Sony Might Finally Be Making Its Own Fisheye Lens

Sony has some magnificent lenses in its portfolio. Models such as the 24-70mm f2.8 GM, 85mm f1.4 GM, and 70-200mm f2.8 GM OSS are worth investing in. While Sony has a broad range of lenses, it now appears that they are planning to achieve the impossible: a fish-eye zoom. What can this lens achieve? Have a look.

A Sony Fisheye Zoom

In a report by Asobinet, how2fly, an anonymous source on Chinese website Weibo, has revealed that Sony is currently developing five lenses. The report notes that these are prototypes, and there has been no confirmation yet on their announcement dates.

• 8-15mm fisheye zoom
• 600mm f6.3 (super-telephoto prime)
• 400mm f4.5 (super-telephoto prime)
• 28mm G
• 40mm G

Finally, a Fisheye

One of the most notable introductions to the list is the fish-eye lens. One of the reasons is that the company has never made a fisheye lens before. The closest to this focal range was the launch of a converter, designed for use with the FE 28mm f2 lens. Other than that, Sony shooters have to depend on third-party lens makers such as Samyang (8mm f2.8 UMC fisheye II and 12mm f2.8 ED AS NCS fisheye), Sigma or 7Artisans, amongst some other options. An 8-15mm zoom is a genuine step towards creating a lens that Sony users have always been asking for.

How this compares to others

Sony, Canon and Nikon have always been competing in the full-frame market. The latter two already have a history of fisheye lenses, with the company introducing the VR fisheye lens, and the standard RF 5.2mm f2.8L Dual Fisheye and the 7-14mm f2.8-3.5, quite recently. Although Nikon’s Z mount has not introduced a fisheye lens yet, Laowa is a third-party lens maker to offer fisheye zooms for them. In that regard, Canon is ahead of Sony and Nikon, and an in-house Sony fisheye zoom covering 8-15mm would easily compete with Canon’s variant.

As for the super telephoto lenses, Sony also seems to be competing with Nikon and Canon, since both have their own 400mm and 600mm lenses. While Sony already features these two focal lengths, the report shows that they are taking after Nikon, which already features affordable, lightweight super-telephoto prime lenses. The f4.5 and f6.3 apertures can be of help to serious enthusiasts using Sony’s mirrorless range. If the company reduces the size of each of the lenses as well, wildlife, sport, bird and even landscape photographers will get a chance to take the long lenses far and wide.

In the longer run, Sony photographers get a genuine entry point in the fisheye world. A native lens can help with autofocus, which is a meaningful upgrade for those who don’t like manual focus.

Creative photographers get a good lens to experiment, while wildlife photographers get a cost-effective version that is ideal for any situation. As lenses are becoming expensive, a good budget lens is the need of the hour.

Sony already has a 28mm f2 (2015) and a 40mm f2.5 (2021), but they are older variants. As a result, it is best that Sony introduces newer options with faster apertures but a cost-effective design. The Nikon 40mm f2, for instance, is cheap and is a lens that street photographers will adore.

Overall, one has to wait and see what Sony has in store. But for now, it appears that they may have some fantastic cards up their sleeves.