Lens review

Sony 50 mm f/2.8 Macro

8. Vignetting

For a classic 50 mm device the Sony 2.8/50 can’t boast of the best fastness but such parameters create possibilities of correcting the vignetting well. Apart from that the Sony, contrary to the Nikon, hasn’t excluded launching full frame digital reflex cameras on the market so they must especially care how their lens performs in the frame corners.

Taking this all into account we were a bit concerned about the vignetting result. By f/2.8 the light fall-off in the frame corners amounted to as much as 26% (-0.86 exposure value). If you attach the lens to a full frame reflex camera this value will increase significantly for sure as this problem is visible even on a small Sony Alfa 100 sensor.

Fortunately on stopping down to f/4.0 we see this aberration disappear as the vignetting decreases to an imperceptible level of 9%.