Sony FE 50mm 1.2 GM

The Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM may not be cheap, but it IS an outstanding lens by most standards. It's extremely sharp in the image center at f/1.2 already and the outer image field is pretty good here. Stopped down a little, and the results are almost mindblowingly sharp up into the corners. RAW images show some heavy vignetting at f/1.2 but auto-correction can help here, of course. Distortions and lateral CAs are low to start with anyway. Maybe more important than the image sharpness is the silky smooth bokeh. After all, you are probably interested in this lens for its shallow depth-of-field capabilities. There is some bokeh fringing (LoCA) going on but this applies to the vast majority of fast lenses. The build quality and AF speed is up to professional standards. Videographers will also like the de-clickable aperture ring as well as the compatibility with Sony's breathing compensation (depending on the camera body).

The Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master becomes the best quality standard lens for the e-mount to date, delivering the razor-sharp details and smooth rendering we’ve come to recognise from Sony’s premium lens series. It’s sharp across the frame, even wide-open at f1.2, performs well throughout its focusing range from near to far, and is well-featured with weather-sealing, a de-clickable aperture ring, rubber-tipped lens hood and focusing that’s smooth, fast and quiet. The only downside, other than an understandably high price, is noticeable focus breathing where the field of view tightens as you focus from far to close - an issue for some videographers, but unlikely to bother stills photographers. As for the price, it’s actually similar to Canon and Nikon’s 50 1.2’s and arguably superior overall. As for competition at the high-end, you may want to consider the five year old Sony Zeiss 50mm f1.4, or wait and see if Sigma releases a 50mm DG DN. But right now in terms of overall performance the Sony 50 1.2 G Master takes the crown as the best 50mm lens available in the e-mount.