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Sony 50mm: f/1.8, f/2.5 G or f/1.4 GM?

5 August 2026

Fifty millimetres is the focal length people recommend to beginners and the one professionals come back to. We hold three of them, and the spread between them is wider than between most camera bodies.

What they cost

Cheapest to dearest is 10× in rental and 12× in purchase price. That is an unusual spread for one focal length.

Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 GM — product image.

f/1.8 — the one that costs less than lunch

122 SEK for four days is so little that the question is not whether it is worth the money but why it is not already in the bag. It is fast, light and sharp in the middle. Autofocus is slow and slightly audible, and it is soft in the corners at f/1.8.

Rent it if you have never shot a fifty and want to know whether the focal length suits you.

f/2.5 G — the small one that is surprisingly good

Just under a stop darker than the f/1.8 and about as light — but built entirely differently. Metal barrel, aperture ring, fast and quiet autofocus, and a close-focus distance that makes it useful on detail. It weighs what the cheap lens weighs and behaves like a far dearer one.

Rent it if you are travelling light or shooting street and documentary.

f/1.4 GM — the one whose difference you can see

Two thirds of a stop brighter than the f/1.8 and a little over one and two thirds above the G. That is where the background stops being blurred and starts disappearing. Sharp wide open, fast to focus, and the only one of the three that handles a dark room without pushing ISO somewhere uncomfortable.

Rent it if you shoot portraits, weddings or in the dark and know why you want f/1.4.

In short

The difference between renting the f/1.8 and the f/1.4 GM for a weekend is 1 124 SEK. The difference between buying them is 16 800 SEK. There are few cheaper ways to find out how much aperture you actually need.

Rent it before you decide

A weekend with the lens on a real shoot tells you more than any comparison, including this one. Do the sums: rent or buy · All equipment