Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G Review

Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G Handling and Features

This is a rectilinear lens, that is, straight lines will be reproduced as straight lines, even at the edges of the frame. As such, 12mm is very wide on 35mm-format. Zooming in to 24mm, a classic wide angle, offers a lens that has huge potential for many subjects from landscape to street photography. Tested on the Sony Alpha A7R II body, it balances well and although quite chunky offers a good ergonomic experience in terms of general handling. Starting at the front of the lens, we have a large plastic clip on lens hood that attaches firmly to the built in petal lens hood. There is no option for attaching filters. The front element is quite bulbous, so the lens hood is quite essential to offer protection from physical damage, as well as helping to reduce flare.

Directly behind the hood is a smooth, electronic manual focus ring and then, as we move towards the camera body, the zoom ring. Both rings operate without changing the physical length of the lens. Finally, there is a focus hold button that can be programmed for various functions and an AF/MF switch. There is nothing else apart from the well machined mount. The lens locks firmly but smoothly into place.

Construction quality appears to be very high and there is also dust and moisture resistance, almost an essential feature. Although quite chunky, the weight is a reasonable 565g which does not feel out of place with the A7R II body. Focusing is via a silent Direct Drive SSM motor which is fast and accurate. Focusing is down to 0.28m (0.92 feet), a maximum magnification of 0.14x.

Optical construction is 17 elements in 13 groups, utilising Nano AR coating technology. There are 1 Aspherical, 2 Super ED (Extra Low Dispersion) and 3 ED elements. The 7 bladed diaphragm offers a circular aperture, aimed at improving the bokeh, the quality of the out of focus areas in an image. The aperture remains constant throughout the zoom range.

In use the only real operational challenges are in the very nature of such a wide lens. The wider fields of view do demand a good foreground to prevent them being empty and it is always a good idea to get in as close as possible so more distant objects are not too tiny. It is a lens to be bold with, especially at 12mm. When used on an APS-C format camera, although the lens is no longer quite so wide the same still applies, as an 18mm-equivalent is still a very wide lens.

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