Sony 24mm f/1.4
FE GM Full-Frame E-Mount (2018-)
World's Best 24/1.4: Sharpest, best bokeh, lightest, least expensive & more!
Compatibility Specs Performance
Compared Usage Recommendations
Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM (covers full-frame and APS-C, 67mm filters, 15.7 oz./445g, 0.79'/0.24m close focus, $1,398). bigger. I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
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Sample Images
Top Sample Images Intro Format
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
These were all shot in less than 9 hours. If I can get this many great shots in a few hours, just think what you'll get if you own it for even a month.
All are shot hand-held as Standard JPGs; no RAW or FINE JPGs and no tripods were used or needed.
There are many more sample images throughout the review.
Intercontinental Hotel San Francisco, 11:35 A.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/8 at 1/640 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.
Sausalito Staircase, 1:53 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/13 at 1/15 at Auto ISO 1,600, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Redwood Trees in Muir Woods with Sunstar, 2:55 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/16 at 1/15 at Auto ISO 1,600, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Model, Muir Woods, 3:28 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/100 at ISO 400, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge with Backlit Waves as Seen from the San Francisco Bay aboard the USS Potomac, 6:57 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/7.1 at 1/400 at Auto ISO 500, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
San Francisco Skyline at Dusk as Seen from the San Francisco Bay, 7:34 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/60 at ISO 400, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Palm Trees at Night, AT&T Park, San Francisco, 8:04 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/60 at Auto ISO 2,000, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Introduction
Top Sample Images Intro Format
I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below. |
This Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM is the world's best 24mm lens because it's the sharpest and least distorting, has great sunstars and has the world's best bokeh of any 24mm lens.
It's also the world's lightest 24mm f/1.4, weighing only 2/3 of what the Nikon 24/1.4G or Canon 24/1.4L II weigh!
This Sony 24/1.4 weighs less than even the LEICA SUMMILUX-M 24mm f/1.4 ASPH rangefinder camera lens (445g vs. 468g). This Sony is also sharper, has a much flatter field, much less distortion, has better bokeh and autofocus — all for less than one-fifth the price of LEICA's man jewelry!
This Sony lens finally delivers what we were promised with mirrorless: superior optics that are smaller and lighter than designers ever could do with DSLR or rangefinder lenses — and it costs less!
This lens could only be done in mirrorless because the designers were able to put the rear elements much closer to the image plane than with modern rangefinder or DSLR lenses. This is how they got better optical performance in a smaller package for less money than Nikon, Canon or LEICA have ever done.
Not only is it better than any other 24mm f/1.4 lens, it's also the least expensive.
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
Bravissimo, Sony!
Good
Ultrasharp at every setting, especially wide-open at f/1.4.
Superb bokeh.
No coma; astronomers rejoice!
No visible distortion, even uncorrected.
Magnificent sunstars.
Programmable focus lock button.
Excellent included hood: spring-loaded, lever-locking and internally flocked.
Best 24mm f/1.4 ever made.
Least expensive 24mm f/1.4 ever made.
Bad
Electronic focus ring, like most mirrorless lenses (no direct mechanical connection between focus ring and optics).
Missing
No focus or depth-of-field scales.
No optical image stabilzation (no 24mm f/1.4 has it). Most Sony cameras have sensor-shift stabilzation.
Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM. bigger.
Format
Top Sample Images Intro Format
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
This is a full-frame lens and I'm reviewing it as such.
It works great on APS-C cameras and you may make the usual inferences for them.
Compatibility
Top Sample Images Intro Format
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
This works on all Sony E-mount cameras, full-frame and APS-C crop-sensor. This includes all the variations of NEX, A9-, A7-, A6xxx and A5xxx series cameras.
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 Format
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
Name
Sony calls this the FE 24mm f/1.4 GM:
FE: Full-frame coverage, E-mount.
GM: Sony's best lenses.
Optics
Internal optical construction: "XA" Extreme Aspherical and ED elements.
13 elements in 10 groups.
2 Extreme Aspherical "XA"elements. These are hot stuff; Sony won't even divulge how it manufactures these full-size elements with 10 nanometer (10 millimicron) surface precision. These special elements are so good that they eliminate the usual "onion rings" layering effects often seen in other aspherical lens' blur circles. Bravo Sony!
3 ED extra-low dispersion elements.
Schmutz-resistant fluorine-coated front element.
Nano coated.
The rear nodal point is located at about the position of aperture control ring.
Diaphragm
Sony 24mm f/1.4. bigger.
11 rounded blades.
Stops down to f/16.
11-blade diaphragm, Sony 24mm f/1.4.
Focal Length
24mm.
When used on APS-C, it sees the same angle of view as a 35mm lens sees when used on a full-frame camera.
See also Crop Factor.
Angle of View
84º diagonal on full-frame.
61° diagonal on APS-C.
Autofocus
Internal focus.
High-power Direct Drive Super Sonic Motor DDSSM XD linear focus motor.
This means an internal optical group is driven directly forward and back along rails, nothing rotates.
Linear focus motor, the focus group and its position inside the Sony 24mm f/1.4.
No external movement as focused, so no air or dust is sucked in.
Close Focus
0.79 feet (0.24 meters).
Maximum Reproduction Ratio
1:5.9 (0.17 ×).
Optical Stabilizer
None.
Filters
67mm filter thread.
Hood
Sony ALC-SH154 hood for 24mm f/1.4. bigger.
ALC-SH154 hood included.
It's much nicer than usual. While it's plastic, it has a spring-loaded lever for a positive bayonet lock, and it's internally flocked for even better light absorption.
Case
Padded zip-up and Velcro Nylon case included.
Size
2.97" maximum diameter × 3.64" extension from flange.
75.4 mm maximum diameter × 92.4 mm extension from flange.
Weight
15.7 oz. (445 g).
Included
Lens (SEL24F14GM).
ALC-F67S front and ALC-R1EM rear cap.
ALC-SH154 hood
Case & strap.
Announced
Thursday, 20 September 2018 at 10 AM NYC time.
Promised for
October 2018.
Sony Model Number
SEL24F14GM.
Price, USA
$1,398, September 2018. I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
Performance
Top Sample Images Intro Format
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
Overall Autofocus Manual Focus Breathing
Bokeh Coma Distortion Ergonomics Falloff
Filters Flare & Ghosts Lateral Color Fringes
Overall
This Sony 24 1.4 is the best 24mm lens ever made. It excels in sharpness, bokeh, speed and almost total lack of distortion and coma.
Autofocus
Autofocus is fast and completely silent from more than a foot away.
If you hold your ear to it it makes a slight sliding noise as focused
There is a single focus lock button that's a Godsend; hold it to lock focus.
The diaphragm operation is also completely silent.
AF is fast, but by no means instantaneous. It takes a moment to shift focus from near to far.
Manual Focus
Manual focus is electronic; the focus ring is only connected to the camera's computers.
Slide the switch to MF and you're in Manual Focus.
On most Sony cameras, set "DMF" as the focus mode (usually via your Fn button) and you'll have instant manual override just by turning the ring in what otherwise works like the AFS mode.
Focus Breathing
Focus breathing is the image changing size as focused in and out. It's important to cinematographers 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 from this 24 1.4 gets somewhat larger as focused more closely. The electronic focus ring is sub-optimal for use with a pro follow-focus rig since the ring isn't actually connected to the focus mechanism, so I doubt it will go to the same focus distance as a focus puller returns the ring to the same spot each time.
Bokeh
Bokeh, the feel or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is absolutely superb. Backgrounds just melt away. Especially for an aspherical lens, which usually have weird-looking and unnatural bokeh, this lens just melts away backgrounds like no other 24mm lens.
What's especially notable is that Sony's XA (Extreme Aspherical) elements are made using a secret process that makes the big aspherical elements so smoothly and precisely that there are no "onion rings" effects often seen in the blur circles of most other modern lenses.
Crab Cakes, Sausalito, 12:30 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/5,000 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Wine Glass and the Sea, Sausalito, 12:42 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/8,000 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file.
Wine Glass and Lunch, Sausalito, 12:46 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file.
Ship's Bell, USS Potomac, San Francisco, 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/30 at Auto ISO 125, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Bokeh is so nice you can use it to try to lose distracting foregrounds:
Waterbar at Night, San Francisco, 10:50 P.M. 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/60 at Auto ISO 3,200, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Coma
Coma, or sagittal coma flare, is often seen with fast normal to wide lenses as weird batwing shapes on bright points of light in the corners.
I see no significant coma in this lens, which is excellent. You will see it if you don't get perfect focus, but ensure that your corners are in perfect focus at f.1.4 and there is no coma.
In this shot the tree in the lower right is closer than the rest, so with focus on the center tree you might see what looks like coma on the tree in the lower right is you look at the full-resolution file at 100%:
Palm Trees at Night, AT&T Park, San Francisco, 8:04 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/60 at Auto ISO 2,000, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
But if you focus on the lower right corner as I've done in this camera-original © file, you'll see in the crop below that coma goes away even at f/1.4:
1,200 pixel crop from far lower right corner of similar image focused more closely, 8:04 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/60 at Auto ISO 2,500, Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 26 × 40" (67 × 100 cm) at this same high magnification. If this is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 53 × 80" (4.5 × 6 feet or 1.3 × 2 meters) at this same extreme magnification.
Bravo, Sony!
Distortion
The Sony 24/1.4 GM has no visible distortion, even shot without any correction
Distortion correction OFF, 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.
With no correction, the raw lens has no distortion in the center and only an infinitesimal amount of "pulling-out" in the corners. For this reason I'd leave distortion correction OFF, which is the default setting in my A7R III.
Even if you can see this in the torture-test image above, you'll never see it in real photos.
If you care, you can turn it on and it goes away completely:
Distortion correction ON, San Francisco, 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution.
Ergonomics
This is an easy lens to hold and shoot, no mysteries here.
The Focus Lock button is needed more on DSLR lenses which lack them; since Sonys autofocus throughout the entire full frame there is rarely any need to lock and recompose.
You can reprogram the AF lock button (the unmarked round button near your thumb) to do other things in your camera's menu system.
The AF/MF switch is lower than it should be; the G logo is where the switch should be. I have to reach down for the AF/MF switch.
The solid metal aperture ring has defeatable click stops at every third stop. Unfortunately the full-stop clicks aren't any stiffer than the third stops. There are much stiffer clicks to get between A and f/16.
Falloff
Falloff is invisible with the camera's default "Shading Correction" ON.
Even with it off it is only minor even at f/1.4, bravo!
Filters, use with
There's no need for thin filters.
I can stack several 67mm filters and get no vignetting on full-frame.
Go ahead and use your standard rotating polarizer and grad filters.
Be careful using polarizers on wide-angle lenses; the sky's natural polarization may appear as a dark band across the sky.
Flare & Ghosts
There is no significant flare and only negligible ghosting. See more samples at Sunstars and Coma.
I really have to go out of my way to put a brilliant sun in a photograph and then expose for a dark forest to see anything ghost wise:
Redwood Trees in Muir Woods with Sunstar, 2:55 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/16 at 1/15 at Auto ISO 1,600, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Lateral Color Fringes
There are no color fringes as shot on Sony cameras, most of which correct any that might be there by default.
USS Potomac Presidential Yacht at Sunset, San Francisco Bay, 6:03 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/7.1 at 1/400 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Macro
Macro doesn't get very close, but it is extremely sharp even wide-open at f/1.4:
Wide-open at f/1.4
Spherochromatism appears wide-open, so only things in perfect focus are devoid of color fringes, but when things are in focus they are extremely sharp:
Kienzle Flieger Automat 800/2843, 17 September 2017. Sony A7II, Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/5,000 at Auto ISO 100. bigger or camera-original © file.
And a crop:
1,200 x 900 pixel crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
The color fringes you're seeing are Spherochromatism on out-of-focus areas. At f/1.4 the depth-of-field at this distance is a tiny fraction of a millimeter. Focus is on the MON 17 date window, while the face, case and hands are closer and have magenta fringes. If I had focused differently I'd have a different result.
If this is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 26 × 40" (67 × 100 cm) at this same high magnification. If this is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 53 × 80" (4.5 × 6 feet or 1.3 × 2 meters) at this same extreme magnification.
At f/5.6
Kienzle Flieger Automat 800/2843, 17 September 2017. Sony A7II, Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/5.6 at 1/320 at Auto ISO 100. bigger or camera-original © file.
Here's a crop:
1,200 x 900 pixel crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
You clearly can see the texture of my watch face.
If this is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 26 × 40" (67 × 100 cm) at this same high magnification. If this is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 53 × 80" (4.5 × 6 feet or 1.3 × 2 meters) at this same high magnification.
Mechanical Quality
Sony 24mm f/1.4. bigger.
This Sony 24 1.4 GM is well made of metal and plastic.
Front Bumper
None.
Filter Threads
Plastic.
Hood Bayonet Mount
Plastic.
Front Barrel
Metal.
Focus Ring
Rubber-covered plastic.
Mid Barrel & Programmable Focus Lock Button
Plastic.
Aperture Ring
Tough metal.
Rear Barrel
Plastic.
Identity
Metal ring around front element with engraved and filled markings.
Dark gray paint on bottom rear of barrel.
Moisture Seal at Mount
Yes.
Mount
Dull chromed metal.
Markings
Mostly engraved and filled with paint, as they should be.
Serial Number
A sticker glued to the bottom of the barrel - not an acceptable way to serialize any hand-held product that sells for more than $10.
Date Code
None found.
Made in
Sony 24mm f/1.4. bigger.
Made in Thailand.
Sharpness
This 24 is ultra sharp at every setting everywhere in the image. Yes, it's better than any other 24/1.4.
Here's an image shot wide-open at f/1.4 and it's ultra-sharp corner to corner. You can't ask any more of a lens than this:
Waterfront Home, Sausalito, 1:27 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/4,000 at ISO 50, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Remember that the distant and closer objects in the photo above are out of focus; focus is on the wooden shingles of the house.
Here's another ultra-sharp shot at f/1.4 in broad daylight:
Waterfront, Sausalito, California, 1:28 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/8,000 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file.
The focus is in the distance, and it's so incredibly sharp that I'm seeing red/blue color aliasing on the vertical bars of Scoma's white railing! Of course the foreground is completely out of focus above; look at the detail in San Francisco in the distance on the far left and the detail in the homes on the hill on the right. This is unheard of at f/1.4, where lenses are at their softest.
Here it is at f/5.6, where it's even sharper. f/5.6 is an aperture you'd usually use in daylight:
Waterfront, Sausalito, California, 1:46 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/5.6 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 100, Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file.
Sony's MTF charts at f/1.4 (left) and f/8 (right) at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted).
Spherochromatism
Spherochromatism, also called "color bokeh" by laymen, is an advanced form of chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral color. It 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.
This Sony 24/1.4 has just a little spherochromatism. Be sure to get perfect focus or stop down a little if it bothers you.
The white marks on the left of my watch face (closer) have purple fringes and white marks on the right (farther away) have yellow-green fringes. Also notice how insanely sharp is the texture of my watch face in the middle, where it is in perfect focus and there are no color fringes:
Sony 24mm f/1.4 Spherochromatism. The watch is tilted so the right side is farther away than the left. Sony A7II, Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/5,000 at Auto ISO 100. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 x 900 pixel crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
Sunstars
This 24mm f/1.4 makes superb 22-pointed sunstars on brilliant points of light at most apertures.
Click any to enlarge:
Compared
Top Sample Images Intro Format
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
All 24/1.4 Lenses Compared
| Anno | 2018- |
2010- |
2008- |
2008- |
| Instant manual-focus override? | not usually
|
Yes |
Yes
|
Yes |
| Use on mirrorless with full AF? | Yes |
Yes* |
Yes* |
no |
| Use on most DSLRs? | no |
Yes |
Yes |
no |
| Use on manual-focus 35mm cameras? | no
|
no |
no
|
Yes |
| Filter size | 67mm |
77mm |
77mm |
Series VII |
| Filter threads | plastic |
plastic |
Metal |
Metal |
| Close-focus | 0.24m | 0.25m |
0.25m | 0.7m |
| Length, inches | 3.64" |
3.5" |
3.42" |
3.0" |
| Length, mm | 92.4mm |
88.5mm |
86.9mm |
75.6mm |
| Image quality, wide open, based on 2018 standards | Excellent |
Very Good |
Good |
Good |
| Image quality, normal apertures | Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
| Field Flatness | Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Poor |
| Image quality, normal apertures | Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
| Sunstars | Excellent 22 points |
Excellent 18 points |
Good 8 points |
|
| Distortion character | Slight corner pull-out | Simple |
complex |
complex |
| Quality | Thailand | Japan |
Japan |
Germany |
| Weight, oz. | 15.7 oz. |
21.9 oz. |
22.9 oz. |
16.5 oz. |
| Weight, g. | 445g |
620g |
650g |
468g |
| Price (2/2010) | n/a | |||
| Price (12/2014) | n/a | |||
| Price (8/2015) | n/a | |||
| Price (1/2017) | n/a | |||
| Price (9/2018) |
* Use FTZ on Nikon mirrorless or EF adapter on Canon mirrorless.
** used, if you know How to Win at eBay.
Versus other fast 24mm & 28mm lenses
| Anno | 2018- |
2015- |
1994-2006 |
1977-2007 |
| Instant manual-focus override? | not usually
|
Yes |
no |
Yes |
| Use on mirrorless with full AF? | Yes |
Yes* |
no* |
no* |
| Use on most DSLRs? | no |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Use on manual-focus 35mm cameras? | no
|
no |
Yes |
Yes |
| Filter size | 67mm |
72mm |
72mm |
52mm |
| Filter threads | plastic |
plastic |
Metal |
Metal |
| Close-focus | 0.24m | 0.24m |
0.35m |
0.3m |
| Length, inches | 3.64" |
3.3" |
3.1" |
2.4" |
| Length, mm | 92.4mm |
83.0mm |
77.4mm |
61mm |
| Image quality, wide open, based on 2018 standards | Excellent |
Very Good |
Good |
Poor |
| Image quality, normal apertures | Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
| Field Flatness | Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
| Image quality, normal apertures | Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
| Sunstars | Excellent 22 points |
Very Good 14 points |
Excellent 18 points |
Excellent 14 points |
| Distortion character | Slight corner pull-out | Simple |
Simple |
complex |
| Quality | Thailand | China |
Japan |
Japan |
| Weight, oz. | 15.7 oz. |
12.6 oz. |
18.0 oz. |
10.6 oz. |
| Weight, g. | 445g |
355g |
520g |
300g |
| Price (2/2010) | n/a | n/a |
$3,500** |
$350** |
| Price (12/2014) | n/a | n/a |
$2,000** |
$350** |
| Price (8/2015) | n/a | $2,000** |
$350** |
|
| Price (1/2017) | n/a | $2,000** |
$350** |
|
| Price (9/2018) | $1,700** |
$250** |
* Use FTZ on Nikon mirrorless or EF adapter on Canon mirrorless.
** used, if you know How to Win at eBay.
Usage
Top Sample Images Intro Format
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
AF/MF
Leave the slide switch at AF (autofocus). Use MF, Manual Focus, only if you want to disable autofocus.
On most Sony cameras, set "DMF" as the focus mode (usually via your Fn button) and you'll have instant manual override just by turning the ring in what otherwise works like the AFS mode.
Focus Lock Button (unmarked)
This usually locks focus while you hold it.
You can reprogram it to do other things in your camera's menu system.
CLICK ON/OFF
Sony 24mm f/1.4. bigger.
I leave the aperture ring clicks ON.
OFF deactivates the aperture ring clicks.
Recommendations
Top Sample Images Intro Format
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
This Sony 24/1.4 is the best 24mm ever made; even better and lighter than LEICA's overpriced flop. It's only 2/3 the weight of Canon or Nikon and it's sharper, has less distortion, better bokeh, better sunstars, costs much less and has loads of other advantages.
While the 24-105mm (or 24-240mm) is the best general-purpose lens, this lens is better for low-light motion and action, better if you need to defocus backgrounds or foregrounds at 24mm, and males better sunstars.
This was shot from a moving boat on the water. I needed f/1.4 to let me shoot at a fast shutter speed at a low ISO to keep this sharp. You can just about make an inventory of who is working in what office in the buildings!
An f/4 lens would require an exposure time or ISO eight times more (either 1/8 second or ISO 3,200), either one of which would lead to a softer image — and this is the kind of image that usually gets sold as a mural. I was moving, so image stabilization won't do much since my point-of-view was changing as I was traveling at 15 knots headed to the left.
San Francisco Skyline at Dusk as Seen from the San Francisco Bay, 7:34 P.M., 17 September 2018. Sony A7R III with Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM at f/1.4 at 1/60 at ISO 400, Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.
Protective Filter
I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap. I only use a cap when I throw this in my bag, otherwise I leave a clear protective filter on my lens at all times so I'm ready to shoot instantly.
The very best protective filter is the Hoya multicoated HD3 67mm UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints.
For less money, the B+W 67mm 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 or more, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt.
Get Yours
I'd get my 24/1.4 at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H.
This all-content, 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.
© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Help Me Help You
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 ma 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.
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Thanks for reading!
Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.