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Technical Details
- Brand Name: Sony
- Model: SEL50F18
- Lens Type: fixed
- Maximum focal length: 50.00 millimeters
Product Details
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Product Description
Built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilization. Large F1.8 aperture. Smooth and quiet high-speed focusing. Compact and lightweight Direct Manual Focus (DMF)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
97 of 98 people found the following review helpful
Pros:
Very sharp across the frame, even wide open
Low distortion for lens class
Silent AF
Effective Shake Reduction (OSS)
Cons:
Purple fringing and longitudinal CA from f/1.8 to f/2.8 or so.
Bottom Line:
Finally a great lens that shows off the NEX system for a reasonable price. It is a bit more expensive than other 50mm f/1.8 lenses, but has built in OSS that is very effective and performs superbly. Very sharp even in the corners.
Review:
The lens is about the same size as some of the other NEX lenses like 30mm f/3.5 Macro, and is actually about the same size as an old manual focus 50mm SLR lens adapted to the NEX system. So it isn't compact, but not huge either. I also like that there is a lot of glass in the lens so it feels nicely weighted.
Construction is similar to other NEX lenses, with a nice machined aluminum barrel, and this has the better nickel plated brass lens mount (the 16mm has a cheaper feeling aluminum mount, but it is also slightly lighter).
The lens comes with a deeply recessed bayonet hood that can be reversed on the lens for storage, and a center pinch lens cap that is a bit finicky to get on and off with the hood since it slips out of my grasp when I try to squeeze the tabs.
Auto focus is typical of NEX lenses. Be sure to disable your focus assist light for fastest focus. The light doesn't work well with this lens and actually makes focus less reliable and slower. The auto focus mechanism is completely silent and is also very smooth.
The shake reduction is probably good for 3 stops with me. I was able to get almost all shots sharp at 1/25, and 80% at 1/13. By 1/6 I still had 80% of the shots usable, but they weren't as sharp as the 1/13 and up shots.
The optical performance of this lens is astounding, the only real drawback is the longitudinal CA (magenta/green fringing in the out of focus areas), which also leads to purple fringing. This effect is most noticeable from f/1.8 to f/2.8 or so.
The lens resolves well corner to corner at all apertures, but is just outstanding from f/2.8 on up. To avoid the CA issue for landscapes, shoot at f/4 and up and you will get a very clean image.
Lens distortion is very minor for this class of lens, and is slightly pincushion. It might also be slightly complex, a little bit of wave to it, but it is pretty minor.
Overall, I am very impressed by this lens, and there is little reason to shoot older legacy 50mm lenses unless you want to go cheap, just like manual focus, or like the character of a particular older lens. This lens performs significantly better than most of the older lenses. The range finder lenses might still hold some appeal due to the small size, but this lens is comparable to the adapted 50mm SLR lenses, so they don't have any size advantage.
Buy one today!
Very sharp across the frame, even wide open
Low distortion for lens class
Silent AF
Effective Shake Reduction (OSS)
Cons:
Purple fringing and longitudinal CA from f/1.8 to f/2.8 or so.
Bottom Line:
Finally a great lens that shows off the NEX system for a reasonable price. It is a bit more expensive than other 50mm f/1.8 lenses, but has built in OSS that is very effective and performs superbly. Very sharp even in the corners.
Review:
The lens is about the same size as some of the other NEX lenses like 30mm f/3.5 Macro, and is actually about the same size as an old manual focus 50mm SLR lens adapted to the NEX system. So it isn't compact, but not huge either. I also like that there is a lot of glass in the lens so it feels nicely weighted.
Construction is similar to other NEX lenses, with a nice machined aluminum barrel, and this has the better nickel plated brass lens mount (the 16mm has a cheaper feeling aluminum mount, but it is also slightly lighter).
The lens comes with a deeply recessed bayonet hood that can be reversed on the lens for storage, and a center pinch lens cap that is a bit finicky to get on and off with the hood since it slips out of my grasp when I try to squeeze the tabs.
Auto focus is typical of NEX lenses. Be sure to disable your focus assist light for fastest focus. The light doesn't work well with this lens and actually makes focus less reliable and slower. The auto focus mechanism is completely silent and is also very smooth.
The shake reduction is probably good for 3 stops with me. I was able to get almost all shots sharp at 1/25, and 80% at 1/13. By 1/6 I still had 80% of the shots usable, but they weren't as sharp as the 1/13 and up shots.
The optical performance of this lens is astounding, the only real drawback is the longitudinal CA (magenta/green fringing in the out of focus areas), which also leads to purple fringing. This effect is most noticeable from f/1.8 to f/2.8 or so.
The lens resolves well corner to corner at all apertures, but is just outstanding from f/2.8 on up. To avoid the CA issue for landscapes, shoot at f/4 and up and you will get a very clean image.
Lens distortion is very minor for this class of lens, and is slightly pincushion. It might also be slightly complex, a little bit of wave to it, but it is pretty minor.
Overall, I am very impressed by this lens, and there is little reason to shoot older legacy 50mm lenses unless you want to go cheap, just like manual focus, or like the character of a particular older lens. This lens performs significantly better than most of the older lenses. The range finder lenses might still hold some appeal due to the small size, but this lens is comparable to the adapted 50mm SLR lenses, so they don't have any size advantage.
Buy one today!
78 of 85 people found the following review helpful
I'm "disappointed" that my $4,000 (if you can find one at retail) Leica Summilux 50mm f/1.4 didn't blow this $300 Sony lens out of the water. This will be a limited, non-technical review, as there are plenty of in-depth reviews on-line already, and my quick comparisons were only done at f/2.0. First, I shot both lenses using my tripod mounted Sony Nex-7 APS-C at 1/125 sec, manually focusing on a building and street construction across the street from my loft. The average person would not be able to chose which photo was "best," though the aspherical lens Leica had a very slight edge (sharpness, distortion, color e.g.) over the Sony. I then shot close-ups at ~3 ft, table mounted, 1/30th sec, f/2.0. Bokeh and sharpness on the Leica was only slightly better, unnoticeable to most, and again the Sony performed beautifully in this David versus Goliath comparison. Of course, for my extra $3700 I can open the Leica to f/1.4 and leave the Sony in tears. Or did I just see the egoless but autofocusing and anti-shake Sony wisely smile at my all-manual big-ego Leica?
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful
By Frank Martin
- I use this lens with a Nex-5N
- Picture quality is a good as my Nikon d-SLR with a 50mm F/1.8 prime on it.
- Background blur (ie: Bokeh) is smooth & creamy looking. Better than with the kit 18-55 lens.
- It's actually quite nice to have OSS on a 50mm prime lens. I don't really think it changes anything for photos (it's more of a portrait lens) but it's almost a must for hand-held video shooting (video is too shaky without OSS enabled).
- Hand-held low-light "blow on a candle - face in focus - everything else blurred" awesome looking videos now possible with this lens ;)
- Advice for beginners: don't buy a 300$ prime lens unless you know you want or need one. Shooting with a fixed focal lenght is entirely different dynamics than with a 18-55mm zoom. Achieving spot-on focus @ F/1.8 is also harder than with 18-55m kit lens @F/5.6 (example here: you take a close-up portrait of somebody and front of nose is in focus yet eyes are a bit soft and ears are completely out of focus)
Edit: two months of ownership, and this lens is awesome for video shoots. While I won't compare this with professional stuff, my Nex-5N + 50mm F/1.8 shoots absolutely incredible videos, even indoors. I've pretty much stopped using the kit 18-55 lens now ...
- Picture quality is a good as my Nikon d-SLR with a 50mm F/1.8 prime on it.
- Background blur (ie: Bokeh) is smooth & creamy looking. Better than with the kit 18-55 lens.
- It's actually quite nice to have OSS on a 50mm prime lens. I don't really think it changes anything for photos (it's more of a portrait lens) but it's almost a must for hand-held video shooting (video is too shaky without OSS enabled).
- Hand-held low-light "blow on a candle - face in focus - everything else blurred" awesome looking videos now possible with this lens ;)
- Advice for beginners: don't buy a 300$ prime lens unless you know you want or need one. Shooting with a fixed focal lenght is entirely different dynamics than with a 18-55mm zoom. Achieving spot-on focus @ F/1.8 is also harder than with 18-55m kit lens @F/5.6 (example here: you take a close-up portrait of somebody and front of nose is in focus yet eyes are a bit soft and ears are completely out of focus)
Edit: two months of ownership, and this lens is awesome for video shoots. While I won't compare this with professional stuff, my Nex-5N + 50mm F/1.8 shoots absolutely incredible videos, even indoors. I've pretty much stopped using the kit 18-55 lens now ...
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome lens!
I use this on the nex 5r and its one of my favorite lenses. Images are crisp, clear and lens is fast. I prefer this over the sel1018 wide angle. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Mr. Mom 626
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great lens!
It is the only prime I have for my NEX-7, and I love it. It is great for portraits and it makes a beatifull defocus. It is tack sharp. And the best of all, the price is great. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Hebert Tejada Ito
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Lens
Even though I sold my camera along with this lens, I was very pleased with this lens and I would highly recommend this to a friend.
Published 18 days ago by Thomas Juliano
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great cheap lens
Solid feel and construction and a cheap lens considering it includes image stabilization. Use it on my FS100 and with the crop factor ends up like a portrait 70mm. Read more
Published 25 days ago by jiggpuff
5.0 out of 5 stars
wonderful lens
I'm a newbie to the Sony Nex 6 and wanted a good lens for portraits. This lens was reasonable and I'm very happy with the results I've achieved.
Published 1 month ago by MK Reagan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great lens
Very sharp clear and great contrast and color. Fact it has stabilization was big factor over the Zeis as well as cost. Reasonable size. Read more
Published 1 month ago by 101science.com
5.0 out of 5 stars
BOKEH!!!!!
If you're like me you've done your research and probably watched almost every youtube video about why you should or shouldn't own a fixed 50 mm fast lens. Read more
Published 1 month ago by C. Sutherland
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Lens
I had high expectations for this lens, and it delivered. I have yet to use it much for the reason I bought it- taking portraits- but I took some beautiful pictures during a visit... Read more
Published 1 month ago by chrisham
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sony 50mm f/1.8 Mid-Range Lens for Sony E Mount Nex Cameras
This is a GREAT lens in a relatively small package. F1.8 makes it a fast lens. Internal optical stabilization makes it highly desirable for use with the NEX which does not have... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bill
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mid-Range, yeah right...
The photos I get with this lens makes me wonder what a higher end lens will produce. All of my shots with the lens have turned out beautiful. Read more
Published 1 month ago by emoKid
