SONY FE 90mm f/2.8 MACRO G OSS LENS REVIEW

THE BEST ALL AROUND SONY LENS

Brian Duffy - August 2019 This article contains affiliate links which provide a small kickback to the author

The real factors that go into me calling this the "best all around Sony lens" break down into 3 points:

  • Price
  • Sharpness
  • Versatility

Now before you stop me and say,"No way! The Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 is the best lens for Sony!" allow me to qualify some things. 

I mainly shoot commercial photos and videos and have recently switch to Sony from Canon. The first lens I bought was the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 and it is an amazing lens for the price. There we some things about this lens though that left me needing more for my work. Mainly the closest focus distance. Sometimes I have clients that ship me incredibly small pieces and the Tamron just couldn't get close enough and adapting my Canon 70-200 just wasn't cutting it either.

Off to DXO mark I went to figure out the best macro lens to solve this problem. I knew macro would be the thing and it came up with a few options. Once I saw that the Sony 90mm f/2.8 was one of the sharpest lenses around I knew i had to get it. Combine that with its 1:1 magnification, great focal range for portraits, and fast aperture. I knew it was going to be a winner.

When the lens arrived I wasted no time in seeing what it could do. I went a took a picture of a flower (typical macro I know...) and as I was doing that, a friend of mine arrived so I took a quick pick of him. 

I am far from a portrait or nature macro photographer, but with those two images I knew I was sold. Focus was quick and snappy, bokeh is ridiculous, f/2.8 is fast enough for me (too fast really, I shoot at around f/8 or higher for commercial work usually), and the price was just right. 

With this lens I can pretty much do any of the commercial work that comes my way. In fact below is a photo of the first shoot I did with the 90mm for Small Axe Peppers. They are a killer company in the Bronx who source locally grown peppers for their amazing sauces. Click on the photo below to buy some. It will be worth it.

I liked this lens for this shoot because it enabled me to fill the frame with the sauces, the 90mm focal length let me get the bottle lines parallel but still have some subtle perspective by shooting up on the bottles. It is only slight but this gave the bottles a bit of a bigger look than had I kept the camera in the middle of the subject and level. 

All that said, you will be hard pressed to be disappointed in this lens and now that I have it I know I can never go back. To sum up this lens:

  • Crazy Sharp
  • Less than $1100
  • Fast Focusing
  • Allows for shots that are impossible for normal lenses.

If you are on the fence about getting this lens don't be. It is absolutely amazing and will not be a disappointment. 

Quick Buying Tip: On Amazon.com this is avaialble for $1098, but if you can afford to wait, I ordered my lens off Greentoe.com and pretty much bought a new lens for what they are going for used on the market. The order takes a bit longer to process as well as shipping, but the savings were pretty compelling.