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Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS vs SonyFE 28mm f/2 and the Sony 16-50mm OSS


Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS    Sony FE 28mm f/2     Sony 16-50mm OSS
5.47oz w/o caps 7.5 oz w/o caps 4oz w/o caps
$448 $448 $348
7 Aperture Blades 9 Aperture Blades 7 Aperture Blades
49mm Filter Thread 49mm Filter Thread 40.5mm Filter Thread
Minimum Focusing Distance: 11.88" Minimum Focusing Distance: 11.42" Minimum Focusing Distance: 9.8"
This review is for Sony A6000 or other APS-C sized sensor users wondering if the Sony FE 28mm f/2 is a sharper lens, and more future-proof as it's full frame compatable. I threw in the 16-50mm OSS for a few shots to see how well it holds up at 35mm and common aperrtures. Theoreticly the FE 28mm f/2 should be sharper across the whole frame and into the far corners because the sensor is only using half the glass.

While not a dramatic size difference, it is considerable when the lenses are attached to the small A6000.


Visibility on this day is well over twenty miles. Shot on a tripod mounted Sony A6000 with shutter speeds fast enough to eliminate any kind of shake. OSS turned off. Manually focused on the barn just off center, at maximum aperture and focus left there, no adjustments made for focus shift or field curvature. Lens correction profiles turned on in Adobe Camera Raw because all these lenses were designed with that in mind. White balance set to daylight. Of course the FE 28mm f/2 has a wider field of view, and for corner crops I decided to crop it to a similar area as the 35mm 1.8 corner.

Both at 1/4000 f/2. Colors and exposure match just like you'd expect with modern lenses.


Off center I'd say it's a toss up, although the FE 28mm f/2 does better job with foreground leaves.


In the corners the performance of the FE 28mm f/2 reflects the poor off center performance on full frame.


I'll skip the overall image as exposure and vignetting are identical with the lens correction profile exposed. Without the profile the 35mm 1.8 OSS shows light vignetting. In the center I'd give the edge to the FE 28mm f/2.


Corners leave much to be desired even on the APS-C frame. Perhaps this is due to field curvature.


On to f/4 where the FE 28mm f/2 still looks better in the off center crops.


And in the corners the FE 28mm f/2 improves but is no match for the 35mm f/1.8 OSS.


Now at f/5.6 I'd say we're splitting hairs in the center.


Same old story in the corners, I'd really expect the FE 28mm f/2 to have matched the 35mm by now.


Jumping in with the little 16-50mm OSS at f/5.6 in the off center crop, just a touch softer in the center - not enough that I'd worry about it.


The 16-50mm OSS shows why we love primes so much.


At f/8 we can start to see the effects of diffraction.


The FE 28mm f/2 is looking decent in the APS-C corners while the 35mm 1.8 continues to shine.


Diffraction hits the 16-50mm hard.


And the corners, well...


A look at their rendering differences on a subject ~3' away. Identical edit except the FE 28mm f/2 got a +0.3 exposure boost to match the 35mm.


At minimum focusing distance wide open.



On the whole I found little to recommend the Sony FE 28mm f/2 over the Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS other than the fact that it can cover full frame. The slight center sharpness advantage falls well short of the corner resolving prowess of the 35mm f/1.8, and of course it has no OSS, is larger and has worse bokeh.

On the whole the Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS is a very solid performer.

Sony A6000, Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS @ .6" f/8 ISO 100

All in all the Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS is a very nice lens. Ian Janoska on Canyon Creek of the Yuba.

Sony A6000, Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS @ 1/1250 f/3.2 ISO 100




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