Sony launches its first standalone E-mount fisheye lens

Sony has added a brand new perspective to its full-frame E-mount system with the FE 8-14mm F3.5 Fisheye G, its first standalone fisheye lens for the mount.

The new zoom covers a 180-degree area of view all through its vary, with the 8mm setting producing a round fisheye picture and 14mm filling the body with a diagonal fisheye perspective.

Sony is positioning the lens as a compact possibility for photographers and videographers on the lookout for exaggerated, extremely distorted views.

At 8mm, the round look is paying homage to the fisheye imagery popularised by skateboarding and motion pictures, whereas zooming to 14mm offers a extra typical full-frame fisheye composition.

Photographers can even select between completely different distortion-rendering approaches, with the lens supporting equisolid and equidistant projection. When taking pictures RAW, distortion correction will be adjusted throughout post-processing.

The optical design contains 16 components in 13 teams, together with three aspherical components, 4 ED components and one aspherical ED aspect. Sony says the design is meant to minimise chromatic aberration throughout the body.

A seven-blade aperture is used, whereas the lens can focus as shut as 15cm at any focal size. Autofocus is pushed by two linear motors, with Sony claiming the system can monitor topics at as much as 120 frames per second when paired with a appropriate high-end digital camera.

Despite protecting a full-frame picture circle and an unusually broad 8mm focal size, the lens weighs simply 314g. It measures 63mm in diameter and 83mm lengthy, with the zoom mechanism working internally so its bodily size stays unchanged.

The lens can also be designed for out of doors use, with mud and moisture resistance and a fluorine coating on the entrance aspect.

Sony has included an aperture ring that may be clicked or de-clicked, a customisable button and a zoom lock. An AF/MF/FH swap offers a focus-hold place designed for functions similar to astrophotography and VR, the place sustaining a hard and fast handbook focus level will be helpful. A rear filter holder can also be inbuilt.

The lens is aimed toward video and VR creators in addition to stills photographers. Sony says its focus respiratory is minimal and that pairs of the lenses can be utilized for VR seize, whereas three will be mixed for 360-degree video.

One limitation for typical video taking pictures is that the entire round picture can’t be captured in a 16:9 body. Sony says this may be averted on cameras able to taking pictures 3:2 open-gate footage.

The FE 8-14mm F3.5 Fisheye G is because of launch in October.

Sony Australia at present lists the SEL814G at an RRP of $2,299, together with GST.