Sony SAL50F14 : Alpha 50mm F1.4 lens

December 12, 2019

Sony SAL50F14 : Alpha 50mm F1.4 lens

Brilliant lens but too expensive.

Very very sharp results, very nice bokeh effect and swift auto-focusing. Very well-built, it feels and look solid. I would strongly recommend it to any one interested in low light, portrait shooting. 5 starsimage’s sharpness: 5 starsfocusing: 5 stars (a bit noisy, which is the case with all alpha series)value: 4 stars (canon and nikon lenses are almost always cheaper than sony’s -not only for this lens-. Which looks like a company strategy – cheaper body prices and more expensive lens prices-).

When i bought my first dslr with its kit lens, i couldn’t see what the fuss was about. It is quite wonderful for indoor work. With so much coming in through the lens, you can work with the available light where other cameras / lenses need to use a flash. As well as being much less annoying, it captures the colours that would be whitened out. Most of the time, you can pay significantly less for the sony f1. 8 lens, but i was able to find this one for not much more money and it’s only been off the camera when i do things like wildlife that need a long zoom lens. Looked at that way, it’s been a complete bargain.

Everyone should have a 50mm prime; this lens has hardly been off the camera since i got it. The sharpness is impressive, but the stongest assets are the brightness, which lets you work in almost any situation, and the control over the depth of field. It’s the easiest way to get ‘artistic’ results with no further processing. My only criticism is that, because of the ‘cropping factor’, due to the smaller sensor size, this is more like a 75mm lens in practice. The angle is therefore tighter than you might want for snapshots, groups of people etc. , and it’s certainly no good for landscapes. For portraits, close-ups, abstract work etc, it’s really easy to get great results.

Got this lens at a spacial promotion at 50% discount of the standard price. This is a great value for a full frame sony lens.

Having just purchased the sony a200 dslr and kit i confess to being a complete semi-amateur (i’ve had a 35mm slr). I wanted a fast lens to use inside without flash and the greater use of depth of field. Even in my hands, this clearly does what the kit lens just isn’t capable of. The amount of light the lens captures is astoundingi was wondering if £220 was worth it for a new starter like myself over the kit lens, but after capturing some shots i am not wondering any more. This prime opens up a whole new world of choice for me. *editsony are releasing a much cheaper 50mm f1.

It seems that it was a perfect choice. I took very nice photos without try hard. Now i need some time (and of course some hundred of photos) in order to understand better the behavior of the lens under different circumstances but i believe that i did a very good purchase.

This is a superb ‘standard’ lens for the sony alpha mount, being derived from the earlier minolta 50mm 1. Centre resolution according to various reviews is stellar, and i concur with those results – this is a stunningly sharp lens – even wide open at 1. 4 the centre is sharp, but stop down to 1. 8 or f2 and sharpness is off the scale, easily out-resolving most sony aps-c sensors other than the latest one in the a65 and a77. 4 the edges are distinctly not so sharp, but this is absoultely fine for portraits, which, let’s face it, is probably what you would be using this lens at f1. Bokeh is very nice and focus on the lens swift and accurate, though not silent. Build is reassuringly solid with a metal lens mount.

Good value for money
Great 1.4 lens
Great Sony lens.

Sony SAL50F14.AE A Mount – Full Frame 50mm F1.4 Prime Lens – Black

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Standard Lens with bright maximum aperture
Bright aperture ideal for portraiture photography
Can be used with either Digital SLR or Film SLR (Minolta) cameras
High Quality Sony optics
Equivalent to 75mm focal length on Alpha 100
WEIGHT (g) : 235
55mm filter diameter

The 50mm used to be the standard kit lens supplied with cameras. Now they are all 18-55mm zoom, & pretty much generic from any manufacturer. This is a superb lens, & should be in anyone’s kit bag, it’s so versatile. It’s also so small that once you’ve bought one, there’s no reason not to have it with you. The obvious reason to buy it is for the f1. This gives great depth of field control, & can be used in low light. It also means that the viewfinder is brighter, & autofocus is quicker & sharper, since the camera can “see” better. The design may be a little retro looking (i don’t think sony have updated this since buying minolta), but this is an advantage. It makes hyperfocal focusing easier.

As always investigate that this is the lens for you and your camera body on the sony website. Also – after purchase – register there for a load of tech info and advice. Great for low light indoor photography.

Brilliant does what it’s intended to do.

Did zoom lenses destroy the art part of photography, by making the framing of a photo too easy?regardless of what your own answer is to the above question, i think that a non zoom lens is considered by most amateurs an option too restrictive. Especially when considering a full frame 50mm lens which will act like a 75mm lens on a 2/3 sensor dslr. Do make the step forward, fellow amateurs, and buy this lens. 4 aperture and the respectively ‘faster’ low light shots it will offer you. . The quality and the abundance of detail your photos will exhibit is not matched by any >=2. 8 lens in the price range of this lens. . You will find yourselves going back and forth to frame your photo with this lens, but then again a zoom lens with thisone’s picture quality will cost several thousands of your euros/pounds. . I still believe every ‘serious’ amateur should buy a 17-50mm (28mm-75mm for 2/3 sensors) lens with a constant max aperture of 2. 8, as this a relatively cheap and good quality lens, versatile and quite bright as well.

Glad i purchased this 50mm really happy with it.

Brilliant and handy, i shoot video using it all the time. A must have for any dslr filmmaker.

It may seem a bit expensive compared with canon and nikon 50mm primes, but the quality is great, and at f1. 4 it is actually a very useful low-light/available-light standard lens. Great choice for social photography, parties, weddings, e. And, if you’re not familiar with prime lenses, you’ll be stunned by the quality of the pictures you get. 4, great image quality, compact size, good build quality. Cons – ok, it is quite pricey. There’s cheaper, but slower, 50mm available.

I bought this lens primarily for portrait photography and some video work. It is mounted to a sony a99 and has been used on my old a700 as well. Starting with build quality:the plastics used are of a good quality and matted to the metal alpha mount. It features a rubber focus ring that does attract dirt and dust but is smooth, if not a little on the thin size, when used. This i find a disadvantage due to the large amount of video work i am now doing as it makes it difficult to attach a follow focus to and is fiddly with your fingers (something coincidentally that you should never do). It is permanently coupled meaning that it rotate when using it in af although the mount for your filters does not rotate at all. The light weight of the glass elements means that it has a fast auto focus however it is a little noisy due to drive system used. This can sometimes be heard on video however i always shoot manually to avoid the many pitfalls of af and video. There is hardly any barrel distortion, really nothing to mention and has no effect out in the field. There is some vignetting when used under f/2 however anything above this and i hardly noticed it at all.

When i first bought this lens i was delighted: sharp, fast and a fantastically tight depth of field which makes for some creative photos. Since then i have bought the carl zeiss 135mm f1. 8 which is fantastic and makes one a little picky. It’s perhaps not fair to compare with a lens that costs a grand more, but if you do, the lens under review can be criticised for significant chromatic aberration. Update after having used the lens for more than 2 years: great for portraits and other people shots. Does suffer from vignetting at wider apertures which is very noticeable on landscapes. But for all its faults, it still spends a lot of time on my camera. I have taken some great shots with this lens, particularly portraits in soft light where the narrow depth of focus can be very effective. The chromatic aberration giving a coloured fringe along lines of high contrast is hacking me off and i am now looking to buy a better lens.

I’ve had this lens for a few weeks now and i haven’t been disappointed. The shallow depth of field opportunities promised by the f/1. 4 has opened up a new world. At a friends wedding it enabled me to get lots of good off hand portrait shots that have gone down very well. It also allowed me to get usable shots indoors without having to result to a bulky flash that nearly always stops people acting naturally. Size-wise it is very compact, by far my smallest lens. Manual focus is easy to achieve even with shallow depth of field. I have no problem recommending this lens.

This is an excellant lens, good all rounder from bright light down to very low light. I thought the lens was a little on the expensive side, but since useing it i now realise you get what you pay for. In my oppinion a good lens at a good price.

This was the first lens i bought when upgrading from the kit lens that came with my alpha 230 and it’s still a firm favourite. It’s brilliant in low light conditions as well as daylight and its small size makes the camera lighter and unobtrusive. The large aperture is great for portraits where you want a blurred background. 8 versions around, i went for the more expensive one with the intent of keeping it and using for some low-light work (gig photography) and it certainly hasn’t disappointed. This is an extremely versatile lens. Only downsides are the priciness and, as others have said, it’s effectively 75 rather than 50mm unless you have a full-frame sensor.

I can’t believe how much the price of these has come down. Mine was £300 used a couple of years ago, get one quickly before they go up again. First and foremost this is a very fast lens of course. 4 allows you to produce either an incredibly shallow depth of field or to work in some pretty poor light. In combination with the legendary low light performance of my a580 this lens is a low light must have. Today, having time on my hands and nothing better to do, i ran a sharpness test. There is a little softness between f1. Things tighten up a little through f2 to f2. 8 this lens is very sharp and at f3. So yes you can shoot in low light at f1. 4 but if you want tack sharp stop it down a half dozen times and you’ll be blown away. For the money quoted at the moment i seriously would not hesitate.