Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G Lens (Sony E)

As a very amature photographer, I have been using this F4 20-70MM lens for about a week on and off and I have to say this lens stayed on for all of the time I used it this past Memorial Day weekend.The lens comes in it's standard flare and comes in a pouch and hood along with the normal literature. Nothing too special there. But when you handle it, the quality is pretty much bar none. You can feel the quality as well as see it in person. When I first installed the lens to test, I have to admit I was a little skeptical in how well this would work. I am no pro, but the images I grab are really well done to begin with. This little added weight and look, honestly, I wasn't too sure off off the bat. Indoors, the images I took were ok. The light balance in auto mode and ... MoreAs a very amature photographer, I have been using this F4 20-70MM lens for about a week on and off and I have to say this lens stayed on for all of the time I used it this past Memorial Day weekend.The lens comes in it's standard flare and comes in a pouch and hood along with the normal literature. Nothing too special there. But when you handle it, the quality is pretty much bar none. You can feel the quality as well as see it in person. When I first installed the lens to test, I have to admit I was a little skeptical in how well this would work. I am no pro, but the images I grab are really well done to begin with. This little added weight and look, honestly, I wasn't too sure off off the bat. Indoors, the images I took were ok. The light balance in auto mode and auto focus was as fast as the combo kit lens.Where this F4 lens shined for me was when I was outside in the daylight. Early morning was the prime time and you can get every detail in rich color in your shots really easily. Normally I have to play around focus points and such and take a few images to make sure I get the shot I want. With this lens, man, every shot was deep in the details. Of course depending on what you are focusing on and framing. The landscape shots were amazing. I took a few short portraits of people as well inside and with ample light, it's just as good as the more expensive lenses out there.You do not have auto stablization in this lens, but that is fine, I rather give that up and lighten my load in carry. Anyway, the camera can more than make up for it.

After the day of releasing of Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G, I watched and read many reviews of it, and decided to preorder a copy of the lens. It came much later than I thought it would have. When it was delivers, I immediately mount it on my A7C. I never regret to order it. I feel like this is a new one lens do it all. This lens comes in a relatively a compact, lightweight, and versatile range zoom lens. Pairs it with Sony A7C, they are like a match from heaven for traveling photography. They are perfect for vlogging, content creators for video, and at the same time they can offer landscape, cityscape, street photography, and portrait at large end. It produces sharpness image that fit the imagination of any photographer. The extra 4mm at the wide range is going to be the ... MoreAfter the day of releasing of Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G, I watched and read many reviews of it, and decided to preorder a copy of the lens. It came much later than I thought it would have. When it was delivers, I immediately mount it on my A7C. I never regret to order it. I feel like this is a new one lens do it all. This lens comes in a relatively a compact, lightweight, and versatile range zoom lens. Pairs it with Sony A7C, they are like a match from heaven for traveling photography. They are perfect for vlogging, content creators for video, and at the same time they can offer landscape, cityscape, street photography, and portrait at large end. It produces sharpness image that fit the imagination of any photographer. The extra 4mm at the wide range is going to be the big deal of this lens. The extra 4mm wide range of this lens allow better way to vlogging where you could straggle with the traditional 24-70mm. More significantly, this lens is able to focus 60% faster than the FE 24-70mm F4 and provides precise track fast-moving subjects, and the linear motors provides quiet autofocus that can be its advantage. The price is reasonable comparing to its older brother Sony FE24-105mmF/4 G OSS.The negative of this lens is F/4. It can be an issue for most people when facing low light situation, but you can use a flash light for such situation. You can pair it with a Sony FE 20mm F/1.8 G or Sony FE35mm F/1.8. They can be great companion when you needed for low light.Bottom line, this is a one-lens solution for Hybrid Shooter that gives great range for both still and video subjects on any given day. When it is mounting on A7c body they can become a perfect combination for traveling kit.

So, I should say up front I purchased this lens to replace my 24-105 f/4. The 24-105 has been a terrific lens, which I've used for many types of photography and even a little video. My primary issue has been I've often wished it had a little wider focal length, particularly when travelling. It seems 20mm vs 24mm provides more opportunity for capturing an image than what I originally thought, and frequently I've had to swap the 24-105 with the 16-35 to get the image I wanted, with most of those seeming to require something between 18mm and 22mm. That's been my experience - yours may be different. Do I miss the additional 30mm of the telephoto end? Sometimes, but another unexpected attribute of the 20-70 essentially neutralizes this as well. The new 20-70 is simply ... MoreSo, I should say up front I purchased this lens to replace my 24-105 f/4. The 24-105 has been a terrific lens, which I've used for many types of photography and even a little video. My primary issue has been I've often wished it had a little wider focal length, particularly when travelling. It seems 20mm vs 24mm provides more opportunity for capturing an image than what I originally thought, and frequently I've had to swap the 24-105 with the 16-35 to get the image I wanted, with most of those seeming to require something between 18mm and 22mm. That's been my experience - yours may be different. Do I miss the additional 30mm of the telephoto end? Sometimes, but another unexpected attribute of the 20-70 essentially neutralizes this as well. The new 20-70 is simply sharper and has more contrast and color than the 24-105. It's not revolutionary but is easily noticeable. So much so that when I crop a 70mm image on the new lens to equal 100-105mm of the old lens, the detail is indistinguishable between the two, with the 70mm crop often still having more detail. I was quite surprised to see this but thought I should mention it for those having the same concerns I had when considering the 20-70. It's certainly lighter than the 24-105, handling quite easily, and is not front heavy at all when mounted on camera. I think the main area where the 24-105 outperforms the 20-70 mis when trying to compress backgrounds if taking portraits. I'm not a portrait guy but have found some of this can be offset with the 20-70 by adding distance between the subject and background. The bokeh is actually quite nice. Not cinematic like a true portrait lens, but certainly good enough that I'd not shy away from taking portraits if this is what I had available to use. There is quite allot of barrel distortion and vignetting, particularly at 20mm and f/4. At 70mm there is a slight pin cushion but no vignetting. Lightroom does not yet have a lens profile for this lens, but using the 24-240 seems to eliminate the majority of the distortion at 20mm and all the pin cushion at 70mm. To eliminate all of the distortion at 20mm, the 28mm f/2 ultra profile seems to work best. So, in conclusion I'm very impressed and pleased with the 20-70mm f/4. It renders beautiful images, sharp (even at f/4) with terrific contrast and color, while allowing a lightweight and easy to handle kit. It will definitely be my primary travel, landscape and general-purpose lens.