Design & Construction 

Are you a landscape photographer? Is 16mm never enough to fit everything you want into a shot. Then you are in the right place. The Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G ia the widest available Sony E-Mount zoom lenses in the lens lineup. Like every other Sony G lenses, build quality is simply top-notch. On the left side, there is (From Top-Bottom): the Focus ring, the zoom ring, the G badge, a Focus Hold Button and the AF | MF switch. The Focus Hold Button can be set to do a function you prefer such as AF-On, Eye AF or any other function. You will need to customise after attaching the lens to the camera body. The AF | MF switch allows you to change between auto focus and manual focus quickly without flipping through the camera menu. On the front, the lens does not accept screw-in filters. The total dimensions of the lens are 87 x 117.4 mm and weighs in a lightweight 565g. Internally, there are 4 aspherical elements reduce aberration, while 1 Super ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass and 3 ED glass elements minimize chromatic aberration. A 7-bladed circular aperture helps create smooth bokeh. The lens has a constant F4 aperture throughout the zoom range and is fitted with the latest Direct Drive Super Sonic Motor (DDSSM) auto focus drive system to allow for quick, precise and silent focusing. Nano AR Coatings are also part of the package to help eliminate flare and ghosting. On the lens exterior, fluorine coating is used to prevent contaminants like oils, grime, and water from sticking to the front. It also makes them easier to remove if they do stick to the lens surface. A dust and moisture resistant design tops it off to help ensure that it survives the harshest of weather conditions. A lens cap, a rear lens cap and a soft carry case are the accessories you will receive in the lens box.

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Image & Video Quality

The FE 12-24mm f/4 G lens has a minimum focus distance of 0.28 m (0.92 ft) and a minimum aperture of f/22. When zoomed, the lens does not extend out. Regarding optical quality, there is visible pincushion distortion and vignetting. This can be corrected about 90% in-camera by turning on the lens distortion compensation in the Menu. For RAW shooters, you can also do post-processing in Adobe Camera RAW, LightRoom or Capture One to correct this. Search for the lens model in the software and it does the auto-correction for you. Moving on, there are mo signs of falloff, flares, ghostings, chromatic aberrations, diffractions or colour fringing. Bokeh is rendered with some cat's eye at extreme corners but no onion rings. Shooting pictures wide-open at f/4, the sharpness isn't the best and you may see smearing at extreme corners of the frame. Hence I recommend stopping down to f/8 if possible, The sharpness is best around f/5.6 to f/11. Minimum apertures like f/22 are totally usable should you want sunstars or long exposures at night. From user exprience, try not to photograph people with a wide-angle as much as possible. Objects may appeared stretched beyond 80% from the center of the frame. On the video end, the lens performs flawlessly with minimal focus breathing when shifting focus on various subjects across the frame. The auto-focus works well together with the Sony Alpha bodies and grabs focus everytime.  

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PROS

• Ergonomic Handgrip

• Sharp Picture Quality

• Constant f/4 Aperture

• Usable for Videos

• Useful Zoomn Range

• Weather-Sealed

• Silent Focusing

• AF | MF Switch 

• Advanced Aspherical Optics

• Extra-low Dispersion Glass

• Focus Hold Button

• Nano-AR Coating

• Fluorine Coating

• DDSSM Focusing Motor

• Built-in Lens Hood

• Soft Carry Case

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CONS​​​

• Lack of Manual Mechanical Focus

• Lack of Lens Stabilisation

• Difficult to Attach Filters

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The Bottom Line

The Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G lens is a very specialised ultra wide-angle zoom lens for those seeking unique landscape perspectives. It is a great travel lens, covering ultra wide-angles to standard wide-angle ranges. A constant f/4 range ensures that you don't lose light while zooming in to capture a photo.