Sony SEL35F18 E Mount APS-C 35 mm F1.8 Prime Lens - Black

Product Information

With a rounded 7-blade diaphragm this 35mm lens only makes sunstars on brilliant points of light at the smallest apertures, but they actually do look pretty good at f/16 and smaller. This lens does the focusing quietly and seldom hunt for focus. However, it tends to focus on the rear subject when shooting in the low light scene. I supposed this is an individual issue as the first copy I used previously had no such issue at all. There are no lateral color fringes as shot on Sony's cameras which usually correct for them anyway. This is excellent performance — but there is a boatload of spherochromatism, which are different kinds color fringes in a different dimension. The Sigma DN Lenses which I reviewed Here >> are about the same quality sharpness, but a bit slower at f/2.8 and has no OSS, is a better value for the dollar if your going for straight-up optical performance alone. If you factor in the OSS, smooth transition technology for video, faster f/1.8 aperture, and better build quality, the higher price of the SLE35F18 Lens makes sense. There is an invisible bit of barrel distortion. Use a a correction factor of +0.50 in Photoshop's lens correction filter for critical use at 3 meters/10 feet, or turn on your camera's automatic correction, (usually at MENU > Camera 1 > Lens Comp. > Distortion Comp. > Auto) and it all goes away even for critical use.

I've greatly exaggerated it here by shooting pure gray and displaying it against more gray. It won't look this bad in actual photos::This lens is is all plastic on the inside, with a metal mount and aluminum vanity cover on the outside, so it weighs next to nothing. You can take it everywhere and have it ready for anything, or just use it all the time as your only and/or normal lens.

This weightless Sony 35mm f/1.8 focuses fast and takes great pictures in any light for a bargain price. The AF and OSS are almost silent, which is killer for filming when you need the audio from the camera. One other note that makes the Sony E-Mount lenses better than the competition for video in particular, is the focus transitioning technology. The focus transitions are very graceful when recording video with an ease in ease out effect. In photography mode it’s much faster and snappier compared to recording video. You can override the smooth transitions by pressing the shutter button while recording and that will jump-start the AF to wherever your trying to focus. Clearly it needs some Contrast adjustments, but did a decent job considering how hard it is to handle the sun. Shooting raw also helps to recover the highlights and fix contrast more easily than on a jpeg image. Sony E-Mount 35mm f/1.8 OSS Lens – Into the Sun @ f/1.8 – Raw – Contrast Adjusted ConclusionThis Sony 35mm f/1.8 is all plastic on the inside, with a plastic filter ring but a metal mount and aluminum outer skin and manual focus ring. This next scene was taken just down the road from where we live and you may recall it from the Nex-5r review 😉 It’s a nice mural painted on an old wall with lots of detail for visual interest. I wanted to show off the depth of field offered by the large APS-C sensor of the Sony APS-C mirrorless cameras and the fast f/1.8 aperture of the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS Lens. Sony Nex-5r w/ sel35f18 Lens @ f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 200, Handheld, slight vignette added