- Today Sony is announcing their 72nd E-mount lens.
This is the 50 millimeter f/1.4 G Master lens.
I spent a week with it in New York City,
shooting photos and video with the lens,
and I'm excited to share those results with you.
But before we do that, let's start at the beginning
with some details on what this new lens is all about.
We'll start on the outside of the lens,
where you'll find many of the features of its big brother,
the 50 millimeter f/1.2 G Master lens.
It has an aperture ring that can be declicked
using the switch on the side of the lens,
along with two focus hold buttons
that can be customized in your camera menu.
I have a video about that here on the channel
if you want to find out more
about some ways to use that feature.
There's also a focus mode switch, and an iris lock
which prevents the aperture ring
from being accidentally moved when you're shooting.
This is the first time that they've implemented an iris lock
on a prime lens, by the way,
which will come in handy for some.
The lens features a 67 millimeter front filter thread
just like the 24 and 35 millimeter G Master lenses
which we'll talk about more shortly.
It's also dust and moisture resistant,
and overall feels like a quality lens,
just like the other G Master lenses in the lineup.
The glass has Sony's nano AR II coating
which helps to repel dirt, water, and oil
so that you could wipe them off easily.
It also helps with flaring and ghosting,
a point that I was careful to test out
during my photo shoot.
More on that in a few moments.
Inside you'll find 14 elements in 11 groups,
an 11 blades circular aperture
to give you that beautiful distinctive G master Bokeh
that I personally am a big fan of.
It also has two extreme aspherical lenses
which helps to minimize aberrations,
one extra load dispersion glass,
which helps to suppress chromatic aberration
and purple fringing.
The focusing on the new 50 millimeter f/1.4 lens is internal
and most of all, it's nearly silent.
If you like using the 50 millimeter focal length
for shooting video,
this is going to be a great option for you,
not just for that fact,
but also thanks to the dual extreme dynamic linear motors
that's on the inside.
These motors are pretty amazing
and quickly move the lens elements inside
to give you better auto-focus tracking
for both stills and video.
We tested that feature out while we were in New York City
doing a shoot with Missumi
and I found the performance to be reliable
even when you're shooting wide open at f/1.4.
This was something that I wouldn't have imagined doing
seven or eight years ago,
but here we are in 2023
getting silent and consistent tracking
on a 50 millimeter f/1.4 lens.
We're living in some really great times, but I digress.
Let's get back to the specs here.
The new 50 millimeter f/1.4 GM lens
weighs in at 18.2 ounces,
which is close to the weight and size
of the 35 millimeter G Master lens,
which happens to be one of my favorite primes
to shoot video with.
Matter of fact, a little little tidbit for you,
here at my studio, the majority of the time
that I'm filming these kind of talking head videos,
I'm actually using the 35 G Master lens as my main lens
and I'm filming at f/1.4 on the FX9.
It's one of my favorite lenses
for that style of video shooting,
so I was happy to see that the new 50 millimeter lens
shared a lot of the same features.
Now, I mentioned earlier that I did some shoots with Missumi
while I was in New York a few weeks ago,
and I tried to test out as many things as I could.
We shot some video as well as stills,
outdoors, and in studio,
using the Sony Alpha 7R V.
This is where I realized how important this lens is
to have in the lineup.
With the newer Sony bodies having these insanely fast
and accurate focusing systems,
you need a lens that can keep up.
The new 50 millimeter lens was so good,
and I could see where some video shooters
might just put this on a gimbal,
shoot it at f/1.4 and not have to worry
about tracking and keeping your subjects in focus.
Also, with the way this lens was designed
it makes it a great option to pair up
with the 24 and 35 millimeter G master lenses
for use on a gimbal,
as it requires less rebalancing and adjustments
when you're swapping focal lengths.
While the video performance of this lens is excellent,
we can't forget about stills.
The 50 millimeter focal length is a classic one to use
when you're shooting portraits outdoors.
I've used all of the modern 50 millimeter E-mount lenses
as well as many classic 50 millimeter lenses
in these types of conditions,
and I can honestly say that this new lens is just awesome.
Being able to rely on the camera and the lens
to keep Missumi's eyes sharp and in focus
it frees me up to pay more attention
to how she's posing and expressing herself to the camera,
as well as being able to pay more attention
to the composition and other elements
that might be in the frame.
Now, I mentioned earlier in the video
that I tested out the lens coatings on the new 50 mil
to see how it would perform
in terms of flaring, and ghosting, and purple fringing.
While we were walking in the park,
I set Missumi up in a back-lit situation,
to see how the lens would perform.
This was one of the shots that I took,
and you'll notice that flaring, and ghosting
was kept to an absolute minimum.
But not only that, if I zoom into her hair,
you'll notice that there's barely any signs
of purple fringing.
Now, I've personally had photo shoots in the past
that were wrecked due to shooting portraits of someone
that's back-lit and then getting home to realize
that all of the highlights
have this really gross-looking purple fringing
that takes time to edit out in post-production,
if you could even get rid of it at all.
The new 50 millimeter f/1.4 G Master lens
performed exceedingly well at this
and should lead you to getting
some really high quality results.
♪ Nothing out there could ever stop me ♪
♪ From chasing after the way you la la la la love me ♪
♪ Keeping me up, two cups of coffee ♪
♪ Baby you'll make me feel so la la la la lovely ♪
♪ I keep on running ♪
♪ Know I shouldn't want it, aha, aha ♪
♪ I keep on falling ♪
♪ Right into you darling ♪
♪ Can't get you off my mind ♪
- At this point, you might be thinking
that sounds great and all,
but why another 50 millimeter lens?
I'll be honest with you
I had a a really similar thought when I opened up the box
but as I looked into what lenses
were currently available on the market,
I came to a surprising realization.
As popular as the 50 millimeter f/1.4 lens has been
throughout the decades,
current full frame camera brands
either don't currently offer one,
or they have one that is significantly larger,
while third party options tend to be bigger, and heavier.
The whole idea of a 50 millimeter lens,
especially an f/1.4 lens, to me
has always been to be as compact and light as possible,
and that's exactly what you get here
with the new 50 millimeter f/1.4 G Master lens.
And I for one plan on using it for many years to come.
Pricing on this new lens is $1,299 here in the US.
If you have any additional questions,
leave them in the comment section below,
and while you're down there,
make sure that you subscribe to Alpha Universe
because we have new videos releasing all the time.
Now, before you head out,
I think you should check out this video
that you see here on the screen
and I'll see you next time.