Sony FE 40 mm f/2.5 G review - Vignetting

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Sony FE 40 mm f/2.5 G

23 March 2021

Maciej Latałło

8. Vignetting

At the beggining we want to mention the fact that, contrary to distortion, the vignetting correction option remains completely available and it can be switched off, so, traditionally, we switched it off for the duration of our test. Still it should be mentioned that automatic distortion correction influences vignetting as well. Images are cropped a bit so the areas where vignetting can be at its highest are removed from the file. In case of slight distortion, like in the Sony FE 40 mm f/2.5 G tested here, differences between JPEG and RAW files aren't high and, typically, range from 1 to 3% but still it's worth keeping in mind that they are there. Our analysis of vignetting is going to be traditional, the same as in case of tests of other Sony FE lenses.

First let's check vignetting on the smaller APS-C sensor – appropriate thumbnails you can find below.

A7R III, APS-C, f/2.5	A7R III, APS-C, f/2.8

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There are some chances to notice slight vignetting only at the maximum relative aperture, where it amounts to 23% (−0.77 EV). By f/2.8 that aberration decreases to 16% (−0.52 EV), and by f/4.0 it drops to an imperceptible value of 8% (−0.26 EV).

After passing to a bigger full frame sensor there are far more problems and photos, presented below, show them very well.

A7R III, FF, f/2.5	A7R III, FF, f/2.8

A7R III, FF, f/4.0	A7R III, FF, f/5.6

In this case you have to take into account a loss of light of 55% (−2.32 EV) at the maximum relative aperture. It's a lot but, to be honest, I expected more. The correction of this aberration is rarely a priority in smallish, moderately fast lenses. It's enough you mention here the performance of the Zeiss Sonnar 2.8/35, with a result of 58%, and the Samyang FE 2.8/35 which could reach 63%. As you see the Sony fares here a tad better.

By f/2.8 vignetting decreases to 49% (−1.92 EV), and by f/4.0 it drops to 38% (−1.40 EV). Further decrease of this aberration is observed by f/5.6 and f/8.0 where we got, respectively, the following results: 32% (−1.12 EV) and 26% (−0.89 EV). By f/11 you see a level of about 20% (−0.67 EV), which, additionally, decreases very slightly to 19% (−0.61 EV) on stopping down the aperture to f/16.

Sony A7R III, JPEG, f/2.5