_DSC0681 - a photo on Flickriver

_DSC0681

            It was extremely windy already at around 5PM. And use of my tripod was not my option in this strange mountain.   So I shot everything handheld with my FE24-105mm f4G and FE20mm f1.8G, which has successfully replaced my FE24mm f1.4GM and Loxia 25mm f2.4(and Loxia 21mm f2.8). 

I think Sony hit a huge homerun with the FE20mm f1.8G.

Maybe it is one of the sharpest lenses in its weight size class.

The cult of lenses 20-the FE24-105mm f4G and FE20mm f1.8G are both criminally underrated:

The weather was really bad , I wanted to document the biggest snow storm we had in many years in this area of North Kyushu.   I think there was no way to get around here without so-called convenient zooms and light compact but extremely sharp and well optically well corrected compact primes. 

Many lens snobs (I used to be one of them) trash lenses like this zoom(FE24-105mmf4G), but I am sure without this zoom there was absolutely no way to photograph and later film this terrible event.  The snow was really strong here at the time of shooting this documentary series, and there was absolutely no way I could swap lenses over and over every few minutes in this crazy snow storm we encountered here.  

 It was really bad , I knew my car and my dog could take this much of or a bit more of snow easily if they had to, but I was not very sure if I could use my phone and camera here even with a couple of layers of rain coat on them.   My phone and camera did not die as I used triple layers of rain coats on them.  

I think you get my point , if the weather and all other shooting conditions were always ideal, I would definitely prefer my Zeiss, GM or Voigtlander primes , but it rarely cooperates for me here in real life....so some times we just have to use these so called convenient zooms , there is no other way to shoot this kind of storm here.  You cannot change lenses , you cannot zoom with your feet, it is simply impossible.

So it really annoys me when I hear some arrogant lens snob tells a new guy," you should always use the best primes you can afford on your FF, or you should not get a FF".

Please , you do not need the best primes you can afford to fully utilize any FF sensor.  All current modern lenses including a lowly convenient zoom that these lens snobs at FM always dismiss or even mock easily outresolve any of the latest FF cameras.  And at least in the 80 percent of the Frame the FE24-105mm f4G is quite sharp, not as sharp as my Zeiss Loxia 25mm f2.4 or FE20mm f1.8G or FE135mm f1.8GM for sure, but actually may match the center resolution of the primes like FE24mm f1.4GM at f5.6 and on.

The modern zooms are not as bad as many of so-called reviewers want you to believe they are.  And Sony and other lens manufactures never ever want to honestly talk about that , as they want as many people as they have in their camp to buy as many lenses as they sell.  

So IMHO, this so called convenient zoom, Batis 40mm f2CF and FE16-35mm f2.8GM are the three most underrated lenses in the current E mount system.

And I think the new Sigma 35mm f2 Contemporary will join in that camp with them.  

It is an exceptionally sharp lens from f2.8 and on , but no one in these forums care about slow f2 prime(regardless of resolution) as they all are blindly chasing the only one eye in focus kind of super shallow look that many f1.4 or f1.2 primes produce.

Anyway, those compact f4 zooms and super sharp but  moderately priced compact f2 or f1.8 primes are really underrated.   These lenses easily win over the more expensive f1.4 or f1.2 sharp but monstrous primes or f2.8 zooms in terms of practicality and in real life versatility.

And in fact, probably win in max resolution contest at f8 too.

For me lenses do not have to be extremely sharp across the full frame at f1.4 or f1.2 , but it must be extremely sharp from corner to corner at f4 and on.  For that kind of stopped down resolution some slower lenses are better than overly fast super oversized lenses like the Sigma 35mm f1.2 Art Dn.

I think Sigma should try to make it smaller without compromising its amazing corner resolution, even if they have to compromise a bit of speed(say make it f1.4).

That hypothetical f1.4 Sigma Art 35 might be much more practical out side of a studio or landscape than the current monstrously huge 35mm f1.2 Art.

Taken on: December 9, 2020

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