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There are now three 20 to “something” zooms out there for FF mirrorless cameras. Panasonic 20 to 60, Tamron 20 to 40 and this 20-70. They all have compromises. Panasonic is F5.6, Tamron stops at 40mm (but is F2.8) so maybe the F4 Sony is a compromise between longer zoom range and faster but less zoom range.

I really like the idea of a standard zoom starting at 20mm and almost bought a Pansonic S5 because of their 20-60.

The unique selling point of these lenses is the 20mm wide end. It might be only 4mm more than a 24mm but the extra degrees of view are significant. All are therefore great lenses for taking photos in city’s and for landscapes.

24-70 F2.8’s? After 50mm primes they get my vote as the most over rated lenses going. F2.8 is not that fast but you pay a weight and price penalty for them so I don’t think they are the competition.

So will I be buying a Sony 20-70? Not at £1400 I won’t. It’s USD $1000 and while I am used to seeing a one to one $ to £ ratio this is the first time I have seen the £ price be 40% more than the $ price.

There is however another reason I won’t buy it. This test shows it is weakest at 20mm, and the 20mm end is the reason I’d want a lens like this in the first place. The fact it’s great at 70mm is not a selling point to me.

Tamron 20-40? Not sure how it performs and would like to see a test on this web site but it lacks the aperture ring and function buttons on the Sony. Compromises eh?