Sony 50mm F1.2 GM vs Sony Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar

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Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here as promised to give you a little bit more of a detailed
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breakdown head-to-head comparison between the Sony FE 50mm f1.4 planar, the Sony Zeiss lens
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that was the original premium 50mm option on Sony, and then of course the newer
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Sony FE 50mm f1.2 G Master lens, which is the new top of the heap premium lens
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And so I'm going to try to break down the major areas of distinction between these two because
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there are two different people in the market right now. One of those are those that already
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own the Planar, like myself, and are wondering if there is some compelling reason to upgrade to the
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G Master. And then there are those of you that are trying to maybe decide between these two lenses
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and you own neither of them. And this will give you a little bit of a primer on, you know
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maybe how to make a little bit more educated choice about that. Now, I come with a fairly long experience with the planar lens
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I've owned it for about three years at this point and used it extensively, used it for weddings, for portraits, you know, a variety of different applications
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And then, of course, the G Master, I have been spending a lot of time
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concentrated recently as a part of my review cycle for it. And so I feel like I can give you, there's definitely differences that have emerged that I will highlight as a part of this
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both in functionality, but then also in performance optically. And I'll try to break that down for you here as we proceed
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So I'm going to start by giving you some reasons that I think the Planar is a better choice
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Then we'll move to the G Master towards the end. And with a little bit of a summation as to the compelling reason to choose each one at the very end of it
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So first of all, starting with the Planar, the top advantage I would say is, of course, price difference
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The Planar was never a cheap lens, around $1,500, but the G Master is more expensive still at around $2,000
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And so while it is cheaper than competitors that are on Canon RF or Nikon Z or Z at this point
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certainly it is much more expensive than what the planar lens is at about $500 different
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I actually find the planar lens to be the more attractive lens if you really care about the aesthetics of lens design
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All of the Sony Zeiss lenses, I mean, for one thing, There's something that, you know, just feels upscale about Zeiss branding because of the Zeiss brand that they had very carefully built
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And so the distinctive, you know, kind of Zeiss badging, along with just a kind of cleaner overall aesthetic, the metal focusing ring
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those things, you know, make me think that the G Master, which is highly functional
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and in my opinion on the G Master lenses, of which I own several, is that they are, they're highly functional
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they're fantastic you know in terms of performance but as far as the actual design I just find them
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to be a little bit on the busy side there's a lot going on there and the I find the more workman
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professional grade yes but workman than the more pleasing aesthetic of the planar that may be a
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trivial thing to you but for some people it does matter so that's one reason to consider that
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I mentioned the manual focus ring here and not only do I like the fact that it's it's the metal
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ribs, you know, which obviously are very long lasting. But when it comes to the feel of the
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focus ring, unfortunately, the G Master lens, it is so lightly damped that there is very little feel
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to it. Now it's nice and smooth in its rotation, but when you focus the planar, the damping is
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just much better. It actually feels more like true manual focus. Whereas I find that the G Master
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doesn't have a lot of feel, and it's so light that it's easy to kind of focus too fast as a
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byproduct of that. And so I do prefer the feel of the focus ring on the planar
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Now there isn really much of a difference between these two lenses in terms of the overall size They the exact same length 108 millimeters and their weight is within two grams of each other
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Actually, the Planar at 780 grams is ever so slightly heavier than the GM at 778 grams
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But, I mean, a negligible difference you're not really going to feel, obviously
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but the planar is a little bit narrower a lens just by about three and a half millimeters or so
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for some people that may matter probably for most of you it doesn't they use the exact same filter
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size which is 72 millimeters so really not a lot of physical difference between the two lenses in
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terms of that and so there are a few reasons to consider the the planar but I would say that there
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are also some really compelling reasons to consider the G Master. First of all, of course, is that
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larger maximum aperture. Now in certain applications, f1.2 versus f1.4, not a radical difference, but
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there are some intrinsic advantages that do come with a wider aperture lens. And we'll see a bit of
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that as we look at a breakdown between the two optically in just a moment. Another thing that I
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did observe as a part of my initial review of the planar is that it's not the brightest f1.4
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in that when I compared it even to other f1.4 lenses I found that in some situations
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it's light transmission was not quite as high as some others and that is really highlighted when I
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compare these two lenses in that rather than getting a one-third stop you know luminosity
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difference between the two actually get somewhere between one half and two-thirds stop and so this
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is actually a the G Master is a brighter lens even beyond what the aperture difference suggests
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The G Master I believe has a better weather sealing to it. Now this the planar lens does
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have a gasket though back in at this point the gaskets were so thin that it's hard to even feel
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them and you know Sony did suggest that it is weather and dust sealed however I've never been
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able to find a diagram of how this lens is actually made internally whereas with the G Master it's
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much more out there you know exactly where the seal points are it's got the flooring coating on
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the front element and so I believe that it has the higher grade of weather sealing. Now the primary
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difference in terms of performance that I have noted with the planar and then going to the G
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Master is that the planar lens you can tell that it was designed at a little bit of an earlier point
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in terms of autofocus performance. And that I don't find that autofocus precision
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is as good as what later lenses would be to come. And I have noted in real world use
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some focus misses periodically that are frankly surprising in this day of IAF
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And that I tend to expect almost flawless performance, particularly in a portrait type setting
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This lens will miss occasionally in my experience, whereas the G Master is pretty much flawless
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in the IAF performance. And even shooting at F1.2, it just delivers accurately focused results
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again and again. It has the quad XD motors as opposed to the SSM, I think it's called
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focus motor that's in this. Both of them focus quietly and quickly, but the GM's just got that
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edge. It's got more torque and that results not only in a bit more speed, but also results in more
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precision in autofocus. Your mileage again may vary with this distinction, but the planar lens
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came before Sony was implementing the focus hold button. Now you may not use the focus hold button
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at all. You may use it all the time. And so, you know, whether or not you do, we'll make that a
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distinctive or not. In this case, we've actually got a redundant focus hold button. So we've got
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it in two positions and so that you have easy access, whether you're shooting in a horizontal
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or vertical shooting. And so that obviously is advantageous if you use a focus hold button
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I'll also note that the quality of the lens hood here is nicer on the G Master
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It's just pretty plain plastic here, obviously different shapes. This lens hood is actually deeper
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but that tends to be unnecessary on the G Master, which I think has a little bit better flare resistance
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But it's a shallower lens hood, but it also has this rubberized transition
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which is really nice to have because it means you have a soft touch if you bump against something
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Also, it makes it easy to set a lens like this, which a lot of people like to do because that's
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actually a really stable position. It's much more stable than what this is, obviously. And so that
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is nice, as is having a lock on the actual lens hood. And so, you know, again, maybe a minor thing
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to some people, a bigger thing to other people. We're going to dive just for a couple of minutes
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into an image quality comparison to give you a few more areas of distinction between the two lenses where they differ where they really don So we start by taking a look at the two lenses compared at f1 and f1 So first of all again I want to point out that difference that in the
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actual brightness of the lens. So you see that to get basically an equivalent exposure, I have
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1 4 hundredth of a second shutter speed on the f1.2 lens and I have got a shutter speed of 1
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2 50th of a second. In theory that actually should be only one third stop apart for the aperture
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difference but we can see here that it's actually exposed two thirds of a stop apart and so it goes
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to show just the advantage of the G Master in terms of brightness. Now in the center of the frame we
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can see that the two lenses are close. I mean if we look around this zone in the center of the frame
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And both of them look obviously really, really good. I do note that there's a little bit of a moire pattern and just a little bit more resolving
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of fine details on the G Master lens. And so it has just ever so slightly advantage in the center of the frame
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In the mid frame, I also think that it looks just a, has a little bit more distinctiveness
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a little more acuity to the textures at F1.2 versus F1.4. Down in the corner of the frame, again, just a slight bit of advantage there for the G Master
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in that it's just rendering a little bit more different tonality there in the image here
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Now if we stop down to f2 on both lenses, we see that they start to equalize a bit more
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I do think in the center of the frame, we've got a little bit more contrast for the G Master lens
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And, you know, in the mid-frame here, I think that the planar has essentially caught up
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It looks to me like it actually has a little bit better mid-frame contrast
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and down into the corner they are more similar than different at this point right off to the
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edge of the frame I think the G Master holds right out to the edge maybe a hair more and if we pop
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over on this side I think the same is probably true but at the same time there really is not a
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significant difference between the two if you didn't have them side by side you'd probably
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have a hard time distinguishing the performance here if you stop on down to f 2.8 in some ways
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it becomes harder still to make a distinction again a little bit more of that moire pattern
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so when you when i start to see that false color it shows really really high contrast in detail
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i just know this out of familiarity with the sensor of my camera and so i do see more of that
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here than what i do on the planar so there's a little bit more contrast there at the center of
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the frame or excuse me the mid frame both of them are exceptionally good um as far as contrast goes
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in this zone. I mean, one doesn't necessarily look better than the other. If anything, I would say I
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favor the planar just a tiny bit. And down here in the corner, they look basically identical
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Look at Sir Winston for a moment. Very, very similar. And on this side, you know, they look
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more similar than different, I would say. If I pop up into this corner, you can see that performance
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also looks really similar and both of them show really good centeredness and overall I would say
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that the corner performance now probably just slightly favors the planar. So again the advantage
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of the GM is at wide apertures. Now a more distinct advantage optically for the G Master lens is in
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close-up performance. Not only does it have a higher magnification as you can see but if we go
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into a pixel level and I'll give you a little bit more screen here you can see that the GM is
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definitely stronger not even close here yeah even at f1.2 versus f1.4 sharper higher contrast of the
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textures in the center of the frame and both of them have a fairly flat plane of focus but the
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g master is definitely the sharper of the two now having that wider maximum aperture also translates
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into having a little bit more bokeh and you can see it's a little bit softer a little bit larger
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these are not necessarily identical i did hand hold these shots but i stood at basically the same
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same spot and tried to achieve a similar result and so you can just see that there's definitely
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a difference there if we stop down to f2 we can see that that advantage remains and that the bokeh
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circles are basically pretty close to being as big i'll toggle back for a second they're almost
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as big as what the uh the planar lens shows at f1.4 and so that is a little bit of an advantage
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there both of them give you a nice circular shape across the frame but you definitely get softer
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bokeh at f2 than you do on the planar lens. Now the final thing we'll examine, which is again very
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interesting, is the difference when it comes for portrait work. So first of all, just a quick
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background. This is strobed, flashes right off of camera here, and so I'm using the exact same
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flash trigger you know same settings for it It just a matter of difference in the two lenses So first of all if we look at f1 versus f1 I did a blind test with my wife Of course she doesn really know the difference between the
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lenses as to which she preferred. She chose the G Master result every time in the comparisons I
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showed her. And for her, the difference was is that the skin tones just showed a kind of a better
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transition. They looked a little bit more natural. And you can see there is some truth to what she
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says. I'll also note there's a little bit more pop in the contrast like around the eyes which
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seem to sparkle a little bit more in the hair. There's more contrast there but if we move away
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from sharpness and into softness you can see that larger aperture advantage and that the bokeh
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is just softer everywhere that you look. There's less hard edges there. If we jump back to this
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other side here you can see that with the planar there's just more that kind of catches the eye
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in a negative kind of way where everything is just softer overall here when you're looking at
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the GM lens and you get into more complicated situations like these bare branches and the GM
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result is definitely preferable. Now if we stop down to f2 on both lenses some of those advantages
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remain but they are less pronounced and so if we look at the actual face I think that the contrast
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difference is mostly equalized at this point and so you see more of that sparkle in the eyes that
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we on the planar that we saw at f1.2 on the g master if we look at the bokeh obviously now
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they're both working with the same aperture however the larger aperture lens does still
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hold a little bit of an advantage and that everything is still a little bit softer here
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and as we look again into this area here which is you know more difficult there's still just more
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hard edges that with the um with the planar lens over in this zone everything's just a little bit
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softer with the G Master. And so we can see even stop down, there is still some minor advantage
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though you would be hard pressed to see it at anything but a pixel level comparing these two
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lenses. So again, the optical advantages are largely at wide aperture, not when you stop down
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So I think that really the G Master advantage is at that f1.2. It just gives you some very obvious
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disadvantages in terms of both performance wide open, but also the softness of the bokeh and the
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ability to further defocus a background, I think that does stand out from the planar lens. I think
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the biggest reason to upgrade if you own the planar would be if you are looking for the better
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autofocus and the brighter aperture as a part of that. And so I guess the question is, do you
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actually shoot wide open because if you shoot at f1.4 on the planar you're going to love shooting
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even more so at f1.2 on the g master lens and that I think are the those are the two primary areas to
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consider the upgrade to this or the purchase of this and spending the additional money is that
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you do get better wide open performance and then you also get better autofocus performance stop
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down as we saw there's not really much of a difference between these two lenses they're both
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exceptionally good. The biggest reason to either hold on to your planar or to consider buying it
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is at the end of the day, it's most going to be about saving money. I doubt that the difference
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in the physical appearance is going to be enough to sway you either way. And so I do think that
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it is that overall just price point that makes it attractive. And particularly if you, you know
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you shoot at, say even at F1.8 or F2, there's not going to be much difference between the two
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lenses and performance. And definitely if you tend to stop down more, you're really not going
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to see any kind of radical image quality difference. You might see a little bit of
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autofocus difference, but if you already own the planar and you're happy with the results you're
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getting, hey, enjoy the lens that you have. Because the truth of the matter is, it's going to be more
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than a $500 difference to sell your planar and then to purchase the G Master. And of course
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if you're just making a fresh purchase, you can decide whether or not these different areas that
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I've highlighted are worth an additional $500 to you. At the end of the day, once again, as Sony
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shooters, we're spoiled for choice. And in this case, even in the premium category, we really have
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two excellent lenses here to choose from. And I hope that this little video has helped you to make
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a more informed decision about which of these two lenses best suits your own individual needs
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I'm Dustin Abbott. And if you'll look in the description down below, you can find linkage to
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my full review of either of these lenses. There's also linkage there to purchase either one of them
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and beyond that, there's a linkage to follow me on social media, to become a patron, sign up for
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my newsletter. And of course, if you haven't already, please click that subscribe button
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right here on YouTube. Thanks for watching. Have a great day and let the light in

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