Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 Lens Review

Sony has been cranking out new lenses in 2016, with a total of 5 new lenses announced over the first 5 months of the year.  In addition to the long-awaited fast aperture G Master line, Sony also released two options that were more modest in aperture: the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 and this lens: the Sony FE 50mm f/1.8.  Sony already has a Zeiss branded f/1.8 normal prime in the truly excellent Zeiss FE 55mm f/1.8, but the 50mm is intended to fill the role of Sony’s ‘nifty fifty:’ a low-cost lens with good image quality that provides an inexpensive way to get a faster lens.  While the $250 price tag of the 50mm f/1.8 is a bit higher than the 50mm f/1.8 lenses from Canon and Nikon, it’s only a quarter of the asking price for Sony’s premium 55mm f/1.8.  Let’s find out how it stacks up.