A few days ago Sony announced the 20mm f/1.8 for full frame E-mount and I must admit, my ears pricked up.
I haven't got a wide prime in my camera bag at the moment. I've nearly bought one so many times but I don't need one. That said, it's right up on my "to buy" list. Earlier this week, Ryan Mense covered the announcement and did an excellent hands-on which you can see here. Now, Pierre T. Lambert has taken it out for some street photography and to give his honest views on it.
Lambert is a great street photographer and a channel I happily subscribe to. He makes a lot of good points about this lens here. For me the focal length is in somewhat of a no man's land between the loved 35mm and typical ultra wide-angle lenses, though it is technically an ultra wide itself. That is not a bad thing, however. 24mm is already a popular focal length and the 20mm f/2.8 by Sony was well received. The allure of this new f/1.8 version is twofold for me: Firstly, as Lambert shows, it's exceptionally sharp — love that. Secondly, the f/1.8 widest aperture means it is a superb tool for astrophotography.
What are your thoughts on this new Sony prime?
Thanks, Robert. Pierre gives a nice positive vibe. 20mm is a nice focal length for wide spaces with unobstructed immediate surroundings, small crowded spaces or extreme closeups.
What's slightly irritating is they didn't give the recent 35mm 1.8 the same treatment and making it a G Lens, given that it's an extremely popular focal length ☹️.