The 24 & 50 G Master ultra compact lens
I first noticed the announcement on the Sony middle east website. My friends Rahma and Omar were featured in presenting the new lenses. It looked so small and yet the quality looks so good. You know sometimes when you see reviews online about equipment and then once you have it in your hands it doesn’t meet your expectations. Well, this was totally the opposite. Once I got my hands on the 24 and 50-mm lenses, I took it to their purpose and main feature the light and ultra-compact lens. So, I planned a trip to mount Moussa and took one body which was the Sony A1, and both lenses in my small waist peak design bag. Whoever knows me I’m always an overkill guy from a gear perspective so having only this small bag with me felt really odd.
Our first stop was Dahab, I had to scout there as I had an upcoming shoot, so I thought it will be a good chance to take some portraits with the 50 mm, we arrived pretty late in the day so I said to myself tomorrow I will test the lens, next morning we had breakfast in a nice restaurant and the owner was really photogenic and I asked her if I can take a portrait of her.
Looking at the images right out of the camera I was really surprised with the clarity and the bokeh, I mean having that small package of a lens and getting that result is mind-blowing, I can imagine how easy my life will be when traveling and hiking for days and have a light bag of equipment.
Sony A1 with 50 mm G lens
Sony A1 with 24mm G lens
After that we went to Saint Catherine city and met my Bedouin guide and friend, we started our hike right away up mount Moussa carrying my gear and equipment and for the first time I felt very relieved on the payload on my back, every gram makes a difference on your performance and how you are able to put your energy in creativity.
I started to capture close-ups and portraits with the 50mm and opened it wide open, loving the manual aperture ring on both lenses. The bokeh is super on the 50 mm and the sharpness of the lens is surprisingly good. If I ever travel and want to do a portrait series this will be a go-to lens as it is super compact it will show that I have an amateur camera and it will take away any intimidation out of the way. So having that feature of a lens is a big advantage and it will be a huge role for street photographers.
The sun started to set, and I switched my lens to the 24mm as I wanted to show the landscapes more and the Bedouins lifestyle, again having the ultra-compact lens makes things easy moving around and getting the sharpest images. Especially during the night, I’m able to get a lighter tripod as the payload got reduced a lot. I am shooting long exposure as if I have my 16-35 GM lens, looking at the results straight out of the camera and zooming in to the sky checking if the stars are sharp, and yes, the stars are sharp and clean.
What Sony is doing on how to optimize the size of the gear having the fullest potential of a lens to a small package is a game changer. The Sony body itself is a compact camera, having the whole kit in a small bag and getting the most beautiful images you can get is something any photographer will appreciate.
