Today Sony announced two more FE lenses for their A7/A9 mirrorless cameras: the basically pre-announced 16-35mm f/2.8 GM, and the unexpected 12-24mm f/4. This brings to 23 the total number of FE lenses that are available directly from Sony (Zeiss and others also make their own FE lenses).
The 16-35mm f/2.8 is a GM lens that Sony has talked about previously, but shared no details on. At 1.5 pounds (680g) and US$2200, you pretty much have to need the f/2.8 and fine attention to optics to justify it. Still, it rounds out the f/2.8 GM line, so we now can shoot 16-200mm with a set of three lenses, much like you find in the full frame DSLR world.
The 12-24mm f/4 G is a little unexpected, pushing the FE system into the really ultra-wide zoom realm. At US$1700, it's definitely not a budget lens, so the 16-35mm f/4 OSS is likely to remain the primary choice of many for a wide angle zoom.
Overall, the Sony FE lens set is a little bunched up. It seems likely that users would only buy one lens from each the following groups:
- 12-24mm f/4, 16-35mm f/2.8, 16-35mm f/4 OSS
- 24-70mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/4
- 70-200mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/4
- 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
- 28mm f/2, 35mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.8
- 50mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.8, 50mm f/2.8 macro, 55mm f/1.8
- 85mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, 90mm f/2.8 macro, 100mm f/2.8
We're still missing the wider primes and the longer telephoto choices, at least directly from Sony. Still, most A7/A9 shooters now have plenty of choices from Sony across the primary lens set.
Support this site by purchasing from the following advertiser:
