Sony FE 12-24 F2.8 G Master lens review

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Join me on Patreon for the best Alpha Support and Guidance. A single $10 Membership fee includes access to my 500-page camera-specific eBooks, member-only Q&A Forums + Over twenty 1-hour member-only seminars + cameras settings files & access to the Raw files from the lens and camera reviews (there is no contract or commitment beyond the first month). www.patreon.com/markgaler

[@ccoxcambodia]

One thing I really appreciate in your reviews is that you take excellent photos. I hate when people do reviews of lenses and they post photos of things that are not interesting, or that photographers wouldn't actually go out and shoot. I really appreciate that you share with us some of your really amazing images. Thanks for the hard work that is involved in making this a great video for someone who is considering this lens.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I have been asked to watch some lens reviews where they don't actually show any photos! I also post links to Ultra HD images captured with the lens (in the info section below the video) because as an Ambassador I have to allow the viewer to determine if the lens is sharp enough to meet their needs.

[@nikolai_art]

Just bought this lens. And im so happy with my copy that im watching your review after the fact. You consistently have the best reviews for photography gear on KZbin, with especially the best photography, instead of just shooting some charts only! Its great to have you as a Sony ambassador, and providing all this nice content. Keep it up!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Thanks for the positive review. Some feel that, as an Ambassador, my reviews could be biased, but I don't compare these lenses with other non-Sony lenses, Sony don't ask me to make these videos and I use these lenses in my own personal photography. The lenses are as good as the ultra high-definition images I share on my Flick Pro account.

[@nikolai_art]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills I know your flicker account. To me, you are a really good photographer, who also does KZbin videos. I wouldn't worry about bias accusations at all. I think you are pretty objective. Sony camera gear just has been very good the last few years.

[@brucehenderson1264]

I own the 12-24 f/4 and I was so pleased to see your critical comparisons. thank you, you are a credible resource.

[@petercowley8657]

Mark, having lived in Port Melbourne for three years I must say you have done a wonderful job of showing off the area with a wonderful looking lens. Great work!

[@qwiklok]

I echo the others, Brilliant review ,professional, calm, no nonsense, credible, excellent. Thank You

[@lucwerner]

Holy cow Mark, your shots with this lens are absolutely FANTASTIC! You convinced me I need it, now I just have to find a way to come up with the money 😁

[@Xetenor]

I already own the 16-35 GM that I love but seeing this really excited me more than I thought. After seeing just how spectacular this lens is especially in regard to flare performance I ended up pre-ordering it today after I traded in some older gear I had still from my DSLR days. Thanks for the fantastic review Mark!!

[@ravisr3401]

You drop pearls of wisdom and I have learnt a lot of how to use wide angle lens from this episode: I own a Nikon D610 and have Tamron 15-30mm :)) and am drooling over Sony.

[@SusanScharenberg]

Very helpful look at this new lens! You provide such a wealth of high-quality material -- glad to be supporting you a bit on Patreon.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Much appreciated!

[@OneLifeTwoLive]

I concur with Susan and am also a supporter on Patreon . Thank you Mark.

[@bingebinge3722]

Absolutely excellent review! So much useful than the other reviews that just shoot charts but lack the perspectives from a real photographer. Thanks Mark!

[@niftytwo]

G’day Mark. This is an excellent video for blokes like me, not sure which new lens to buy and it is a real difficult decision. You are one of the few blokes that take the time to explain it those of us who don’t have your knowledge or skills. I appreciate your time. Neville j. West Australia.

[@joe2snj]

Thanks for this video Mark, very useful as I picked this up recently and not used to shooting wider than 24mm

[@abtyne]

I put the 👍🏻 even before watching the video. Your reviews are always remarkable. Thank you.

[@Lexxo777]

Spectacular Lens! Thanks for this Mark.

[@Parkeralto]

Mark; I just received this lens and it is spectacular; sharper than any super wide I have ever seen; color and contrast are remarkable as well. I have been using the f/4 and although it is very nice lens I was never pleased with the smearing of the outer edges but figured that all super wides have that problem. The f/2.8 doesn't eliminate that issue but it is substantially reduced.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It’s a fabulous lens if you can master ultra wide composition to avoid excessive negative space and aggressive converging verticals.

[@angeloacosta9946]

Great video, straight to the point, great samples and great explanation, I would have liked more nocturnal examples though.

[@Kprawl291986]

Cannot wait to get this beast in my hands.

[@ccoxcambodia]

Thanks for the great information Mark. You're a photos are amazing. I'm looking forward to getting my 12 to 24 in the next couple weeks. I love street photography, and I am finally opening my eyes to wide angle photography. It started with a 28mm, then a 24. I think 12 will be a big jump, but I can't wait. When I look at your photos I start drooling!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

12mm is a 'challenging' but not impossible focal length to use, but I find it slightly easier in the City rather than for natural landscape - primarily because you have to be almost on top of your subject so that it doesn't appear as if your subject is a million miles away.

[@LivingTech]

Another outstanding review Mark, thank you. The problem is that your skills make every lens you review look amazing! Haha!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Thanks for your positive feedback- I am still amazed that some popular reviewers put out videos with very few photos and don’t provide links to high-res examples.

[@DavidKatz]

Great review Mark !

[@echoauxgen]

Suggested 1. For filters use Sony Playmemories app Digital Filter on Mark ii and below bodies (if someone could just ask Sony to put apps on the Mark iii and above frames) 2. Put a Lenscoat on the lens, For Astro people you are out at night and early season Feb. Mar. and Apr. in the cold will help keep the lens warmer. The lens is internal focus almost like the 200-600mm and my lens coat on it is so awesome for protection and extra weatherproofing, ever do a MW at 2 deg.F in snow need I say more!! Lenscoat currently does not make one for the f/2.8 or f/4 but will if enough ask!!

[@MestreMur]

Great photos as always... ✅

[@echoauxgen]

Great Great examples of 12mm wide shooting and proper aim, BRAVO!!! A different eye needed!! This lens will shine at astro, blue hour, sunsets/rises but with proper subject placement and with many night cityscapes f/8 to f/11 will be used for clear highlights but to remember things will appear further away than that a 50mm pano will bring closer. you showed and told a barrel full of info!!! Oh! for filters there are clip on to sensors but for Mark ii and below Playmemories Digital Filter app for smoothing water or calming a bright sky, Many have no idea about it and others, works great for MW above a bright town or city glow.

[@montageproductions]

Another excellent presentation Mark. Doesn't the polarising lens cause problems with such a wide angle lens? I can't use one on my 16-35GM due to it introducing big dark patches.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Yes - the polarising filters are best left for water and not for skies on ultra wide angle lenses. If you are using a combined ND and CPL you have to remember to turn the filter so it is not darkening just part of the sky.

[@BenelliMr]

I love your review. I love it so much, I immediately a wide angle lens. An even more extreme wide angle lens; the Laowa 9 mm f 5.6. I already look forward to your review of this lens

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I have reviewed the Laowa 10-18 but not the 9

[@BenelliMr]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills a prime lens, so small, so light, on the A7R IV must be interesting. 5.6 means very small diameter of lenses, so probably very little flare. Such an extreme angle: do we still need a zoom? Just move a step or half a step to change the picture extremely. Do we need autofocus when practically everything is sharp? I am curious to have your review of the lens itself and the discussion on whether we need a zoom in this range :)

[@baja1980s]

Everything Sony comes out with is pure quality and excellence

[@victormultanen1981]

such a nice photos! good colors and resolution!

[@ulfbystrom8277]

As usual, very good, thank you very much!

[@divemaster]

Fantasic Lens......Love it.

[@maculamadness754]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSS.... I’m so happy I don’t pull the trigger on the 16-35mm 2.8... thanks so much for this update.... 👏👏👏👏

[@jeremias.lindner]

Two diferents lens... for me the 16-35 its my go for landscape

[@gregory.chalenko]

Really nice review! I'm wondering, why ultra wide lenses are mostly zooms, not primes? I own Sigma 8-16mm and Sony 10-18mm, and I find myself using the widest angle all the time in both, because it was the widest angle that I chose those lenses for at first place.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

There are some primes around but Sony’s widest is currently 20mm

[@gregory.chalenko]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Yep, this is exactly what I mean. Isn't there demand for ultra wide primes?

[@Mr09260]

Great for Astro Wow 2.8 thats what I need on my 14-30 f 4 Nikon S Mirrorless lens ..but mine has the advantage ..it takes my NISI 100 filter kit

[@Mr09260]

Magic Lens all round

[@johnashcraft7935]

Another informative video and a very interesting lens. What is your opinion of using the lens on a A6600?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

You can get a wider angle of view with the SEL 10-18 if the F/4 aperture is enough. I currently use a Rokinon 12mm f/2 on the A6600 for Astro.

[@johnashcraft7935]

Mark Galer's Alpha Creative Skills Thank you Mark, that lens has been on my radar.

[@siddharthreddy8868]

Hi Mark, can you please enlighten me on below case- 12-24 f2.8 and 12-24 f4 lens : both operating at f4, will they produce almost same results or gmaster performs way better?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

You will need to stop the aperture of the 12-24 f/4 G down a little more for the playing field of corner sharpness to be levelled. If you capture your landscapes at f/8 and f/11 then there is probably no point in investing in the GM if you don’t make huge prints using an A7RIV.

[@honzak2]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Hi Mark, one more related question - how does the F4 handle light sources in the frame in interiors compared to f2.8? Thank you for the review, very helpful!

[@lookforbeauty1964]

As always, fantastic review, fantastic lens and, as usual absolutely forbidden for me 😢. Way toooooooooooooo expensive !!!.

[@reempire888]

Hello Mark, I'm hesitant to buy the Sony 1635GM lens due to the known 35mm edge softness during wide open shoot. Has Sony mitigate the issue yet? Please help.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

This is what lens rentals has to say about this lens at 16mm when they bench-tested 10 lenses "The lens is at its best at 16mm, where it’s sharp in the center even at higher frequencies. It maintains sharpness very well through the middle half of the image, then fades a little bit, but not much. There is a little astigmatism-like separation of the sagittal and tangential curves in the outer half, but again far less than we expect in a wide-angle zoom. This is an excellent performance at 16mm. More than just absolute numerical performance, the MTF curves suggest a very smooth, even performance across the entire image frame. That’s something few wide-angle lenses of any type do, much less a wide-angle zoom." www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/08/sony-fe-16-35mm-f2-8-gm-sharpness-tests/

[@hurleygreen927]

GREAT TUTORIAL! I have a Nikon DX 12-24mm lens on a 7200 and love it! Question: Have you ever used it on an FX camera, and if so did image quality suffer? Inquiring minds like myself (and my Nikon D750) want to know! :) THANKS IN ADVANCE

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

You can't use lenses designed for Mirrorless cameras on DSLRs. Even if someone made an adapter the lens would be too far away from the sensor to be able to focus.

[@angelluna2506]

Im interested in this lens for my real estate jobs, (i already own a 28- 70 kit lens and the tamron 70-300mm) i get that this lens is great for photography but what about real estate video? i

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

The angle of view of this lens is what is important to your intended work and not whether you are shooting stills or video.

[@mertoflas6888]

Hello, first of all, thanks for the nice video. I had a question. I bought this lens today. After taking it out of the box, I noticed that there is a sound inside. When it shakes, something inside moves. Is this normal? If it is normal, what is this shaking thing?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It is the linear XD focus motor waiting for power from the camera to engage - without power it is free to slide up and down the rail. I hope when you say shake your mean tip the lens gently to one side and another. I don't recommend shaking lenses and if you were ever to present the lens for a warranty repair I would refrain from using that word.

[@sigsfast]

Any whispers on price yet?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

The FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM will be available in Australia from late July 2020 for SRP $5499

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

US $3,000

[@godsinbox]

much much, much much, much much, much much, much much, much much more expensive than the 14-24 F2.8 Sigma DG DN

[@ZTimZ100]

Hi Mark, Great review. Do all sony e-mount lenses have the capability of gel filters on the body side?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

This is the first. The 400 and 600 GM lenses have a filter draw at the back of the lens for small glass filters.

[@tigrepickett7415]

we’re you using a tripod for The Apostles shots? gorgeous

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

For the Pinnacles but not the Apostles

[@bobpaulson9r72fk24]

Were all the shots at 12mm?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I think so - I should have put a link in the info section so you can view ultra high definition images with all metadata

[@cuneytgumushaneli9820]

in photopills, at ff sensor f 2,8 12 mm ,dof near limit 1.2m, hyperfocal distance 1.72m why is there such a big difference in two calculation system

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Acceptable Sharpness is subjective. In the advanced settings I doubled the viewing size as many apps assume you are viewing an 8 x 10 print instead of a 16 x 20.

[@cuneytgumushaneli9820]

Mark Galer's Alpha Creative Skills I also used same print size as yours but ...

[@MarktrustingJesus]

Hi Mark. I finally purchased the 12-24gm lens and I noticed that in continuous focus (with my a7r3) it constantly moves in and out even when the green box shows focus, like its breathing and hunting focus. Is this normal for the lens, or an ultrawide angle lens? I've never seen this on my other lenses. I even got a second copy thinking it was not working and they both do it. I can use it in single focus or manual if I need to but wondered if this was normal?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

If you have Continuous Autofocus selected (AF-C) and you have stopped down to an aperture smaller than f/8 you are effectively disabling the Phase Detect AF on the A7RIII. This causes the Contrast Detect AF to constantly move focus backwards and forwards. The answer is simple - use a wider aperture or switch to AF-S. At a 12mm focal length everything is pretty much sharp when you stop down to f/4 or f/5.6 so there is not much point in stopping down further. Cameras released later than the A7RIII can use apertures as small as f/11 in AF-C while the A9 cameras can use f/16 and the A1 can use f/22. I am happy to offer further guidance and support via my Patreon channel if you require help setting up the A7RIII. www.patreon.com/markgaler If you missed this one I suspect you may have missed several other important features about your camera.

[@Purple__]

Absolutely stunning lens, too bad its going to cost $3000 initially. Its price does make sense if you check out the lens layout though, a lot of special glass!

[@echoauxgen]

But think about how many lenses it takes the place of that you can sell and make room for in your bag!

[@Boltwin89]

@@echoauxgen there aren't many lenses that it can replace...

[@riparianlife97701]

I've thought about buying one, but my phone does wide well enough.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Never heard of anyone comparing this lens with a smartphone lens and the phone's tiny sensor. If the smartphone does it for you then you get to save lots of money :-)

[@riparianlife97701]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills WHEN I have $3000 to spare, AFTER I get an A7R5, I can stop using my phone for shots widwr than 24mm. I'm not going to not take pictures inside cathederals and such just because I don't have this lens (yet).

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

There are cheaper options if you don't need the 12mm angle of view, e.g. 16-35 zoom lenses or ultra wide angle primes

[@EugeneMaynard]

🙏🏾

[@juanduenas1943]

Selling my kidney..XD

[@billx4266]

Too expensive for a working class dude. Is the image quality from the F4 version as good as the GM?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

The F/4 G is very good - especially when stopped down a little. The GM is spectacular at all apertures and is the only 12-24 with an f/2.8 aperture.

[@billx4266]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Is it good enough for the A7RIV? The F4? BTW where is the 24 GM review?

[@barryroberts2474]

Can't understand why the Americans will pay $3000 USD and Australians are being asked to pay $5000. If you convert 3000 US it only makes $4316AUD. Not sure if you can answer this Mark.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Australian prices for all Sony products was set for the year when the Australian dollar was very low. It has since risen against the US dollar but Sony don’t adjust the price exchange every week.

[@barryroberts2474]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thanks mate.

[@unknowneuphoric1691]

Pour moi, voilà un produit vraiment révolutionnaire. Je me bats actuellement pour en importer une mais pour l'instant, impossible en raison d'une demande très importante. A@

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Contact sony to help you resolve this

[@lorenzogattaldo3764]

now

[@PsychicWorldTV]

I've got to be honest Mark I have the F4and that is a brilliant lens I really don't see the point of this lens at all especially when I add it to my 16 to 35 2.8 and with my Nissi kit I can add not just only filters I can add many filters not just one I really value your work but I feel there's so many people pushing lenses for the sake of it it is a shame

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It’s a specialist lens - it’s not for everyone and I won’t be ‘pushing’ this lens to photographers who don’t really need it.

[@antoniofusco2878]

Hi Mark, sorry but you said you were at 1m distance from the foreground poles but you put in the DOF calculator 4m distance. With that sensor and 2,8 aperture you go in hyper focal focusing at around 1,7m. So maybe the distance was more than that and not 1m. If you are at 1m you need to close the aperture to f/5.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Hyperfocal distance is relative to the size of the image being viewed. I did not achieve full depth of field on the image I showed but you can’t tell on the 4K image I used for the demo. Play this section again because I explain this and point out that I have also made available images captured at f/5.6 for the 6K images. If the depth of field app you are using only gives you one Hyperfocal distance you need to ditch it for something better.

[@mansorzainal2521]

cannot wait to see the real lens but not to buy

[@eccentricsmithy2746]

Sigma all week long. Their lenses out perform Sony native lenses by a landslide.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Sigma don’t make a 12-24 f/2.8