Sony has officially announced the new FE 50mm f/1.4 GM Lens. The US price of the new compact and portable standard prime is $1,299, release date is in late April to early May. Check availability at B&HPhoto /Adorama/Amazon.
The Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM is a brand new fast standard prime lens for Sony Alpha full-frame and APS-C cameras. This is the second 50mm F1.4 E-mount lens that Sony have released, the first being the 7-year-old Sony Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA.
The Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM features 14 elements in 11 groups, including two xtreme aspherical (XA) elements which help to ensure that the image is sharp across the frame and to suppress chromatic aberrations and purple fringing. More at Explora.
Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 GM Lens Key Features & Specs
- Full-frame standard prime lens for Sony E-mount
- 50mm focal length (75mm eq on APS-C)
- F1.4-F16 aperture range with 11-bladed circular aperture
- 14 elements in 11 groups, including 2 XA elements, 1 ED element and Nano AR II Coating
- 2x XD Linear Motor AF system
- Minimum focusing distance: 0.41m (16 in.) with AF / 0.38m (15 in.) with MF
- Maximum magnification: 0.16x (AF), 0.18x (MF)
- Linear response focusing ring
- Dedicated aperture ring with lock switch and de-click toggle
- 2 custom function buttons
- Dust- and moisture-resistant construction; fluorine coating on front
- Dimensions (L x D): 96mm x 80.6mm (3.7 in. X 3.1 in.)
- Weight: 516g (18.2oz)
- Price: $1299 USD / $1799 CAD
Official Product video:
Press release:
Sony has added the FE 50mm F1.4 GM to its range of E-mount lenses, providing a less expensive, lighter-weight alternative to its 50mm F1.2 GM.
As with other recent Sony lenses, it’s been designed to be as at home shooting video or stills: it has a clicking aperture ring for stills shooters with the option to de-click if you’re shooting video. There’s also a switch to lock it into or out of the ‘A’ position that passes aperture control to the camera.
The new lens uses a pair of XD linear motors to drive the focus, with Sony claiming the result is a lens that can autofocus up to 1.9x faster than the original Sony/Zeiss 50mm F1.5 ZA from 2016. The new lens is also smaller, lighter, sharper and less expensive than the ZA version.
The new lens features 14 elements in 11 groups, including two ‘extreme aspherical’ elements and one extra-low dispersion (ED) element. It features an 11 rounded-blade diaphragm and can focus as close as 0.38m (15″) in manual focus mode, giving a maximum magnification figure of 0.18x.
The lens exhibits some focus breathing (a narrower field-of-view at close focus distances) but is supported by Sony’s Focus Breathing Correction feature on recent cameras that crops-in video to the tightest field of view then maintains it even as the focus moves towards infinity.
Like other GM lenses, the 50mm F1.4 has been designed to be dust and moisture resistant.
The 50mm F1.4 weighs 516g (18.2oz) and will be available from late April/early May at a recommended price of $1299.
