The Sony G Master Lens Lineup are the best offerings Sony makes. If you’re a Canon user, think of this as L glass. Sony goes out of their way to be clinically perfect, and it comes through in these lenses. If you’re a street photographer, wedding photographer, event photographer, or photojournalist, consider these. We’re selecting the best Sony G Master Prime Lenses for candid shooters. Take a look!
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The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
How We Chose the Best Sony G Master Prime Lenses for Candid Photography
- Our roundups include only products we’ve fully reviewed. You’ll never see a product we haven’t fully reviewed in a roundup. We’re linking to each of our reviews as well.
- This roundup of the best Sony G Master Prime Lenses has only lenses that deliver what a professional photographer wants. That means it’s great for passionate photographers who just want to shoot candids too.
- All of the best Sony G Master Prime Lenses are weather resistant. Our torture tests are often some of the most renowned in the photo industry.
- We’re really recommending these lenses for candid shooting because of the laws of physics. Wider angles should just move faster.
- The product images and sample images in this roundup of the best Nikon cameras for photojournalists were all shot by our staff of photographers.
Sony 35mm f1.4 G Master
Pros
- Lighter than competing lenses
- Fits in the palm of my hand
- Spectacular images
- Weather-sealed
- De-click aperture ring
Cons
- Pricey
- Some photographers won’t like the bokeh.
How’s the Autofocus?
In our review we state:
“An f1.4 lens is made for dark scenes and bokeh. Thankfully, the autofocus can keep up in dark conditions. With this lens, the Sony A7R IV focused on a dark corner of a closet relatively quickly.”
Sony 24mm f1.4 G Master
Pros
- Compact and lightweight
- Weather sealed
- Superb image quality
- Outstanding edge to edge sharpness, even when shooting wide open
- Dreamy, circular bokeh
- Impressive minimal focus distance of 0.79 feet (0.24 meters)
Cons
- Slight color fringing (easily mitigated in post processing)
How’s the Autofocus?
In our review we state:
“The autofocus system in the Sony 24mm f1.4 G Master consistently acquired focus quickly, and while we did experience some hunting when using the lens in extreme low light and low contrast scenarios while we were evaluating it, pretty much any autofocus lens will exhibit that behavior to some degree. Instead of conventional rotational actuators used in most of the other lenses in this segment currently on the market, the Sony 24mm f1.4 G Master features a linear actuator that helps to ensure swift focus acquisition under most conditions. While the Sony 24mm f1.4 G Master is primarily marketed towards photographers specializing in landscape photography and astrophography, Eye Autofocus works flawlessly with this lens, making it perfectly suitable for environmental portraiture and street photography as well.”
Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master
Pros
- Fast to use on both the Sony a7r III and the Sony a7r IV
- Weather sealing
- Nice render
- Very sharp
- Wow, Sony actually listened to us and allowed a little bit of flare in. Bravo!
- I actually think over $2,000 is a fair price.
- Pretty lightweight
Cons
- A few autofocus issues with strong backlighting
- Two different hard function buttons are a bit odd.
- Still has this render that’s nowhere as gorgeous as Canon’s
How’s the Autofocus?
In our review we state:
“Luckily, in low lighting, with your subject being front-lit, the autofocus is much better. The Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master and the Sony a7r IV were able to lock onto walking subjects and nail the focus each and every time. What’s more, it was able to do it at f1.2 with moving subjects. One would say that that’s impressive, but Canon has been doing this for a while now.”
