Sony FE 50mm f/2.8 Macro Lens
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Good when used within its limitations
I purchased this lens to use on my a6000, wanting to experiment in the world of macro photography without spending too much. Short summary: It serves well for its intended use, and I'm happy overall with this purchase. Image quality is very good for home hobby-grade photography. What that means is that I'm happy, even impressed with photo quality, but I'm not a professional, nor do I run formal image quality tests. Flowers, insects, small mechani... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Noisy Slow and Pretty Sharp
In comparison to the 90mm macro, this 50 is slow in close range. It hunts and the motor makes loud noise like me reading restaurant menu without reading glasses. However, once it gets focused, the image is bright and pretty sharp. Use it as a normal distance the noise is not noticeable and focus is relatively fast. To me this is a specialty lens since you can buy a f1.8 50mm lens at similar or cheaper price and probably out perform it ( I only ow... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great all-purpose lens for macro shooters
I'm a botanist with an interest in very small plants. When I'm out and about I want to carry a camera with a single lens capable of high quality macro photography that will also double as a standard lens for other types of shots. This lens paired with my a7R is perfect in these respects. The 50mm focal length makes it an all-rounder while it is also capable of extremely good macro shots. The resolution when used with the A7R is astounding, to the... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Super sharp and fair priced compared to other native mount
This lens has very good performance for the price in regards to sharpness, the only draw back to this lens really is the auto focus. I have been using this lens on an A7R. It is slow compared to most modern auto focus lens and it spends some time hunting for focus if the lighting is even a little poor when your anywhere in the macro focus range. The lens itself also does not have built in stability control like the sony 90mm macro. I have been us... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
This Lens is Sharp!
Have about a zillion slides to digitize, so added the Sony FE 50mm f/2.8 Macro to the kit for that purpose. It produces remarkable 1:1 images. RAW files are tack-sharp to the grain, have faithful color reproduction with outstanding latitude and shadow details. Tested numerous cameras and lenses for this project and the full-frame Sony with this macro lens is the solution. Also took some pictures around the house with it, got some great shots, an... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Everything I had Hoped for!
This lens is wonderful! I was hesitant to buy it at first. I have a 50mm lens, but it's manual focus only. With my eyesight getting worse, I was starting to have problems with my images not being as sharp as I would have liked. This lens has worked beautifully! It's compact, light weight, and my images are so sharp! The only flaw I have found with it is when I photograph my very white kitten. She is 100% white with pink ears and nose, and very li... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Very nice lens!
This is a very nice lens. The quality is very good, and the size is good. Maybe because I am new at macro, and don't know how to use the lens so well, I found it very frustrating that the lens would hunt when I was focusing. I bought a less expensive macro lens awhile ago and returned it because of it's hunting, and decided to purchase this lens more recently, hoping that it was a better lens and wouldn't hunt. Again, though it is a much better l... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Depends on your camera
When I was using the a7r2, I purchased this lens because its my favorite focal length and I can shoot food with it. Seemed like the perfect lens, until I realized how slow it actually is with the old af system. Returned within 2 days Fast forward a month ago, went into my local store to give it one more shot now that i have the r3 and the a9. Focuses very nicely in continuous. A little slow in single point But very usable overall. Made the purch... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Sufficient for the job in hand.
For a full-frame Macro lens, it does the job and does it well. For anything else, it lacks. The autofocus is one of the worst I have ever used- slow and inaccurate- and found that I had no choice but to focus manually, whether for macro work or standard 50mm photography. AF-aside, great little lens that has good all-round potential. Feels like a flimsy bit of plastic to handle (it is) but the positive with that is that when combined with the Sony... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
The price vs. performance of this lens makes it a must have.
I'm primarily a street photographer shooting architecture and people using rangefinder cameras. I recently decided to get into close up photography and chose to use a Sony Alpha 7 ii with the FE 50mm f/2.8 Macro Lens. I was a little apprehensive about the focusing accuracy I could achieve with this lens but I am very pleased with the results so far. It has produced natural looking images without distortion. Other characteristics I like about it are its small size, its lightweight and dust/moisture resistant which is important out in the field.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Follow-up - Great macro for stills!
Second thoughts... If I could edit my earlier review (9/29/2017), I would. Just the "star" rating though. Everything I said is true and correct based on my own experience. Descriptions of strengths, weaknesses, and usability are what they are; I do not retract anything. However, maybe I was a bit harsh on the rating. Four stars is more appropriate. It is what it is, it isn't what it isn't, and should be judged accordingly. I do recommend, it's a very good lens for macro still photography!
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Lightweight and sharp, but very slow to focus
As others have said, the major downside to this lens is AF is very slow, and MF requires way too many turns of the dial. I have put the lens through the paces this week and I am still trying to get used to the slow focus. That said, the lens is lightweight and quite sharp. I have not done any special tests, but shots in the field of wildflowers and insects are very nice with all details present and crisp, even in enlargements.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Outstanding!!
I have only been out on one trip with this lens, shooting flowers. I think that its an excellent lens for the a6500!!! (75mm equivalent) I have not really TESTED and compared but I did use auto, manual and video modes. I am very pleased! I cant figure out how to post images from my phone for this review but I think its a great buy. I purchased the FE to use on the a6500 because I might buy the a7III, if it becomes available.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Took it diving, because why not
I purchased this lens to have something highly flexible for underwater photography. While 50mm is a little on the high side for most UW shooting (you tend to want something less then 24mm) I was able to get some killer shots with this lens. The ability for it to shift to macro mode when I found something small then back to full range when I went back to distance shooting was amazing. The sharpness is incredible.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
A fine Lens
If this objective were just a normal lens its performance would still be very satisfying. To me the macro feature however increases its versatility so much that it rivals my 28-70 mm zoom for the title of favorite default lens on the Sony A7. There have been no disappointments with the auto focus. The flexible spot mode is very useful under difficult conditions and I seldom had to resort to manual focus.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Good Lens but Sharpness on Mine is Not Great
Got this lens for my A7r II and it focuses ver well for what I am using it for. Price is higher than I would like but it is a macro lens. Only reason for the 4 star is I have seen much sharper results with this lens and a A7r II than I am getting. Not sure if B&H send me a cheaper version of if I need to optimize the focusing. It works though so am happy.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Good for what I was looking for
I've tried a little macro photography in the past with point and shoot cameras, so with the purchase of a A7r2 I got this lens after some research to try macro with the camera without too much out of pocket cost. So far it seems to do what I want. Mostly snowflakes and flowers. It might focus a little slow but for my applications, so far, it's been fine.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Awesome little lens.
Great little lens. Auto focusing is faster than the 90mm FE G but is a louder. Lens is super sharp, great bokeh. I like the slightly wider focal range when shooting static objects. For the price you can't beat it. Very useful on both my A7s and 6300 but out of focus areas are definitely more buttery on the FF sensor. Would recommend it.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Good for still life
The quality of the lens and images is excellent. It comes with the trade-off of sometimes excruciatingly slow and finicky focusing. Coupled with the not-so-silent motor, this lens has some limitations if used for anything other than still life or product shots. For those applications, however, it is excellent.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great bright macro lens for a buck
Works great on my Sony A7ii for macro and everyday pictures. Managed to make great macro pictures of flowers in deep shade without tripod!! Recommend! I am just starting to get into macro photography. Next thing I will try how it works photographing the night sky:)
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Lovely detail lens
Just a stunning lens. We find it especially useful with our FS7 video camera at high frame rates. Useful as a studio lens with the easy focal length switch. Lovely detail work, and transfers nicely between the ENG-style video camera and our A7sii.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great quality, super slow
I bought this lens when it first came out. The quality, color and sharpness are beautiful the lens physically is very nice, but the focus speed is painfully slow. I couldn't deal with it searching for focus so I returned it.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great macro for the money.
This is Sony's most affordable macro. Resolution is great, contrast and colors are also very good. It's weakest spot is focusing speed and excessive hunting in some situations.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Easy to carry around
Very light and get very accurate and sharp photos; the only con I have is that in low light the auto focus tends to hunt and most of time does not find focus.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
