Good to hear you getting yours replaced. It's frustrating I know but at least you will make sure you getting your moneys worth. I wouldnt be surprised if most people never test their lens and just shoot pictures but I think its really unacceptable at this price range. Look at zeiss lenses. They have really high qc and each lens has a badge that it's been tested (at least my zeiss milvus 25 1.4 did). Sure we comparing kinda oranges to apples but i would love to see sony put more effort into testing them before selling. Guess we can dream.
GMPhotography wrote:
Lens looks great but throwing 3k at it with what we seen so far with some issues im just not sure. Ive done this a thousand times it seems and been rewarded and been killed too. I usually have something to say about buying or not but im stuck here. Fred I honestly dont think its worth giving up that Sigma 14-24. Yea not as brilliant but not bad at all. You need 12 than its a good argument for it but certainly want to throw your money in the right corner. Seriously im a little baffled by this one.
Although both Sony and Sigma ultra wide zooms perform similarly at smaller apertures, I was surprised to see the FE 12-24/2.8 GM outperforming the Sigma in resolution at f/2.8 and in some cases even at f/4. However starting at f/5.6, they perform similarly and any small differences in resolution will probably be offset by copy variation.
Personally, I currently own the Sigma 14-24 and a few primes but after testing the FE 12-24/2.8, I have considered trading them all for the new GM. Not in a hurry though.
However, the Sigma performs similarly and it's way more affordable -- It's definitely the best bang for your buck. The main negative is the lack of 12mm would means either carrying around an extra 12mm prime (or wider) or stick with 14mm as your widest focal length. We don't have many 12mm primes and the Voigtlander tested here was discontinued.
Oohhh Fred is about to join the 12-24 GM gang Nice! Yeah seriously this lens has easily given me the most impressive performance all week of shooting outdoors. I will post some more samples soon. I never knew how fun 12mm could be until now
I admit I've run the numbers on what would happen if I sold my wide primes, and the price difference honestly wasn't much. But- I think I'd miss the size, ease of filter usage, and sunstars the CV's give me.
But for some, if you don't consider those things I mention a big deal and you want the ultimate in IQ plus the convenience of a zoom, I feel like this is a lens you buy once and keep as long as you have a Sony camera.
And then there's the Sigma...which like Guy I have to admit provides IQ per $$ that's tough to beat, and if your total UWA budget is $3k, you could still have a few CV primes for when you want the look they provide.
Good news is, it seems like you can't go wrong with any of the options people are kicking back and forth. Really comes down to how/what you shoot.
Im on the fence but if I sell my CV10, Tamron 17-28 and my 100-400GM I am close on this........ I just cant let go of my Lox 21 until I am personally satisfied this is the right move.
Would make my kit a A7r4 / A9 12-24GM, Lox 21, CV40, Tamron 70-180, FE 200-600G, 1.4TC
Probably a lot less dust from switching out the current set up all the time
One thing is for sure and we all will agree . What we have today as far as options is amazing compared to when this all started with the A7R. Fun times
The thing that made me bite the bullet to try the GM was its flare resistance. I only very rarely want 12mm, but having IQ that's at least as good as the Sigma and even better flare resistance, makes this potentially a true single lens solution for me (if only I could learn to like it's sunstars )
I think its flare resistance may actually be better than my Loxia 21. Prompted by that thought I went back to a side by side comparison of flare performance for the Sigma and Loxia yesterday and came to the conclusion that I've probably been over-estimating the advantage the Loxia has. They produce rather different flare effects, but perhaps the extent to which the image is affected is comparable, which is already very impressive for the Sigma.
Switching from my excellent Sigma would of course be contingent on being able to get a well centered GM without too many attempts, which is not yet a given.
But yes, I certainly agree there are many great options now.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Although both Sony and Sigma ultra wide zooms perform similarly at smaller apertures, I was surprised to see the FE 12-24/2.8 GM outperforming the Sigma in resolution at f/2.8 and in some cases even at f/4. However starting at f/5.6, they perform similarly and any small differences in resolution will probably be offset by copy variation.
Personally, I currently own the Sigma 14-24 and a few primes but after testing the FE 12-24/2.8, I have considered trading them all for the new GM. Not in a hurry though.
However, the Sigma performs similarly and it's way more affordable -- It's definitely the best bang for your buck. The main negative is the lack of 12mm would means either carrying around an extra 12mm prime (or wider) or stick with 14mm as your widest focal length. We don't have many 12mm primes and the Voigtlander tested here was discontinued....Show more →
This lens is does a lot and I am glad I got one.
You can literally discard every other lens you own including the 24 GM which is saying a lot.
I own a lot of lenses too many but not a one I want to get rid of but a person could easily get by with this lens, a 16-35 GM, 50 1.4 ZA, 85 GM, 90 macro or CV10, 135 GM and 100-400GM and a 400 or 600 GM is so inclined.
I own 16 lenses but I do not have to have that many I can afford them and I really do use them all but I do not have to have a Voigtlander 50 2.0 APO, a 85 1.8 or 100STF and 35 2.8 ZA but my 24-70GM and both 400 & 600 GM along with 200-600G are almost a must shooting wildlife a fair bit.
Earlier this week I shot possibly one of my absolute favorite image of the year The resolution is just mind blowing. I don't think I've ever seen such an incredible performance from a lens ever. Just so good. Gave me the chills when I opened it up in lightroom.
rvh23 wrote:
The thing that made me bite the bullet to try the GM was its flare resistance. I only very rarely want 12mm, but having IQ that's at least as good as the Sigma and even better flare resistance, makes this potentially a true single lens solution for me (if only I could learn to like it's sunstars )
I think its flare resistance may actually be better than my Loxia 21. Prompted by that thought I went back to a side by side comparison of flare performance for the Sigma and Loxia yesterday and came to the conclusion that I've probably been over-estimating the advantage the Loxia has. They produce rather different flare effects, but perhaps the extent to which the image is affected is comparable, which is already very impressive for the Sigma.
Switching from my excellent Sigma would of course be contingent on being able to get a well centered GM without too many attempts, which is not yet a given.
But yes, I certainly agree there are many great options now....Show more →
It looks like we may get 12mm and 14mm primes from Sigma...
I love to see more lenses for e-mount but they are large lenses.
According to the patent information the 12mm is 5.35" long or within .15 of the 12-24 GM?
And you are limited to one very special FL so unless it does something AMAZINGLY well I would have no interest.
Depending on whether or not they accept filters, the performance and price of the lens it remains to be seen how these will sell.
The issue I have and had with my Voigtlanders is do you really want to own two or three lenses since 12, 12 & 15 are so different? You still do not have a 18mm, 21 or 24mm lens.
Unless a person wants to carry a bag full of lenses Sony's 12-24 GM has solved a lot of issues. Even if one of these exceeds the performance of the GM the versatility of the the GM makes a lot more sense.
Schlotkins wrote:
was hoping for a 14 1.6 FE but curious how much smaller the F2 14 could be than the 14mm 1.8. Hopefully with better coma performance wide open!
It will be way smaller because it's a mirrorless design. The Sigma 14mm f/2 could be the next astro star!
Fred Miranda wrote:
It will be way smaller because it's a mirrorless design. The Sigma 14mm f/2 could be the next astro star!
Yes I hope so! 24 GM + either the 20 GM/21 CV + a FE 14 f/2 (or better!) would be great too. One hopes it doesn't have a ton of vignetting. One nice thing about the bit 14 1.8 at 2.2-2.5 the vignetting is really low. No point for a 14/2 if you have to top it down to 14/2.8.
Now that we have the Sigma and Sony 2.8 zooms, the only UWA prime that might still tempt me would be one with straight aperture blades so you don't need to stop down into diffraction territory to get good sun-stars, and I would be surprised to see that coming from Sigma.
I suspect the price of these optics would have to be very competitive compared to even their own already very reasonably priced DN zoom for them to sell well, particularly given they are similar in size.
Nice! Yeah seriously this lens has easily given me the most impressive performance all week of shooting outdoors. I will post some more samples soon. I never knew how fun 12mm could be until now 
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