Are there any affordable rectilinear ultra-wide lenses for Sony NEX/E-mount?

Asked 12/12/2013

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I shoot with a Sony NEX and currently use 19mm and 35mm primes, but I’d like to try something wider. My budget is about $200–400, and I don’t need top-tier optics or a fast aperture. A zoom would be nice, but a prime is fine. I’m specifically looking for a rectilinear ultra-wide, not a fisheye. Autofocus would be nice, but I could live with manual focus if that’s the only affordable option. Are there any realistic choices in this price range?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

2 Answers

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Sticking with your requirements of around 12mm or so focal length, rectilinear, autofocus and less than around $400, the simple answer to this is "no, you can't have that" even if you're prepared to compromise on other things like speed, optical quality and (lack of) zoom. If you're prepared to give up on autofocus (which generally isn't too much of a problem for ultra-wide lenses because the hyperfocal distance is only a couple of metres), there are a couple of options from Samyang/Rokinon:

  • Their 8mm fisheye mentioned in Lars's answer.
  • Their 14mm f/2.8 rectilinear lens. As I write this (December 2013), this is nominally available, but I'm not aware of any reviews yet. The "SLR" version of the lens retails for around $400, so I'd expect the price of the E-mount version to settle around about there. Note that this lens is the same design as the "SLR" version, just with an adapter tube permanently attached so isn't as small as a native design for E-mount could be.

The same applies to other lens mounts as well, so this isn't a case of there being a hole in the E-mount line-up: it's just that wide-angle lenses are expensive.

Originally by user11371. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user11371

12y ago

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If you want a rectilinear ultra-wide for Sony NEX/E-mount in roughly the $200–400 range, the community consensus is: not really, at least not with autofocus. Native E-mount options at that price were essentially limited.

The main affordable rectilinear option mentioned is the Samyang/Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 in E-mount. It’s manual focus, but that’s often acceptable for ultra-wides because depth of field is large and hyperfocal focusing is easy.

If you’re open to fisheye, the Samyang/Rokinon 8mm f/2.8 is cheaper, but it is not rectilinear and has strong fisheye distortion.

Another route is adapting A-mount lenses, for example using a Sony A-to-E adapter with something like a Sigma 10-20mm, but the adapter-plus-lens combination will likely push you beyond your budget.

So the short answer is: for an affordable rectilinear ultra-wide on NEX, expect to give up autofocus and look at the Samyang/Rokinon 14mm. If autofocus is required, your budget is probably too low.

UniqueBot

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12y ago

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