Sony FE 50 mm f/1.4 GM review - Vignetting

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Sony FE 50 mm f/1.4 GM

21 February 2023

Maciej Latałło

8. Vignetting

First, let's check the vignetting performance on the smaller APS-C sensor – appropriate thumbnails can be seen below.

A7R III, APS-C, f/1.4	A7R III, APS-C, f/2.0

At the maximum relative aperture vignetting might be noticed, as it reaches a level of 29% (-0.97 EV). Fortunately it is not a high value. All problems end very quickly because already by f/2.0 this aberration drops to 13% (-0.41 EV). What's more, by f/2.8 it decreases further to a truly imperceptible level of 6% (-0.19 EV).

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After passing to the bigger full frame sensor there are far more problems and photos below are the proof.

A7R III, FF, f/1.4	A7R III, FF, f/2.0

A7R III, FF, f/2.8	A7R III, FF, f/4.0

At the maximum relative aperture the result we got is high, reaching 63% (-2.89 EV). Of course a pessimist could expect something even higher than 3 EV, taking into account good aperture fastness of this lens and the fact that its constructors tried to guarantee relativelay small dimensions and weight. As it is, the Sony sticks out in a very positive way, especially when compared to the bigger and heavier Sigma A 50 mm f/1.4 DG DN. Still, you have to add that the Samyang AF 50 mm f/1.4 FE fared in this category better than the Sony and the new Sigma even though, when compared to these two lenses, it is the smallest and lightests.

On stopping down the aperture to f/2.0 vignetting decreases to 47% (-1.84 EV), and by f/2.8 it drops even more to a value of 39% (-1.42 EV). The problem becomes moderate after applying f/4.0 and f/5.6, where we got, respectively, 32% (-1.11 EV) and 26% (-0.87 EV). From the f/8.0 aperture onwards vignetting amounts to 22% (-0.72 EV).

Sony A7R III, JPEG, f/1.4