5 Minute Review: The Sony 50mm F2.5 G Is Their Weirdest 50
The Sony 50mm f2.5 G lens lacks in some departments and is mediocre in others.
Sony has a ton of 50mm lenses. And most recently, they announced their Sony 50mm f2.5 G lens. It’s a weird one. No, really, this one has us scratching our heads. If a lens were to have a dictionary definition of mediocre, this would be it. And that’s fine. Not every single lens needs to be positively fantastic–I guess. Personally speaking, I wish that every lens was the one that knocked the ball out of the park. Sony has a lot of very affordable 50mm lenses already. So why did they need this one?
Let’s put this into perspective here:
Sony 50mm f1.8 FE: Sony’s cheap 50mm. Not weather sealed. It boasts mediocre image quality and very nice colors.
Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master: Sony’s high-end 50. Weather sealed. Fast-focusing. Pretty darned good image quality, but we prefer Canon’s.
Sony Zeiss 50mm f1.4: Sony’s former high-end 50mm. Not weather sealed. Arguably, nice lens character. Very vibrant look to it.
Sony 50mm f2.8 Macro: Uhhhhh, yeah. This one was weird. But it’s a macro!
Sony 50mm f2.5 G: A weird entry. Nothing that specifically makes it stand out here.
Sony 55mm f1.8 FE: Technically, this isn’t 50mm. But some folks count it. And this is arguably one of their best lenses for the money. I own this one and love it. It’s still one of Sony’s sharpest lenses.
It’s a bit confusing, right? Sony has so many 50mm lenses. Three have at least a little bit of weather sealing. For what it’s worth, we’re delighted that Sony is offering this many lenses. But we wonder why some of them aren’t kit lens options. We only wish that Sony found ways to really make them stand out from one another a bit more. And as it is, we’re trying to understand why someone would buy this lens.
5 Minute Review: Sony 50mm f2.5 G (Check it Out Below)
Here’s a quote from the Too Long, Didn’t Read section of our Sony 50mm f2.5 G review:
A well-built lens, the Sony FE 50mm f2.5 G is easily portable. The lens delivers the excessive sharpness we’ve come to expect from a G series lens, but bokeh is a bit mixed, and aberration can occasionally pop up.
And here’s a quote from the conclusions of our Sony 50mm f2.5 G review.
“The Sony FE 50mm f2.5 G isn’t Sony’s most impressive 50mm — but it is only $600 and six ounces. For photographers who don’t want to lug around the new 50mm f1.2 G or cough up $2,000, the f2.5 is a good alternative. It’s plenty sharp with great color and won’t weigh down your camera bag.
The 40mm f2.5 G, announced alongside the 50mm, has a nearly identical set of features. The 40mm, however, focuses a bit closer and is a better option for portraits in tight spaces.
However, you need to spend the extra $1,400 if you want that ideal bokeh and ultra-wide aperture. It’s also not a lens you can get super close with. The image quality is a little more flawed than pricier G series lenses, with some occasional aberration. It’s not overly distracting, however, and flaws were fairly minimal considering the budget-level price.”
The Sony 50mm f2.5 G lens retails for around $600.