My New Favorite Zoom Lens for the Sony a7CR

[@RandumbTech]

I've been telling everyone that this is the best travel/life/vlog/documentary/everything lens that Sony currently offers for both photo AND video. It's the perfect size, GM level color/contrast, lightweight and great focal range. It's nice to see others realizing the same thing. I tried the new 24-50 and was disappointed with it's overall quality and less than stellar results. Great images and video!

[@benjamin5126]

The 20-70 is the reason why I bought a sony camera again, because with 20 mm I don’t need a second ultra wide zoom lens. Other camera manufacturers should release something similar, it‘s just perfect for the genres you just wrote

[@stevesdead]

I wouldn't feel comfortable covering documentary work without a 2.8 at least. The focal range is great but unpredictable and unplanned lowlight situations are unavoidable sometimes and that f4 can kill you!

[@SilatShooter]

@@stevesdead Don't disagree with your comment, so having something like the 40mm f2.5G, which is tiny, light and easy to carry, covers that issue for me.

[@davidligon6088]

Been shooting with the 20-70 for a while on the A7RV and I love it. Gave my 24-105 to my daughter. You can always zoom in to 105, but you cant always get a wide pano (wind). I pair it with the 70-200 F4 MACRO G OSS II (also an excellent lens) in a 7L shoulder bag. A great combo.

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@davidligon6088 that’s the perfect combo of zoom lenses to carry!

[@benjamin5126]

I also own the 20-70 along a 24 F1.8 as my only lenses. It replaced my 24-105 and 16-35 and significantly reduced the weight of my bag. Such a perfect focal range!

[@onionboy7461]

Watching this after unboxing my brand new A7CR + 20-70 lens that came in the mail today 😂 Perfect timing! 🎉

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@onionboy7461 it’s a sign from the universe that you made a good decision 😁👍🏻

[@onionboy7461]

I think so too 🤩🙏​@@DylanBlackburn

[@BrokeWatchFanatic]

I love my 20-70, such a versatile lens.

[@whyFINAL]

A week ago I bought it instead of 24-50! The range is perfect for my needs, the price-quality ratio is incredible!

[@EasyTigerCreative]

I picked this lens back up in March for my travels to Europe to use for a vlog/photo lens with my zve1 and then use my 35-150 for my a7iv and it was great! Recently picked up the a7cii and paired it up with this lens and it's been quite nice to use for an everyday setup!

[@bobsykes]

I enjoy those peaceful scenes in the videos around your state, and the photos look good with all the different lenses you've highlighted. I thought a lot about the one prime/one zoom approach since that 24 - 50 f/2.8 video you made. I use the tiny Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 for everday carry, and ended up buying the 16 - 35 f/4 PZ lens. Like you, I like something quite a bit wider than my 35mm prime, and the PZ is that, plus really light weight for a zoom, and it's internal zoom and internal focus, so it stays balanced and compact at all times.

[@ph_anto]

I call this lens the 20-105mm because when I don't need all of the 61mpx, I downscale the A7RV to 26mpx full frame, and when 70mm are not enough, with one click I switch to apsc crop mode and I still have 26 great mpx, but at 105mm. So, boom, 20-105mm! The only downside is you have to remember to switch back to FF 😅 Amazing lens for landscape, travel and architecture. Way much better at 20-60mm than 70mm, but only with pixel peeping.

[@benjamin5126]

I even use the APS-C Crop with my A7IV, the resolution then is only about 15? MP but it is enough for me. I assigned a custom button for crop mode. It is super helpful

[@ph_anto]

@@benjamin5126 yes it is. 15 MP are enough for many situations

[@jharrelphoto]

Just stopping by to say that ive been using the a7cr and 20-70 combo for a couple months now. And wow. The image quality is impressive. If I were to take one camera and one lens into the landscape for hiking or backing it would definitely be this.

[@benjamin5126]

I always preferred F4 Zooms over F2.8 and adding F1.8 primes, because the difference between F4 and F2.8 is not big enough to justify the weight of most F2.8 zooms. The lightweight F2.8 zooms have too restricted zoom ranges to be useful imo

[@joost3732]

my favorite lens too. The 20mm is perfect for cityscapes, architecture and landscapes

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@joost3732 agreed. It’s pretty much perfect for everything I shoot

[@DarkWaterCreatives]

Hey Dylan. Always great seeing your videos. Very calming and always a good reminder to get out and shoot. Its always nice to see you going to placed I have grown up around and still make cool photos. Its easy to get use to whats around up and forget that there are cool photos everywhere. Great job!

[@DylanBlackburn]

What’s up man! Photography has definitely helped me appreciate these local places more. Thanks for watching!!

[@ImpressiveTony]

I keep waffling between this and the 24-50 f2.8. I like the zoom range on this, but then I feel like I'd need to have several other prime lenses with faster apertures. Whereas, with the 24-50, I'd really just need maybe an 85 prime to cover all my bases. 🤔

[@bondgabebond4907]

That's the problem. We have to discipline ourselves to use the 20-70 to the max. There are too many choices now. But when you look at the range, it makes more sense. 20mm on the wide and 70mm on the long end. It's compact, focuses pretty close and doesn't weigh much. What's not to love. I find it fun to take just one lens and shoot photos. It forces you to be better at shooting, composing, etc.

[@RandumbTech]

I owned both - returned the 24-50. The 20-70 is a MUCH better lens overall. There is very little difference between f2.8 and f4 in real world use. When I need something fast, I just grab a fast prime.

[@DylanBlackburn]

Agreed!

[@ItsJFox]

I personally like both, but ended up with the 24-50 for my needs. I really like zooms at f/2.8 and for me, and I like to go even wider under 20mm, so I think the 16-25 + 24-50 is a great duo. But I could see how the 20-70 is a great travel and jack of all trades lens.

[@Mraz75]

I had this lens for my zve1, but traded it in for PZ16-35 f4. I mainly do video. To complement it, i bought 50mm f2.8 macro. These are two my main lenses for the moment. Then this 24-50mm G lens came into the market. Still thinking whether to traded both my lenses for that 24-50mm. My main concern for video is when i use active steady stab, which has 1.3 crop. That PZ 16-35mm still has good width in this mode. But i don’t know with 24-50mm. Still holding on to this 16-35mm.. undecided.

[@Rexyspride]

1st! There's not much I love more (other than my family) than a foggy day in the woods.

[@DylanBlackburn]

Agreed! Only thing that SUCKED that you can’t see is the North Carolina humidity 😂

[@Rexyspride]

@@DylanBlackburn Haha! I hear you. I'd love to come over that way in the future. It looks simply stunning to me. Humidity and all

[@Rexyspride]

@@DylanBlackburn Me again (sorry). A quick question. I have the 24mm 2.8G and the 50mm 2.5G. The reason I went for these was because of the size and weight of them. I generally prefer primes but having come from the X100V I'm finding the desire for something in between. I'm semi thinking of selling the 2 lenses and getting the 24-50 2.8G but although it covers most of the focal range I'll want I'm concerned that it'll add a bit more bulk and weight to my minimal setup. Other than "go and try one for yourself" what are your hot takes on the 24-50 for my situation?

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@Rexyspride in my 24-50 video I expressed doing the exact same thing after I got my hands on it. After that honeymoon phase settled I ultimately decided to stick with the 24 & 50 primes. For me personally it comes down to the weight and size of those primes are unmatched and as I mentioned in this video, if I have a zoom lens I find myself shooting on the wide end the most. I become much more lazy as a photographer. At the same time though, the 24-50 is a zoom lens that kind of feels like a prime because of the size. I think either way you’re not making a bad decision. But since I personally decided to stick with the primes, and it sounds like we have pretty similar shooting styles, I gotta say stick with the primes.

[@Rexyspride]

@@DylanBlackburn Awesome! Thanks for your time my friend. I think that's the way I'm leaning too. And yes, we have very similar shooting styles!

[@rasmussoeby6938]

It would be really, really helpful if you could post the settings for each photo in terms of f-stop, shutter speed and iso.

[@KonradRogozinski]

Your content has an amazing vibe! I'm lucky to found you on KZbin! :)

[@DylanBlackburn]

Thanks for watching the videos :)

[@VincenteArt]

YES!!! My favorite lens! I love that thing.

[@kentsinclair]

I'm such a fan of this lens on my A7c2. I found a good deal on used for around $700

[@DylanBlackburn]

Nice! I found mine for around $800

[@masterchaos8671]

Why not Tamron 20-40mm 2.8 as walk-around Lens?

[@debadri]

same thought

[@ron3x]

Obviously because of the reach.

[@DylanBlackburn]

The focal range doesn’t have the versatility/reach I need

[@samuel_d]

The whole time you were saying there’s nothing interesting in Pilot Mountain I was thinking, man, what an intriguing lil town! All American infrastructure is interesting to me because it’s different from my European environment. Like in your picture at 11:47 (love that sort of layered composition), the utility pole has electric meters directly on it. Never seen that before.

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@samuel_d Ah man, that’s such a great point that I need to remind myself of more often. Just because it’s “normal” or “boring” to me doesn’t mean it is to everyone else. It’s always cool to see a little glimpse into someone else’s world. I feel the same way watching videos of European towns and find them so fascinating.

[@stevenwaldstein2249]

Well I’m not sure if getting the FE 24-50/2.8 G for my A7CR was the right decision or not but I reviewed all of my previous photos and it looked like sweet spot for me. I’m still thinking of trying out the FE 20-70/4 G although I have both the FE 24-105/4 G and 24-70/2.8 GM II lenses but use those on my A1 and A7RV. What do you think? Thank you and take care.

[@stkuj]

I just got this lens for traveling with my A7Cii. It’s got such a versatile range and size. I mentioned it to the 24-70 2.8 phototog snobs and got flamed. They just can’t get over their own ignorance and arrogance.

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@stkuj gotta love those people who think a lens being f/4 makes it bad. I’ll choose this lens over a 24-70 2.8 any day.

[@wrd980]

Love your videos and vibe. Please please please help me to choose: Sony 24-50 2.8 Sigma 28-70 2.8 Both similar in size and price and match well with the A7cii I want to choose one of the above for total versatility for an everyday lens. I particularly like taking street photos in South East Asia. Your thoughts please for which one you think could suit me. 😊

[@DylanBlackburn]

Go with the Sony 24-50!!

[@wrd980]

@ I did watch your Sony 24-50 but would still like to know why you choose this lens over the Sigma 28-70mm

[@danieljuskowiak2979]

always clean work man

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@danieljuskowiak2979 thanks dude!

[@richie_phantom]

I hear the new Sigma 24-70mm DG DN ii Art lens for Sony is just as good as the GM but for half the price! So I might get that one. Also, great video, I loved going on this journey with you as always.

[@leblanct]

I always wondered if you keep all the photos you take on your photo walks! Love the first street sign photo you got! On another note, do you ever think about getting a compact camera to take on your walks? Curious, since the hype seems to be around the Fuji, Ricoh, and Leica compacts.

[@DylanBlackburn]

I’ve been thinking about buying my first camera (Sony A6000) again with a pancake lens to be that compact camera for me.

[@danielmartin7674]

what 35mm prime do you use?

[@DylanBlackburn]

Sony 35mm 1.8!

[@Maxhuertas]

I think the new 16-25 is better or Even the old 16-35 f4 is better but whatever works for you man 👍

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@Maxhuertas two very different lenses with completely different use cases for me. The 16-25 is great though

[@stevenwaldstein2249]

What about the Sigma 16-28mm f2.8 DG DN Contemporary? I got that used a few years back when I added the A7C and Sony didn’t have the smaller G zooms. Internal focus and it’s only 450 grams for a wide angle to go with the 24-50/2.8 G. Currently still using this.

[@madelinehayley5791]

Great video :)

[@DylanBlackburn]

Happy Anniversary :)

[@Maxhuertas]

Have you tried the bacon king from Burger King?

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@Maxhuertas should I try it in my next video?

[@Maxhuertas]

@@DylanBlackburn yeah man it’s an amazing burger and that would make a great intro to your next video

[@bondgabebond4907]

Do you go on these treks alone? It seems that if you are alone, you setup another camera to record yourself walking around. You said the word 'we' so I think there is a silent partner helping or accompanying you. Please tell us how you go about making these videos.

[@DylanBlackburn]

@@bondgabebond4907 it kinda depends. Sometimes my wife is with me, sometimes she’s not. Otherwise I’m saying we referring to the viewer. If you’re watching, you’re along for the ride!

[@bondgabebond4907]

@@DylanBlackburn That solves the mystery. I am starting to love my A7CR. Not breaking up with my beloved A7R3. I love that R3. Incredible camera for its time and still a beast today.

[@RolandDobbins]

If only it were f/2.8 . . .

[@Vladshirokov]

красивор что тут сказать

[@DylanBlackburn]

Thank you!