The Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM is the best lens in its class - at the time of this review at least. The resolution characteristic is highly impressive. The image center is already tack-sharp at f/1.4. The outer image field isn't quite on this level - it never is - but improves rapidly when stopping down a little. The results are very sharp across the image field from f/2.8 onward. Lateral CAs are fairly low and image distortions are nothing to worry about. The RAW vignetting is somewhat higher than it should be but then image auto-correction handles this issue nicely. Wide- to ultra-wide lenses tend to produce a rough bokeh due to their complex optical designs. However, Sony managed to produce a very smooth bokeh - at least with respect to the important image background. Thumps up for that!

Typical for Sony GM lenses, the build quality is superb and, of course, up to professional standards. The incorporated materials are of top-notch quality and it's a weather-sealed construction as well. If you like old school photography or are into movies, you will also appreciate the dedicated aperture ring - including an optional clickless mode. The AF is both very fast and near-silent. Manual focusing is exceptionally smooth and precise.

The sheer optical quality is already formidable but even more noteworthy is the fact that Sony managed to deliver all this in a comparatively small package. Especially Sigma improved their optical designs by lifting their constraints around the size/weight of their ART lenses. The Sony lens shows that this isn't really a necessity and we hope that the FE 24mm f/1.4 GM will not be the last in the line of compact, yet high performance lenses. Highly recommended!