In summary
Photographer’s with Sony’s e-mount cropped-sensor cameras who want a fast prime lens that covers the ‘standard’ angle of view will find the E35mm f/1.8 OSS lens a worthwhile candidate to consider. Used within its limitations it can produce sharp, high quality images, particularly if you shoot raw files.
The softening and reduced contrast we found at wider apertures can be capitalised upon when shooting close-ups of flowers as well as for portraiture. In the middle of the aperture range, images are sharp and detailed. The lens is also virtually distortion-free and chromatic aberration is well controlled. Bokeh is generally quite attractive.
Full review
Announced in September 2012, the E35mm f/1.8 OSS lens (SEL35F18) was designed to partner Sony’s NEX cameras and is one of a range of fast prime lenses for cameras with APS-C sized sensors. Covering a 44 degree angle of view (equivalent to a 52.5mm lens on a 35mm camera), it’s the closest thing to a standard focal length. Its compact size, fast maximum aperture and built-in Optical Steady Shot (OSS) are useful for low-light shooting when you can’t use a tripod.
Side view of the Sony E35mm f/1.8 OSS lens. (Source: Sony.)
The optical design comprises 8 elements in 6 groups and includes one extra-low dispersion element and two aspherical elements to minimise spherical aberration and improve contrast. Internal focusing is driven by a stepping motor that enables fast autofocusing and preserves the lens length and front element orientation while focusing.
Sony makes no claims for the integrated Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation, save to say it facilitates handheld shooting in fading light or dimly lit interiors. The seven-blade iris diaphragm closes to a circular aperture, contributing to a pleasing bokeh quality at wide aperture settings.
The lens should be supplied with front and end caps plus a petal-shaped hood. However, there was no hood with the lens we received for this review.
Who’s it For?
With an angle of view equivalent to 52.5mm in 35mm format and a fast f/1.8 maximum aperture, this is a reasonably versatile lens for its single focal length, although it won’t be suitable for shooting sports and wildlife. Designed for Sony’s cropped sensor NEX and Alpha (α) cameras it can be used for everyday snapshots, portraits, night shots and some close-ups, although it’s not a macro lens.
Weighing only 154 grams and roughly 45mm long, it takes up little space in your camera bag and makes a good partner to the compact E-mount cameras. The motors controlling focus and aperture adjustments are quiet, smooth and unobtrusive, making this lens ideal for shooting video.
Build and Ergonomics
Overall build quality is in line with other lenses in its class and a step up from regular kit lenses. But, like most kit lenses, it’s not weather-sealed.
The mounting plate is chromed metal, while the outer barrel and focusing ring are made from aluminium alloy. The internal compartments are mostly plastic and the grip band on the focusing ring is plastic too.
The inner surface at the front of the lens is threaded to accept a 49 mm diameter filter, while the outer edge of this section has a bayonet fitting for the lens hood. The front element appears small inside this circle, with a diameter of just 20 mm.
The manual focusing ring starts roughly 5 mm behind the bayonet fitting. It’s 15 mm wide and entirely clad with fine ribbing that provides a good grip. The ring is well damped and smooth to operate in manual focus mode.
As usual in this type of lens, manual focusing is ‘by-wire’, which means there’s little in the way of tactile feedback as you turn it. Manual focus over-ride is not supported because the mechanism that drives it is not engaged in AF mode. You have to switch the focus mode to Direct manual focus (DMF) to engage it.
The remainder of the outer barrel is about 23 mm long. It lacks external controls so functions like OSS stabilisation must be handled via the camera’s menu. Sony makes no claims for the built-in stabilisation system which, by our estimation, provides between two and three stops of shake compensation in optimal conditions.
Autofocusing is driven by a linear stepping motor, which is not particularly fast but almost silent. The mounting plate on the review lens was a very tight fit on the α6500 camera we used for this review.
Performance
All in-camera corrections in the α6500 used for this review were switched off for our Imatest tests as well as our tests for vignetting and rectilinear distortion. We used raw files for checking vignetting and distortion to eliminate any in-camera corrections that may have been applied to JPEG files.
Some vignetting was evident at the widest apertures, although it wasn’t particularly obvious in many test shots. Stopping down to f/2.8 eliminated most of the darkening and the vignetting had vanished totally by f/3.5. Rectilinear distortion was small enough to be effectively negligible.
Subjective assessments of image revealed a surprising lack of contrast at wider aperture settings, as well as obvious softening at wider aperture settings. Edge and corner softening persisted through to about f/8, after which it became barely visible.
Imatest showed the test lens to be a good performer on the α6500 body. The highest resolution in the central part of the frame was between f/5 and f/7.1. Diffraction reduced sharpness from about f/8 on. The graph below shows the results of our Imatest tests.
Lateral chromatic aberration hovered around the border between ‘negligible’ and ‘low’ values, indicated by a red line in the graph below. No obvious coloured fringing was found in test shots.
Together, the review lens and the α6500 delivered good backlight performance in most situations. The lens wasn’t totally immune to flare and veiling flare was found in some shots when a bright light source was just outside the image frame. However, the camera’s dynamic range optimisation (DRO) system managed to keep contrast and saturation at usable levels (although editing was required with some shots).
Bokeh (out-of-focus softening) was generally very smooth at wide apertures, in part due to the low contrast rendition. Out-of-focus highlights retained their original shapes and the transition between sharp focus and blur was very smooth.
Brighter out-of-focus highlights tended to merge quite gently into the background blur and we found no evidence of outlining around highlights. Bokeh fringing, a common characteristic with fast lenses, was not detected.
Conclusion
Photographer’s with Sony’s e-mount cropped-sensor cameras who want a fast prime lens that covers the ‘standard’ angle of view will find the E35mm f/1.8 OSS lens a worthwhile candidate to consider. Used within its limitations it can produce sharp, high quality images, particularly if you shoot raw files.
The softening and reduced contrast we found at wider apertures can be capitalised upon when shooting close-ups of flowers as well as for portraiture. In the middle of the aperture range, images are sharp and detailed. The lens is also virtually distortion-free and chromatic aberration is well controlled. Bokeh is generally quite attractive.
Sony has this lens listed on its local website at AU$599. Compared with the faster Carl Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 lens, which is priced at AU$2399 and even the slightly slower FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* lens (RRP AU$999), the E35mm f/1.8 OSS lens represents a bargain.
If you shop around, you should be able to find this lens at a local re-seller for between AU$520 and AU$550. The US-based re-seller B&H, which markets aggressively into Australia, has the lens listed at US$448, which translated into a little over AU$600, so it’s not worth shopping off-shore.
SPECS
Picture angle: 44 degrees
Minimum aperture: f/22
Lens construction: 8 elements in 6 groups (including 2 aspherical elements and one ED glass element)
Lens mounts: Sony E-mount
Diaphragm Blades: 7 (circular aperture)
Focus drive: Linear stepping motor
Stabilisation: Optical SteadyShot
Minimum focus: 30cm
Maximum magnification: 0.15x
Filter size: 49 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 63 x 45 mm
Weight: 154 grams
Standard Accessories: Lens front and end caps, lens hood (ALC-SH112)
Distributor: Sony Australia; 1300 720 071; www.sony.com.au.
TESTS
Based upon JPEG files captured with the Sony α6500 camera.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at f/1.8.
Rectilinear distortion.
Close-up; ISO 100, 1/1000 second at f/1.8.
Strong backlighting; ISO 100, 1/1600 second at f/8.
Crop from the above image at 100% magnification showing the relative absence of coloured fringing.
Veiling flare; ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/8.
Veiling flare; ISO 100, 1/13 second at f/9.
Backlit subject; ISO 100, 1/4000 second at f/2.2.
Stabilisation test; ISO 100, 1/10 second at f/4.5.
Bokeh at f/2.2, 1/4000 second at ISO 100.
ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/5.
ISO 100, 1/200 second at f/11.
Additional image samples can be found with our review of the Sony α6500 camera.
Rating
RRP: AU$599; US$448
- Build: 8.8
- Handling: 8.8
- Image quality: 8.9
- Versatility: 8.6