Sony 20mm f1.8 FE Lens

Greetings fellow photography enthusiasts, sit down, strap in and let's talk about the latest must-have lens, the Sony 20mm f1.8 FE lens.

Released in 2020, this wide-angle prime lens is all the rage amongst photographers, and for good reason. This lens is designed for Sony mirrorless cameras and delivers exceptional image quality, lightning-fast autofocus, and a build quality that will make you feel like it could survive the apocalypse. Let's delve into the juicy details and see what makes this lens so special.

Price

The Sony 20mm f1.8 is available HERE AT WEX for (currently, March 2023) £949, but HERE AT AMAZON for (currently!!!) just £791, so maybe chance to grab a bargain. Although, I’d strongly recommend buying from WEX for the customer service if there’s not much in it at the time of purchase for you.

Build Quality

Firstly, let's talk about the build quality, because let's face it, nobody wants a lens that falls apart like a poorly made sandwich. The Sony 20mm f1.8 FE lens is constructed from high-quality plastic and has a rugged feel to it. The lens is also weather-sealed, which means it can handle the elements like a champ. If you're someone as heavy-handed as me, or someone who likes to shoot in the rain or dust storms, then this lens is going to be your new best friend.

Image Quality

Now let's talk optics, because that's where the real magic happens. This lens has an advanced optical design of 14 elements in 12 groups. Among these elements, there are two AA (advanced aspherical) elements, three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, and one XA (extreme aspherical) element. If you don't know what any of that means, just know that it translates to images that are sharp, detailed, and free from any unwanted nasties like chromatic aberration or distortion. This lens is perfect for a wide range of photographic genres, from landscape to portrait photography.

Moreover, the Sony 20mm f1.8 FE lens has a fast maximum aperture of f/1.8, which means it's perfect for shooting in low light conditions and getting that dreamy shallow depth of field. And with a nine-bladed circular aperture, this lens creates a beautiful, creamy bokeh effect that's sure to make your subjects pop.

Focus

The lens also has a minimum focus distance of 0.19m, which means you can get right up close and personal with your subjects and achieve a maximum magnification of 0.2x. Whether you're photographing a bug on a flower or a person's face, this lens will be able to handle it.

Moreover, the Sony 20mm f1.8 FE lens has a fast and accurate autofocus system, thanks to its XD Linear Motor technology. This technology provides quick and silent focusing performance, making it an ideal lens for video recording. And if you're someone who loves to customize things, then you'll be happy to know that this lens features a customizable focus hold button that you can program to perform specific functions like Eye AF or focus magnification. This level of customization is like having a personal assistant who can read your mind.

Size

Finally, let's talk about the ergonomics of this lens. It's compact and lightweight, which means you can take it with you anywhere without feeling like you're carrying a brick around your neck, something that happens quite often with Sony FE lenses.

It has a smooth and responsive focus ring, perfect for all those manual focus enthusiasts out there, and its feel and texture allows for excellent grip and precision.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Sony 20mm f1.8 FE lens ticks a box for a wide-angle lens that every photographer should have in their arsenal. Its advanced optics, fast autofocus, and rugged build quality make it a lens that can handle anything you throw at it. I bought it mostly for creating my landscape timelapses, from day to night or night to day, making use of that big f1.8 aperture to capture the night sky, but it’s very useful elsewhere too. It’s a great wide-angle lens to throw on a Sony Alpha in a gimbal, on a slider, for making portraits or just as a lens to walk avoid with as a point-and-shoot.

I expect the Sony 20mm f1.8 will be staying in my kit for quite a while as my main landscape timelapse lens, very happy with it. Recommended.

Check out my film “3 days on Cadair Berywyn”, where I head up into the Welsh mountains for 3 days to capture some timelapse sequences with a Sony 20mm f1.8 FE lens on a Sony A7iii.

More about why Sony FE lenses are awesome

Sony is one of the top camera manufacturers in the world, and their FE lens lineup is one of the main reasons why. Sony's FE lenses are designed to be used with their full-frame mirrorless cameras, and they offer exceptional optical performance, fast autofocus, and robust build quality.

One of the reasons why Sony FE lenses are great is their optical performance. These lenses use advanced optical designs, including aspherical and extra-low dispersion elements, to deliver sharp, high-contrast images with minimal distortion and chromatic aberration. These lenses are perfect for a wide range of photographic genres, from the landscapes I love to capture, to portrait photography and everything else in between.

Furthermore, Sony FE lenses are known for their lightning-fast autofocus. Sony's mirrorless cameras use a hybrid autofocus system that combines phase detection and contrast detection, allowing for incredibly fast and accurate focusing. This system works in conjunction with Sony's advanced focusing algorithms, which track subjects and maintain focus even when they're moving quickly. Whether you're photographing a fast-moving subject or shooting in low-light conditions, Sony FE lenses can handle it all. The only exception to this, in my experience, is when using them at night on a mountain (but who does that….?), and when dealing with fast-moving low clouds. In both cases, I’ve struggled with focus hunting, and tend to go manual. That aside, and it could well be my settings, the auto focus on Sony cameras is remarkable.

In addition, Sony FE lenses are built to last. They're made from high-quality materials and are weather-sealed, so you can use them in harsh conditions without worrying about damage. These lenses are also designed to be lightweight and compact, making them easy to carry around with you on all your photographic adventures.

Sony also offers a wide variety of FE lenses, from ultra-wide angle to telephoto lenses. This extensive selection of lenses allows photographers to choose the perfect lens for their specific needs, whether they're shooting landscapes, portraits, or sports.

In conclusion, I think Sony FE lenses are great because of their exceptional optical performance, fast autofocus, and robust build quality. These lenses are perfect for photographers who demand the best and want to take their photography to the next level. The only negative I really have is the cost, they can be quite expensive. But if the exceedingly high quality isn’t enough for you to justify this cost, you could do what I do, and tell yourself they’re an investment!