Sony announces new lenses
Sony has announced a series of new lenses and converters. For underwater use, these include the FE 90mm f2.8 macro, the FE 28mm f2 wide-angle, two new wide-angle converters and two fisheye converters.
Relevant extracts from Sony’s Press release
Serious photographers now have the opportunity to explore even more creative possibilities with four brand-new full-frame α E-mount lenses for Sony’s acclaimed family of mirrorless cameras.
From soulful portraits, dramatic landscapes and exquisite macro shots to fast-moving action, travel and everyday shooting – the expanded E-mount range has every situation covered. The quartet of premium lenses is joined by a further four lens converters – two of them full frame – making it easy to capture dramatic ultra-wide or fisheye perspectives.
FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS (SEL90M28G) medium telephoto macro
Tailor-made for high-impact close-ups and portraits, the SEL90M28G delivers an impressive blend of clarity and exceptionally smooth bokeh - thanks to careful control of spherical aberration – that’s a signature of every G Lens. The E-mount line-up’s first mid-telephoto macro also features built in Optical SteadyShot (OSS) image stabilisation, allowing pin-sharp images at up to 1:1 magnification even when shooting handheld.
The smooth, quiet Direct Drive SSM (DDSSM) mechanism drives two ‘floating’ focus groups independently, ensuring extremely precise focus positioning that’s crucial for macro photography.
Inner focus maintain constant total lens length – a big plus when you’re just centimetres from your subject during macro shooting. There’s also a focus hold button and sliding focus ring that instantly switches between manual and auto focus. Resistance to dust and moisture helps ensure dependable performance when you’re shooting detail-packed close-ups of insects and wildlife in rainy conditions.
FE 28mm F2 (SEL28F20) full-frame wide angle prime
An ideal second lens to supplement every photographer’s basic lens kit, this full-frame 28mm wide-angle prime features a bright F2.0 maximum aperture that’s ideal for handheld shooting in low light.
Light, compact and designed to resist dust and moisture, the lens makes a beautifully-proportioned match for Sony’s acclaimed α7 series full-frame camera bodies, with a high-grade aluminium finish adding instant visual appeal. The 9-blade circular aperture, three aspherical lens elements – including one AA (advanced aspherical) element – and two ED glass elements ensure excellent edge-to-edge sharpness plus beautifully smooth defocused areas. All lens surfaces are multi-coated to suppress flare and ghosting with backlit shots.
The inner focus mechanism is driven by an advanced linear actuator for whisper-quiet AF, with overall lens length remaining constant during focusing.
For even wider perspectives, the optional SEL075UWC Ultra-wide Converter and SEL057FEC Fisheye Converter respectively increase angle of view to 21mm or 16mm fisheye with full 180° coverage[ii]. Maximum aperture of each converter when mounted on the SEL28F20 is F2.8 and F3.5 respectively. In a first for α lens converters, corresponding EXIF data is generated with either converter attached to the lens.
The SEL28F20, SEL075UWC and SEL057FEC are all available separately. In addition, photographers are offered two value ‘kits’ that bundle the SEL28F20 with the SEL075UWC or SEL057FEC respectively.
VCL-ECU2 Ultra-Wide and VCL-ECF2 Fisheye APS-C converters
There’s no need to compromise optical performance when exploring extreme wide-angle and fisheye perspective effects.
The VCL-ECU2 adapter is compatible with the SEL16F28 16mm F2.8 and SEL20F28 20mm F2.8 wide angle (APS-C) lenses, boosting ultra-wide angle performance to 12mm (with SEL16F28) or 16 mm (SEL20F28). The VCL-ECF2 Fisheye Converter creates exaggerated perspective effect, with a full 180 degree field of view for the SEL16F28, and 133 degrees for the SEl20F28. Each converter sports a smart new black finish.
Software updates for E-mount lenses
Available now, a new software update enhances lens functionality for selected current E-mount lens models. There will also be a software update for these newly-announced FE lens models in late March. Please check details at the Sony support site.
The SEL35F14Z,SEL90M28G, SEL24240 andSEL28F20 E-mount lenses plus SEL075UWC, SEL057FEC, VCL-ECU2 and VCL-ECF2 lens adapters are available to pre-order now.