Sony Releases the FE 35mm F/1.8 Lens

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by Jeff LochJuly 10^th, 2019

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Sony finally completes its full-frame compatible line of lenses with a long-time overdue FE 35mm F/1.8. This lightweight and fast lens is a perfect alternative to the Distagon T* FE 35 mm F1.4 ZA. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Sony FE 35mm F/1.8 Characteristics

Rumors are over, the Sony FE 35mm F/1.8 (codenamed SEL35F18F) is finally out! This lens is compatible with all Sony full-frame cameras and is one of the lightest 35mm available on the market, at just 280g. It is also very compact; the lens has a diameter of 65,6mm and is only 73mm long.

Image credit: Sony

The lens features one aspherical element to reduce/suppress spherical aberrations and further reduce distortion. The lens design consists of 11 elements in 9 groups. Also, it has a 9-blade circular aperture to provide a smooth and pleasing bokeh. Finally, the minimum focus distance is 22cm, and the front diameter is 55mm.

Image credit: Sony

Sony FE 35mm F/1.8 Features

The Sony FE 35mm F/1.8 is dust and moisture resistant, making it the perfect everyday lens. On the side of the lens barrel, there is a customizable focus hold button and a focus mode switch. You can program the focus hold button to nearly every function you want via the internal menu of your camera.

When in manual focus mode, you have access to the Linear Response MF. It means that when you turn the focus ring, focus changes linearly, so you have more control over it and a more tactile feel to the focus ring. Let’s see how this works for filmmakers – the fly-by-wire manual focus of many similar lenses is sometimes very hard to work with when you want to focus manually.

Image credit: Sony

Last but not least, the linear-motor AF drive system ensures, according to Sony, “fast, precise, quiet autofocus operation.” For filmmakers, Sony also claims that “wobbling is employed for delicate continuous focus control.”

Let’s hope this is true, and we will test and review this lens very soon!

Pricing and Availability

The Sony FE 35mm F/1.8 will be available in August. It retails for $748 in the US or 700€ in Europe.

In terms of comparison, the Sony Distagon T* FE 35mm F/1.4 ZA lens is $1598 and is three times heavier.

What do you think of this new Sony FE 35mm F/1.8 lens? Do you already own a 35mm lens for your Sony camera? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments!