Why the Change?

I’ve got three great lenses right now, the Sony Zeiss 16-35, Sony Zeiss 35mm and Sony Zeiss 55mm. I shouldn’t be complaining about these lenses. They’re awesome, all around great performers and beside the 16-35mm, they’re all pretty compact.

I felt that I was too heavy on the lower focal range. Three lenses under 55mm seemed like a waste. I wasn’t using the 35mm f/2.8 as much as I should. I figured it’d be a great travel lens, small and lightweight. But, for most of my shoots, I’m driving to the location and don’t have to worry about size and weight.

The 16-35mm was great and I loved it for interior shots. But sometimes I’d find myself shooting the exterior of the car with that lens. The distortion was too much for anything other than those tight interior shots.

Down With the “G”

I’ve been eyeing the 24-70mm G Master. It seems too good to be true. But it’s tough to stomach trading all my gear for a $2,300 lens. I’m not a professional, so I can’t swallow that kind of price. Also, I’d be losing 8mm on the low side and only gaining about 15mm on the high side. Sure, it’s nice having one lens instead of 3, but it’s just not enough of an upgrade in regards to focal length.

I’ve been reading about the SEL24105G that Sony recently released. Yep, it won’t be quite as sharp as a “GM” but, it’s close to half as expensive and would give me another 35mm of focal length. I do lose out on an extra stop of light, f/4 vs f/2.8. But again, for the cars I’m shooting, light isn’t usually a problem and I like to shoot above f/4 to keep the car in focus. I’ve been happy with the performance so far in my tests. I haven’t had a chance to shoot a car yet, but that should change next weekend.

The other lenses will be up for auction on eBay starting today.