Sony 90mm f/2.8 G Macro Lens
I was walking by a garden after a storm in May, 2022 when I noticed how the rain had beaded on some flowers. I grabbed my Sony A7III from my trunk and took a few shots. This image was shot at 1/160, f/6.3 iso4000 with a 90mm f/2.8 G Macro. Image stabilization on and switch set to macro distance. Edited in Adobe Lightroom.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 G Macro lens
I am no gear reviewer, but I figured I’d periodically give my thoughts on some of my gear and cover some ins-n-outs of photography and how I create the shots you see.
Keep in mind this information is coming from someone who has years of experience, however, has not tried tons of lenses on the market. I have experience with a few Sony lenses, Sigma for my former apsc body, the Sony A6300, and I currently have a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 and the Sony 90mm f/2.8 G Macro for my Sony A7III full frame camera body.
That being said, let’s get into a brief summary of my experiences with the Sony 90mm f/2.8 G Macro lens and how I came to own it in the first place.
I originally got into photography to capture moments to be able to look back on.. but that was with an iPhone 3 and beyond. Years later(2016) I got into instagram and blew up in the outdoors industry. I finally purchased a quality camera, the Sony A6300 mentioned above. I bought the kit, quickly realized the lens was awful, and bought(yes, you guessed it)a Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS. 50mm remains one of my favorite focal lengths. I then bought a Sigma 16 and 30mm f/1.4 DCDN apsc lenses, loved them for the price, and then added the Sony 90mm f/2.8 G(equivalent of 135mm on apsc sensor, if I’m not mistaken). Purchased from Cardinal Camera at the Arboretum in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have no affiliation with them, other than me being a customer. They’ve always had matching prices and are good people. Shop local and avoid online and big box stores, just sayin.. Biggs Camera on Kings Dr. is another solid option. Again, no affiliation.
Moving on, I ran the a6300 into the ground over the next 3 years, both professionally and for personal use. It was summertime in the auto industry and I was outside shooting daily. My camera continued to overheat and eventually started just changing settings randomly and wouldn’t cooperate. It did, however, create beautiful images until it’s dying day.. RIP. I learned a ton with that camera and will always appreciate the steps taken wielding that thing.
I upgraded to the only camera I wanted and was in my budget at the time, the legendary Sony A7III. Finally upgrading to full-frame, I had to ditch the apsc lenses which left me with the 90mm and I got a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8(my first telephoto lens, still miss all of my primes, but I like the versatilely of a zoomy boi lens). Still like primes more, they tend to be crispier from edge to edge and offer lower f stops at lower prices. Primes also encourage better practices as a photographer, forcing you to physically move closer or back up from a subject. This, in my experience, reveals different opportunities for shots and tends to be a little more personal and human.
Anyway, I decided I wanted a lens that can capture macro and great portraits as well. I landed on the 90mm for various reasons. I like the versatility and as a G tier lens, it is crispyyy. It has a programmable button on the side(still haven’t programmed it lol), as well as switches to quickly turn on/off image stabilization and on another you can switch between 3 shooting distances to aid in macro/portrait/landscape type shots.
Autofocus on my A7III is ridiculously fast and accurate. Very high iso and low light tend to affect it, but I guess thats with any lens. Eye autofocus with animals and humans is surprisingly accurate and effective. Macro can be tough as is, but this lens creates blown out, super depthy and crispy clear shots. I’ve missed some shots with it, but most of the time it does what you want it to do.. quickly and effectively.
Color is what you’d expect from a Sony G lens, very vibrant and accurate. Operates well in low lit environments. Which brings me to street photography. This lens captures excellent skyline shots, on or off of a tripod, as well as street level shots of any variety. It can capture a wide variety of landscape shots, but lacks in areas where a wider focal length is required, obviously.
To be continued……. Thank you so much if you’ve made it this far, I appreciate your support! -Taylor