DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Sony’s New FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Takes On Canon’s 100mm f/2.8 In Lensrentals’ Resolution TEst

May 5, 2015 by Roger Cicala 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

We got a pre-release set of Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 G OSS Macro lenses in for preliminary testing last week, and I was kind of excited about this lens for a couple of reasons. First it simply gives me a nice short telephoto prime option that has been lacking in the lineup (although the Zeiss 85mm Batis lens will be coming along fairly soon). Second, it gives me a true macro lens at the focal length I prefer.

Image Courtesy Sony, USA

I hoped that the combination of a good macro lens with the A7r sensor would turn out to be a winner. We used our Imatest lab to compare Sony 90mm f/2.8 G OSS lenses mounted to Sony A7r cameras, and compared them with Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS Macro lenses shot on Canon 5DIII cameras in our Imatest lab. (For those who are curious, we can’t test Sony E mount lenses on an optical bench because the electromagnetic focus system requires electrical power to operate. Until we do some really geeky, overly complex engineering modifications, the optical bench isn’t an option for Sony E mount lenses.) It would have been nice to also compare with a Nikon D810 and Nikon 105 f/2.8 Micro lens, I know, but our time is limited.

Overview of the 90mm f/2.8 G OSS

First of all, if you’re used to Sony E mount lenses being smaller than their SLR counterparts, you’ll need to get over that. The 90mm lens is very similar in size to the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS and other SLR macro lenses in this focal range.

 

Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS on 5D III (left) and Sony 90mm f/2.8 on A7r (right). Lens rentals.com, 2015

 

If you’d like the numbers for comparison, I’ve put them in a table.

Sony 90mm f/2.8 OSS Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS L Nikon 105mm f/2.8 Micro VR
Price $1,098 $899 $879
Weight (lb.) 1.32 1.38 1.58
Length (in.) 5.14 4.84 4.9
Filter size (mm) 62 67 62
Min. Focus Dist. (in.) 11 12 12
Aperture Blades 9 9 9
Elements/Groups 15/11 15/12 14/12

The Sony is a bit more expensive, but that’s not unusual for a new release. Otherwise they are pretty similar in specifications.

Test Results

We tested these in our Imatest lab but at two different focusing distances and with two different charts. Remember, the higher resolution of the A7r camera will make the system resolution higher. My thinking when making this comparison was if the Sony lens wasn’t up to the standards of the Canon (which is arguably the best macro lens in this focus range), then the Canon system would be close to the Sony, despite the higher resolution of the Sony camera.

The tables below shows the MTF 50 results averaged for 6 samples each of the Sony 90mm f/2.8 OSS on a Sony A7r compared with 6 samples of the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS L on a 5D Mark III.

Our first test was using a standard Imatest setup shot at a distance of about 20 feet.

Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS L Sony 90mm f/2.8 G OSS
Center 1580 lp/ih 2300 lp/ih
Average 1340 lp/ih 1665 lp/ih
4 Corner avg. 1125 lp/ih 1210 lp/ih

We then repeated the tests, using a high-resolution, back lit chart made by Imatest specifically for testing macro lenses. The focusing distance was now just under 2 feet. This doesn’t give us quite full 1:1 macro working distance, but it’s pretty close.

Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS L Sony 90mm f/2.8 G OSS
Center 1540 lp/ih 2210 lp/ih
Average 1290 lp/ih 1765 lp/ih
4 Corner avg. 1105 lp/ih 1380 lp/ih

At both focusing distances the Sony system is clearly out resolving the Canon system. We would expect that, to some degree, given the higher resolution Sony sensor. But the difference was, quite frankly, surprising to me. It would seem to indicate the new Sony 90mm Macro lens performs at least as well as the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS L, from a resolution standpoint, anyway.

Summary

Please don’t take this out of context. These are simply Imatest MTF50 numbers. By that standard the new Sony 90mm f/2.8 G OSS Macro seems to be a superb addition to the E mount lineup, and the lens on an A7r should provide superb resolution. We’ll have to look at more in-depth, hands on reviews to see how it actually performs in the field, what the bokeh looks like, how well the OSS performs and a host of other factors to decide how great (or not) the lens performs in the real world. But these preliminary results look very good.

 

Roger Cicala and Aaron Closz

Lensrentals.com

April, 2015

About the Author

Roger Cicala is the owner of Lensrentals.com. The article was originally posted here and shared with permission.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Canon EOS 5D mk IV is the best of Canons (but still behind Sony and Nikon), DxOMark says Battle of the $2,499 Canons: Canon 5D Mark 4 vs. Canon R6 Lensrentals found a dead fly inside a weather sealed Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens The impressive Laowa 100mm f/2.8 macro lens is now available for Nikon Z and Canon RF

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: 90mm f/2.8, Aaron Closz, Canon 100mm, LensRentals, macro photography, Roger Cicala, Sony 90mm

« Elena Shumilova A.K.A Photographer Mom Shares Her Techniques For Photographing Kids
Amateur Photographers Facing Unfair Discrimination From Law Enforcement? »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • SpaceX shares unique view of Earth in latest video
  • Get ready to photograph two total solar eclipses this year
  • How I started (and succeeded) photographing space from my backyard
  • Insta360’s new teaser says they’re entering the gimbal market
  • Users report blurry photos from Samsung Galaxy S23/S23+ cameras

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy