Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G Review

The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G is a compact, lightweight, and high-performance prime lens designed for Sony's full-frame mirrorless cameras. As part of Sony's G-series lenses, the FE 24mm f/2.8 offers exceptional optical quality and a versatile focal length that is ideal for a wide variety of photography styles, from landscapes and architecture to street and travel photography. With its relatively affordable price point and compact design, it appeals to both enthusiasts and professionals who require a portable, high-quality lens for everyday use.

This review will thoroughly evaluate the key aspects of the Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G, including its features, build quality, image quality, performance, and value for money.

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Features / Specifications

Focal Length: 24mm (36mm equivalent on APS-C).
Maximum Aperture: f/2.8, offering good light-gathering capabilities while maintaining a compact size.
Optical Design: 10 elements in 8 groups, including one aspherical element and one ED (Extra-low Dispersion) element for controlling chromatic aberrations and distortion.
Minimum Focus Distance: 0.24m (9.45 inches), providing close-up versatility.
Magnification: 0.18x maximum magnification.
Autofocus Motor: Linear Motor for fast, smooth, and quiet autofocus performance.
Weather Sealing: Dust and moisture-resistant for added durability in tough conditions.
Aperture: 7-blade circular aperture for pleasing bokeh.
Filter Size: 55mm.
Weight: 162g (5.7 oz).
Dimensions: 70.5mm (2.78 inches) long, 65.6mm (2.58 inches) in diameter.
Compatibility: Full-frame and APS-C Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras.

Build Quality

The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G strikes an excellent balance between build quality and portability. As a G-series lens, it exhibits high-quality materials, delivering a solid and durable design that is well-suited for both professional and everyday use.

Materials: The lens is constructed from a combination of high-quality plastics and metal components, making it lightweight yet sturdy enough for regular use. The metal mount adds to the overall premium feel.
Weather Sealing: It is designed with dust and moisture resistance, which enhances its reliability when shooting in challenging weather conditions, such as light rain or dusty environments.
Compact Design: Weighing just 162g (5.7 oz) and measuring 70.5mm (2.78 inches) in length, this lens is exceptionally portable and easy to carry. Its small size makes it ideal for travel and street photography, where a compact form factor is essential.
Lens Controls: The lens features a smooth and responsive manual focus ring. Additionally, there is a customizable button on the lens for assigning useful functions, adding versatility to the lens for various shooting scenarios.

Size, Weight, and Dimensions

The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G is one of the most compact and lightweight full-frame lenses available for Sony’s E-mount system. It’s a fantastic choice for photographers who want to keep their kit as lightweight as possible without sacrificing image quality.

Weight: At just 162g (5.7 oz), the lens is remarkably light, making it ideal for travel, street photography, or long shooting sessions where weight is a concern.
Size: With a length of 70.5mm (2.78 inches) and a diameter of 65.6mm (2.58 inches), the lens is small enough to be unobtrusive, fitting easily in a camera bag or even a coat pocket. This compact design adds to the lens’s versatility and ease of use.
Portability: Its lightweight and compact form factor make it easy to handle and comfortable for handheld shooting. It’s perfect for users who prioritize portability without sacrificing image quality.

Image Quality

The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G delivers exceptional image quality, especially for its size and price. It is sharp, contrast-rich, and well-corrected for optical flaws like distortion and chromatic aberration, making it a great choice for photographers who demand precision in their wide-angle shots.

Sharpness

Center Sharpness: At f/2.8, the lens delivers sharp and crisp images right in the center of the frame, with little visible softness even when shooting wide open.
Edge Sharpness: The lens is impressively sharp throughout the frame, even at the corners. While there is slight softening when shot wide open at f/2.8, this improves significantly when stopped down to f/4 and beyond, making it an excellent performer for landscapes and architecture.
Performance at Various Apertures: The lens maintains high levels of sharpness throughout its aperture range. From f/2.8 to f/8, image sharpness remains consistent and detailed, making it reliable for a variety of shooting situations.

Color and Contrast

Color Reproduction: The lens produces vibrant and natural colors, with a slight boost in saturation that helps to enhance landscapes and environmental shots. The color balance is well-controlled, and it works well in both daylight and artificial lighting.
Contrast: The contrast is strong, providing images with good depth and pop. The lens handles a wide range of lighting conditions well, and it manages highlights and shadows effectively.

Bokeh

Bokeh Quality: The 7-blade circular aperture produces pleasant bokeh, but because the lens is a wide-angle prime, the bokeh is less pronounced than on longer focal length lenses. Even so, the smoothness of the out-of-focus areas adds to the overall aesthetic of the image, especially in situations where you have subjects in the foreground with a distant background.

Flare and Ghosting

Flare Control: The lens handles flare control well, even when shooting directly into the sun. It maintains good contrast and color integrity, with minimal loss of detail.
Ghosting: There is little to no noticeable ghosting, even in difficult lighting conditions. This is a testament to the advanced lens coatings that help minimize reflections and unwanted artifacts.

Chromatic Aberration and Distortion

Chromatic Aberration: The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G controls chromatic aberration quite effectively. While a slight amount may be visible in extreme high-contrast areas (such as dark tree branches against bright skies), it is easily corrected in post-processing.
Distortion: There is minimal barrel distortion at the 24mm focal length, and the lens does a good job of keeping straight lines straight, especially in architectural and landscape shots.

Autofocus

The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G is equipped with Sony’s Linear Motor, which provides fast, precise, and near-silent autofocus. Whether you’re shooting stills or video, the autofocus performance is impressive, making it suitable for both professional and casual users.

Speed: The autofocus is fast enough to handle moving subjects, although it may not be as rapid as some of Sony’s higher-end lenses. However, for most wide-angle situations, it is more than sufficient.
Silence: The Linear Motor ensures that autofocus is nearly silent, which is critical for video work. The lens will not generate distracting sounds during focus shifts, making it perfect for capturing smooth footage without interruption.
Tracking: In continuous autofocus mode, the lens maintains a good hold on moving subjects, though it’s not quite as fast as more expensive G Master lenses.

Performance in Photography and Videography

Photography

Wide-Angle Versatility: The 24mm focal length makes this lens ideal for landscape, architecture, street, and travel photography. It provides a wide enough field of view to capture expansive scenes while offering enough flexibility for environmental portraits and even close-ups.
Low-Light Performance: Although the lens has a modest f/2.8 aperture, it still performs well in low-light conditions. The wide aperture lets in sufficient light for handheld shots in dim environments, though its performance is not as strong as faster lenses in terms of subject isolation.
Sharpness Across the Frame: Whether shooting landscapes or cityscapes, the lens offers excellent sharpness across the frame, making it a reliable choice for detailed wide-angle shots.

Videography

Video Performance: The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G works great for video recording. Its autofocus is smooth, quiet, and reliable, making it ideal for filming without distracting autofocus noises.
Autofocus for Video: The Linear Motor provides fast and accurate autofocus, which is especially useful when tracking moving subjects. It’s perfect for handheld shots, as well as when used with gimbals or tripods.
Image Quality for Video: The image quality is excellent, with minimal distortion and chromatic aberration. The wide aperture and great color reproduction help make your footage look sharp and dynamic.

Use Cases

The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G excels in a variety of photographic and videographic scenarios:

Landscape Photography: Its wide field of view and sharpness across the frame make it ideal for capturing expansive landscapes, whether you’re shooting mountains, coastlines, or urban scenes.
Architecture and Interior Photography: The low distortion and sharpness make it an excellent choice for architectural photography, both indoors and outdoors.
Street Photography: Its small size, lightweight nature, and fast autofocus make it a great option for candid street photography, where a compact and unobtrusive setup is essential.
Travel Photography: Given its portability and versatility, this lens is a fantastic choice for travel photographers who need a wide-angle lens that won’t weigh them down.

Price

At the time of writing, the Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G is priced competitively for its class, offering great value considering the optical performance and build quality it delivers. It is priced lower than many other wide-angle primes in the Sony lineup, such as the Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM, but it still delivers exceptional image quality and build quality that will appeal to both professionals and enthusiasts.

The Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G is an excellent choice for photographers and videographers seeking a compact, high-quality wide-angle lens. It offers great sharpness, minimal distortion, and impressive autofocus performance, all in a lightweight and portable package. Whether you’re capturing landscapes, street scenes, or video, this lens delivers consistent, high-quality results. If you’re looking for a versatile, everyday lens that won’t weigh you down, the Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G is an outstanding option.

Conclusion

Rating

Our overall rating: 8.8/10