This is the brand new Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM, and today I have the job of making arguably the easiest lens review for filmmakers I have ever made. Why? Because I feel like I have already made this review.
Seriously, do me a favor. Pause, open a new tab, and go watch my Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM review. Actually you probably don’t want to click away, so let me just summarize it. I ended that review saying it was the best 24mm lens I had ever used. Having now shot with this 35mm, it is just as incredible, with the only difference being that it gives you 11 more millimeters of focal length.
There is your review. Done.
You probably want more details than that, so before I get into them: for the sake of ethics, I want you to know that while this lens was sent to me by Sony to try out, I am not being paid to make this video, it isn’t sponsored in any way, and the first time Sony sees it is the same time you do, when it goes up on YouTube.
You can grab the Sony 35mm GM at B&H or the Sony 35mm GM on Amazon.
Why 35mm?
If you have watched any of my lens reviews or my wedding behind the scenes videos, you know I really have two focal lengths I love filming with. A 24mm for wide gimbal shots, and a versatile 50mm for medium and tight shots. I have shot those two focal lengths on lenses from all sorts of manufacturers for about seven years now, never really straying, never really unhappy.
But after seven years, and after some time quarantined to re-examine how I shoot, I started to wonder. If I love the 24 and the 50 that much, doesn’t it follow that I would love a lens that is almost a hybrid of the two? A 35mm?
Sigma 35mm 1.2 Thoughts
I got a chance to investigate that when my friends at Sigma sent me their 35mm f/1.2 a couple of months back. I used it to film a wedding, and my goodness, the image quality is phenomenal and that bokeh is so buttery at f/1.2.
I also found that I genuinely enjoyed the focal length. I could back up a little from my subject and get a similar feeling to my 24, or step in a little and still be tight enough for the detail shots I would normally reach for the 50 to get.
All that said, the Sigma 35 f/1.2 has one big problem. It’s big. That is its big problem.
If I were a hobby filmmaker shooting short videos occasionally, or if I shot a ton on a tripod, I would absolutely love it. But as a wedding filmmaker carrying a lens all day, usually handheld, it is too big and too heavy for me to recommend. By the end of that wedding day my arms were burning. That lens is exhausting. I want to recommend it so badly, because at f/1.2 it looks so good, but it is just too heavy.
Sony 35mm Size & Weight
Enter the Sony 35mm GM. It is f/1.4, so you are not getting that insane f/1.2 bokeh, but this lens is tiny next to the Sigma. I wish I still had the Sigma here for a side by side, but take my word for it, the Sony is a baby.
It is not just physically smaller, it is under half the weight. 524 grams for the Sony against 1,090 grams for the Sigma 35 1.2. And that number holds up well against everything else in the class too:
| Lens | Weight |
|---|---|
| Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM | 524 g |
| Sony Distagon FE 35mm | 630 g |
| Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | 755 g |
| Canon 35mm f/1.4 | 760 g |
| Sigma 35mm f/1.2 | 1,090 g |
Here is what really freaked me out about the size though. I was getting ready to shoot a YouTube video, and I always grab my 24mm to film myself talking. I was halfway through setting the camera up when I looked down and realized I had grabbed the 35 and put it on instead. These two lenses are that similar. The 35 is just slightly longer and barely heavier, and if you are not paying attention it is very hard to tell them apart at a glance. Not bad for two lenses with such different focal lengths.
Nice Features For Filmmakers
The physical design carries the exact same feature set as the 24, which is to say it is perfect for filmmakers. It is well built and weather sealed. There is a dedicated AF/MF switch on the side that makes swapping between them instant.
And it has my favorite feature of all: full aperture control on the lens, including a de-click switch so you can smoothly ride the iris while you are recording. It also takes 67mm filters and focuses down to 0.22m.
Image Quality & Autofocus Speed
I don’t have access to MTF charts or any way to scientifically measure sharpness, but what I can tell you is that to my eye this has very similar optical performance to the already stellar 24mm. It is sharp to the corners and it looks very creamy at f/1.4.
Speaking of which, Sigma Just Revived A LEGENDARY Lens For Filmmakers!, ULTIMATE Wedding Ceremony Lens – Sigma 60-600 Lens Review, and F1.8 Full Frame Zoom Lens! Sigma 28-45 Review For Wedding Videographers are worth a look too.
Autofocus is just as good too. Fast, responsive, and eye detect on my a7S III locks on and holds even at f/1.4. As a stress test I filmed a couple running, with the 35 on the a7S III, while I was running alongside them, handheld, at 120 frames per second. There is definitely some camera shake in there. The autofocus held on like a champ.
More good news: this lens is nearly silent when focusing. I have to literally put my ear next to it to hear the motors working. That is fantastic if you are filming a talking head interview in a quiet room, or anything else where lens noise would end up in your audio.
Manual Focus Performance
This is focus by wire, like every other Sony lens. But unlike some of the older ones, I feel like with the GM line Sony has finally made them fast enough that there is no discernible lag between you turning the ring and the lens actually moving. Same as the 24. You should have no qualms about flipping this to manual focus if you need to.
Price vs The Competition
I feel like this lens is living in that meme where the Sony lens engineer asks the executives how similar they want it to be to the 24mm, and the executives say yes. Because the similarity carries all the way through to the price.
| Lens | Price |
|---|---|
| Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM | $1,400 |
| Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM | $1,400 |
| Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 | $1,800 |
| Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 | $500 |
| Sigma 35mm f/1.4 | $900 |
| Sigma 35mm f/1.2 | $1,500 |
I think $1,400 is fair, especially against that competition. Canon wants $1,800 for their EF mount 35, and while they do sell an RF mount 35 at $500, that one is only f/1.8. Sigma has the nice value play at $900 for the 35 1.4, and if you want the 1.2 you had better be ready to pony up $1,500.
Conclusion: An Easy Recommendation
So if I were you and you don’t have $1,400 to spend, go with the Sigma. That is a genuinely good lens for the money.
But for me, the size, the autofocus and the image quality coming out of such a small package make the Sony 35 GM a no-brainer. It is an easy recommendation, exactly like Sony’s 24.
Everything I mentioned: Sony 35mm GM at B&H, Sony 35mm GM on Amazon, Sigma 35mm f/1.2 at B&H, Sigma 35mm f/1.2 on Amazon, Sony 24mm f/1.4 at B&H, Sony 24mm f/1.4 on Amazon.
And if you are a wedding filmmaker like me, you probably want to book more couples. I put together a free guide with practical steps you can take in your business right now to do exactly that. You can download it here, completely free.