Verdict

Sony’s FE 50-150mm f2 G Master is a unique lens that will delight portrait, event and close-range sports photographers. Traditionally they’d be using a 70-200 f2.8, but I’d argue the 50-150 range is actually more practical in many of these situations, while the brighter f2 aperture delivers greater background blur and the chance to use faster shutters or lower ISOs under the same conditions.

We often kid ourselves a 70-200 2.8 can replace primes, but the reality often fails to match the kind of background blur on a fixed focal length lens. But the 50-150 f2 comes much closer, especially if you zoom a little longer. It really can replace a raft of popular primes for many uses, including a 50, 85 and 135.

And by exploiting Sony’s latest optics, it delivers the crisp details and soft blur we’ve come to enjoy from the best in the G Master series. For distant subjects, the 50-150 performs brilliantly, delivering pin-sharp images throughout the range and pretty much across the frame at the maximum aperture – and without any correction needed to the geometry too, impressive stuff.

At portrait distances the eyes are crisp, while the background rendering is nice and smooth with no distracting artefacts. And on top of that you’re getting a decent feature-set including a de-clickable aperture ring, removable tripod foot, and compatibility with Sony’s fastest bursts.

No lens is perfect of course, with the 50-150 sadly not compatible with teleconverters, and while it is lighter than Sony’s first 70-200 2.8 zoom, that still makes it quite a hefty lens to carry around, especially compared to their latest and surprisingly light 70-200 2.8 Mark II. It’s also comfortably more expensive.

But again think of the larger aperture and the primes it could replace in your bag. I reckon it’ll be a big seller for Sony, and now they have a pair of f2 zooms, it begs the question if they’ll be part of a growing series. What would you like to see?

Check prices on the Sony FE 50-150mm f2 GM at B&H, Adorama, WEX UK or Calumet.de. Alternatively get yourself a copy of my In Camera book, an official Cameralabs T-shirt or mug, or treat me to a coffee! Thanks!