Sony macro lens
Sony macro lens full#
On the A900, there is a tiny bit of pincushion distortion in the corners (almost -0.1%) but this is a very small amount. The Sony 100mm ƒ/2.8 macro is optimized to produce almost no distortion the numbers are essentially zero when mounted on the A700. At any other setting, light falloff is inconsequential. This light falloff reduces dramatically when stopped down to ƒ/4 (where there is just over a quarter-stop of light falloff).
Sony macro lens full#
At ƒ/2.8, the corners are almost a full stop darker than the center. At any other setting there is no light falloff.Ĭorner shading is a bit more prominent for the lens when mounted on the full-frame A900. Light falloff is essentially a non-issue for the 100mm ƒ/2.8 macro when mounted on the sub-frame A700 the only corner shading of note is found at the ƒ/2.8 setting, where the corners are a 1/4-stop darker than the center. In both cases the best aperture setting was ƒ/4, but at any aperture the maximum CA produced was less than 3/100ths of a percent of frame height, or very good performance. The 100mm macro showed very little chromatic aberration on either the A700 or A900 models. Again, performance at ƒ/32 is slightly soft, in the case of the lens mounted on the A900, at around 4 blur units. Images stay sharp through to ƒ/16, and at ƒ/22 it's just over 2 blur units. Performance improves as the lens is stopped down, but it isn't until ƒ/5.6 that the lens offers the same tack-sharp quality that we saw at ƒ/4 on the A700. Image sharpness is still fairly good - just under 3 blur units across the frame - but it's not as good as the results shown on the A700 at the same aperture. At twenty-four megapixels, the camera is demanding a very high level of quality from the lens, and the 100mm macro struggles a bit at ƒ/2.8. Performance at ƒ/22 is good, at 2.5 blur units, but at ƒ/32 things are fairly soft and slightly across the frame - at around 5 blur units. Stopped down to ƒ/4, it's tack-sharp across the frame, and stays that way until ƒ/16 where diffraction limiting sets in. On the subframe A700, the Sony 100mm ƒ/2.8 macro produces impressively sharp results even wide open at ƒ/2.8, at around 1.5 blur units. Longstanding readers may note that this is the first lens we have tested with Sony's full-frame A900 camera, and we have spent a few extra days ensuring our results are accurate. The lens ships with a SH0007 lens hood, takes 55mm filters, and is available now for around $650.