Hands On With The Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM

Sony introduced today a new fast prime portrait lens – the Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM. The new model will join Sony’s faster 50mm f/1.2 GM announced two years ago but will be lighter and more affordable with all of the company’s latest technologies.

A new GM lens

As amazing as the 50mm F1.2 GM is, Sony decided that it wants a more affordable 50mm fast option and that is exactly what the Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM is.

So let’s talk about some of the features of this new lens. Just like the 50mm F1.2 GM it has 11 elements however the actual optical design is different with 11 groups with two XA elements and one ED element (the 50mm F1.2 GM has 10 groups with 3 XA elements).

The lens also has the same XD Linear AF motors but it uses 2 instead of 4 of the motors used in the larger and heavier 50mm F1.2 GM lens.

Talking about weight, the FE 50mm F1.4 GM is fairly lightweight for a 50mm lens at 516g (the Samyang 50mm f/1.4 II is still lighter by about 100g though).

The close-up focusing distance of the lens is 41cm/16″ which is about the same as the 50mm F1.2 GM but its maximum macro magnification is only 1:6.2 compared to 1:5.8 (both are not really designed for any real close-up work).

The lens has relatively low breathing according to Sony but it does support the breathing compensation which exists on all recent Sony cameras.

Just like other GM lenses, the new 50mm F1.4 is dust and moisture-resistant.

A few new features that are not present on all other GM lenses are the addition of an iris lock switch and two focus hold buttons on the lens. There is also a de-click switch.

Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM Specs

Here are the main specs of the new lens:

Lens: 50mm f/1.4 lens with FF coverage
AF mechanism: Two XD (extreme dynamic) Linear Motors.
Optical design: 14 elements in 11 groups including two XA elements and one ED element.
Aperture blades: 11.
Coatings: Nano AR II coating and Fluorine coating.
Minimum focus distance: 41 cm (1:6.2 macro magnification).
Filter thread: 67mm.
Weight: 516g/18.2oz.

Pricing and availability

The lens will start selling around April 2023 for $1300.

Hands-on and review from across the web

There are already several lens previews, reviews, and hands-on videos published online and we bring you a few of them below.

Our friends over at DPreview had a chance to test the new Sony vs. the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4

Gerald Undone testing the Sony 50mm lens and the Sigma 50mm

Manny Ortiz with the new Sony 50mm

Jason Morris working with the new 50mm f/1.4 Sony

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Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.