomics performance top
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Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G. bigger. |
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G . bigger. |
This is an easy-to-use lens.
It has non-defeatable third-stop clicks on its aperture ring. Thankfully there is a stiffer click to get to the A setting, which moves the aperture setting to the camera rather than the ring. This lens isn't made well enough to have the clicks align perfectly with the tick marks, bus as these are electronic and not mechanical controls it works just as well.
It's great having a real AF/MF switch and not having to find it in the menus.
The programmable focus lock button is too low; it's not where our thumb goes naturally so I have to reach down to hit it on the side rather than the top.
Falloff performance top
The 15mm is free from falloff as shot on Sony cameras, which correct it automatically.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from that raw data may or may not correct this as done in-camera with JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
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 APS-C at infinity, correction at its default of ON.
© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
If you go out of your way to turn off the automatic correction you'll see it, as expected for a wide lens this fast. I'm exaggerating it here by shooting blank gray on gray:
Falloff on APS-C at infinity, correction turned OFF.
© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
Filters, use with performance top
There's no need for thin filters. You easily can use one thick 55mm filter without vignetting, and often can use two normal filters if they're not too thick.
Go ahead and use your standard rotating polarizer and grad filters, but don't try to stack them.
Flare & Ghosts performance top
This lens is not particularly free from flare and ghosts. It's not bad, but if you shoot into the sun you'll probably see some. Not that this is bad; filmmakers often use software to add this back in since other lenses are so flare-free today!
See examples at Sunstars.
Lateral Color Fringes performance top
Sony's default automatic correction removes lateral color fringes that otherwise could be visible uncorrected.
If you go out of your way to turn off the corrections and then go looking for it (or if you collect raw data rather than shoot actual images and then process that data into images using software that doesn't apply the same correction as the cameras do), then there is some green/magenta lateral fringing in the corners.
Lens Corrections performance top
Sony cameras correct for any or all of Falloff ("Shading"), Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") and Distortion.
By default, Falloff ("Shading"), Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") and Distortion correction are all ON.
Falloff ("Shading") Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") can be turned OFF, while Distortion correction is always ON.
Macro Performance performance top
For an fast, wide lens, macro performance is great. It focuses to within a few inches or centimeters in front of the lens:
Wide-Open at f/1.4 G
It focuses close, but it's not that sharp wide-open due to spherochromatism:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 25 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G wide-open at f/1.4 G at 1/400 at Auto ISO 100, Tiffen ND 0.9 (3-stop) filter (LV 12.6). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5× 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 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).
At f/8
Like all lenses, it's super-sharp at f/8:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 25 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G at f/8 at 1/100 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.6). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5× 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 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 performance top
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G. bigger.
It has glass glass and a metal mount, and most of the rest is just Chinese plastic. This lens has superb optics, but it is not an heirloom-grade lens.
The clicks are slightly off from the aperture index lines. I've seen this on other Sony lenses. Aperture ticks are very helpful on cine and classic rangefinder lenses that have no clicks, but if you have clicks you need Swiss-made precision to line up two lines as Sony is learning. The human vision system is extremely sensitive to lines being slightly misaligned, which is the basis of the Vernier system but also makes it very difficult to get clicks and ticks to line up. With the level of manufacturing precision Sony is willing to give these lenses, they really should pick either ticks or clicks but not both at the same time. Oh well, this is what we get from China these days:
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G. bigger.
Finish
Black plastic.
Hood
Plastic bayonet.
Front Bumper
None.
Filter Threads
Plastic.
Hood Bayonet Mount
Plastic.
Thin Trim Band just behind Hood Mount
Anodized aluminum.
Front Focus Ring
Rubber-like plastic.
Barrel Exterior
All plastic.
Aperture Ring
Plastic.
Focus Lock Button
Plastic.
AF/MF Slide Switch
Plastic.
Identity
Printed around front of lens, also a metallic plate on the top of the barrel.
Internals
Seem like all plastic.
Dust Gasket at Mount
Yes.
Mount
Metal.
Markings
Paint.
Serial Number
Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G. bigger.
Laser engraved on bottom of barrel.
Date Code
None found.
Noises When Shaken
Moderate clunking, presumably from the uncaged focus groups 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/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 superbly sharp corner-to corner at every aperture, especially f/1.4 where other lenses would be at their softest. Of course diffraction limits sharpness at the smallest apertures.
Sony's MTF charts are fairy-tale calculations from Sony's marketing department ignoring diffraction and flare, and certainly do not represent actual measured performance:
MTF at f/1.4 and f/8 at 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 strong red/blue spherochromatism, with out-of-focus backgrounds having blue fringes and out-of-focus foregrounds having red wide-open at f/1.4:
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at20mm at f/4, 16 May 2022. Sony ZV-E10 with OWC Atlas Pro 256GB SDXC V90 card, Sony E 10-20mm f/4G PZ wide-open at f/4 at 1/4,000 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 16.0). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5× 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 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).
Image Stabilization (VR) performance top
This lens has NO Optical Image Stabilization (OIS, IS or VR (Vibration Reduction)), although it will work with in-camera stabilization.
Sunstars performance top
With a 7-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get great 14-pointed sunstars on brilliant points of light at moderate and small apertures.
Ignore the the vertical smear at large apertures, this is a sensor artifact called interline transfer smear and not a lens defect.
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.
Recommendations top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
I'd get my Sony E 15mm f/1.4G at B&H or at Adorama, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This is a brilliant little lens. If you want an ultrasharp, fast wide lens for Sony, here you go.
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 Hoya multicoated HD3 55mm UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints.
For less money, the B+W 55mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated version and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best.
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 Sony E 15mm f/1.4G at B&H or at Adorama, 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.
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