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Sony FE 50mm Shootout | Round 3: FF Image Quality | 4K
Jul 25, 2023
Sony FE 50mm Shootout | Round 3: FF Image Quality | Photographer Dustin Abbott uses the Sony a7R3 and it's 42MP sensor to demonstrate the resolution, contrast, chromatic aberration, and bokeh quality of our contenders (Sony 55mm f/1.8 Sonnar, the Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4, and the Sony 50mm f/1.4 Planar T*) | Check out the image gallery (full frame results now added) for the Planar 50mm: http://bit.ly/FE50planarIG | Sonnar 55mm: http://bit.ly/55sonnarIG | Samyang 50mm: http://bit.ly/50AFig
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott, and I'm here today to give you the next part in this comparison series between these 50 millimeter options for Sony FE
0:15
including the Sony Zyce Plainar 50 millimeter F1.4, the Sony Zice Sonar 55 millimeter F1.8, and the Samyang AF 50 millimeter F1.4
0:28
Now, in our previous episode, we took a look at APSC performance of these lenses on the Sony A6500
0:37
and today I'm going to detail their performance on full frame, Sony A7R Mark 3
0:43
And so we're going to jump in, and we're going to take a look at some of the strengths and weaknesses of each one of these lenses
0:49
Let's jump in. Let's take a look. All right, we're going to move on to our examination of the image quality from these 50 millimeter options on the
0:58
42 megapixel A7R Mark 3. Now I've included this first image here just as a sample
1:05
to let you know that with the with the two F1.4 lenses we are at a faster
1:13
maximum or a brighter situation than what the maximum shutter speed can accommodate. And so
1:18
just so you know on both cases I've just mildly drawn down the exposure value on these
1:24
and so that we're not just to give you a more accurate picture of
1:28
their performance. Okay, so it's pretty easy to see that there's just a lot more absolute contrast and
1:35
resolution from the far more expensive planar lens than the Samyang. And you can see the primary
1:40
cause. You can see looking that on all of these kind of lines that have kind of a sharp delineation
1:47
you can see that there is both a red slash purple fringing along with a green fringing. And of course
1:54
that just kind of softens up the lines of focus, whereas the far more corrected result on the
2:02
planar lens just produces much cleaner looking edge performance, and thus all these fine details
2:09
are better rendered. And if you look onto this tree, for example, it's pretty notable the
2:14
difference in sharpness and contrast. If we move out to the side of the frame, the same remains true
2:21
here, the samming becomes pretty murky towards the edge of the frame. Meanwhile, the planar
2:27
looks still pretty fabulous there along the edge. Now, if we compare the planar on the left with the
2:33
sonar lens on the right, 55mm F1.8, we're going to see that it's a little bit closer a comparison
2:42
here. You can see that there definitely is still some chromatic aberrations that are uncorrected
2:48
on the sonar lens. And that's mostly taken. the form of the kind of purple fringing
2:54
not so much the green fringing. And so as a result, we see a better contrast
2:58
and resolution result. The difference isn't so notable, but you can see that there's just a little bit of a veiling
3:04
on the sonar result that is much crisper on the planar result
3:09
And so, you know, the difference in the quality of the optics is showing up there
3:14
Now, looking at the edge of the frame, it's obviously they don't frame up quite
3:19
as similarly considering the fact that one is a 55 millimeter. But you can see that once again
3:24
there's just a little bit more veiling. Resolution is not hugely different here
3:29
between the two lenses, but there is just a little bit more veiling on the result from the sonar
3:34
that makes it appear a little bit softer. And so as a result, if we look into some of these trees
3:40
they're just a little bit better to find. You can see that there's just a little bit better microcontrast on the planar lens
3:47
and there is on the sonar. Now if we compare the planar
3:51
with the Samying here, stop down to F2 on both lenses. What we're going to find is that while the samiang has shown some improvement
4:00
you can see that some of those chromatic aberrations are a little less pronounced
4:04
particularly when it comes to the green fringing. But at F2, the planar lens is just devastatingly sharp
4:12
And, I mean, it's a near perfect result already. And so as a result, the difference, if anything, almost looks more startling
4:21
by comparison between the two lenses. And so when it comes to resolution
4:25
I mean, there's just no question that the planar lens is just giving you a much crisper result
4:32
And of course, as we look towards this defocus region, the better color accuracy of the planar lens
4:39
also allows it to just reproduce colors in a way that's more pleasing to the eye
4:44
I find that there's just almost like a very light kind of effect almost
4:51
being applied to the Samying lens that in some cases will be pleasing, but in scenes like
4:58
this, it's obviously not pleasing. It's like a filter has been applied to it. Moving off to the
5:03
edge of the frame, we can see that, you know, if anything, the difference is, again, it's almost
5:09
more noticeable here with them stop down a little bit because the planar lens is just devastatingly
5:15
good. Now, if we compare the sonar lens with the planar. here. We're going to see that, you know, the sonar is only at this point only stopped down a third of a
5:27
stop. And so there's not a massive amount of improvement at this stage. And so it doesn't look bad
5:32
in terms of resolution compared to the planar. The planar just looks better, you know, pretty much
5:37
in every detail. Still just a little bit of that veiling kind of effect that's there. And as we move
5:44
off towards infinity, you can just see that the microcontrast of the planar lens is just fantastic
5:51
already looking towards infinity. And so there's just a bigger difference between dark and light areas
5:57
and just a little bit of a veiling that's still there on the sonar lens
6:02
And so in this case, once again, as I mentioned at the APSC
6:06
it's a little bit of a you get what you pay for. Now if we stop down to F2.8 with the F1.4 variants
6:13
we're going to see number one that you can see there's a pretty significant improvement on the chromatic aberration end on the Sammy
6:21
So that good Our lines are obviously looking crisper at F2 At the same time we can see that the contrast and resolution is just not really up at the level of the planar lens And of course you know to be fair the planar lens costs two and a half times as much But in this case you can see that if resolution is a big deal to you the samying is just not cutting it in terms of absolute performance And once again you know looking out towards infinity the planar looks like a photograph
6:57
The samying looks kind of like a watercolor. Edge of the frame, we're starting to see a mild bit of improvement from the samying
7:04
And definitely, once again, chromatic aberrations are reduced. But at the same time, there's still a pretty marked difference in the resolving power
7:12
from the planar to the samying. Now if we throw the sonar into the comparison here, we can see that its chromatic aberrations have also cleared up for the most part
7:24
I can see just the faintest bit of a purple fringing in some of this looking at the original image that may not show up for you on YouTube compression
7:34
But as a result, these two results kind of look more similar than different at F2.8
7:40
Just again a little bit more contrast showing up. It's just a little bit of veiling that remains there on the result here from the sonar
7:49
that's not there on the planar lens. Looking out towards infinity, we also see that the results are starting to line up a little bit more
7:58
Again, it's mostly just about a little bit of improved contrast from the planar lens compared to the sonar
8:04
Moving off towards the side of the frame, differences here being very, very minimal
8:10
If anything, I think that maybe on the edge of the frame the sonar catches up better
8:16
and in some ways it produces a stronger result on this edge of the frame than it did in the center of the frame
8:23
Now, if we compare the two lenses that are a little bit closer in price, we're going to see that definitely the sonar lens is the sharper, higher resolving lens of the two
8:34
And now it looks like it has the superior contrast by comparison
8:39
and definitely resolving out towards infinity with much more precision. Okay, now we're going to jump on two stops further down to a more typical landscape aperture, F5.6
8:51
and here finally the Sammy Yang is starting to look like it's in the same ballpark
8:57
And, you know, the advantages, they're still there of the planar. It still is resolving some of the fine details with better microcontrast
9:06
but the difference is not as pronounced at this stage and also we see even looking out towards infinity
9:12
that while the samming is not quite there it's also not far off
9:17
and so definitely an improvement there moving off to the edge of the frame here
9:22
we see also that the differences here are not nearly as pronounced now
9:26
and that they are roughly the same okay if we look at the planar and the sonar lenses
9:33
here at f5.6 we see that They look pretty similar in terms of the contrast and the resolution that they both show looking out towards infinity
9:47
They look fairly similar in what they're producing. Off on the edge of the frame, I think you're going to find that the sonar is actually a little bit sharper at the edges of the frame at landscape apertures and just a little bit better of contrast, I think, resolving out here
10:04
Now, if we go to kind of a more typical portrait-type distance, about eight feet here
10:11
we're going to find that what we saw at Infinity basically bears out here as well
10:16
At F1.4, the planar, it just kind of blows the samoyang out of the water in terms of absolute contrast and resolving power
10:25
There's definitely a haze, kind of a veil to the end result there from the samying and off towards the edge of the frame
10:32
it's just it's quite soft quite obviously soft by comparison now if we throw the sonar here
10:38
instead and take a look there at the center of the frame we're going to find that i mean the
10:44
planar is still very clearly obviously the winter in terms of contrast lack of chromatic aberration
10:50
you can see just a little bit of you know purple influences there um from that axial or
10:55
longitudinal chromatic aberration and so as a result again there's a little bit of like kind of a
11:00
a veiling effect that's there on the one that's not on the other. However, towards edge of the
11:07
frame, while that's still true, and I think that our color rendition is more accurate as a result
11:12
you know, it's not as kind of extreme as what it was looking at the other result. And if we
11:18
look up towards the extreme edges, I think that the two lenses kind of equalize. In many ways
11:25
the sonar is the most consistent across the frame and it's resolving. Now, if we move down to
11:30
F2, one thing you'll notice throughout all of these series is that the Samying actually has a little
11:36
bit better light transmission. I'm going to point to the reason why I think that actually is
11:41
in just a moment, but very consistently it required less light to achieve equal exposure as compared
11:48
to the planar lens. So once again here at F2, as we saw out at infinity, the planar becomes
11:56
basically exquisitely sharp. And so as a result, I think the Sam Yang actually has improved a fair bit
12:04
but the planar has improved to levels of near perfection. And that's true right across the frame
12:10
It just looks fabulous out at the edge of the frame, where the Samyang still looks really very soft by comparison
12:18
Now, as before, at F2, the Sonar lens has not really had a lot of time to improve yet
12:23
and so it's not a marked difference from the F1.8 performance. You're starting to see improved performance, another third of a stop
12:30
down about F2.2. But as a result here we can see just superior contrast, superior resolution for the
12:38
planar lens off towards the edge of the frame. It does, it looks better and definitely color looks
12:43
better as a result of having less chromatic aberration. And now, stop down to F2, I think that
12:50
its advantage, you know, is there even towards the corners. Now we see that that kind of advantage
12:56
extends even into the extreme corners where it didn't at F1.4 versus F1
13:00
But it's not by a large margin. Now at F2.8, we see that still the Samying has not kind of made its resolution jump yet
13:10
And so it is improving steadily, but not nearly at the rate of what the planar is, which is, you know, once again, the planar is at optical perfection at this point pretty much and is maybe the sharpest 50 millimeter lens that I have seen pretty much at this level
13:28
And so it's looking fantastic. Now at F2 the sonar lenses had a chance to gain some momentum here and so what we can see is that it is closer It not quite there but it very very close in the center of the frame in terms of resolution Off towards the edge of the frame it lagging just a little bit more behind the planar design
13:50
and even towards the very edges of the frame. There's still a little bit better contrast and resolution on the planar
13:57
But for the most part, they're pretty close at F2.8. Now, once again, if we jump to F5.6, we see that by this point, the Sam Yang has taken its leap in terms of its result
14:09
and it's looking much, much closer to the planar lens now stop down
14:15
And now its sharpness profile has reached the edge of the frame. And so at F5.6, you're not going to see a significant difference between these two lenses
14:23
The same is true at F5.6 of the sonar lens that looks really every bit as good
14:29
One thing you'll also note as we move towards edge of the frame is that as that chromatic aberration is lifted
14:34
our color constancy is becoming more consistent here. with the sonar lens, it still tends to be, to my eye
14:44
it tends to shift a little bit cool compared to the most neutral of the three is the planar
14:50
The Samyang trends a little bit warm, the sonar a little bit cool
14:55
and the planar is pretty much just right, accurate there in between
15:01
Now, if we move towards more of a close focus and a three-dimensional object here
15:06
What we're going to find is that what we saw in our other studies here, they proved to be the same here
15:13
In terms of contrast and resolution, the planar is just fantastic compared to the Samying
15:20
And part of the issue for the Samyang is if we look over here, you can see that there is just a lot more chromatic aberrations that are marring the image quality from the Samying
15:30
But at the same time, I do want to highlight a few other things here
15:34
And with the Samyang, what you're going to find is that the out of focus rendering is the softest from it compared to the others
15:43
And if we look up here, I want you to note these are at the exact same focal length, the exact same aperture, and their exact same distance from the subject
15:53
But what you're going to see here is that the bouquet circles here are bigger and softer on the Samying
15:59
And that combined with what we have already seen in terms of exposure value here
16:06
tells me that the maximum aperture and the T-stop or light transmission is actually superior on the samying
16:16
And so, you know, just like there is with focal length, there is, I think, a little bit of fudging sometimes when it comes to aperture value
16:23
I mean, it's very rare that all these things are exactly precise. And so I think the samiang is actually a actually has a, actually has a
16:29
larger aperture iris entry than what the planar lens does. And as a result, it produces
16:37
softer defocused region. And it's also larger, which is indicative of a larger maximum aperture
16:43
there. And so as a result, it's able to render things just a little bit softer. And we'll see that
16:50
in some other examples as well. You can just see that these kind of circular highlights are
16:55
softer and just the rendering of things in general is a little bit softer on the Samying lens
17:02
Now once again, if we take a look at the sonar lens here on the right compared to the planar
17:07
we find that our trends that we've seen already are still there in that the lens is much closer
17:13
in terms of resolving power, however it lacks the, you know, the absolute correction of the
17:19
planar lens and thus it has just a little bit of a veiling look to images. And if we look, you know
17:24
for example, here, we can see that there's just a little bit more of that green fringing
17:30
It's just a little bit more pronounced and a little bit of purple fringing that's not really there on the
17:35
planar lens. Looking up here, we also are going to see that kind of the most, I would say
17:42
optical oddness in terms of distortion of bouquet circles and busyness. The sonar lens is actually
17:50
the weakest of the bunch when it comes to that. And as a result
17:54
It to me produces the busiest looking bouquet results. You can just see that there's just more lines, more busyness that's showing up on the sonar
18:04
I think you'll find that really illustrated in this image here, which is a little less scientific
18:09
It was a handheld shot, but exact same scene under the exact same conditions
18:14
And this is actually comparing the Samying and the sonar lens here on the left
18:20
But both of them are at F1.8. It's, you know, it's an apples to apples comparison
18:24
What we're going to see is there's just a whole lot more activity in the de-focused region on the sonar lens than there is on the Samying
18:35
And so it's just a much busier type result. And there's just a lot more, you'll see here, just kind of softness from the Samyang
18:45
And so of the three, although it is the least resolving, it's also the Boca Monster here
18:50
and it is producing the softest, least busy, defocus region. And the worst of the bunch is the sonar
18:59
which just a lot of times I see things like this that are just kind of extra busyness, extra noise
19:05
that I don't really see in other results. Now, in this image here
19:11
I've kind of put both these lenses, all these lenses into somewhat of a torture test
19:15
for just producing all kinds of axial chromatic aberration. And so as you can see, definitely there's a lot more fringing that's taken place on the samying lens compared to the planar lens
19:31
And before the plane of focus, you can also see that some of that chromatic aberration is actually the defocus region after the plane of focus on the samying is better than that beforehand
19:40
And we can see here that due to low chromatic aberration, you're actually getting a softer result before the plane of focus
19:47
The other thing that's interesting, however, is we look over here. After the plane of focus, there's no question that you get a much softer result out of the Samian
19:56
You can see there's just kind of a busier result trying to create circles that's going to draw the eye a little bit more
20:03
whereas this is just a really nice and softy focus. Once again, if you look at this here, it also shows how much larger and how much softer that bouquet circle is on the Samian compared to the
20:17
the planar lens and going back to my previous conclusion. Now one final comparison here, again
20:23
we're looking at a couple of things as a part of this chromatic aberration
20:27
resolving power, then also defocused area. So once again you can see looking back here number one you can see how much smaller the bouquet circle is from the planar compared to the samying and thus how much softer looking the boquet circle is from the samying and just this general area it just is
20:45
much smoother rendered so if your your priority is bouquet the samying is the
20:50
best of the bunch however if your priority is resolution you're going to see
20:55
here of course that we have a clear advantage for resolution you know
20:59
unsurprisingly, and the worst of the chromatic aberrations. You look before the plane of focus
21:06
Here's the Samyang's weakness. They both have some green fringing, although it's more pronounced on the Samyang
21:12
after the plane of focus. But before the plane of focus, there's very, very little chromatic aberration on the planar
21:20
It's quite neutral. The Samyang has that very pronounced red fringing as well
21:26
and so that is the combination of those two things, is a contrast killer
21:31
And so that's exactly what we see. Now, for your final comparison, I thought I would throw the sonar lens on the right here
21:38
and the Samying on the left. And so you can see how some of these things play out
21:43
with these two lenses. So our observation about the bouquet circle, it's even more pronounced here
21:48
Of course, the sonar smallest maximum aperture produces the smallest circle despite having an advantage in focal length
21:54
They're both at the same distance. So you can see that the subject occupies
21:58
a larger part of the first. frame, but the Samying is a very clear winner in terms of that big, big maximum aperture
22:07
And so, you know, in better light transmission, et cetera, et cetera. And if you look at this out of focus region here, you can see how much softer it is compared
22:14
to the sonar lens, which is just a whole lot busier in all of this stuff by comparison
22:22
Now, if we look at playing a focus here, similar observations, it's just, it's a little less
22:29
controlled on the sonar lens. It's got a little bit more of that red fringing before the
22:34
plane of focus and the green fringing is a little stronger than the planar, but it's less
22:38
pronounced than the samying and byproduct is that you've got a little bit better contrast
22:44
on the sonar lens obviously than you do on the samiang. So as you can see there is a clear
22:51
winner when it comes to absolute image quality and correction of aberrations and that is
22:58
the unsurprisingly the most expensive lens of the bunch here, the Sony's Ice 50mm F1.4 Plainar
23:04
lens. The in second place when it comes to resolution is the 55 millimeter F1.8 sonar lens and the
23:12
Samyang brings up the end in terms of raw resolution and contrast. However, what we also saw is that
23:21
the order isn't quite the same when it comes to the quality of the bouquet rendering and so
23:27
it really comes down to a matter of priorities for you. And so a quick summation would be that if you're looking for ultimate correction
23:36
and probably the best balance between sharpness and rendering, I would say that unfortunately you're looking at the most expensive lens here
23:45
and that is the Plinar 50mm F1.4. If you are looking for the most beautiful rendering
23:53
and you're less concerned with pixel peeping and absolute sharpness, you're more about kind of the feel of images
24:00
I think that there are those that will find the Samying 50mm F1.4
24:05
a pretty fantastic lens despite some of its optical shortcomings due to the fact that it has really beautiful rendering
24:12
It's going to give you the most defocused backgrounds. It's going to give you the best quality of bouquet there
24:18
But unfortunately, it's also going to give you the least amount of resolution. Now, in some ways, the 55 millimeter sonar
24:25
it kind of strikes a balance between the two lenses when it comes to absolute optical performance
24:32
and actually stop down a bit. We saw that it's the best in the corners of the three
24:38
That being said, it also produces the busiest, and I would also have to say least special out of focus rendering
24:46
And in some ways, I think the biggest downside to me for the lens is that while it does everything competently
24:53
I don't find that there's anything particularly special about the images that it produces
24:59
What my plan is, is that now that we have taken a look at the image quality together
25:03
what I'm going to do is just break out from here into individualized reviews for all three of these lenders
25:10
and I'll try to give you a brief kind of summation type review, where I'll go over things like the autofocus performance
25:16
which I've been detailing along the way here as well, and maybe a look at how they handle for video performance
25:23
and face tracking all of those things as a part of the final review
25:27
and I'll also be publishing unique individual reviews for each one of them
25:31
Finally, I would also encourage you to look in the description below where I have got image galleries, which I've had image galleries going
25:38
but previously I wasn't able to add full frame images to them. And so I've been shooting with all three of these lenses, an extensive amount
25:46
and so I've got a lot of images there if you want to check out, kind of the look of images for yourself there in that space
25:53
One final thing that you'll find in the description outside of purchase links, if you would like to order one for yourself
25:59
is that I'm going to throw linkage there to the landing page for a giveaway
26:03
And I noted at the beginning of the review that the first episode that the case is included with each of these lenses
26:10
particularly the Sammyang, is rather unspectacular. So I've got my friends at Easy Cover
26:15
They've supplied some lens cases as giveaways. and then also what they call kind of a bumper slash protection here that you can screw on to the front
26:25
And if you're not a person that's big on, you know, full-size lens hood, you can screw these on and it gives you some protection at the front
26:34
And anyway, I'm going to have two winners to that giveaway. And so if you would like to enter into that giveaway and win some of these items for yourself potentially, then you're welcome to join in that as well
26:45
I'll be trying to time the final part of this giveaway to coincide with some of these final reviews
26:52
And so we'll run it for about 10 days or so. And then we'll announce the winners as a part of the final review
27:01
One of the final reviews there, I'll throw that into the process. I'm Dustin Abbott
27:06
And of course, you can follow me on social media. Look at the linkage down below. Sign it for my newsletter
27:11
A lot of interesting things that are part of those. and of course if you haven't already, please click that subscribe button
27:16
Thanks for watching. Have a great day
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