Lens Flair

It’s the first post for Lens Flair, my project to use every lens I have this year. First up: the full-frame f/2.8 beautiful lens that is something of a Christmas treat.

Having the lens has been a bit of a humbling experience. Nothing is perfect, but the hit rate with this really is something. Focusing is fast and it’s very sharp even at the corners. But most of all it’s the colours I’ve just loved and it made shooting with it a real joy.

Look at the blue shirt and the skin tones in the above. It’s a photo taken in quite low light (about 15:30 on one of the shortest days in the year) and with my son who is not a sedentary being, but the colours makes me so happy. In fact the vivid colours help boost the subject-background separation almost as much as the wide aperture.

Both the colour and the relatively wide maximum aperture (for a zoom lens) make shots like the above and below more tempting and I’ve particularly enjoyed this given it’s dark outside and the weather means more inside, relatively dim days.

It’s also very nice in bright daylight, although it was here that I was a bit more aware of the “loss” of the 70-105mm range compared to my Sony 24-105mm F4. Being outside in wide spaces made shots like the below possible, but it also made me aware of occasions where I’d like to have had a bit more reach. Having said this I did have a 40-150mm Olympus micro four thirds lens with me (80-300mm full-frame equivalent) so filled in the gaps a bit more with this.

The lens has various features designed to make it more professional; I think in general this means “video-oriented” which is great for those who want it, and definitely doesn’t hurt those who don’t. There’s an aperture ring, which can be made clicky or smooth. There’s a toggle to choose between tight and smooth for the zoom ring (I found smooth a bit too smooth). There are two custom buttons that I (being honest) didn’t use once.

What really matters is the focus is great. I shot mostly on the Sony A7RIII, with some photos also on the A6700. It feels a bit crackers using such an expensive lens on the A6700, but it’s a good aperture and the 36-105mm that the equivalent focal length becomes is actually really nice for shooting more close up photos (again with great focus).

Sadly, this goes back tomorrow (2 January). I’ll definitely miss it. In that awful way it’ll make me love my Sony 24-105mm f/4 a bit less (it’s only 32g heavier so they feel quite similar). It’s been a great and fleeting Christmas gift to me, from me. At £1,999 it’s not an impulse purchase and I don’t currently think I can justify it. It’s made me tempted to look at the Tamron 28-75mm G2 which is much more affordable, but none of the images I’ve found online have yet quite wowed me. I’ll try and take some more photos en route tomorrow and if any of them stand out to me I’ll add them to this. Until then I’ll leave you with these two and the sense that this is probably the best lens I’ve ever used.

See the album of this lens’ photos on Flickr with the above ten and a few more I liked.