Sony G Master Lenses for Cityscape Photographers

Sony offers a comprehensive line of G Master lenses that are ideally suited to capturing cityscapes. Whether you’re focusing on a narrow downtown corridor dominated by towering skyscrapers or encompassing an entire urban vista from a lofty distance, this type of photography offers dazzling opportunities. Not quite the same as street photography and perhaps closer to shooting landscapes, this genre also comes with a unique set of challenges.

The quality of the lens is clearly key to capturing the image you envision, and the focal length will have a dramatic impact on the scope of your results. Sony has four superb G Master lenses that are all up to the task. Among other things, these high-performance full-frame lenses are renowned for their ability to capture crisp high-resolution detail, a critical consideration when architecture fills the frame. If you’ve set your sites on cityscapes, one or more of them should be in your camera bag.

Sony SEL FE 35mm f/1.4 GM
This model boasts all the advantages you’d expect from a 35mm wide-angle prime combined with the versatility of a bright maximum aperture, so you can freely capture your cityscapes in a round-the-clock range of challenging lighting conditions. And if you’re planning to use the cityscape as a backdrop for an isolated foreground subject, you can also count on it to produces signature G Master-quality background bokeh. Nine-point weather sealing and a fluorine coating on the front element give you pro-level protection when shooting outdoors.

Rounded 11-blade aperture
XA elements and ED glass for high resolution throughout the image area
Sony Nano AR Coating II to eliminate flare and ghosting
XD Linear Motors offering fast, precise, quiet AF
0.27m (AF), 0.25m (MF) minimum focus distance
0.23x (AF), 0.26x (MF) maximum magnification ratio
524g weight

Sony SEL FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM
Surprisingly lightweight for a lens of this calibre, this ultra-wide-angle zoom gives you the ability to capture more of the context of a scene, emphasizing distance to create more dynamic perspectives, and it also delivers a nice three-dimensional effect when shooting in tighter spaces. The barrel is fitted with both a manual focus ring and a zoom ring, with six clearly marked focal lengths – 12, 14, 16, 18, 21 and 24mm – spanning all the standard wide-angle benchmarks, each available at a constant f/2.8 aperture. There’s also a convenient focus-hold button and an AF/MF switch.

Rounded 9-blade aperture
XD Linear Motor offering fast, precise, quiet AF
Three XA elements, an aspherical lens, two Super ED glasses and three ED glasses
Sony Nano AR coating to eliminate flare and ghosting
0.28m minimum focus distance
0.14x maximum magnification ratio
847g weight

Shop Sony G Master Lenses at Vistek

Sony SEL FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM
Occupying the middle ground in this roundup of wide-angle zooms, the medium-sized 16-35m f/2.8 GM lens could be the Goldilocks choice for certain cityscape photographers. “Lightweight” is a relative term when dealing with lenses of this size, but weighing in at a respectable 680g compared with other models in this category, it’s sufficiently well balance when used with one of Sony’s latest full-frame mirrorless cameras. Optimized to perform flawlessly with these high-res sensors, it delivers consistently superb corner-to-corner resolution throughout the available zoom settings and your desired focus distance.

Two XA (extreme aspherical) elements for outstanding resolution
Circular 11-blade aperture
Sony Nano AR coating to eliminate flare and ghosting
Dust- and moisture-resistant design
0.28m minimum focus distance
0.19x maximum magnification ratio
680g weight

Sony SEL FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM
This exceptional standard zoom offers a comprehensive wide to telephoto zoom range – indispensable versatility for a cityscape photographer – while retaining the same bright maximum aperture and impressive low-light capabilities as its abovementioned counterparts. As with any Sony GM lens, it’s made with premium lightweight materials, the build quality is outstanding, and the body features a dust- and moisture-resistant design. Autofocusing is fast, silent and smooth, and trademark GM optical performance delivers reliably super-sharp results.