Photo by Nate Luebbe (@nateinthewild). Sony α7R III. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master lens.

See The First Shots Taken With The New Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 GM

Reading Time 5 min.

Author Alpha Universe

Date 2020.07.07

In advance of its official launch, a select group of Sony Artisans Of Imagery and Sony Alpha Imaging Collective members had a chance to use the new Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. Photos by Chris Burkard (@chrisburkard), Kesha Lambert (@keshalambert), Nate Luebbe (@nateinthewild), Andy Mann (@andy_mann), Peter McBride (@pedromcbride), Rachel Jones Ross (@rachel_jones_ross), Jess Santos (@missjessbess), Autumn Schrock (@autpops), J.N. Silva (@jnsilva), Brian Smith (@briansmithphoto) and Mahesh Thapa (@starvingphotographer).

In advance of its official launch, a select group of Sony α Ambassadors had a chance to use the new Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master – see the photos!

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Photo by Jess Santos. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. Foreground: ⅛-sec., f/11, ISO 100. Sky: 12mm, f/2.8, ISO 12800, 6-seconds (20 images stacked)

“It’s amazing to have this all-in-one lens now. I used to have to change my lenses going from shooting blue hour to shooting the Milky Way, but a huge bonus with this lens is that it’s f/2.8 so now I don’t have to. Since it’s a wide-angle lens, I was specifically looking at the coma to see how much there would be. I was pleasantly surprised with how little coma there was in my shots. It’s just super sharp, and I was really impressed by that.” – Jess Santos

Photo by Mahesh Thapa. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 1.3-secs., f/8, ISO 100

Photo by Chris Burkard. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 13-secs., f/2.8, ISO 800

“The reality is, there’s no way to not be excited about this lens. It fits into a perfect space and perfect niche in my camera bag. The chromatic aberration is amazing. The color definition and corner sharpness edge-to-edge surpassed my expectations. After going out and shooting night photography – the amount of light this lens soaks in because of its wide-angle perspective is really awesome.” – Chris Burkard

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Photo by Autumn Schrock. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master.

“As a landscape photographer, I’m usually shooting around dawn and dusk, which means I need a lens that can handle low light. I am so thankful this lens is f/2.8! I love that I can capture a scene in a completely new way with such a wide field of view. I am also quite impressed with the sharpness and very little distortion. Photographing the Milky Way at 12mm is a pretty special opportunity. You get to capture so much of your view in one frame, and I was actually blown away that I was even able to capture the rocks and lake floor in my astrophotography shots! Manually focusing on tiny stars at 12mm can be a little tricky, but this lens is quite sharp once it’s focused. I’m very excited to shoot more of the night sky with it.” – Autumn Schrock

Photo by J.N. Silva. Sony α7 III. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/1600-sec., f/2.8, ISO 400

“I’m loving this lens so far. This isn’t a focal length that I’m used to shooting with often, so this wider angle inspired me to think about how I compose. It gives me so much more space to work with when I’m shooting. In places like Central Park where there are a ton of little pathways and spots that are super tight, this lens just makes them seem so grand. The f/2.8 is super helpful, especially when you’re shooting and losing light. I was walking around with the lens while it was turning into blue hour, and I was still able to get some really cool shots at f/2.8 with a fairly low ISO to keep more information in the image.” – J.N. Silva

Photo by Peter McBride. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 15-secs., f/4, ISO 8000

Photo by Kesha Lambert. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/160-sec., f/4.5, ISO 100

“I love this lens – the focal point is right up my alley for my shooting style. For my work as a wedding photographer, I do a lot of shooting that shows the scene or wider, dramatic portraits that include the environment in the shot. I had the chance to use the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 GM for some portrait sessions, and in terms of performance I noticed it had virtually no flare against the sun because of the Nano AR Coating. It was really impressive.” – Kesha Lambert

Photo by Nate Luebbe. Sony α7R III. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 13-secs., f/2.8, ISO 3200

Photo by Brian Smith. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/100-sec., f/22, ISO 100

“This is going to be a great lens for anyone who wants that extreme wide-angle view for landscapes, or for interior photographers for those times where having that 12mm really makes a big difference. That coupled with the exceptional sharpness that it offers is going to make this a go-to for many photographers. It’s really everything that you would expect from a G Master lens. No one has ever done a 12-24mm f/2.8 before, and that extra few millimeters is a big deal. It’s pretty amazing that they’ve kept it at the weight and size it is while improving the optical performance on top of it. Anyone who likes G Master lenses is going to be really happy with this one.” – Brian Smith

Photo by Chris Burkard. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 13-secs., f/2.8, ISO 800

Photo by Andy Mann. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master.

“The performance of this lens was amazing. My expectations were exceeded. I was using it for landscapes and night photography, and the sharpness of it just blew me away. It was just really easy to use – particularly at night. When you go into manual focus, it’s just a really clear bar that tells you focal length and I would never have to double check. Between the sensor and the lens, it lets in almost enough light that the focus peaking is reading stuff in pitch black. I could manually focus on anything in my screen in pitch black – I thought that was incredible. It’s a game-changer.” – Andy Mann

Photo by Kesha Lambert. Sony α9 II. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/200-sec., f/3.2, ISO 200

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Photo by Rachel Jones Ross. Sony α7R III. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 3.2-secs., f/2.8, ISO 3200

“I’m really excited about this lens. It was easy to focus. I was really impressed once I got the images onto my computer. The image quality is really good and I’m definitely seeing the difference there between the f/4 and f/2.8. You can just tell that the build of this lens is remarkable. Typically when you’re working with such a wide open aperture you get some softness in your image, so in the past I’ve had to choose whether to shoot wide open with a fast lens or to shoot with a wide lens. I’m overjoyed that now I don’t have to make that trade-off anymore.” – Rachel Jones Ross

Photo by Brian Smith. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/60-sec., f/8, ISO 100

Photo by Mahesh Thapa. Sony α7R IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. 4-secs., f/8, ISO 100

“The lens is stellar, absolutely sharp from corner-to-corner with palpable micro-contrast and color fidelity. There is minimal ghosting and flare when shooting directly into the sun. The lens performed very well under difficult lighting conditions, thanks to the very wide aperture of f/2.8. Focusing was a breeze too. This lens will definitely have a place in my bag. Being able to shoot at f/2.8 from 12-24mm will be a God-send.” – Mahesh Thapa