Camera
Interview: Donna Ferrato on 50 years of photographing women
Donna Ferrato has spent her career documenting women and sees it as her duty to ‘cut out the noise and listen’. She’s photographed everyone from survivors of domestic abuse to swingers – and throughout the course of her career she’s learned that all women are part of what she describes as a holy trinity: the mother, the daughter and the other.
The individual pictures in her new book, Holy can often be difficult to look at, but they are crucial. When viewed as a whole they capture all the rage and joy and complex truth of what it means to be a woman. Ferrato is angry, but she also knows that women are extraordinary. Holy is a testament to that.
We spoke with Ferrato about how the COVID-19 lockdown shaped the final edit of the book, why it was important to handle all aspects of the design herself and what she’s learned about women after 50 years of photographing them.
Note: Images featured in this interview are pages from ‘Holy”.
The work in Holy spans your entire career – what was the editing process like?
The editing was the most important part of making this book. In the beginning I thought this was going to be a general book about my career, a retrospective. I had a very generic title like American Woman, and it was organized chronologically: it was more about my trajectory. Then I realized that wasn’t conveying the point of why I am a photographer. It’s not about who I’ve been working for or the stories that I’ve done. The idea behind all of these stories and the reason that I take pictures, whether it’s my family, friends or on assignment, it’s always with the single inspiration to understand who women really are and what they really want.
I’m really trying to understand how to make life better for women, and that’s really what I’ve been doing for most of my life. How do we make it better? How do we have better laws? How do we learn to speak with each other better? How do we learn to talk to the police better? I realized at one point, this book couldn’t be about a photographer’s journey. That’s when I started calling it Holy.
At what point in the editing process did you realize that you needed to change the structure of the book?
I worked on it for about four years, but it was only in the beginning of the pandemic, when I was all alone in the house and I had about four months to finish this book, that I realized it needed to change. [I realized] that the book was about the mother, the daughter and the other. It was coming from a really primal place inside of me. Nobody was coming over. I was all alone. My daughter and my grandson were living in Ohio. No one was coming by to visit me and suddenly I could really hear the voices in my head much more clearly. Then I started taking different pictures from the archive. It was all starting to coalesce in a more exciting way. I started listening more to my heart during the pandemic and that freed up the edit. That’s when it really all fell into place.
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It took me so long to put it together, I’d missed three deadlines. The publisher, Daniel Power, told me that he’d never been through something this insane. The other photographers are working with designers or editors, but I was the editor and the designer. I think early on Daniel saw that he couldn’t control me, and he was going to go crazy if he tried to impose any deadlines or structure on me. Even though this was the first book that I ever did with him, he just trusted me and let me go.
Why was it important for you to handle all aspects of the design, the edit and even hand write the captions that appear in Holy?
I wanted it to be a handmade story, not just made, but also maid. I realized that I had to do everything because that’s what women do. We do everything and we can do everything. The power is in our hands. The handwritten captions, well, I grew up with a father who was a surgeon and an incredible photographer. I grew up watching him write captions on his slides of Kodachrome and writing behind every picture. That was really precious to see him doing that work and to have all of those pictures now with his handwriting on them. I’ve written on my pictures most of my life – part of it goes way back to Duane Michals too, he was a big influence when I set off to wander the world with a camera and a bag over my shoulder. I admired his technique of writing on his pictures, but I wanted to tell real stories, so I was always telling real people’s stories on the photographs, not made up stories.
It was difficult handwriting all those captions in Holy, I had to write those so many times. I’d be writing all night long, I was really angry at all the things that were happening at the time too – to women, to our abortion rights, to children being taken away from the mother’s at the border and being put into cages. I was emotionally distraught, and I’d be writing every night and scratching through things and cutting into pictures.
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That anger you talk about having during the past four years is definitely palpable in the captions. How are you feeling about the state of things these days?
I’m feeling like the bird that has been let out of the cage now. I’m feeling like it’s time to get out there, kicking our heels up, being joyful, defiant and taking our rightful place at the table. I feel like we are at that kind of an incredible crossroads right now. We have a chance. We’ve got to get to work, we’ve got to to start organizing and making sure that things really do change. We can’t just talk about it anymore and then get high.
One of my favorite things about Holy is how your ‘sexual liberation’ photos and your ‘domestic violence’ photos coexist. For a long time it seems these two bodies of work were kept separate, at what point did you realize they made sense together?
I actually wasn’t the first person to see how they had to be integrated, it was my step daughter, Katherine Holden. In the last five or six years she’d say ‘Donna why do you separate it? Why do you let the magazines separate your work? You need to rethink this because it is all about the life of women. That’s what you’ve been doing better than anyone I know,’ that’s what she told me. I had started thinking about this, but I knew it was going to get me into a lot of trouble.
When Love and Lust came out I became a pariah in the photography community. If a man did those pictures, that would be fine, but when a woman, who has also been representing battered women is saying that sex is great, swinging is great, S&M and all of that – it was like ‘no, we can’t let you get away with that, Ferrato.’ A lot of these editors and photo directors started to stay away from me, they weren’t giving me assignments anymore. It was a big change after Love and Lust came out. They didn’t really know how to show the work or talk about it.
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All of the work that you’ve done throughout your career is deeply intimate, and that’s very obvious in Holy. How do you go about getting access and gaining the trust of your subjects?
First you’ve got to get permission, then you’ve got to get access. The access has to be to take pictures. You don’t get access to just go in there and look at people. You get access to be there with your camera. That’s the first step of trust. Then when you’re with people you talk to each other. I’m a talker, as you can see. I don’t really keep secrets. I don’t see my life as being that different from any one else’s. I’m pretty generous with the stories that I give people and with my time. My time becomes theirs.
When you are around people for a long period of time and always taking pictures, they just kind of forget about it. When I’m with people and I’ve got a camera and things are happening, I just start taking pictures, whether or not it’s something that is relevant to the reason why I’m there. It doesn’t matter. When I see something that is beautiful, or surprises me, or I see people are joyful, I’m always excited to take those pictures. When I go into people’s lives or even when I’m with my family, they realize that I’m excited when I take pictures.
I’m a voyeur, I’m not going to say I’m not a voyeur. I like to look and I like to be with people. When people are being kind to each other and having fun together – that’s when I get excited. They are moving and I want to move with them. Then they see that I get excited and then they realize – ah! There is something that happens between me and them and it becomes more of a communal thing. It’s almost like having a meal together. They don’t know what I’m seeing, they don’t know what kind of pictures I’m taking, or where the frame is cutting off, but maybe they get curious because I’m super curious.
Whether I have a camera in my hand or not, I’m incredibly curious and I don’t want to miss anything. I want to see it all. I’ll go anywhere just to be able to be in someone’s life. If they’re having a hard time, they are crying, they’re scared, of course I want to see that too. I want to be close to them. I want to be there for them.
The camera is a crazy instrument. For many photographers a camera is the way that we feed ourselves. It’s the way that we breathe. It’s a very alive thing. When I’m with my camera out there in people’s lives, it’s almost like the camera and me are one. That’s what it’s like. And that’s the reason I use a small camera. I don’t go out with a lot of different bodies, I don’t take a lot of lenses, usually it’s the same lens, a 35mm, once in a while I have a 50mm, but mostly I just work with that 35mm.
When you are dedicated to a 35mm camera with a 35mm lens, you’ve got to move around a lot. You have to get down, get dirt all over your butt, be there in the traffic. You’ve got to let the dogs come up and sniff you and growl at you – and you just keep taking those pictures. A camera just puts you in a whole other atmosphere. None of us photographers are like flies on the wall. We’re not. It’s really obvious when a camera is in the room.
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What is your preferred gear to shoot with and why?
It’s really been Leica all the way, from the mid-70s. I had a Leica M3, then I had an M4 for a long time, then an M6, and now I have an M10. I don’t shoot much film anymore, the M10 is digital, the quality is just as good as the film. The only difference is I don’t get as many mistakes shooting digitally – double exposures or strange things with lighting, and I do miss that. I miss the unexpected things that happen when you are shooting film.
I would say I like that they are small. That’s the best thing about them. And they’re heavy. I like a heavy camera. I like weight. They are also kind of narrow. It fits nicely under my arm, or if I wear it around my neck then it is usually short enough that the body is against my breast and I can hold the body up with my hand and it’s ready to go up to my eye in a nanosecond. It’s fast and dependable and the quality of the lenses is unbeatable. You can’t do any better.
The way that Holy is organized seems to reference your early experiences with the Catholic Church. How do you think your childhood in the Church shaped the way in which you view women and their place in the world?
My mom did her best to bring me up like that and indoctrinate me, but I really never understood where a woman was supposed to belong in the Catholic Church. The trinity bothered me as a young girl. I see there is the father and the son and the ghost – but what about the women? What about the mother of God? Where are any of these people going to come from if they aren’t coming from the mother, and how come we can’t talk about the mother? The nuns and the priests told me I was too hung up on gender – God is everything, God is male and female, and that should be enough for you. I guess for a lot of people it is. They can accept it. But I couldn’t accept it.
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What do you hope is the biggest takeaway from Holy?
The book of Holy didn’t just come out of thin air. Every woman in this book was chosen to be in it because they know that they are holy. All of these women have been through a lot of violence, a lot of abuse and a lot of sexual assault. They really didn’t have that much help on the outside. The courts weren’t helpful, the police weren’t helpful. The way that they were able to get out of their violent situations is by realizing that if they stayed any longer they were going to die. They had no choice. At the same time, every woman does have a choice.
I admire these women so much. They showed the most courage. Getting out and taking their kids with them and rebuilding their lives completely on their own. These women are the real heroes. I wanted this book to show what women can do. What they are capable of. That women can leave. Women do leave. So many women leave every day. That’s really the meaning of Holy. A woman knowing her value, knowing her worth and being able to say I’m not going to take abuse any longer. I’m going to get away.
The majority of my life has been devoted to understanding the women who had a lot of domestic violence, a lot of sexual assault and they go beyond it. They get out of it. That’s when it gets exciting, because that’s when they become the most extraordinary woman. That’s when they become the butterflies – after they’ve gotten out of the cave that they were in with someone who had to control them, powerless and unable to believe in themselves. When they get out of that they start to feel so good, and that’s what Holy is about.
Have high standards for yourself. Don’t let anyone try to control you. Really spend time with people and try to get to know them before you give your heart away so easily. It’s hard to know what people are about and if you are with the wrong person they can kind of destroy you. And then you don’t know how to get out of it because you’ve already invested your heart. I think that’s what this pandemic is teaching a lot of women too. Don’t rush into things so quickly when it comes to love, give it more time. Know yourself better. Learn how to take care of yourself better on every level.
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Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners
The 11th annual International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition has announced the winners of its 2024 awards, showcasing stunning imagery from around the world. Photographers competed in various categories, including the coveted Landscape Photographer of the Year, requiring a portfolio of at least four images, and Landscape Photograph of the Year, recognizing the power of a single captivating shot.
This year’s competition saw Canadian photographer Andrew Mielzynski, an amateur with a deep connection to the natural environment, claim the top prize for his portfolio of stark images with simple color palettes. Ryohei Irie from Japan captured the Landscape Photograph of the Year award with a mesmerizing image of fireflies illuminating a forest.
Beyond the overall winners, the competition presented awards in specific categories, including Black and White, Aerial, Snow and Ice, and Forest, along with at-large winners. In addition to the overall and category winners, we’ve included several of our favorite photos from the 202 photographs recognized this year. You can visit the competition’s website to see all the winning images or to download its 2024 eBook.
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 1st place
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Photographer: Andrew Mielzynski, Canada
Subject and location: Cono de Arita in the Salar de Arizaro, Atacama Desert in Argentina
Description: The Cono is a perfectly cone-shaped volcano at 3,690 meters above sea level. It’s very graphic due to the contrast between the dark, perfectly formed cone and the bed of white salt that is found at its base.
Copyright Andrew Mielzynski / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 1st place
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Photographer: Andrew Mielzynski, Canada
Subject and location: Winter Cottonwoods, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Description: During the pandemic, I went out for a walk at a local park during a fierce winter storm. I ran across this scene. It seemed very chaotic, with many layers of trees. I loved how the snow, driven by high winds, was embedded into the bark of the trunks. The snow on the bark created a textural contrast that adds detail and interest to the trees. I took a few frames, trying to simplify the scene in front of me and settled on this one, loving the tones, the depth, the order and the minimalism. Even in a chaotic scene, there seems to be a sense of balance that feels orderly and pleasing.
Copyright Andrew Mielzynski / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 1st place
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Photographer: Andrew Mielzynski, Canada
Subject and location: Found in a roadside ditch near Heathcote, Ontario, Canada
Description: After a melt, we had a flash freeze with extremely cold temperatures and a clear blue sky. I was driving by a ditch on the side of a road that had been filled with water and had to stop and look (as we photographers do, can’t pass a ditch without investigating). This is what I found. Great textures and patterns, tones and flow, with lovely graphic lines creating a dynamic, abstract designs. I love this type of work – it’s so much fun, yet challenging to find just the right composition.
Copyright Andrew Mielzynski / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 2nd place
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Photographer: Ignacio Palacios, Australia
Subject and location: Pumice Field, La Puna, Argentina
Copyright Ignacio Palacios / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 2nd place
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Photographer: Ignacio Palacios, Australia
Subject and location: Seven Colors Mountain, Siloli Desert, Bolivian Altiplano
Copyright Ignacio Palacios / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 2nd place
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Photographer: Ignacio Palacios, Australia
Subject and location: Arita Cone, La Puna, Argentina
Copyright Ignacio Palacios / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 3rd place
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Photographer: Gheorghe Popa, Romania
Subject and location: Early Autumn, Vânători Neamț Natural Park, Romania
Copyright Gheorghe Popa / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 3rd place
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Photographer: Gheorghe Popa, Romania
Subject and location: Poisoned Beauty, Geamăna, Apuseni Mountains, Romania
Copyright Gheorghe Popa / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photographer of the Year: 3rd place
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Photographer: Gheorghe Popa, Romania
Subject and location: Whispers of the Sunken Trees Cuejdel Lake, Romania
Copyright Gheorghe Popa / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photograph of the Year: 1st place
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Photographer: Ryohei Irie, Japan
Subject and location: Traces of Light, Ichinomata, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
Description: The Landscape Photograph of the Year Award went to Ryohei Irie of Japan. He likes the mysterious atmosphere created by the standing dead trees and firefly light. “I have been visiting this Subject and location for several years during the firefly season, and it is an interesting place because the intensity and length of the firefly light and the Subject and location where the fireflies fly vary greatly, depending on the year and time of day, resulting in completely different works, even when photographed in the same way.”
Copyright Ryohei Irie / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photograph of the Year: 2nd place
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Photographer: Justinus Sukotjo, Indonesia
Subject and location: Mother Care Framing, Walakiri Beach, Sumba Island, Indonesia
Copyright Justinus Sukotjo / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Landscape Photograph of the Year: 3rd place
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Photographer: Himadri Bhuyan, India
Subject and location: The Flow, Sohra, Meghalaya, India
Copyright Himadri Bhuyan / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
The Black and White Award
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Photographer: J. Fritz Rumpf, United States
Award: The Black and White Award 2024
Subject and location: White Tie Affair. Death Valley National Park, California, USA
Copyright J. Fritz Rumpf / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
The Aerial Award
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Photographer: Benjamin Barakat, Switzerland
Award: The Aerial Award 2024
Subject and location: The Final Dune, Namibia
Copyright Benjamin Barakat / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
The Snow and Ice Award
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Photographer: Jeroen van Nieuwenhove, Iceland
Award: The Snow and Ice Award 2024
Subject and location: Isþyrlu – Ice Swirl, Scoresbysund, Greenland
Copyright Jeroen van Nieuwenhove / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
The Forest Award
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Photographer: Shirley Wung, Taiwan
Award: The Forest Award 2024
Subject and location: Fireflies flying in the Misty Mountains, Wufeng Township, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Copyright Shirley Wung / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
The Exciting Sky Award
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Photographer: Federico Delucchi, Italy
Award: The Exciting Sky Award 2024
Subject and location: Aurora, meteor shower and other cool stuff, Rocca la Meja, Italy
Copyright Federico Delucchi / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Other top entries
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Photographer: Laura Bennet, United States
Subject and location: Sumba Island, Indonesia
Copyright Laura Bennet / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Other top entries
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Photographer: William Preite, Italy
Subject and location: Pale di San Martino, Falcade, Dolomites, Italy
Copyright William Preite / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Other top entries
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Photographer: Siegfried Makedanz, Germany
Subject and location: Sandfellsjökull Glacier Lagoon, Southern Iceland
Copyright Siegfried Makedanz / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Other top entries
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Photographer: Sabine Weise, Germany
Subject and location: Moonscape Overlook, Utah Badlands, USA
Copyright Sabine Weise / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Other top entries
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Photographer: Yuriy Vantowski, United States
Subject and location: Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia
Copyright Yuriy Vantowski / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Other top entries
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Photographer: Tanay Das, India
Subject and location: Kistwa, Himalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Copyright Tanay Das / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
Other top entries
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Photographer: Rajesh Jyothiswaran, United States
Subject and location: Texas, United States
Copyright Rajesh Jyothiswaran / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year
| Images: Canon, Nikon |
It wasn’t long ago that many of our reviews of APS-C cameras had to come with a warning: no matter how good the body was, you were almost certainly going to be limited by lens selection. This was especially true with Nikon and Canon’s mirrorless cameras. Sony has followed its longstanding tradition of letting third parties build out a healthy selection of lenses, and the selection for Fujifilm’s APS-C-only X-mount is second to none, but Nikon’s Z mount and Canon’s RF mount appeared to be almost completely locked down. As a result, you could count the number of APS-C lens options available on your fingers.
But things are changing. Over the past year, we’ve seen several APS-C lenses announced and released for Canon and Nikon cameras, filling notable gaps in the first-party lens lineups. But while the situation is improving, it’s clear that the two companies are still in control.
This week, Sigma released four APS-C primes for Canon’s RF mount, making good on its promise to release six licensed lenses for the system – earlier this year, it released the 10-18mm F2.8 and 18-50mm F2.8. Meanwhile, Nikon has allowed Sigma to release select primes for Z-mount – a trio of F1.4 primes at 16, 30, and 56mm. It’s worth noting the company’s 23mm F1.4 is the only one of its APS-C primes that it hasn’t brought to Z-mount; it likely isn’t a coincidence that Nikon’s only first-party APS-C prime lens is a 24mm F1.7.
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Sigma’s APS-C prime lens lineup is quite good, and now most of them are available for almost any mirrorless APS-C camera.
Image: Sigma |
However, Nikon hasn’t stopped companies like Viltrox and Sirui from releasing a slew of Z-mount APS-C prime lenses, complete with autofocus. If you pick up a Nikon Zfc or Z50II, you can get anywhere from a 13mm F1.4 (20mm equiv.) to a 75mm F1.2 (113mm equiv.) to go with it, as well as most of the classic focal lengths in between.
Your choices are no longer limited to a few first-party options, manual-focus only lenses, or glass meant for full-frame bodies
This is an important change for APS-C shooters. Even going back to the DSLR days, it’s felt like many manufacturers have viewed the format as a stepping stone to full-frame rather than something enthusiasts and pros might consciously choose. Neither Canon nor Nikon have been particularly prolific when releasing new APS-C glass. But with the gates being slightly opened, you’re no longer limited to a few first-party options, manual-focus-only lenses from third parties, or heavier, more expensive full-frame lenses. Now, there’s at least some selection of third-party lenses with autofocus to choose from, alongside Canon and Nikon’s offerings.
This isn’t to say that you can now buy any APS-C camera you want and be assured that all the lenses you want will be available – you are still at the mercy of what Canon and Nikon wish to allow. While plenty of primes are available for Z-mount APS-C cameras, no fast zoom lenses are available; Nikon’s all start at F3.5 and end at F5.6 or F6.3.
In fact, there are currently no third-party APS-C zooms available for Nikon Z-mount at all, despite the fact that two have made the jump from E and X-mount to RF – it also goes without saying that there are many others more available on Fujifilm and Sony’s systems. That’s a bummer for anyone looking to step up from the kit lens or wanting to shoot sports or birds in anything but ideal lighting without having to shell out for and lug around a full-frame 70-200mm.
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Tamron has promised to bring its 11-20mm F2.8 APS-C lens to Canon RF mount this year as well – no word on Z-mount, despite Tamron bringing some of its full-frame lenses to Nikon.
Image: Tamron |
RF mount at least has the two constant F2.8 zooms thanks to Sigma, with one more on the way from Tamron, though those are all at the wide end. However, there are far fewer autofocus primes available for Canon, as manufacturers like Sirui and Viltrox aren’t producing them. That’s not surprising; a representative for the latter once said that Canon had told it to stop producing products for RF mount. The 85mm F1.4 lens that Samyang announced for the system in 2020 also disappeared from the market not long after.
In a perfect world, these problems wouldn’t exist. Canon and Nikon would make the lenses that their APS-C cameras needed to stand on their own feet as a real alternative to full-frame options, and there would be robust competition from third parties, which would be allowed to make whatever lenses they want.
None of that seems particularly likely. However, at least those who choose to shoot with a smaller sensor in a Canon or Nikon body have gotten a wider choice of lenses, even if they’re still bound by the companies’ rules.
At the end of the day, that’s better for everyone interested in APS-C, because it means that cameras like the EOS R7 and Z50II are competitive with the Sony a6700 and Fujifilm X-T5 in a way that they wouldn’t have been with an extremely limited lens selection. With any luck, this trend will continue, and the APS-C landscape will become more competitive – even if Canon and Nikon aren’t giving it their full attention.
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The FE 28-70mm F2.8 GM, attached to the newly-announced a1 II.
Photo: Mitchell Clark |
Sony has announced the FE 28-70mm F2 GM, a zoom lens that trades 4mm at the wide end for an aperture that’s a stop brighter than the one found on a classic 24-70mm F2.8. It’s the company’s first constant F2 zoom lens for its E-mount cameras.
The lens’s optical formula consists of 20 elements in 14 groups, with three aspherical lenses, three super ED elements, and one ED element. It uses an 11-blade aperture. The front element has an oil and water-resistant flourine coating, and the lens is moisture and dust resistant.
It’s far from a compact lens, though it’s not as monstrously large as you might expect – it weighs in at 918g (32 oz) and is around 140mm (5.5″) long. It has an 86mm filter thread.
Sony makes it obvious what lens it’s competing with; highlighting that it’s 36% lighter and 11% smaller in diameter than Canon’s RF 28-70mm F2 L lens while claiming better corner-to-corner sharpness. The company also says the lens’s four linear motors can focus even when shooting at 120fps, and emphasized that they’re quieter than the older ring-type ultrasonic style motor in the Canon F2. In fairness, that lens was one of the original RF-mount releases, announced in 2018.
“Sony makes it obvious which lens it’s competing with”
The quieter operation should help when shooting video. Other pluses for video: it has an internal focusing mechanism which should make it easier to use the lens on a gimbal, the ability to switch the aperture ring into clickless mode and supports the focus breathing compensation mode included on some Sony bodies. You can also set the manual focus ring to have a linear response, which should make focus pulls easier.
The lens has a variety of switches and buttons. There are two customizable focus hold buttons, an Iris lock switch, the aperture click switch and a zoom smoothness switch that lets you adjust between “smooth” and “tight” torque settings.
It’s not the fastest zoom lens available for E-mount: at the time of writing, that prize goes to Sigma’s 28-45mm F1.8, though that model has substantially less reach on the tele end and only a 1/3EV increase in light-gathering ability.
The FE 28-70mm F2 GM will be available in mid-December and has an MSRP of $2,899.
Sony Electronics Announces Its First Constant F2 Aperture Zoom Lens: The Full-Frame 28-70mm F2 G Master™
The Unique Combination of a Versatile Focal Range, Large F2 Aperture, and Compact Form Factor
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 19, 2024 – Sony Electronics Inc. introduces the 28-70mm F2 G Master, the first1 Sony zoom lens with a constant F2 aperture and 77th lens in the Sony E-Mount lineup. This full-frame lens offers a versatile focal range from 28mm to 70mm while delivering prime-like2 bokeh with its constant F2 aperture. Despite its wide aperture and zoom range, the 28-70mm F2 G Master remains compact, lightweight, and well-balanced, making it ideal for both photography and video applications. This combination of zoom range, large aperture, and compact design makes this an innovative and versatile lens for portrait, sports, wedding, event, and video professionals.
“Our goal with the 28-70mm F2 G Master was to create a high-performing zoom lens that could be a strong single lens alternative to multiple primes,” said Yang Cheng, Vice President of Imaging Solutions, Sony Electronics Inc. “We prioritized a lightweight design during the engineering process as we knew that was a critical factor for real-life, practical use. And in a manner that only Sony can do, we were able to deliver a small, standard F2 zoom lens that does not sacrifice image quality. We’re proud to add this to our G Master series and believe it is one of the most innovative lenses ever offered to professionals.”
Sharp Imagery and Beautiful Bokeh
The 28-70mm F2 G Master produces extremely sharp corner-to-corner results throughout the entire zoom range, even while shooting wide open at F2. The high-resolution output is made possible by the three XA (extreme aspherical) elements and three aspherical elements built within the lens that minimize aberrations. The lens also features a floating focusing system that helps maintain internal stability. This focusing mechanism enables an impressive minimum focusing distance of up to 14.8 inches (0.38m) throughout the entire zoom range.
Staying true to the G Master lens lineage, the lens’ aperture up to F2 produces extraordinary bokeh, ideal for creating images that showcase a shallow depth of field. The 28-70mm F2 amplifies the G Master bokeh standards through a newly designed 11-blade circular aperture unit. Chromatic aberrations, which cause color fringing within photos, are effectively minimized with three Super ED (extra-low dispersion) elements and one ED element built within the lens. Additionally, Sony’s Nano AR Coating II reduces flare and internal reflections, ensuring clear images, even when strong light sources are present in the frame.
Compact, Lightweight Design Without Compromising Quality
The 28-70mm F2 G Master is one of the most advanced mirrorless camera lenses manufactured with a total 20 different lens elements arranged within 14 internal groups. Despite the advanced optical design, the lens remains compact at 3.6 x 5.5 inches (92.9 x 139.8mm) and lightweight at approximately 32.3 ounces (918g). The combination of imaging performance and a compact form factor offers an innovative solution that meets the demands of industry professionals.
Precise Autofocus Tracking with Instant Response
Reliable and responsive autofocus is delivered through the lens’ four XD (extreme dynamic) linear motors powered by advanced control algorithms. This smooth performance system provides accurate and quick focus tracking, often essential in many professional use cases like weddings and sports. This lens is fully compatible with Sony’s Alpha 9 III‘s high-speed continuous shooting capabilities of up to 120 frames per second3 with AF/AE (autofocus/autoexposure) tracking, even while zooming.
Designed for High-Performance Video Shooting
Along with its F2 aperture, the zoom range of the 28-70mm G Master provides a versatile video option that can cover standard field-of-view shots and tighter compositions up to 70mm. This lens minimizes focus breathing through its build and compatibility with the Breathing Compensation feature on various Alpha bodies4. Its high autofocus performance ensures reliable focus even when recording in high frame rates up to 4K 120p / FHD 240p5. Additionally, the XD linear motors and newly developed aperture unit operates silently, preventing any lens noise from being captured during filming.
The lens is ideal for gimbal use with a minimal zoom extension of approximately .68 inches. The compact form factor and short external zoom helps maintain gimbal balance, even at varying focal lengths.
Operability and Reliability for Versatile Control
Key control features include Linear Response MF for intuitive manual focusing, adjustable zoom ring torque, and an aperture ring with a click ON/OFF switch. The lens also offers two customizable focus hold buttons, an iris lock switch, and an AF/MF switch. The 28-70mm F2 G Master has an 86mm filter diameter and a convenient window on the lens hood for variable filter adjustments.
For durability, all buttons and switches are sealed with silicone gaskets, and critical areas are designed to resist dust and moisture6. This ensures reliability, even while using in challenging outdoor environments. Additionally, a fluorine coating on the front element repels contaminants for easy cleaning.
Pricing and Availability
The 28-70mm F2 G Master will be available in December 2024 for approximately $2,899.99 USD and $3,999.99 CAD. It will be sold at a variety of Sony’s authorized dealers throughout North America.
A product video on the new 28-70mm F2 G Master can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/7Y_O5YYQIl0
For detailed product information about the 28-70mm F2 G Master, please visit: https://electronics.sony.com/imaging/lenses/full-frame-e-mount/p/sel2870gm
Exclusive stories and exciting new content shot with the new 28-70mm F2 G Master and Sony’s other imaging products can be found at www.alphauniverse.com, a site created to inform, educate, and inspire content creators.
Sony FE 28-70mm F2 GM Specifications
| Principal specifications | |
|---|---|
| Lens type | Zoom lens |
| Max Format size | 35mm FF |
| Focal length | 28–70 mm |
| Image stabilization | No |
| Lens mount | Sony E, Sony FE |
| Aperture | |
| Maximum aperture | F2–20 |
| Minimum aperture | F2–20 |
| Aperture ring | Yes |
| Number of diaphragm blades | 11 |
| Optics | |
| Elements | 20 |
| Groups | 14 |
| Special elements / coatings | 3 aspherical, 3 super ED, 1 ED |
| Focus | |
| Minimum focus | 0.38 m (14.96″) |
| Maximum magnification | 0.23× |
| Autofocus | Yes |
| Motor type | Linear Motor |
| Focus method | Internal |
| Distance scale | No |
| DoF scale | No |
| Physical | |
| Weight | 918 g (2.02 lb) |
| Diameter | 93 mm (3.66″) |
| Length | 140 mm (5.51″) |
| Sealing | Yes |
| Colour | Black |
| Filter thread | 86 mm |
| Hood supplied | Yes |
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