UPDATE: A few weeks ago we posted about Sony's rumored new lens, the Sony 20-70mm f/2.8 G Master – and it now appears that a release date has been set.
While we're hoping that the Sony 20-70mm f/2.8 G Master might make an appearance at CES 2023 this week, according to the latest rumors it is likely that the world's first standard zoom with a 20mm focal length will materialize later this month.
According to a report by Sony Alpha Rumors, the lens could be announced on January 17 – and could carry a recommended retail price of around $1,600 (approximately £1,335 / AU$2,337).
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ORIGINAL STORY (Dec 22 2022): Rumors are building that Sony is set to launch a new compact 20-70mm lens, this would be the first time that this focal distance has been used on a lens. What is more impressive is how compact the lens is rumored to be, with the lens aimed towards travel photographers that want the most versatile zoom range in a package that can easily slip into a backpack.
You might be questioning why this lens is a big deal when there are already so many incredible 24-70mm lenses out there, with Sony's own first-generation FE 24-70mm f2.8 G Master lens becoming more affordable. However, it is easy to underestimate how much of a jump 4mm can be at the wide end of a lens. Any landscape or travel photographer knows the pain of not being able to squeeze the last bits of a scene into the frame, and an extra 4mm can really give you the edge.
This won't replace a dedicated wide angle for many photographers, as often an even wider angle of 14mm or 16mm is required, but for a lot of photographers, this might be the easiest and most affordable way to slim down their travel kit into just one do-all lens.
There are no clear indicators of what the maximum aperture of this lens would be, however, Mirrorless Rumors source has proposed that it will have an f/4 constant aperture, rather than the f/2.8 that professional users would demand.
Sony has recently released the Sony FE 16-35mm f4 G PZ lens, which was a very impressively light and compact travel lens that didn't compromise on performance, so it is expected that the new 20-70mm would follow in its footsteps in terms of optical design and engineering.
There have been a couple of lenses in this area that has come close. Tamron released the excellent 17-70mm F/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD, however, this is only available APS-C mounts for Sony E mount and Fujifilm XF mount cameras. This is an impressibly small and compact lens that still manages to include a wide f/2.8 constant aperture. The internet has been begging Tamron to make a full-frame version of this lens.
You can find out more about Sony by reading our guides to the best Sony lenses, the best Sony cameras, and the best Sony wide-angle lenses.
