[f/22] I bought this lens as my one lens for travel. I had reservations at first with it being an f/4 lens, but with modern cameras, it's not as much of an issue. The 20mm end is fantastic for architecture and landscape photography.

[0.39x] Thanks to the amazing low light video performance of a7sIII/fx3/zve1, f4 is not an issue at all, therefore this lens can really shine in today. 20mm is really the perfect balance between distorted ultra wide and normal wide 24mm. It is always a dilemma in lens choice. Once you used f2.8 zoom, you can not go back to f4. Once you used 24mm you can not go back to 28mm. Now once you used to 20mm, it is hard to go back to 24mm. And once you used to under 500gram weight, it is hard to use heavy f2.8 zoom lens. You just have to make compromise to fit your need. This 20-70 f4 is pretty amazing for video overall.

[Sony E] I absolutely love this lens for photo and video! I returned the Tamron 28-75 G2 to grab this lens and have no regrets. For me, I find that having 20mm is more valuable than the stop of light and typically at wider focal lengths I’m at f4 anyways. I’ll be taking it on a trip soon and my time with this lens so far gives me complete confidence for this to be the only lens I pack.

[Full-Frame] See also: my review of the Sony A7CR.


I just acquired this lens to use with the new Sony A7CR--to capitalize on its 60mp sensor via crop-zooming--and use this lens in place of the Sony/Zeiss 16-35mm and Sony G 24-105--which it does spectacularly well. This is a 17 ounce replacement for the combined weight of 44 ounces for the other two. Pretty good swap.


The various high-praise reviews of this lens are accurate. It is sharp across the field including the corners--better in all respects than the 24-105, which is actually a very good lens. But this is better.


Several other reviews report circular distortions and vignetting. The A7CR has Lens Distortion Compensation (buried somewhere in the menu) and it comes with the default set to Auto--meaning ON--and that seems to take care of virtually all the distortion. Maybe a small amount of barrel adjustment required at 20mm. I haven't used it enough yet to determine.


I haven't been this excited and pleased about a camera or lens since the Sony NEX-7 in 2011...and then, a little later, the Sony A7Rii.


Just a great, great lens!!!

[0.39x] I LOVE, LOVE this lens. This is the perfect size lens and works so perfect with my camera. I am using it for recording classes, but I can not wait to take it on my trip to India this year. It is lightweight and the perfect size for travel.

[20 to 70mm] When I opened the box I knew I had made the right decision. That extra 4 mm hits the Goldilocks zone of focal lengths for me, creating the perfect all-around lens (I love to shoot wide). Not too heavy, not too big -- just right. You won't regret this decision.

[f/22] I bought this lens as a general workhorse for nature photography while hiking. I was a little concerned about the lens extending/sagging while stomping around and hanging pointing downwards, but it firmly keeps its position. Yes, there's a lot of distortion and vignette wide open at 20mm, but it's easily correctable in post (DXO PL has profiles). Nice and light, compact for what it is, sharp, bright enough, overall a solid lens.

[72 mm (Front)] There are some lenses that I’ve found memorable that are always on the camera. The Sony 20-70/4 is one of lenses! Think of it, thats like having 6 (sharp)lenses; 20,24,28,35,50 and 70 portrait in one lens! The touch of genius here was subtracting that silly 4mm from the usual 24mm- zoom. Unlike any 24mm-tele’s, this lens makes carrying and changing to an ultrawide zoom unnecessary! Forget the trinity, this is a unity! We’re so spoiled these days!
The 1.4X Clearview zoom or APS cropping allows virtual zooming to 100-105mm. Its bokeh is very nice and what you’d expect from aportrait lens at f4. It’s sharper than previous wide to portrait zooms and it also almost doubles as a macro lens at 70mm.
f4 may not sound fast, but when you consider the 3 fstop digital boost over film plus IBIS, that makes f4 equivalent to f1.4!
I hear RAW shooters complain of no lens profile for 20mm linear distortion, but I don’t like computer time vs shooting time in general, and learned on film to get it right the first time, so using a few tricks and bracketing ultra fine jpegs, I’m happy. On jpgs. I see less visible distortion than most single focal length 20mms. So for me, it’s the must have lens and makes the Sony system!
Want more tele? Just add the tele zoom 70-200/2.8 or lightweight 70-200 macro f4 for travel or an inexpensive sharpest mirror lens ever the Minolta/ Sony 500mm Reflex with an AF adapter (Safari). A third lens I use is a hyperwide 10mm which covers anything a 17or 19mm PC/TS lens covers is useful as Sony doesn’t have built in perspective correction like some cameras and smartphones. Now that’s an amazingly small and incredibly versatile ‘trinity’

[0.39x] I bought this as a travel lens it is very light, compact and has the focal lengths I use when traveling. It is not a fast lens but it is more than adequate as I generally shoot with an aperture at 8 or 11. I f you need a bit more reach you can always use cropped frame. Since I use the Sony 7R4/7R5, I still have plenty of resolution when using this lens. I already own the 24-105 lens but I find this lens more useful as it has a much smaller footprint.

[0.39x] I am using it on an a7 IV. It's size is perfect for that body. I'm still in the testing stage, but I haven't found anything wrong. It doesn't appear to vignette at 20mm with a polarizer at f/4.