Sony VS the best 50mm lenses ever made

Sony just announced the release of the new 50mm f/1.4 G Master lens which was an interesting move in that just 2 years ago they released the sublime f/1.2 version. This makes Sony the second full frame camera manufacturer to offer an f/1.4 professional lens. Panasonic released their own in 2019 and Nikon and Canon only offer f/1.2 professional prime lenses.

So is the 50 f/1.4 G Master any good? Compared to what? In this video I want to compare the optical quality to 3 of what I think are the best 50mm lenses ever made - the Sony f/1.2 GM, the Leica 50mm Summilux f/1.4 ASPH. and the Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4. How does the optical quality compare? If I could only choose 1 50mm lens for the rest of my career, which one would it be? Lets talk about that in this video.

0:00 Sony 50mm f/1.4 G Master
0:26 Field Curvature and Edge to Edge Sharpness
1:00 Image Quality and Handling
1:46 Compared to the Sony 50mm f/1.2 G Master
2:56 Early wide-aperture lenses
5:00 Bokeh Tests
6:27 Weight and Ergonomics
7:37 Build your website with Squarespace
9:09 Compared to the best 50mm lenses ever made
9:50 Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-M Asph
11:08 Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4
12:26 Lenses Compared
13:37 What is the best 50mm lens?

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Ted Forbes
The Art of Photography
2830 S. Hulen, Studio 133
Fort Worth, TX 76109
US of A

[rzero]

2:57 in the early days of Sony E-mount, I had plenty of fun buying vintage lenses, and finding out about the history of different camera manufacturers.

[SilatShooter]

Solid video! Your reason for choosing the Leica Summilux, is why I went with the Sony 50mm f2.5G.

[patrickjclarke]

Resale value on the Leica will always be more than anything else. My main complaint on all the new mirrorless cameras is that we reduced the size of the camera over DSLR's but the trend to make "perfect" lenses that have all the functions has increased the size overall. I personally would like to see Sony make another f/1.4 that is the size of the old Sony A-Mount AF 50mm f/1.4 but updated to be as good as the 'Lux. I know they won't as that muddies their lineup, but a Sony A7c with a small 28, 35 and 50 would be a formidable alternative to an M for some.

[ImperiousImages]

As always there have been at least 10 videos of this new lens posted by YouTube influencers in the last week or so. Thanks for being intentional about giving current and historical context to the conversation. As technology keeps moving towards perfection, big picture context and practical considerations matter more.

[aboynamedjamil]

I always love your review video man. Gerald gives us all the super technical stuff about gear. But watching your reviews is like being in a gear history class where I get the technical stuff, but I also get a lesson on how we got here. Top shelf.

[Visions_in_Toyko]

I have the 50 1.2 and the 50 Summilux and whilst both lenses are simply put incredible the Summilux wins for me. The 1.2 is almost too sharp and clinical the Summilux has the perfect amount of sharpness but just renders images so beautifully and organically. The 50 Summilux is the greatest lens I have ever had the pleasure of using

[Svoboda]

Anyone know how these lenses compare to the LUMIX 50 1.4?

[qnetx]

I shoot a lot of portraiture and I find myself constantly adding homemade softening filters to the front of these modern ultra sharp, high resolving lenses. I actually prefer shooting my older manual focus vintage Zeiss Planar and Sonnar lenses for their character. Even the older Tele-Elmarit and Summarit-M Leica lenses have nice character for portraits. My female clients prefer the look of the softer images and would regularly ask me to blur their skin when shot on the ultra sharp lenses.

[GrahamAtDesk]

I'm with you on the "small and compact" approach Ted. I really enjoy the Olympus 25mm f1.8 on my M43 bodies. With the lens hood attached (reversed) it takes up hardly any space, and the quality is excellent.

[AmbercoolPhotography]

I remember every shot I took with the Summilux, and I can't say the same about every other lens I've used. I believe it's because of the intimate moments of manually focusing and just looking through the lens a bit longer.

[trancer]

Any clue how the image quality of this new sony lens compares to the 50mm RF 1.2 from Canon?

[mikejennings]

Hi, good video comparison. I have a question of using the Summilux lens on a Sony body. What adapter did you use? My Leica lenses are 6 bit coded so I would like to retain lens info in metadata. Thx

[thomastuorto]

Do you take into account shooting into the light, lens flare, etc. when comparing or choosing a lens? Or does most of your photography not include that style of photo taking? Thanks for any replies.

[NatyMidnight]

I’ve been considering adding a 50 to my kit again. I sold my canon 1.2 when I switched to Sony and while I have an 85, it’s a bit too tight at times. Thanks for a great review and the history of it all!

[tylerdoestech]

The lens that brought me into the club of 50mm as a go-to focal length was the Canon 50mm f/1.8. The lens that made the focal length grow on me was the Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 in M42 screw mount. Is it a perfect lens? No, but for the time in which it was produced, it delivers outstanding results that hold up marvelously well on digital sensors up to about ~30 MP or so at f/2.2 and beyond. It was included in a bundle with a 5D Mark II that I bought years ago, and I have never parted with it ever since. When I film something, it is generally the first lens I attempt to use to frame a shot, and I come back to it time and time again.

[dirtysouthtiger]

Just picked up the 50mm 1.2 GM along with the 16-35mm 2.8 GM II.
The 50 1.2 is 🔥📸

[THEWINNER]

In terms of maximum aperture in early years, Carl Zeiss has to be mentioned. The Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 came out in the early 1930s and was faster than everything at that time. Fun fact: the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 has the same Mount as the Carl Zeiss Sonnar (Nikon S is based on the Zeiss Ikon Contax camera)

[shots]

Lovely review Ted, in-depth, on point and a warm vibe. Keep up the great work. 📸👍🏻

[puggsincyberspace]

I use to have all A-Mount lenses. The a900, a77 and a99 and a whole lot of expensive lenses to go with it. But when I cam to buy the 16-35 f2.8 I just couldn’t get it in Australia. The a7s had just came out and at the time I use to shoot a lot of low light, night shots. At the time it came with the LA-EA4 adapter so it made sense. Started selling my old a-mount stuff for more that the equivalent e-mount lenses. Brought the a7sII and sold the first one for more than I paid.

So yes I have had a mount disappear on me.

[monsieurpapou]

Your videos are always a great pleasure to watch. I really like the way you speak, explain and show real differences based on your photographer's practice. pictures you display are not only interesting in a technical point of view but really emphasize what you are trying to explain and show us. Thanks a lot for that and please go on with making good stuff like that.