Sony E-Mount 50mm f1.8 OSS - Some Observations

The Sony E-mount 50mm f1.8 OSS lens has been one of my most wanted lens for my NEX camera system ever since it was announced.  As far as I know, it's the first with a lens-based stabilization 50mm lens in the world, and at a reasonable price. Finally, shortly after I got my NEX-6, I bought 50mm f1.8 OSS, and have been using it on occasions.

In a word, this is a fantastic lens, in terms of its optical properties. Extremely sharp lens even wide open. I use this lens at f1.8 most of the time and find that the only reason to stop it down is for more depth of field, or lower the shutter speed. I haven't shot any brick walls with it to check corner sharpness or distortion; only have used it as I normally would and it has not disappointed me, optically. It's a far departure from the serviceable, but mediocre 16mm f2.8 pancake.

The optical stabilization system works very well, in still photo or video. In fact, this is one of the best features besides the excellent optics. Very effective and easily gives two to three stops of usefulness. Despite my wish to have in-body stabilization on cameras, I still prefer in-lens stabilization system. It's far more effective as the system is tailored and optimized to the specific lens.

In terms of build, it's quite acceptable. The lens is surprisingly light weight despite the use of metal for the mount and outer lens barrel. It's no Leica in build quality, but few lenses are. For that, you will have to fork out a lot of cash, but I think it's a good compromise between cost, weight, and build quality.

The only gripe I have is the auto focus speed. It's painful if you are used to DSLRs or the later Olympus/Panasonic models. To be fair, the slow speed is probably not totally the fault of the lens, but the current NEX system as a whole. It's worse on wake-up from power save mode when you have to rack the focus from closes to infinity. If you need to shoot something quickly, and the camera is in sleep mode, by the time the camera wakes up and sets the lens in focus, the opportunity is often gone. I think this is the biggest problem for the NEX system at the moment. I am so used the quickness of my 1D III when I need auto focus, the NEX-5/5N/6 just drives me crazy. The only thing that saves my insanity is the fact that I shoot more manual focus lenses on the NEX-6 than AF lenses.

The Piano - Sony NEX-6 & 50mm f1.8 OSS @ f1.8. Click for larger

Walking the dog - Sony NEX-6 & 50mm f1.8 OSS @ f2. Click for larger.

Tree - Sony NEX-6 & 50mm f1.8 OSS @ f1.8.

Lens Woes, Again

I have been happy that my Canon EF 200mm f1.8L lens kind of fixed itself, after I found out it stopped working a couple of months ago.  The day before, I used it to photograph my kids' school concert, and it worked so perfectly.  Today, I took it to my kids' swim meet and it went dead at the as soon as I mounted it on the camera.  Everything else works, even the aperture, but no AF or manual focus.  Because this lens has the focus-by-wire mechanism, it needs electricity to engage and is not mechanically coupled to the focusing ring.  If AF does not work, manual focus will not work either.  The EF 85mm f1.2L works the same way too.

I guess I will take the lens to repair shop like I said I would.  The malfunction of the lens might be caused by moisture, as the swimming pool was very hot and humid.  I will give the lens a test again later to see if it rights itself again or not.  In any case, this is very frustrating, as it is the main lens I use for my kids' sporting events. I used the EF 135mm f2 for the whole event today, but it just did not have enough reach.  Hopefully, the lens can be fixed.

Dillon the Piano Man playing accompaniment for the school choir - 1D III & EF 85mm f1.2.

Play Me, I'm Yours

One of the 41 Pianos -- NEX-5N & Pentacon 29mm f2.8

The piano above is one of 41 pianos that represents the 41 countries participating in the upcoming 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.  This particular one is one of the six that CIBC (CIBC is a big sponsor) places in or around its branches that anyone can play.  Every time I walked by, except early in the morning when this picture was taken, there was someone playing on it.

Great idea!