Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM lens review with samples (Full-frame & APS-C)

[@sushi_donut]

For a Christopher Frost review, there is no late. We wait! :)

[@Bayonet1809]

While the focus breathing is extreme, the fact that it zooms in rather than out when focussed close is actually quite useful for getting a more normal field of view for close ups.

[@annoyboyPictures]

If you want Zero Focus Breathing, you need to spend upwards of $5000 on a Professional (and very heavy) Cine Lens... otherwise, the Zeiss Batis Lenses are very good for having very little Focus Breathing... but they are F/2 lenses so the background separation is not as great as a F/1.4 or F1.2.

[@bozmundarts2614]

@@annoyboyPictures the sony 1.8 doesnt seem to have noticeable focus breathing almost, reason why most videographers *will* gravitate towards it

[@annoyboyPictures]

@@bozmundarts2614 I agree, I don't do much Focus pulling on my shots, so its not a problem for me. I do a lot of interview shoots with a fixed focus point, and usually in small spaces like inside of offices, so having a super fast lens with shallow depth of field, like a F/1.2 or even a F/0.95 is ideal for my purposes when blurring out a background that is not very far behind the subject. But I do see the need for focus pulling and a lot of cameramen I know hate the focus breathing and always insist on lenses that can avoid this.

[@jonashovden]

@@annoyboyPictures No, just but a Nikon Z lens like the Z50/1,8 ;)

[@annoyboyPictures]

@@jonashovden I can't understand what you just wrote, because it makes no grammatical sense...

[@DustinFurlow]

Last photo of the shore and cliffs was lovely. Loving my 35mm GM. My go-to setup paired with the Sigma 85mm 1.4.

[@zolwikwkurwik]

Same here

[@josegulias]

35 GM and Samyang 85 1.4 here

[@zenscape]

I fully agree when Christopher said he had reviewed 35 copies of 35mm and this is the sharpest. I traded my workhorse Batis 40 for the 35GM and am extremely happy with my decision. Right out of the gate, the 35GM gives you tack sharp and clean images with fabulous colour. Not much edit to do. It ticks all the boxes.

[@networm64]

Wow! What a great review! As a person who prefers 35mm focal length to all the other prime focals I'm just blown away by the performance of this lens considering it's weight. Sony has dropped the mic for it's recent GM primes indeed! 135,24,35 all been Great! Can't wait for your review on the new 14mm 1.8 GM!

[@eagleeyephoto8715]

Lens is not de centered but soft at f1.4. De centering is never gone by stopping down aperture only.

[@peterlav]

Great review - I appreciate how you didn’t hold back on the 35 1.8 review and I noticed a lot of your reported problems when I had that lens. This gm is fantastic and is my go to lens. Thanks for all of the hard work - you and Gerald Undone are the best lens reviewers in my opinion.

[@charliemcdougall]

@peterlav - Submitted for your consideration, you may also want to check out Dustin Abbott for some critical rigour, as well. 🙂

[@SunnySoCal]

i thought it would take years to see this review thanks chris that image quality & build quality is truly something i was caught in between this and the sigma 35mm f1.4 for a bit less money

[@Vantrakter]

'a bit less'

[@oscarshen6855]

Go for the GM then, The GM is better than the Sigma in every dimension, it is 500$ better. However here in UK the GM is double the price, I don't know what's wrong with UK pricing.

[@SunnySoCal]

@@oscarshen6855 i know man i used to work for sony so it’s hard to go against them but sigma has some nice offerings but i think you’re right on this might opt for the GM i’ve heard stories about the UK pricing 😬🤭 you might have to fly out to the states to get it cheaper then take it back with you

[@CherryEXtended]

Just stumbled on this review searching for a good lens. I must say your review was overwhelmingly good. I learned a few things I didn't knew before, the review was super detailed and your voice is calm and heartwarming. Really enjoyed it. Good work!

[@Tzadeck]

My favorite lenses are 35mm lenses, and I think this is by far the best one ever made. A big problem with 35mm lenses is that they usually suffer from fairly ugly bokeh, but the bokeh on this lens is absolutely gorgeous. I'm planning to buy it for that reason alone.

[@oscarshen6855]

What's briliant about Sony is they know how to make the right compromise. They no longer pursuing absolute optical perfection and make the it overly heavy and expensive. It's sharp, compact, has one of the best bokeh quality I have ever seen, and outside of UK the price is very reasonable for what you get. The Canon/Nikon counter parts are very big and heavy and cost more. Yes, it has the strongest focus breathing we have ever seen but it's only obvious when fouce within 1 meter, Sony also offer a more video focused 35mm F1.8 which has almost no focus breathing. I'm very happy with this lens, even in UK.

[@cameraprepper7938]

I had hoped that the Sony 35mm 1.4 GM would be more compact and lighter than the Sony 24mm 1.4 GM(which I have), so I chose the Voigtländer APO-LANTHAR 35mm 2.0 which also have outstanding optical performance and I love to focus manual anyway ! But take a look around, there are at least 26 different 35mm Lenses for Sony E-mount !

[@laukkanenesa]

I’ve been waiting for this review as I picked up a copy when it arrived. It’s a wonderful lens and the focus breathing haven’t been a big issue for me as I’m mostly taking stills. Great review as always!

[@fjp2000]

Now the only thing which is missing is the 20mm 1.8

[@jukeboxjohnnie]

I think I'll wait for the 24-70mm update for my wide GM requirements, if its good enough

[@ak48disk]

2:17 Sony 35-45 f1.4 GM

[@vincenzodellama7158]

That focus breathing.... I guess this is a 35-50mm f1.4 zoom they just didn't marketed it properly.

[@CopperSmith1]

it's not a 35mm lens. It's a zoom lens.

[@infinifiable]

Hi Christopher, loving your reviews. Would you ever review the 35mm 2.8 Zeiss? Thanks

[@Iron_Martin]

Very useful for the close-up test

[@angeloop]

I'd love to see how it compares against Sigma Art

[@KevinZJR]

Sigma already lost in the weight

[@angeloop]

@@KevinZJR just one aspect, what about price and value for money

[@joe2snj]

The f1.4 Art has very bad close up image quality and doesn’t render images like the GM or its f1.2 sibling. The f1.2 version is slightly less sharp than the GM but has gorgeous rendering, quite a few people say even better than the GM but for me they are equally as good in that aspect.

[@David-il9xw]

Beautiful shots in the intro, much like all your intros.

[@Kowabrass]

0:25 An out-of-state buyer in the US usually does not have to pay sales tax, so you easily avoid it by ordering from a dealer in another state than your own.

[@JustAnAvgGuy]

Was just looking for a review on this lens and wouldn’t you know? Chris delivers again

[@Mickparrysstepdad]

I'd love the Sony 35mm 1.4, but I use my Sony A7c for family stuff, and often switch between stills and video, with no time to change lenses, so it looks like I'll have to stick with my little Sony 35mm 1.8 :(

[@brandonj8018]

AND next on the list of 35s: Tamron 1.8 and possibly Canon L Mark 1. Yes? 😊

[@four-kings]

Please do review 50mm 1.2 GM！

[@ghas4151]

These newer GM lenses have some of the strongest focus breathing of any lenses I have seen. It is what allows Sony to keep the size so compact in relation to the competition. Apart from that, very impressed with the image quality.

[@networm64]

And honestly that's the only flaw I'll happily accept for a lens like this. Cause if you are a serious cinematographer you have a plenty of heavy cinema line lenses which are available with no focus breathing. And if you dn't need a super fast lens there are many options like Sony 35mm 1.8 which has a minimum focus breathing

[@robertmont864]

Can you test the Tokina SZX 400mm f/8 Reflex MF Lens for Sony E mount? It cost $249.00 . It is made with new technology, so it should outperform the older reflex mirror lens you tested sometime ago.

[@leonarddavis8449]

That was a great review but how can a lens be decentered on one camera and not another ?

[@tankivulture148]

APSC sensors are smaller. Being smaller, for a given number of pixels, the pixel density is higher. Being higher, you need a sharper lens to resolve that resolution better

[@leonarddavis8449]

@@tankivulture148 thanks for the reply, but wouldn’t a decentered lens show up on a 42 megapixel sensor?

[@tankivulture148]

@@leonarddavis8449 Since we're talking about pixel density you should ask yourself "what size are the pixels?". Now, having said that, think about what is 42mpx but cropped by 1.52x (Sony APS-C): by doing this calculation you understand that 1.5x cropped 42mpx sensor gives you roughly a 17.8Mpx image (from ~8000x5360 to 5,168 × 3,448 pixels) therefore it's a big difference. But, obviously, you don't want to do all this maths everytime, this is why I told you to look up for pixel size of a camera, I explained you the long way just to be precise. And now you may ask "So, what's the same as 24mpx but it full frame in therms of pixel density? Well, roughly 60mpx (A7R IV). Having said all that theoretical stuff let me just say what you want to do: consider full performance on a lens that's made for it's sensor size, APSC lenses in APSC and FF lenses in a full frame camera. The sharper the FF lens, the sharper the result in APS-C (without a focal reducer that makes worse the performance ever more). So the definitive answer is "since the lens is very sharp, 42.2mpx is not the biggest challenge

[@leonarddavis8449]

@@tankivulture148 If a lens is decentered one or more of the elements is out of alignment, nothing To do with the sensor.

[@quanlehoang9882]

Could you give me a review of old lens, please: Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2... I really love 35mm focal length. Thanks very much...

[@marketingcastle]

I am using this lens as my main cam, and it's quiet annoying that sometimes I feel like the focus is off. Is this just my personal problem or is it usual with this lens?

[@tomowens7499]

I am itching to get a nice 35 and i'm torn between several options. the two sony's, the GM 35 and the older 35 1.8 are both tempting. I shoot a ton of video, so the surprising amount of focus breathing on the GM is giving me pause, your review on the older 35 said it had very little breathing, and it's performance didn't seem far away from this one, so the higher cost *might* not be worth it. (part of me is also interested in the voightlander apo lanthar 35 just to have an old school manual lens to play with) decisions, decisions....

[@fjp2000]

Lol what a surprise. I just ordered 3 hours ago, cause i cant wait any longer🤣 I hope your review will be only good!

[@christopherfrost]

Oh boy, you made a biigg mistake, the lens is terrible. LOL JK :-)

[@fjp2000]

Ohh Nooo😭😭😬

[@mrbassett4388]

@@fjp2000 you'll love it it performs great on my r4a. :)

[@TroupeGoal]

On its way for £900 mpb, can't wait!!!

[@mansiny101]

I have it as a test and I can say that it is the sharpest lens that I have ever tested, I have the f1.8 and I had the Zeis 1.4 and this one is incredibly better, sharp from f1.4 from the center to the corners and focuses very fast.

[@arundarbari1995]

Please tell about Sigma 1850 and Zeiss 1670 which is better brother please reply soon

[@DatDNguyen]

Please review Sony 50mm GM. Big thanks!

[@christopherfrost]

You don't have long to wait :)

[@MegaloGater]

Great review. I would be interested how it compares to the Tamron 35mm 1.4 as if i take your videos side by side on full frame the full open corner performance the sony seems to be very noticeably brighter than the Tamron, however i do think it seems the Tamron slightly has the edge on sharpness, but just ever so slightly. Of course these two lenses are by design different, one made for Sony Mirrorless and the other for Canon/Nikon DSLR.

[@BlackBeltBarrister]

35? Wow!!

[@IanMacdonald02]

Perfect timing, I’m wanting to get a 35mm lens for my A7iii and this review was needed. Thank you. Between this, and the Sigma’s, where would your money go sir? Thank you

[@javaguitar]

Love this video, but Sony user Review always makes videos, where are the image examples? we can't check your video, give us the link, thank you

[@garethwilliams976]

Do Sony actually make this lens? Is it possible they outsource and rebrand it? It is just that the finish and layout are so reminiscent of Sigma.

[@rayyan5547]

I would like to see a review for the rf 16 and rf 100 400 as soon as possible

[@k1k13004]

Don't wanna test sirui?

[@georgephountis2495]

love your reviews , what are you reading in greek ?

[@HH60gPaveHawk]

Assume he’s staying true to form, it’s a dual language Greek/English bible. Since the last word in the first verse is λόγος/logos, I’m guess this is John 1, a passage he often uses for LoCA tests.

[@christopherfrost]

Yankee Rider is correct - Gospel of John, chapter 1. λόγος is a term in ancient Greek philosophy for an overarching mysterious intelligence or being which originated / controls the Universe, and John chooses it to describe Jesus Christ :-)

[@HH60gPaveHawk]

@@christopherfrost oh yes, John loves logos! Glad to see my extremely rusty Greek reading isn’t totally dead.

[@dfj555]

Which one do you prefer, Sony FE 35mm F1.4 GM or Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM?

[@starepiernikowe]

They both are on the same quality level. If size and weight doesn't matter, you're left only with focal length. I think that only focal length should be a factor between choosing one of those two.

[@nesclinic8938]

Excellent review Thank you very much

[@amithrajapaksha7854]

Plz do a review on sigma 105mm f1.4 sony e mount lens✌🏻

[@ДанилаПетров-д5г]

Congratulations on the purchase of a7r3!🤓

[@watch4joygroup441]

Finally g master series

[@chanjeff4406]

Hi there. Is this lens sharper than the Tamron 35 1.4?

[@chanjeff4406]

As per your videos, it looks like Sony is sharper in the middle of the image while Tamron is sharper in the corner of the image at f/1.4 (Bottom right vs Top left). Also, at f/2, Tamron is slightly sharper than Sony in the corner. All of these are viewed at 4k video output

[@christopherfrost]

You will find out soon...keep an eye on this channel ;-)

[@احمدشهاب-ك2ذ]

I loooove your reviews 🥰❤️

[@ChuckFars]

I wanna know what you think of Laowa's 35mm f.95. Bokeh bokeh bokeh! and maybe some astro if it's up to it, ha

[@ricki-bobby]

Where I live in the US we have no sales tax, no VAT, no GST or PST. The price is the price

[@christopherfrost]

Where is that?!

[@ricki-bobby]

@@christopherfrost Five US states: Delaware, New Hampshire, Alaska, Oregon and Montana have no sales tax

[@christopherfrost]

@@ricki-bobby Awesome, I'm there :)

[@RynaxAlien]

They should make f/0.95 lens

[@bobsykes]

Thank you!

[@derkhawkins2575]

Thank you.

[@27hdyx6b3ym3w]

That decentering issue is a huge turn off, especially at its price point.

[@frankfeng2701]

30-40 f/1.4 GM :(

[@arundarbari1995]

Brother please tell me it is better than sony Zeiss 16 70 reply soon brother please

[@KikujiroChan]

fat cat with heavy breathing: finally a worthy opponent!

[@begr_wiedererkennungswert]

I want to sell my husband's car for this lens, I need help.

[@RiccardoGabarriniKazeatari]

Can we really say it's Sony that doesn't like the UK? Isn't the UK gov that taxes import products more than other countries do? Or maybe they're both at fault? Serious question

[@momchilyordanov8190]

It looks great. When buying a 35 for my Sony, I will... take the Samyang 1.8 lol

[@hunglemed]

1.4 looks a bit soft

[@DriveCancelDC]

1500 GBP in the UK? I see rip off Britain is alive and well! It comes to 1300 GBP including tax here (Japan)

[@jazzb1263]

finally

[@DWDW-t3h]

Chris is my wallet killer..

[@BoxxyFan]

Very poor quality control for a $1500 lens, Crazy!!!