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| Box and contents |
The Sony NEX-C3 was used for this review. For a
better understanding of terms and methods used in this review, go here. The usual center, mid-section and corner crops are located at the very bottom of the page.
Introduction. The
Sony NEX 30mm F/3.5 is the first macro lens for the NEX system. It was introduced in 2011, and become widely available
in the spring of 2012. This relatively small lens, (about the same size as most other NEX prime lenses except the 16mm
pancake) is build solidly, has a smooth manual focus action and a silent auto-focus motor which
is great for keeping focusing noise out of movies. The focal length of 30mm is considered 'wide', but due to the APS-C
sensor of the NEX system, it has the same coverage as 45mm in full frame terms, or 135 film format. The
included goofy hood with cinematic slit is designed to be attached all the time, and has filter threads cut into the hood,
so you can easily attach a 49mm filter. The hood is plastic, so don't over tighten the filter or you'll strip the threads.
You can also put the cap on the hood, as seen in the shot above. For some odd reason, Sony has omitted
'optical SteadyShot' in this macro lens, one only can wonder why. The Sony 30mm F/3.5 macro lens has seven
elements in six groups. Sony uses three aspherics and one 'ED' element inside.
Made in China. Fit and finish are very good. The lens appears to be clad in high quality plastic
and metal, (Sony says 'aluminum alloy") and has a metal mount, but it's very light-weight.
Filter size is 49mm, just like most NEX lenses to date. Focusing. This lens
auto-focuses quickly and accurately, except at very close distances, then it fails to focus at all much of the time.
Based on my experiences with other macro lenses, this is unfortunately normal. The front filter ring doesn't turn when
focusing, so your polarizers and grads will work great. The focusing ring is easy
to turn, and is damped about right.
In the box is
the lens, front and rear caps, tiny plastic solid hood, and owner's manual.
Requisite product shots.
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| Side shot with odd hood |
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| Back side |
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| Hood and front element close up |
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| Sony X-ray view and MTF chart |
General information and specifications.
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Lens
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Box contents
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Front cap, rear cap, hood (ALC-SH113), and user's manual.
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Cost
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Build quality
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Very good.
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Additional information
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Made for Sony NEX cameras, won't work on A-mount cameras.
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Specifications below
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Optical configuration
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7 elements in 6 groups
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Angle of view
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50˚ Equivalent to about 45mm in full frame (135 format) terms.
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Aperture
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7 blades, curved
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Full frame and APS-C
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Sony NEX only.
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Depth of field and focus scales?
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Nothing.
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Minimum focus, image plane to subject
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About 3.84" (95mm)
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Minimum focus, end of lens barrel to subject
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About .87" (22mm) from front of lens hood; and 1" or (30mm) from the lens barrel to subject.
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Hard stop at infinity focus?
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No.
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Length changes when focusing?
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No.
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Focus ring turns in AF?
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No
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Filter size
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49mm.
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Filter ring rotates?
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No
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Distance encoder?
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Yes
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Max magnification
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1:1 or 1.0x
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Min. F/stop
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F/22
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Sony teleconverter compatible?
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No
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Length changes when zooming?
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N/A
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Dimensions WxL (my measurements)
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2.17" x 2.45" 55mm x 62mm.
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Maximum extended length (my measurements)
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2.56" (65mm) measured with the lens hood attached, lens does not actually extend.
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Weight bare (my scale)
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4.9oz, (138g) bare, 5.3oz (150g) with hood attached.
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Optical qualities summary. Lens
flare/ghosting. Average control, although watch out for magenta blobs with the sun close to the frame, see
examples below. Light fall-off. Nothing to worry about. See samples
below.
Color fringing (CA). Average to above average control. I see small
amounts of magenta, and to a lesser extent blue along the sides of the image (lateral), and no axial type.
Bokeh. Very smooth. See examples below. Color. Seems about
the same as other Sony lenses.
Close-up filter. Not needed!
Coma. For pixel peepers, a tiny amount at F/3.5.
Regular
filters cause no additional light fall-off, even with the hood on, and a filter attached. Filter
size. 49mm. Other Sony lenses that use 49mm filters; NEX 50/1.8, CZ
NEX 24/1.8, NEX 16mm F/2.8, NEX 18-55 F/3.5-5.6, 30mm F/2.8 macro, 50mm F/1.8 SAM and 28mm F/2.8.
Distortion.
Almost zero! Distortion example directly below.
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| almost flat |
Distortion is not a problem with this lens, it's basically flat. Bokeh samples.
Bokeh at F/3.5 has a slight outer band and inner ring, but stopping down to F/5.6 produces a smoother blur. Apertures of
F/5.6 and smaller show heptagons from the aperture blades. These crops show bokeh at a distance of about 30' (9m) when
focused at 6' (2.0m). Light fall-off
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F/3.5 close focus
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F/3.5 infinity focus
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There is not much of a problem with light fall-off or 'corner shading' with this lens. What you see in
the close focus shot is a reduction in light gathering power from the focusing design of the macro lens, that's the way almost
all macro lenses work. It's about a half stop, or an effective aperture of F/4.2 at close focus. At F/5.6, there
is no noticeable light fall-off at any focusing distance. Using the hood with a regular thick filter produces no additional
light fall-off. Flare and Ghosting
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Magenta blob, middle right, sun inside frame, F/5.6
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Magenta blob, sun outside of frame, F/5.6
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Ghosting control is about average; the only thing I see is a magenta blob or streak if the sun is around
the edges of the frame. There are a few small colored blobs that show up in extremely bright conditions.
Let's check out the close-focus capabilities of this lens.
The sample shot was taken with the Sony NEX-C3 16.2MP camera, so don't compare it
with others that were taken with 12 or 24mp sensor cameras. The subject is a standard US stamp, 0.87"x 1.0"
or 22mm x 25mm. The shot was taken as close to the subject as focusing allowed; in this case an extremelly short 1.0""
(30mm), measured from the front of the lens barrel to the subject. The Sony
NEX 30mm F/3.5 is a real macro lens, with a reproduction size of 1:1. As I point out above, the working distance is
really close, so you may not be able to get light on the subject as the lens barrel may block it. Also, the AF is not
accurate at close focus, so you'll have to use manual, and rock back and forth until the subject seems sharp, and start snapping!!
Using a tripod for moving subjects is not helpful. The shot below was taken at F/8, but F/5.6-11 were all very close.
As a side note; the entire (full size) image has a coverage area of 18mm x 27mm, or (.7" x 1.06").
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| As close as you can get, F/8. |
Conclusion The newest Sony NEX lenses
have been very impressive so far; including the spectacular, but expensive CZ 24/1.8, the inexpensive 50mm prime reviewed a couple of weeks ago, and don't forget the nice 55-210mm zoom. Unfortunately, Sony's hot streak has come to an abrupt end with the new 30mm F/3.5 macro lens. It's not that
it's a bad lens, it just isn't very impressive. If you want a true macro lens, and don't mind using
manual focus, along with a working distance of about an inch at the max reproduction rate, then go for it. If you're
looking for a small sharp prime as a walk-around lens in this focal length, I'd look elsewhere, like the kit ( 18-55mm) lens. With that said, there are a few good qualities to mention; like the lack of distortion,
light fall-off and a good macro shot. Well, after all, it is a real macro lens, and it does a good job at close
focus, but you probably won't be able to achieve a 1:1 size in the field, especially when you have to get so close to the
subject. Sony didn't include OSS (optical SteadyShot) inside for some reason, maybe they had a certain price point in
mind. Without OSS, there will be more camera shake and fuzzy pictures, which may be really noticeable when shooting
close to the subject. Landscapers might be disappointed in this lens, because the corners just don't
sharpen up, they're mushy at all apertures, however, the centers and mid-sections are quite sharp. If you don't mind
cropping your images a little, this lens may work for you.
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