Sony FE shooters have been waiting for this announcement for some time, now. A, [much-rumoured] new prime lens that fills a gaping hole in the Sony lens range; the all-new Sony FE 35mm F1.8 lens.

Sony FE 35mm F1.8

The FE 35mm F1.8 gives a maximum aperture of f/1.8 but weighs just 280g! Plus, its dimensions [65.6 mm diameter x 73.0mm length makes for an excellent fit with Sony’s full-frame Alpha camera bodies as well as APS-C cameras.

The new lens has a focus hold button and focus mode switch, which are there to make life easy when switching between manual and automatic focus. When shooting in manual mode, the lens’s Linear Response Manual Focus gives a responsive manual focus control, which will be extremely handy for those shooting video, while the autofocus mode uses a linear-motor AF drive system that promises to be fast, sharp and almost silent.

The new lens’ optical assembly comprises of an aspherical element that is there to suppress aberration, and it also houses a 9-bladed circular aperture to provide smooth defocused areas in an image along with gorgeous bokeh. On paper, it looks good for close shots too, with a minimum focusing distance of just 0.22m and a magnification factor of 0.24x.

Yann Salmon-Legagneur, Director of Product Marketing for Digital Imaging, Sony Europe, told PhotoBite: “A 35mm prime lens is a go-to lens for so many photographers as its versatility means that it is the right choice for so many different kinds of shot. Our new 35mm FE lens combines brilliant corner to corner clarity with a truly lightweight design and we are confident that it will appeal to a wide range of stills and movie shooters.”

Pricing and Availability

The new FE 35mm F1.8 prime lens from Sony will ship in Europe this August [2019], with a price tag of [approx] €700 / £630.

Head over to Sony’s dedicated web page for full product details.

Watch below for an introductory video of Son’y’s new lens