Sony 50mm f/2.8 Macro

A small, but superbly sharp Macro lens that can also be used as a general purpose 50mm prime lens. Provides true 1:1 image size and can focus as closely as 7.9 inches from the front objective. A focus range limiter and focus hold button allow it to autofocus quite accurately when shooting Macro, but it has a classic wide-range manual focus for focusing the more difficult Macro shots.

Roger’s take: I’m generally not a fan of 50mm Macro lenses, I prefer the working distance of 100mm lenses. But there’s no question the smaller size of a 50mm Macro is very convenient to carry and a 50mm can double as a walk-around or portrait lens. I really enjoyed shooting with the 50 Macro, though. Of course it’s sharp, but I was a bit surprised how nice and smooth the out-of-focus highlights were. Also, shooting on an A900, I was a bit surprised at how nice and narrow the depth of field is wide open. It worked well as a Macro, but also superbly as a 50mm prime: as sharp at infinity as it was up close. I posted a few pictures in my A900 gallery – the jpgs are 100%, feel free to download them and pixel-peep a bit if you like.