Facebook Pixel Sony Announces Brand-New, Ultra-Wide, 12-24mm f/2.8 Lens

Sony Announces Brand-New, Ultra-Wide, 12-24mm f/2.8 Lens

dps news sony 12-24mm f/2.8 lens announcement

Sony has officially announced its FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM lens, which is impressively wide, and offers a very fast aperture for such a wide-angle zoom.

While Sony did release a 12-24mm zoom back in 2017, it packed an f/4 maximum aperture, which just doesn’t offer the same low-light utility as a wide-angle f/2.8.

But now, with the new 12-24mm f/2.8, Sony shooters have the opportunity to work with an ultra-fast wide-angle lens, which is perfect for any sort of night photography, and astrophotography in particular.

Sony Announces Brand-New, Ultra-Wide, 12-24mm f/2.8 Lens

In terms of the lens’s specs:

A lens offering a maximum f/2.8 aperture is bound to be somewhat large, but Sony has kept both the size and the weight fairly reasonable:

5.5 in (137mm) long, 29.9 oz (847 g) heavy.

This means that landscape photographers and travel shooters won’t have too much trouble carrying the 12-24mm f/2.8 around in their bag.

The lens comes with a permanent hood, and the front element is unsurprisingly big, which means you won’t be able to use standard filters. However, Sony has designed the lens with a rear filter mount, which allows photographers to work with cut gel filters.

As for the optics:

Given that this is a GM lens, you can expect quite a lot, and early reviews seem to bear this out. The Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 is incredibly sharp, in the centers to the corners, both wide-open and stopped down.

Now, if you’re in need of a fast wide-angle zoom, you have two main options:

The new Sony 12-24mm f/2.8.

Or the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM, which is a very impressive lens in its own right.

Ultimately, picking between these lenses will come down to personal choice, but the extra 2 mm on the wide end can be pretty significant, especially for landscape and astrophotographers.

That said, while the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 is a truly excellent new piece of glass, the cost ensures that only the most serious of photographers will be able to add it to their bags.

It’ll ship in mid-August with a starting price of around $3000 USD.

Bottom line:

If you’re looking for a pro-level, fast, wide-angle lens for landscape photography, then this is going to be a good option, assuming you can afford the price.

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Jaymes Dempsey
Jaymes Dempsey

is the Managing Editor of Digital Photography School, as well as a macro and nature photographer from Ann Arbor, Michigan. To learn how to take stunning nature photos, check out his free eBook, Mastering Nature Photography: 7 Secrets For Incredible Nature Photos! And to see more of Jaymes’s work check out his website and his blog.

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