Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G
Announced February 26, 2020
PixelMeter The PixelMeter is our 1–100 aggregate of reviewer scores from trusted publications and creators. Weighted by source tier — not a raw average, and not PetaPixel’s own review.
Reviewer Consensus
Exceptional
The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G is an exceptionally sharp and lightweight ultra-wide prime that delivers impressive optical performance for landscape, architecture, and astrophotography. Although it exhibits some focus breathing and noticeable vignetting, it remains a highly versatile and well-built tool for both stills and video shooters.
Weighted from 38 reviewer scores
Pros
- Fast, quiet, and reliable autofocus system
- Useful handling features including an aperture ring and focus hold button
- Outstanding sharpness and optical quality across the frame
- Compact and lightweight design for handheld use
- Durable weather-sealed construction
Cons
- Significant focus breathing during video capture
- Strong vignetting at wide apertures and infinity focus
- High price point relative to some alternatives
- Complex distortion patterns
- Susceptibility to flare when shooting toward bright light sources
- Launch price $899.99 (USD)
- Focal length & aperture 20mm f/1.8
- Mount & coverage Sony E Full-Frame
- Stabilization None
- Close focus 18 cm (0.2x)
- Filter thread 67mm
- Autofocus motor Autofocus
- Weight & size 373g · 73.5 x 84.7 mm (2.89 x 3.33 in)
What the Reviewers Say
All 38 expert reviews, weighted into the PixelMeter score.
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It has a decent feature set including a de-clickable aperture ring and multi-purpose focus hold button plus its optical performance even surpasses the very good Sony FE 24mm f1.4 GM. This deserves a Highly Recommended!
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It's perfect for shooting architecture, has great character, and lets you quickly jump into vlog mode without switching lenses.
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The Sony lens offers breathtaking sharpness in the broader center zone at all mainstream aperture settings.
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The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G sets new records for the performance of an ultra-wide lens. Its sharpness, distortion, coma, and chromatic aberration performances are all best-in-class, not to mention that it’s well-built and very portable.
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Ultimately, if you’re a Sony user looking for one of the best wide-angle prime lenses money can buy, the FE 20mm F1.8 G will serve you extremely well and should be seriously considered.
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The Sony FE 20mm F1.8 G Lens is a high-quality, compact, lightweight, affordable, wide-aperture prime lens with a useful ultra-wide-angle focal length. This sharp lens is an excellent choice for landscape, architecture, and night sky photography.
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There are cheaper alternatives than this $900 USD lens. There are smaller and lighter options.
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Once again, $900 is certainly a steep price for this little lens, but it sure gives back to you, so this one's going to come highly recommended.
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[T]he Sony FE 20mm 1.8G is a lens that you will hardly read anything negative about and there are good reasons for that: sharpness is more than good enough, flare resistance is very good, coma correction is good [...]
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The FE 20mm f/1.8 is a home run. It’s really amazing.
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The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G lens is a very well-made weather-sealed lens, that gives impressive levels of sharpness, and a rather good close focusing distance.
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The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G is an outstanding ultra-wide-angle prime lens with a fast maximum aperture at a more attractive price-point than the comparable FE 24mm F1.4 GM lens.
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The Sony FE 20mm F1.8 G is a sharp, bright lens with a wide angle of view. It's a top-end performer and a fine addition to your camera kit.
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The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G is a superb addition to the Sony FE lineup that will appeal to a wide range of photographers, from landscape fans to wedding snappers.
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The performance is really quite good, and I love the ergonomic size and feel of it, making this a great little lens for stills and video, even if I don't love so much the plastic filter for it.
- Digital Trends 9/10
If you need a bright, wide-angle prime in your kit, the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G delivers excellent quality in a lightweight, durable lens that isn’t too extravagantly priced.
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[M]y final word of this lens is I really like it.
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An excellent choice for all kinds of wide-angle photography, whether at night or during the day. Both wide and fast in a compact package.
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All in all this lens feels great in the hand, looks great and brings fantastic performance. Not much to say about it because it is what it is and it’s wonderful to have this option for Sony shooters.
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[...] I highly recommend the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G lens. It's a really high-quality optic; the performance and sharpness in particular is incredible, all at corner-to-corner.
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The Sony 20mm f/1.8 is an impressive lens. My summary of this lens is as follows: top quality, great features, good value.
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I have to say that my expectations for the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G were high. It is a small, wide lens with bright and sharp pictures with spectacular performance, traditional crystal glass, and it is perfect for astrophotography and space.
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I can already tell you that that 20 millimeter is going to be a go-to lens for me, especially because I can vlog with it also, and that's a big point that I wanted to touch on. If you're doing video, you will love that lens.
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The price point is very good for the image quality that I'm gaining out of this lens so far. I've only had a quick look, but from what I can see, looks pretty good so far.
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That actually sums things up fairly well: this is a very good to great lens, but not an exceptionally great lens. Sony made some compromises (vignetting, edge acuity compared to center) to produce the lens at the price they gave it.
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It's fast, sharp, tough, and 20mm is my favorite fixed ultrawide focal length.
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I can comfortably say that as of the time of writing this, the Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens is the best E-mount lens in this focal length for landscape astrophotography. That said, a second-hand Tokina 20mm f/2 MF can be had for an absolute bargain.
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The one comes an image performance of this lens I gotta say I'm really really impressed because you can get some really nice blurred out background with this lens even though it is a 20 millimeter lens.
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While it lacks the F1.4 max aperture and 11-blade diapham of the FE 24mm 1.4 GM, my tests show that Sony FE 20mm F1.8 G offers outstanding sharpness and it borrows heavily from G Master DNA by including a working aperture ring and XD Linear focus actuators.
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If you want a prime lens to do vlogging with, this is probably the best one you're gonna find because the 24mm is a little too tight and this is nice.
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Okay, so this lens is heavy and maybe a little bit too expensive right now, but it's a lens I would definitely keep in my bag for my next adventure in a dark place.
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Ultimately, this is a really surprisingly versatile lens for a prime for a Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G.
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In fact, I absolutely adored this lens and how lightweight and compact it was.
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This lens could not have impressed me more. It is sharp, it's beautiful, it weighs almost nothing.
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This lens, like no other lens I've actually tried, especially prime lens, I never had this much fun actually using the lens and creating pictures or just having it on the camera. I definitely will be having this lens in my kit and this is it from me.
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There are a whole lot of things to like about this lens, and that's why I think this is probably one of the best lenses that you can buy for a full-frame Sony mirrorless camera, and that's saying a lot.
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I enjoyed my time with this lens. It’s sharp across the full angle of view, and there are no optical aberrations or geometric distortions to complain about.
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The Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens is a very welcome addition to Sony’s growing lens lineup. It is incredibly small, weighs just 13.2 oz and produces incredibly sharp images, even on the Sony a7R IV that has a tendency to demand the highest resolving FF lenses on the market.
