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LENS TEST TestbenchResolutionLookingatourImageEngineeringMTF50tests,
shotonthe42.4MPA7RIII,revealsthatthelens
is alreadyimpressivelysharpin thecentreofthe
frameatf/1.8.It improvesfurtheronstopping
down,reachingpeakcentralperformanceatf/4.As
usualthecornersaren’tquiteassharp,butthey’re
reallynottoofaroff.Overallthelens’ssweetspot
coversf/5.6-f/11,withdiffractionsoftening
becoming evident at smaller apertures.Centre CornerSony FE 35mm F1.8CurvilineardistortionExaminingourtest-chartshotrevealsa small
amountofpincushiondistortion,withlinesthat
shouldbestraightalongtheedgesoftheframe
bowinginwardsslightlyatthecentre.Butit’svery
mildandeasilyfixedbysoftwarecorrection, both
in-camera and during raw processing.ShadingVignettingis clearlyvisibleatmaximumaperture,
withabout1.7stopslossofbrightnessin the
cornersoftheframe.Thisdiminishesgraduallyas
theapertureis stoppeddown,butnotunusually
forfull-frameE-mountprimes,it doesn’tgo
awayentirely.Insteadweseea suddendropin
brightnesstowards the corners, which persists
even at f/8.f/1.8 f/8SMIA TV = -0.6%WiththeFE35mmF1.8,Sonyhasmade
a finelittlelensthat’sa greatmatchforits
Alpha7-seriescamerabodies.It’ssmall,
lightandweather-sealed,yetprovides
impressiveimagequalityandnear-
instantaneousautofocus.It’ssharpacross
theframeandgiveslovelyblurred
backgrounds,whichis allyoucanreallyask
forfroma fastprime.Somemightquestion
whyyou’dpay£630fora lensthat’s‘only’
f/1.8,buttherealityis thatyou’regetting
seriouslyhigh-endperformancehere.
Indeedwhilethislensmaynotquite
achievetheopticalnear-perfectionwe’ve
becomeusedtofromSony’sG Master
series,it stilldeliversa levelof imagequality
thatwe’dhavemarvelledat tenyearsago.
PersonallyI’dchooseit aheadof Sony’s
other35mmprimes,as
it’sbyfarthebest-
balancedpackageof the
threein termsof price,
sizeandopticalquality.
Onthisbasis,it deserves
tobeextremelypopular
with Alpha 7 users.VerdictResidualcornerdarkeningcanstillbevisiblewiththe lens atf/8Sony Alpha 7R III, 1/400sec at f/8, ISO 100
Price£630
Filterdiameter
55mm
Lenselements 11
Groups 9
Diaphragmblades 9
Aperturef/1.8-22
Minimumfocus
0.22m
Length73mm
Diameter65.6mm
Weight280g
LensmountSony E
(full-frame)Data fileSharpnessis particularlyimpressive,with
thecornerscomingveryclosetomatchingthe
centre.Indeedat a normalworkingaperture
of f/8-f/11,it’ssuperbacrosstheentireframe.
Butthelensisn’tjustgoodat smallapertures;
you’llalsogetloadsof detailwideopenat f/1.8.
Examiningreal-worldimagesrevealsthat
thissharpnesspersistsacrossthefullfocus-
distancerange,evenwithextremeclose-ups.
Thistendstobeoneof theless-appreciated
advancesof modernopticaldesign.
Distortionis alsoverylow:unusuallyfora
35mmprimeit’sof thepincushiontype,but
it’sfarfromproblematic.Asusual,enabling
in-cameralenscompensationgivesperfectly
correctedJPEGs.Naturallythere’ssome
vignetting,butit’snotproblematicwideopen,
witha broadfall-offprofile that’snotvisually
objectionable.Howeverit persistsmorethan
usualonstoppingdown,witha drop-offin
illuminationstillclearlyvisiblein thecorners
of theframeevenat f/8.
It’salsopossibletotracea littlecolour
fringingaroundout-of-focus,high-contrast
edgesat largeaperturesif yougolookingforit
- a symptomof longitudinalchromatic
aberration.Butagain,thisis entirelyexpected
fromsucha lens,andthe35mmf/1.8
suppressesit betterthanmanyotherfast
primesI’veused.It’salsooftencorrectablein
rawprocessing,forexamplebyusingAdobe
CameraRaw’sdefringecontrols.Atsmaller
apertures,greenandpurplefringingbecomes
morevisiblein thecornersof theframeowing
tolateralchromaticaberration.Butthisis
normallycompensatedforin-camera,andby
Adobesoftwarein rawprocessingtoo.
Distantout-of-focusbackgroundsare
renderedwitha veryattractiveblur,butI
waslesspleasedbyhowthelenshandles
thetransitiontoout-of-focusregionswhen
shootingclose-ups.Herethebokehtends
tolookmuchmore‘busy’,withhardedges
aroundblurcircles.It’soneof thefew
visible fl aws of an otherwise excellent lens.
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