The Sony 35mm GM F1.4 vs the Sony 35mm f1.8 

Thank you Mark! Huge fan of your videos. I'm fairly new to the ZV E-10 world, and I've literally watched HOURS of your videos to research. You're a very entertaining guy! Appreciate the effort you put into your footage!

I’ve had the 1.4 35mm gm ( got money ) lens for a year love the low light capability with the a7S2. Went on a trip to Thailand and Philippines used mostly the 35mm for street and night time . I paired it with the Sigma 85mm 1.4 dg dn

This is a great review, thank you. I appreciate this was never meant to include a comparison with the Zeiss 2.8, but I noticed a few people in the comments talking about street photography with regards to these lenses. For street photography the best FE 35mm is the Zeiss because it's diminutive, inconspicuous and light enough for one-handed photography. I really couldn't imagine doing street with these monsters, as beautiful as they are!

Currently binge-watching your videos. Great reviews, but also funnier than most comedians on YT. I bought a ‘Dougie’ based on your recommendations and I’m worried now that if I keep watching your videos, I may want something more expensive 😊

I just got the 35 GM about two months ago, and I’m not a professional by any means…but on my A7IV it creates a fantastic image. The next best lens I have is the Samyang 24 1.8, which is really sharp, despite its low price. But the 35 GM gives me that sweet, sweet toneh that’s just on another level 🤓😜.

One thing really does it for me: the bokeh in the GM 1.4. I've always loved 35mm as a focal length because it feels very natural to shoot at, but the Sony GM really stands out as having some of the best bokeh on any 35mm lens ever. I'm a still photographer though--I don't care about bokeh as much for video.

There are a lot of camera channels on RU-vid, but none this handsome. Great video Mark, entertaining as always!

I spent yesterday afternoon at B&H trying out the different 35mm lenses on my A7s iii and decided on the Sony f/1.8. Teamed up w that particular camera, it's more than bright enough and its weight and size help make shooting on the street, in anonymous crowds, and public transit more inconspicuous, convenient, and quick. I find the differences in weight--it's 54% of the f/1.4 G-Master lens' weight: 281 v. 524 grams / 9.9 v. 18 oz!--and length (2.87" v. 3.8") are significant if one intends to shoot all day, ducking in and out of one situation after another, and snapping off shots or rolling video before people notice and figure out how to react. Much easier to stash a cam that is 1" shorter and a pound lighter and slip away. I find either one preferable to the various 16-35mm power zoom lens. The Sony f/4 is too dark and the G Master is too heavy and bulky for fast street work.

I'm a new subscriber and I appreciate the new energy you bring to my content consumption.

Happened to get a surprise 35mm 1.4 GM as an upgrade from the ZV-E10 kit lens and gotta say, I knew the kit lens was only ok but the pictures on the first day of having the GM blow me away. The little Zev is quite capable once it can stretch its legs.

Great comparison, hitting all the notes!

Whoa. Great comparison. Always educational and entertaining. ❤

I’ve being hesitating about upgrading my 35mm 1.8 and this vid gives me a better perspective. Thanks!

bought this lens a week ago, use it with my sony a7riv, absolutely love it. zero complaints

Rewatching this video. I used to own the f/1.8 but sold it when the GM came out and I love that lens but did just repurchase a used f/1.8 because it’s so light to try on an A7Cx camera even though I have used the f/1.4 GM on it. That 35mm f/1.4 GM is about the largest lens I would use on a compact Sony body. The 50mm f/1.4 GM is a little lighter even. Take care.

Got the zeiss f1.8 24mm and I'm loving it, 36mm equivalent for that (arguably) perfect human eye lens depth

OMG, this crop factor when FBC = on is HUGE Bro :) it seems to me this 35mm is similar to 40-45mm 😮 I love your short vids 👍

How would either lens compare to the Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art Lens? Just an idle curiosity as I couldn't afford any of them at the moment. Another idle question.. Do you know of an adapter to allow E mount lens fit to a canon EF mount. You can go the other way EF to E Mount so I can use my Canon lens on a sony but I can't find anything the other way round.

Would love to see a comparison to the Sigma Art 35mm as well. Supposedly it focus breathes badly as well.... but it's cheaper than the GM.

I'm neither a professional nor do I have wife privileges, so I went with the Sony 35 f1.8 for the value and image quality. It pairs great with my Sony 85 f1.8. My next prime would likely be the Sony 20 f1.8 to complete my set of primes. Out of all the camera gear reviewers in RU-vid, you're quickly becoming my favorite due to your candidness, humility, and sense of humor.

I am still in love with my Zeiss Distagon 35 mm f/1,4 but it is not as sharp as the newer Sony 35mm GM.

I am not jealous of this man having all the exciting camera gear but of his wife privilege.

Mainly I am using the Tamron 20-40/2.8 for Street. Anyhow for less light situations I was interested in the Samyang 24/1.8 or the Sony 35/1.8. Now could get the Sony on discount for just 300USD new and bought it at once.

I think the size of 1.8 lenses is the sweetspot if you prefer travel friendly everyday cameras. On long wedding days Its also the best balance between weight and speed (aperture) i wish Sony would make newer versions of their 1.8 primes, especially 50,35 and 24 (maybe even 85mm) in the style of their F2.5 G primes - yes the 1.4 primes are nice and fancy but for most 1.8 is more than enough and shooting with the smallest DOF isn't always the best choice in people photography. I hope the Bokeh hype will fade soon we will see some of these lenses renewed. Speaking of weather sealing of the 1.8 35mm I can assure you that it's a very robust lens. Never had any issues shooting light rain or even in the shower like on yesterday's shoot. It got several splashes and drops and it was very humid but it works still like a charm. ( Of course I didn't put it directly under the stream but there was a lot of water splashing from model onto my camera)

That Sony 35mm f1.8 is the first lens I bought with my a7Siii for all the reasons you mentioned in the video. The autofocus and minimal focus breathing probably makes it the best 35 f1.8 for video across all the systems. That lens is simply flawless!

I went with the Sigma 35mm Art Lens after reading and watching reviews on these two.

I got the Sigma 35mm F/1.4 dg dn and I think it’s also pretty good. But it’s also a little heavy and big.

Love my 35 1.8.

The "spare tire" on the CN tower comment killed me 😂

I bought the 1.4 I love it love ittttttt. No regrets. The 1.8 looks great

Any idea of the lifespan of the senzor in a7iv or fx30? Ie how many hrs can the sensor take, can it compare with professional grade cameras 80k hrs of recordings?

I bought the 35mm f1.4 GM for the more cinematic and creative tasks next to my sigma wide and mid-range f2.8 zoom lenses. Yes it cost me a kidney. But i like the formfactor, focus ring, aperature ring and the customizable button. It's great for balancing on a gimball too. By the way, love the effort you're putting into these videos.

Oooo I wonder if 35mm would be better for what I’m wanting. Focus breathing mode is cool but idk if it’s a reason to go with a more expensive name brand lens. I feel you could just crop in a smidge in post and get the same effect.

Nice video, could you make more tests with fx30 in low light and with dynamic range pls against zv10

Hoping someone can help here.. Trying to get back into photography, I have a a6400. ATM I have a 35mm F1.8 (not the FE in the video) and a 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lenses. Is the GM a good go for portraits, photography and video? Willing to spend a the money for the GM but also not sure if there something newer now, etc. thank you!

I have Sigma 35mm f1.2 it’s heavy but I love it and it always stays on my camera

I chose the sony 35mm 1.8 over the sigma 30mm 1.4 because of autofocus performance in the Sony. The autofocus of the 1.8 in low light and night shooting is so very impressive. Not looking for any kind of upgrade.

im in love with this yt Chanel

@Mark Bennett's Camera Crisis Amazing content! Between Sigma 30mm F1.4 and the Sony 35mm f1.8, for street photography and portraits, with the ZVE10, which would you recommend? Cheers 👍

Great job on the video Mark! Thanks for making it. Is that a little Talking Heads I hear in the background?

Hi Mark, I bought the A74 with kit lens and the 35GM since Sony A74 released. Very happy with my set so far. I'm not a professional photographer, just take the photo studio and portrait for my kiddo and family during holidays season for fun. I'm saving money right now for the next prime lenses but I still haven't decided either the 50mm or 85mm. Just stop by your channel and love the way your presentation. 🙂👍 Thank you for your time.

Aaaahh. I think the 35mm f/1.8 is pretty dang good. Especially since it doesn't suffer from focus breathing. Plus, that extra $700 could get me a Ninja V plus an SSD. Of course, the GM lenses are excellent quality, for sure. Handsome comparison FTW.

GM 1.4 is just about perfect, but the FE 1.8 is fantastic. And when you factor in weight/size/price, it’s my choice.

focus breathing adds crop on top of the Active SteadyShot. Or does one function compensate the other?

thank you Nolan! I like your movie too!

I'm a hobbyist but had a f**k it moment and went for the GM and have been wondering if it was overkill since lol I do love the more compact size of the 35 1.8 but I must say the 1.4 and aperture ring of the GM are great and pairs nicely with my 20mm 1.8 G

Mark, this is awesome. You know I sometimes ask for you to do an assignment. I currently can't use my a6400 for top downs with my sigma 16mm or 30mm in Auto focus because of the focus breathing. Do you have some lenses that you can test out on your ZV-E10? I would love to be able to use autofocus again and was hoping not to switch cameras 😂.

I don’t understand why they don’t put replaceable gaskets on the lens mount of the camera body. I think that would make way more sense then on some lenses and not others.

I using 35GM for 1 and half years, the reason i choice for 35GM is the lightest 35F1.4, and i not taking video It is still better than using 2470GM1 on that time.

Just thinking about photos and with an a7iv would you make the switch? Is the difference in sharpness and bokeh worth the extra weight?

Great video. Now, I want that GM lens :-) I shoot primarily on 35mm f/1.8 at uni. Can you make a comparison between 55mm Zeiss vs 50mm GM?

Never seen your vids before but had to comment on intro alone. First thing I thought “omg skinny Christopher Nolan!”

Great Video 👍👍👍

Can you do a review between the 35 1.4 GM and Sony 35 1.8, Sigma and other similar vendors.

this video was great. I have the GM because i am a sheep. but I really enjoy it on my Fx3 but I sit really sit on livestreams

How is the 1.8 for astro?

Hi, will the Sony 35 f1.4 GM be a good fit for Sony a6400 camera? Can it improve The focus and quality of the a6400 camera?

Puh, I always get confused, because while searching for the APS-C 35mm 1.8 I mostly end up at videos of the full frame lense. Sony needs to do a better job distinguishing them by their names. 😕

what about the GM 50mm f1.2? that's an interesting one

To me the focus breathing didn't look that bad when you were holding an object up and then going back to your face. A little size adjustment. How many times in video though unless you are showcasing an object close to the screen would it happen during normal video? Just people walking around and talking and interacting. It just doesn't seem like it would be a huge issue for most people viewing the videos.

I read that an argument for 35mm GM is the manual focus pull. the experience to manual focus is much better than 35 1.8

I'm gonna be honest with you, I never noticed or even knew focus breathing was a thing until I heard people talking about it on RU-vid. It still doesn't bother me.

Hello sir, and thank you very much for the video! I'm about to buy the 35mm GM F1.4 together with the Sony A7 IV. Please tell me would you recommend this setup for wedding/portrait and landscape photography Also please let me know what other wildlife lens you would recommend in the same price range, and if that lens is also suitable for landscape or portraits. Thank you with respect!

This is a good lens but it is too expensive. I’m looking for something like 20mm or wider that really cheap price for f1.4. I might just go with manual lens

Hey Mark, I bought the GM and I like to shoot mainly video. I hope I didn’t make a mistake purchasing this lens. I do have the Sony a7iv that has the breathing compensation. Do you think I made the right choice?

Can you recommend a budget 35mm for talking head video? (without much focus breathing please!) - Is the Samyang or Viltrox 35mm FE F1.8 any good? or would you really recommend stretching the budget to the Sony one?

No. I think price and weight and compact size are important especially in an A7c body. I would prefer an improved version 2 of the F1.8 with an aperture ring, button and improved af motor and reduced chromatic aberration at reasonable price. Sony? When a 35mm F1.8 G2 ?

What I've seen is that G Master lenses are better especially when it comes to the 'bokeh balls'. And I love beautiful bokeh balls. Sir you need to include bokeh ball tests!

very good (Sony GM 35mm /1.4)😊

I'm a little confused. Are you saying the 1.4 GM has focus breathing issues, or are you saying the 1.8 non GM has the focus breathing issues?

Having it a little bit bigger too, makes it more comfortable to hold, it balances better, and it's just a better experience ! ... Wife privilege 🤣

Why choose when you can have both?

would you recommend the Sony 35mm f1.8 for overhead videos?

I don't know if it's my A7iv or 35mm 1.4 Gm but the eye auto focus is lacking with this combo. A lot of out of focus pictures.

Sigma 35 1.4 dg dn

Sony 35mm f1.8 @$250 2nd hand for video. Does me well.

I went with the Voigtlander 40mm f1.2 😂 #notavideoguy and I have the Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 that covers 35mm. The 35mm f1.8 seems perfectly adequate for my purposes but I’m probably getting the Samyang 24mm f1.8 before the Sony 35mm f1.8

Hello bro how are you

For whom 35mm lens is?

1 - Like 2 - Comment 3 - Let's watch 4 - Beer man, yoooo

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME, MARK!? *writes down "Buy a 35mm GM"

My wife doesn’t let me buy any lenses anymore. The last one was the 135 1.8 samyang and she says it looks like a photoshop picture every time I use it. 😅😅

Tough decision...

if Christopher Nolan says so, it must be true!

I’m subscribing for the “wife privilege” 😂

shot a wedding with the 1.8. sent it back for aberations and fringing.

Ok, as long as you tell me your wife has husband privilege, I promise I won't Unsubscribe. (Couldn't help myself 😆)

Good of you to recognize your wife privilege.

lol wife privilege, love it

Not gonna lie I can’t notice a difference with the breathing

wife privilege 😂

Wife privilege mode engaged. Unsubscribe engaged 🤣

The aperture ring is the most useless thing on GM lenses, you basically pay for unnecessary engineering

dont have to repeat bokeh/bokah everytime you mention it. say it once will do. it's annoying

The 35mm 1.8 prime was my first thanks to @geraldundone. No regrets and no need for the G Master in my opinion, it does everything I need it to, and then some. Then again, I’m no pro, so….