Sony has announced a new 20mm prime lens that's a real cracker for cameras like the Sony A6600 and Sony A7 III. How do we know? Because we've already tested it, and you can see what we thought in our full Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 review.
The FE 20mm f/1.8 G is a compact, lightweight prime lens that pairs well with both full-frame E-Mount cameras (think the Sony A7 III and Sony A7R IV) and APS-C models (the Sony A6600, for example).
While it's not a G Master lens, which is Sony's premium, high-end range, this G lens is very high quality and, as we found out in our testing, offers excellent sharpness throughout its aperture range.
This means it's suitable for all kinds of photography – it's a great size and focal length for landscape and travel shooting, but portrait, astro and wedding photographers will also appreciate its image quality and features.
These include a switch to move between stepless and clicked aperture selection, making it suitable for both stills and video shooting, and a manual aperture ring with a few handy settings that further boosts its versatility. You get an 'A' setting for controlling the aperture on the camera, a clicked manual aperture, and a stepless mode for videographers.
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- Read our full Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G review
Small bag of tricks
Perhaps the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G's best feature, though, is its compact size and weight. At just 373g it balances particularly well with Sony's A7 and A9 series, but is also suitable for APS-C bodies like the Sony A6600. On the latter, it has an equivalent focal length of 30mm.
The lens is also both dust- and moisture-resistant, and has two XD linear motors, which help to deliver speedy and quiet focusing. Its premium price tag is also justified by the premium lens construction, which includes 14 elements in 12 groups and a 9-blade circular aperture.
The only potential downside is the price tag, which will be $900 / £949 / AU$1,699 when it goes on sale in March 2020. That makes it almost twice the current price of the Sigma 20mm f/1.4, although we reckon this lens is a fine alternative for any Sony camera fans looking for a wide-angle prime that's small, light and very sharp.
- Read our full Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G review
