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How close FE 24-70 f2.8 GM at 55mm is compared to FE 55mm f1.8


trcns
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I just bought Sony Alpha 7R II, but I am debating on lens, though i am not a photographer, but on average the pictures I take are family picture where subjects don't move much as most of the time they all know we are taking their pictures.

 

I am struggling to choose between 55mm f1.8 and 24-70 f2.8 GM. Everyone raves about the sharpness of 55 mm lens and it balances well with the camera. On the other hand 24-70 GM is one lens I can use every where. But its very heavy and off balance the camera and also kills the purpose having mirror less camera.

 

But first question first

If I choose 24-70 f2.8 GM and I take a portrait picture at 55mm, How comparable it will be with this prime 55mm lens?

 

Please help, I will really appreciate some professional's guidance.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Congrats on the purchase...I too just bought an a7Rii! NOT a professional but here's my thought process on how I decided on the lenses to buy...

 

First off, coming from a Canon 60d I knew i wanted to go mirrorless and portable for my upcoming trip to Japan. I typically shoot family portraits and I guess random street "stuff". Initially I really wanted to go with the 24-70 GM because of all the rave reviews BUT I felt it would've been way too big for my liking (at least for now). Therefore I did a little more researching and got some input from some of the Sony shooters at my local camera shop and started looking into primes instead. I now have the Zeiss 35 f2.8 and 55 f1.8 and couldn't be happier. I bought the body and lenses just last week so I was able to get a total of $500 on Sony rebates. With these two LITTLE primes I saved money, stayed extremely compact, and will fit my needs of having a portable walk around lens and a fast portrait lens. 

 

Good luck on the decision...sure not an easy one after dropping these kinda bills! :)

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I've always [OK not always, but for more than 40 years]  

considered 35mm and 50mm to be an 'either-or' choice. 

IOW I would NEVER carry both, but I've never regretted

owning both. I love to carry just a 35, nothing more, but 

thaz for personal work. If I'm in service to a client then I 

carry a 50, not a 35, as part of a trio with 24 or 28mm,

plus whatever longer lens seems reasonable, whether

prime or zoom.  

    

BTW I also use the 35 in a duo, with either a 20, or short 

tele [85 or 105]. 35 and 50 are my most important lenses 

but they are too similar to carry them as a pair. 

   

If I were shopping for a 3rd lens beyond your 35 and 50, 

I'd conssider each of those [35 & 50] separately and be 

thinking how to pair either of them up with a new lens. A 

20mm is tempting cuz 50 & 20 is a great pair ,and also 

35 & 20 is a great pair. Likewise a 90 or 105 pairs nicely 

with either the 50 or 35. I'd ignore things like 28mm cuz 

it pairs with only one of your current lenses, the 50mm. 

35 & 28 is too redundant. 

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As far as sharpness...At 55mm they're probably very close, unless you pixel peep...

The 55 is one sharp lens, then again, the new GM is a monster and sharp as well.

I don't want to understate the size of the GM, it's big and it's heavy, but it's also fricken awesome in all other respects.

The 55 is light and yes, feels good on the body and is very sharp, bokeh is smooth and it's a very good lens.

55 might be a little narrow FOV for your only lens though, tough to get groups of people all in...Whereas the GM was made for that and many other uses.

You say you're not a photographer, if you were, you might fair well with just the 55...but I would suggest the 24-70GM or even the 24-70/4 zeiss for less experienced eyes

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Ask yourself how often you really need the full amount of mpx from the A7R II.

 

And then maybe get the 55mm and the FE 28 f2, since I second that 35 will be a bit too narrow in many situations. I have both and couldn't be happier when I want to travel light, since you can always crop the 28 down to 35 if needed and the 55 down to a typical portrait length of 85 or 90mm. And I own lots o other lenses, serious LAS, but all the rest is manual and most of them are vintage.

 

Nevertheless, these will be the two I carry up a mountain…

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Well of course the GM's max aperture if f2.8 and the 55 is f1.8 but then with the GM you can zoom to 70mm and step back a bit to mitigate this. That said the IQ of the GM at 55 is excellent even at 2.8 and for a zoom it has lovely bokeh. I have both and now only rarely use the 55 and then only when the light is really low and I want something smaller

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Had both, sold the 55mm 1.8 because the 24-70 2.8 is an amazing lens!  Only drawback really is size and weight; however it is a much more useful lens given it's sharpness and range.  Just FYI I replaced the 55mm with the even heavier Zeiss 50 1.4 and that is one extraordinary lens.  Everyone talks about the purpose of mirrorless cameras being small size and weight, for me it is just a matter of getting the best images possible...sometimes you have to carry more to accomplish that but my A7rii is way smaller than the corresponding DSLR.

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has anyone compared the Zeiss F4 with the GM F2.8 on th A7R2? Totally undecided here.

 

So far i own the 28mm F2 + Fisheye and the 85mm Batis. Long term i want to add the 18mm Batis and 50mm Zeiss F1.4 to close the gaps on the prime lenses.

 

Now looking for an "always on" zoom lens for street and landscape shots. The 24-70 Zeiss F4 is currently on sale for about 900 Euro and even thou i read all the great reviews about the GM lens, i am not sure if it is worth the 1200 Euro more and the even more if the extra weight isnt just that bit too much to enjoy the lens for casual street photography...

 

Any first hand experiences?

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If the very best possible image quality is not of "prime" importance, then I believe you will be truly satisfied with the F4.  As to the Zeiss F1.4, that is one amazing lens, my favorite because of amazing sharpness and even more jaw dropping presence and rendering.  I personally would get the F4 and with the savings go ahead with the 50mm 1.4 Zeiss (I really like the clickable/adjustable aperture ring on these lenses...so easy to identify what aperture you are at.)

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that's what i was considering. I would basically get 2 for 1. An everyday F4 and close the prime gap with the 50mm 1.4. Together with the 28mm F2 and the 85mm Batis, i should have more flexibility. The 18mm Batis would then be the final step and this cant be covered with the GM anyhow. The fisheye on the 28mm is not the best, but does the job if I really need a wide lens. Just needs a lot of correction in post processing.

 

If the very best possible image quality is not of "prime" importance, then I believe you will be truly satisfied with the F4.  As to the Zeiss F1.4, that is one amazing lens, my favorite because of amazing sharpness and even more jaw dropping presence and rendering.  I personally would get the F4 and with the savings go ahead with the 50mm 1.4 Zeiss (I really like the clickable/adjustable aperture ring on these lenses...so easy to identify what aperture you are at.)

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Guest Jaf-Photo

Both lenses are quite expensive, so I won't tell you what to do. But in general, zooms are very practical for getting the pictures at all times. Primes are more about getting a specific optical look, and generally you have to work more to get the photos.

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  • 8 months later...

This post seems a little old, and the decision has probably long been taken by the TO.

 

That said, when I was in a similar situation, I relied heavily on this body and lens test database, where you can easily sort out your preferences in terms of sharpness, vignetting, transmission and chromatic aberration, giving you an overall rank across whats available on the market, plus individual rankings on any of the mentioned sub-categories. Just select your search criteria including budget range in the top section, then sort the result table by clicking on the respective column header.

 

Warning though: when you see what's available, you may be tempted to adjust your initial budget upwards ...

 

This database is available for both bodies and lenses.

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Have had both of these lenses, changed from 55 to 50 1.4 (amazing rendering) but my go to lens is the 24-70 2.8.  It produces prime quality images and I don't find it uncomfortable to use day long on vacation, etc.  If I were to just chose one lens, the zoom would be it by a long shot.

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If I may come back to the lens database I linked in my previous post: direct comparisons of lenses can be done there, too.  See this, for a direct comparison of the two candidates in question.

 

My take from those tests:

 

The 55/1.8 seems to offer a far greater "sharpness", at 40 P-Mpix* almost exhausting the capabilities of the 7Rii's 42 megapixel sensor. Versus the 24-70/2.8 only delivering a sharpness of 28 P-Mpix. The latter sort of "dragging" the capabilities of the sensor down. At least the huge resolution of the sensor cannot be fully exploited using this zoom lens. Note that both lenses were tested in combination with an A7Rii, so the results are indeed very well comparable.

 

OTOH, a zoom lens comes with much more flexibility, though. Which made me opt for two zoom lenses for my A9, too. For the A9, having a sensor with a smaller resolution, I'm not expecting a similar reduction in final sharpness when using zoom lenses which (combined with an A7Rii) delivered P-Mpix values  _greater_  than the A9 sensor resolution itself. I have no means to compare, though.

 

*: for details on "p-MPix", have a look at the DxOMark lens testing protocol .

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So far i own the 28mm F2 + Fisheye and the 85mm Batis. Long term i want to add the 18mm Batis and 50mm Zeiss F1.4 to close the gaps on the prime lenses.

 

 

I bought the Batis 18 when it first came out.  I sold it recently, as soon as I had the 16-35GM in hand, its so much more versitile.  The Batis is small and light, but those are mostly not important to me.

 

JCC

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