So Sony's got a brand-new wide-angle lens,
the 20mm f/1.8 G, and I love it!
Let's get undone.
[offbeat music]
♪ Gerald Undone ♪
♪ He's crazy ♪
What's happening, everybody? I'm Gerald Undone,
and I laugh a laugh and cry a cry,
but I'm always nerdy, don't know why.
All right, quick disclosure: Sony sent me this
pre-production lens to test, but I have to send it back
when I'm done with my review. I haven't been compensated,
and Sony is not reviewing this video before I post it.
So, the first thing I noticed when I got this lens
was how similar it is to the 24mm f/1.4 G Master
when it comes to looks and feel, which is a great state to be in,
since this 24mm lens is outstanding,
and yet this new 20mm lens is actually $500 less.
Now, it likely has to do with the fact
that this lens is not a G Master, and is an f/1.8
instead of the 1.4 on the 24mm.
But in terms of build quality, you're getting a great value,
since it's basically a G Master chassis
with the weather-sealing, AF switch, function button,
and even the de-clickable aperture ring.
It even features the XD Linear focus motor,
similar to the ones we've seen in Sony's amazing 400mm 2.8.
This means you're gonna get fast, quiet, and reliable
autofocus performance for both photo and video.
In fact, we took this lens with us to New York last week
and challenged ourselves to use only it
as our walkaround travel lens. It took some getting used to
at first, but I quickly came to enjoy the balance it offered
between field of view and distortion control.
But that distortion correction isn't based
solely on lens profiles and post-processing.
They do help a bit, but even if you turn off
distortion compensation in the camera,
you'll be surprised with how well this lens compensates
for field curvature
while maintaining corner-to-corner sharpness.
Now, that sharpness definitely improves
when you stop down a bit.
Here's a brick wall comparison between f/1.8 and f/2.8
with corrections turned off.
At 1.8, you can see some noticeable vignetting,
and the overall image is a bit softer,
but it's pretty consistent across the frame
and has a smooth character.
But by just 2.8, it becomes impressively sharp
for such a wide lens, and the vignetting is gone,
and our corners are quite strong.
Now, a lens like this won't stand a chance
against the refined telephoto lens
if sharpness is all you care about.
My 90mm Macro, for example, creates much sharper lines.
But what this lens does do well is create a nice balance
between detail and character. In fact, in my opinion,
it gracefully walks the line between
an almost vintage lens aesthetic,
while taking a modern approach to error correction.
You get these very pleasing out-of-focus areas
with really smooth transitions,
but with minimal chromatic aberration and distortion.
It preserves so much detail
without looking impossibly sharp,
something that's not as common these days
in photographic lenses.
It's got a nine-bladed circular aperture,
which produces very smooth and round bokeh,
even in the corners. Flare is also well-controlled.
It's able to maintain contrast even against
a breaching sun with minimal colour abnormalities.
And in these regards, it compares extremely well
with the 24mm G Master, which is a best in class lens.
When comparing side-by-side images of the 20 and 24,
both at f/1.8, I find it very difficult to tell a difference,
save for the G Master's slightly better edge sharpness.
But it also carries with it some of the things
I disliked about the 24mm, which is mainly regarding
manual focusing. To the positive,
this lens continues the trend
of longer linear focus throws on Sony lenses,
just like the 35 1.8.
It's completely linear in its response
when manually focusing, and has a decent focus throw
of about 160°. However, it breathes quite heavily,
the same complaint I have with the 24mm,
which is a step back from the 35 1.8,
which hardly breathed at all.
Now, some of this is attributable to the fact
that this lens has an impressive close-focusing distance
of just 0.63 feet, or 0.19 meters.
So when you're pulling focus between objects
that are more reasonably distanced,
you won't see the breathing as badly as when you go
from ultra-close focusing to infinity.
But that also illustrates another drawback with this lens,
which is that it's hard to nail focus manually.
Because that 160° I mentioned earlier
covers such a deep range that even the slightest turn
will move your focus frustratingly far.
So these limitations definitely signal that this lens
is better suited for autofocus applications,
like most photography, vlogging, etc.
I also think it would work quite well for a video shoot
with a static subject, like this,
where breathing isn't a problem
but you want autofocus you can count on.
And I definitely have confidence
in this lens's autofocus capabilities.
While reviewing the New York images in Lightroom,
I noticed there wasn't a single missed focus.
And I even did a little vlog test in harsh lighting,
and it didn't hesitate for a second.
Again, if it uses a similar tech to the 400mm,
you know autofocus won't be a problem.
And speaking of vlogging, I think you'll find this
20mm nicely brings in more of the environment
without adding too much of that super wide
face-stretching effect. And I could totally see this
being some people's new favourite vlogging lens,
especially considering how well it balances
on the full frame bodies.
It's 373 grams, or 0.82 pounds,
so just slightly smaller and lighter than the 24mm.
But feels really good in the hand, and for me,
this is the perfect size lens for the a7 III,
which was the main complaint that I had
with the recent 35 1.8.
I felt like this lens was a bit too compact
and a bit too short for my large hands,
and I didn't like the front filter diameter.
But the 20mm is back to the more common 67mm thread,
which I appreciate. Overall, this might just be
my new favourite travel lens.
It's perfect for shooting architecture,
has great character,
and lets you quickly jump into vlog mode
without switching lenses.
For real estate, I could see some people making the argument
that it's not quite wide enough and would instead
prefer a 16mm variant, but I often find that 16mm produces
a look that's a bit too obviously exaggerated
in small spaces, where the 20mm created very natural,
more honestly spacious images of our tiny New York hotel room.
Ultimately, I really like this lens.
Outside of the manual focusing limitations and focus breathing,
it's pretty much exactly what I wanted the 35 1.8 to be.
Don't get me wrong, the 35 1.8 is a great lens
and it's still my go-to 35mm on Sony,
but this 20mm just feels a lot more premium
without adding too much to the price,
and offering arguably a better value at 899 US dollars.
The 24mm G Master is still the slightly better lens,
but at a nearly 40% discount,
the 20mm is a strong rival
if you don't need the f/1.4 aperture
and are content with the focal length.
Because these are the types of lenses I like the most:
the ones where you save 40% of the price over the top tier,
but get 95% of the quality.
But that's gonna be it for me.
I hope you found this video entertaining,
or at least helpful.
And if you did, make sure you leave it the old thumbs up
and consider subscribing if you haven't already.
But if you did not find this video helpful or entertaining...
then why are you still watching this?
Alright... I'm done.