Why You Should NOT Buy Sony GM Lenses 

I love sony gm lenses. i understand your trying to say you do not need a gm lens to shoot great work and there is cheaper options from sony and third party brands i agree. from my experiences the GM lens i have used always preformed much better then sonys older lens and third party lenses especially for video focusing, stabilisation etc. in general GM lenses are higher quality glass ,build, and have de click aperture easier to change for video and photography. i will rather own a 50mmgm lens and shoot on a a7iv then owning a sony a1 and shooting on a tamron 28-75mm . seen so many people like this where they own expensive cameras have and bad glass. sure does effect the quality and performance.

Man, I want to thank you for covering topics other bigger RU-vidrs did not mention. Your perspective is more helpful for beginners and intermediate level folks

Your evaluations are mostly true and a large percentage of people will never see the difference. Perfectionists on the other hand are always looking for better, even if it's just a little bit, and are willing to pay for it.

I have all the gear, full frame, holy trinity etc and my rallies best photos and the ones we have printed in our walls were almost all with my wife’s iPhone because she caught the moments that mattered while I was setting up for technical perfection

My wife wanted me to tell you that she loves you. Because of this video we can go on that 10 day cruise for our anniversary. Awesome content bro. Realest photographer/content creator on the inter webs yet.

For real, for real. Your honesty and knowledge is appreciated.

Thank you for the honesty!! I use an a7iii with the Tamron 70-180 for most wedding venues. The most important part of a camera, is the 8” behind the viewfinder.

I needed to hear this! I’ve recently stumbled across your channel and I’m loving your content! This is the icing on the cake, and I completely agree with what you’ve said. My Samyang 35mm is excellent and I’ve previously put unnecessary pressure on myself to upgrade, I’m slowly realising there’s no need!

Great Talk. I am a Canon shooter. I drank the poison kool-aid. Shot my first wedding with a nifty fifty and Yougnou 35mm. Still some of my best work. Now I am doing weddings with a $3000 28-70mm. $2800 85 1.2. My clients love the work. But it is only incrementally better. Yet I am immensely poorer 😅

This is an important video, thanks for making it and saying what needs to be said. It’s so easy to get caught up in the newest gear. Gear review videos tend to instil FOMO, which is why people usually go out and buy after watching them, even when they don’t need it. Personally I think people should buy what’s in their budget and only be influenced by the necessary required specs and not solely on user experience because each user experience is going to be different based on that person’s needs for each piece of equipment.

I mean listen, it's called branding/marketing for a reason and Sony knows all they have to do is tell RU-vidrs to tell their followers to buy it. And boom. But what's funny is no matter the branding, a 50m is a 50mm. They need to quit it. You nailed it. Great video folks.

Thanks for your honesty. I agree with you 100%.

Facts, I just bought a new Fx6 about 7 months ago and got 2 brand new GM Lenses expecting greatness. I legitamitaly thought the FX6 was a terrible camera for the past 7months until I borrowed my photographer friends Zeis 55 1.8, and I couldnt believe it. The quality was incredible all of a sudden. I just sold 1 GM lens and plan to sell the other. I prefer the quality over the focusing issues. Sucks because I convinced my company to buy these expensive lenses and I can tell nobody was excited about the shots they were producing. Zeiss has brought my excitement back. Almost felt like quiting for the past 7 months I owned the GM lenses. Such a mistake but I'm glad I wont be making that mistake again. Felt I needed to share. -Filmmaking for automotive industry since 2012, Last camera was a FS700 w Odyssey 7Q recorder.

Well said!!! 💕 Thank you for saying the truth! ☺️

if you have a 60+ MP camera you will see huge differences between the cheap lenses and expensive ones ;-p to the point that you could just buy a 20MP camera instead and get the same quality

I agree with a lot of this, because you can create amazing work with the cheaper lenses. The only aspect of 1.2 lenses I care about, is the ability to get a faster shutter speed without sacrificing my ISO too much. Even though most clients can’t tell the difference in ISO quality, I can and sometimes that’s not the look I want. I just wish Sigma would release more 1.2’s because I would happily take those instead.

Lol this is why I subscribed. Because you tell the truth as it is in the way we as photographers need to hear. I was almost going crazy because I could not afford a gm lens when in reality a budget friendly option can give me similar great results. Thank you for the reminder honestly.

Nothing but facts being spoken in this video

You coming to my town!!! Welcome to DC man. BTW - I love my Rokinon 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, and 135mm f1.8. I do have a few Sony lenses but, I use Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 and Tamron 28-75mm. Sony 28mm f2, 35mm f1.8, 55mm f1.8. Most don't NEED GM lenses - I've shooting professionally for over 20 years. NEVER have I lost a client because the brand of lens I use. I did have the Sony 85mm f1.8, it stopped working on me. They quoted me 435.00 to repair the 650.00 lens. I go for small and light because of a hand injury. Good luck and safe travels!!!

Way to go here Mack, way to go. You kept it real. I got lucky when I entered the Sony realm, because I move over from Nikon and Fuji to Sony, so I had a huge trade in value. I leveraged that with buying mostly used from a great local camera shop and I still cut deals here and I was able to get GM and G glass without directly coming out of pocket. I had Sony, Nikon and Fuji all at the same time when I made this decision so I stuck a ton of this into glass. I bought only on piece of glass brand new in this trade and that was a 200-600. I have since bought almost everything else used and like you I own the Tamron 70-180 and the 28-75. I was lucky to come across a 24-70 GM for less than 900 and a Sigma 35mm 1.2 for 900, both used. There is no way anyone can tell me that the 24-70 GM ii is 1200 better than the GM 1. I shoot weddings and event photography and videography and believe in having two 24-70 and two 70-200 equivalents in case one breaks, due to their importance. Keep being the way you are because it is much needed. Also insure your gear.

Great video 👍🏼👍🏼

Good topic and ON POINT with your statement about RU-vid Koolaid! I fell for it just recently picking up the 50mm f1.4GM to supplement my Tamron 35-150 for the BOKEH and in testing it I saw the background blur was more (but only at closer distances) and not by much. In fact it was surprising how minor it was. Then tested for sharpness and again the difference was minimal and as you mentioned at ridiculous magnifications. So I boxed the 50GM and returned it. I also had sold my Sony A7riv taking a big hit to buy the A7rV and while a better camera, it wasn't twice as good, so the $2K I had to shell out for the upgrade for maybe 15% better camera. Had me shaking my head that I bought into the hype as you said. Hopefully, I learned my lesson and just shoot with what I have. Thanks for putting this topic here. It's needed!

I would agree with most of what you are saying, what I learned is to be very careful at selecting the GM line, not all are worth the extra money, in my experience, the 135 1.8 and the 70-200 GM II are worth the money, in particular, the 135 , that lens never fails to deliver th e most amazing pictures that I was not able to get from any other lens ( and tried pretty much all of the GMs and Sigmas)

I would agree with you for starting off. For me I started with the Sony A6500 and paired it with Sigma prime lenses (30mm F1.4, 16mm F1.4, and 56mm F1.4). Best bang for your buck in the APS-C market IMO. But like yourself went with the Sony 24-70 GM II and 70-200 GM II after I stepped up to full frame. It's really about budget.

I completely agree about the 55mm Zeiss 1.8. I was never much invested into photography until I was persuaded to buy one second hand from a guy who wanted to upgrade. Soon as saw the stunning images it produced.. I had a a7300 at the time... I was shocked and quite blown away. One of the greatest nifty fifty ever made. Love your honesty. Just subbed👍

Mack I respect EVERYTHING YOU SAYING my guy I'm new to photography and I have racked my brain trying to understand WHY???

👏🏻 Great content.

Thank you

Lol just purchased the gm 50 1.4 now im thinking twice 😂😄… im from chicago too and shoot weddings mostly wedding films… Great video and insight!! Keep it up..✌🏻👏🏻

You’re bang on mate, I too fell for the hype train! Sonys release of the 50mm 1.4 as an owner of the 1.2 confused the hell out of me.

I subscribed when hear the honesty

Definitely worth it I’ll go with a GM everytime

Great Video! Thank you for the Zeiss 55mm though lol Great lens!! I love it! I did buy the 85 GM 1.4 and I love that as well but I could have probably purchased the Sigma 85mm. Love the videos, keep them coming!!

Question, have you done a video on switching from DSLR to mirrorless. I am struggling to figure out what to switch too. I do photography no video. I shoot D 810 and mostly Tamron 24-70 2.8 and I’m happy. I would like to see the results as they are on camera

I agree with your take, while some of the GMs are outstanding and the best you can get, most are not worth getting over alternatives. Recently I had the urge to sell some of my kit and treat myself to a new 50mm. I ordered the 24-70 gm2 70-200 gm2 35 1.4 50 1.2 50 1.2 135 1.8 to see what's what. The 135 is amazingly sharp, I like it. The 50 1.2 and 1.4 prove to be marginally sharper than my 55 1.8, the 24-70 gm2 was very uninspiring and the 70-200 gm2 was amazing. I kept the 70-200 gm2 and returned the rest, I will keep my 55 1.8, 85 1.8 and the 70-200gm2. I only need to find something on the wider spectrum, I think I might try out the 35 1.8.

Facts

Also what portrait lens do you recommend for the 85-105 focal length? I have the nifty fifty one but I want a prime lens with a longer focal length. And do you ever use sony tele converters?

i don't really like selling lenses unless i never use them at all, so i aim for the best value (currently on Sony), but twds the higher end of the spectrum, and always used... i may end up buying the 70-200 f4 II before it hits the used mkt at a decent price, but i agree broadly w the premise of this vid... most of the GMs just don't offer the best value proposition. i mainly do vid for work, so the focus breathing compensation is a big feature, and for that reason I did get the 24 and 35 GMs, bc i tend to shoot wide. got the Sigma 85 1.4, all three of those lenses were $700-800, and getting the 1.8 versions I'd only be shaving off a cpl hundred each, for lenses that i doubt would keep their value as well. and i don't see new lenses coming out that'd make me feel the need to sell and upgrade from my 1.4's.. i'm into cine lenses now anyway. but i totally agree, Sony doesn't even have anything on the level of Tamron's 35-150, at f2 up to 85, the new 16-35 GMII is 2700?? gtfo, i got a perfect copy of the 1635ZA for $400. don't need that extra stop for ultrawide. not for $2300, at least. just sucks that some of the Zeiss don't take advantage of breathing comp

I have a question I have the 16-35 powerzoomf4, the tamron 28-75 2.8, and the Sony 70-200 f4, so should I get the Sony 24-70? And returning the tamron?

👏👏👏

Mack, Im about to pull the trigger on buying the 85mm f1.8 and before this video was set on buying the 35mm f1.4 by GM....is that a bad move?

We don’t buy upper tier gear for our couples. It’s for us lol I’m allergic to busy bokeh. For me, it’s a pleasure holding a well built lens. It’s ecstasy having near flawless autofocus in low light. That’s why we are all in this community. Endless videos propagating this mindset. Our couples would never understand.

With modern-day lenses, it's very hard to get objectively *bad* image quality. The reasons I'd pay more for a product are reduced size & weight, better ergonomics and software improvements (for example if I need Breathing comp on a specific lens/focal length). In addition, sometimes there just isn't a competing alternative. For the longest time, the 24 GM was the only option at f1.4, which is a very unique look. Now we have the Sigma too. So are GM lenses worth it? I'll answer that with this: any tool is worth it if it solves a specific problem for its owner better than the alternatives.

I made it all the way through and now I feel like I need a new lens haha

I’m new to this. I got a Sony a7c2, Buying Sigma & Tamron lens. Sony is to expensive for me.

Made it

You are right, but may lose sponsers

G - master lenses Now and forever .Amen

I made it through... I was waiting for the moment when you would admit that this expensive gear did help legitimate you as a high-level pro photographer and that it has been useful to you but I didn't hear this 🤔

but mackkkk Peter McGriddle told me the 50mm gm f1.2 is bocadeshious, lol, god I hate RU-vidrs.

Nonsense.

Talk about the kool aid man.. we have all been drunk off the review youtubers

Great video, really honest. I definitely think sometime they are splitting hairs. I have the Sony fe 85mm 1.8, damn good. I also have the Rokinon/Samyang 135mm f1.8, savage and I got it on Amazon new for $680 😁. Used gear on KEH is nice too.

I’m stopped listening to this video at the 2:29 mark. This is a video for people who can’t afford a 1:4. A 1:8 WILL ALWAYS BE CHEAPER. You Want MORE LIGHT, You will always pay for it. And cheap glass will NEVER give you the same results. Those are facts.