A good macro lens should be sharp, provide a good working distance from subjects, deliver images with high magnification, and offer a pleasant manual focus experience. The Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS ($1,099.99) offers all that and more. It's a top performer, with only a few quibbles when it comes to its imaging performance. It's definitely pricey, but if you're shooting with Sony's full-frame mirrorless camera system, and in want of an autofocus macro lens, it's the one to get, and our Editors' Choice. If you want to save a little money and are fine with manual focus, however, you can opt for the Samyang 100mm F2.8 ED UMC Macro ($549.00 at Amazon) , which is available for Sony cameras for about half the price.

Design
The 90mm Macro is one of the larger prime lenses for the Sony mirrorless system. It measures 5.1 by 3.1 inches (HD), weighs 1.3 pounds, and supports 62mm front filters. A reversible lens hood is included. The lens barrel is metal, and the large manual focus ring is finished in textured metal rather than rubber, which gives it a very good feel.

Like other lenses for Sony mirrorless cameras, manual focus is a focus-by-wire. But Sony is doing its best to simulate the tactile feel of a mechanical manual focus system. The focus ring features a clutch mechanism—you push it forward for autofocus and pull it back for manual focus. When it's set to MF, the ring turns the barrel physically. A distance scale, which lists magnification ratio, feet, and meters, turns along with it. There's still a motor inside actually moving the lens elements, but the resistance offered by the focus ring goes a long way to simulate the feel of a mechanical system.

There are two switches on the barrel, both located near the lens mount. The top is a focus limiter, which can be set to Full, 0.5-meter to infinity, or 0.28-meter to 0.5-meter. Limiting the range over which the lens will hunt for focus will speed acquisition when working in autofocus mode. The switch below that toggles the image stabilization system. There's also a Focus Lock button, just ahead of the switches on the thicker part of the barrel. Holding it down will prevent the camera's autofocus system from adjusting the plane of focus.

The lens focuses on subjects as close as 11 inches. When working at that minimum distance, objects are projected onto the image sensor at life-size—true 1:1 magnification. That's a must for many macro photographers. But when working at such a close distance, you'll need to narrow the aperture significantly in order to capture images with anything but a sliver of depth of field.

Image Quality
To see how the 90mm performs at various apertures—from wide open at f/2.8 all the way down to its minimum f/22 rating—I paired it with the 42-megapixel Alpha 7R II ($1,798.00 at Amazon) and ran sharpness test results through Imatest. At f/2.8 the lens is a solid performer, scoring 2,605 lines per picture height on a center-weighted sharpness test. That's better than the 1,800 lines we like to see in an image, but the edge performance is lacking—the outer third of the frame is noticeably soft at 1,600 lines. If you want a lens in this focal range that does a better job from edge to edge at wide apertures, consider instead the Zeiss Batis 85/1.8. It's not suitable for macro use, but it's downright perfect for portraiture.

Stopping down to f/4 shows a very modest improvement to the center-weighted score (2,630 lines), but edges to jump to 1,790 lines. There's significant improvement at f/5.6—the lens scores 3,109 lines when averaged across the frame, and edges are reasonably crisp at 2,350 lines.

See How We Test Digital Cameras

At f/8 the lens shines, which is good news for macro shooters. The lens shows 3,485 lines, with even performance through most of the frame and edges that hit 3,073 lines. The center-weighted score is almost identical at f/11 (3,482 lines), but edges jump to 3,370 lines.

Diffraction becomes an issue at f/16, but the lens still resolves 3,251 lines with even performance throughout the frame. The flat field of sharpness continues at the minimum f/22 aperture, but diffraction cuts the resolution score to a more modest 2,611 lines. If you need more depth of field than f/16 provides, consider shooting multiple images and stacking them in post.

We use Imatest's uniformity tool, along with an ExpoDisc 2.0, to see how evenly a lens distributes light across the frame. At f/2.8 and f/4 the 90mm does a very good job, showing just 0.9EV light loss at the corners of the frame. From f/5.6 and beyond, the corner illumination lags behind the center by less than 0.5EV, which isn't an issue in field conditions. If you are put off by the very slight drop at wider apertures, it's easy enough remedy using Lightroom CC's lens profile system or vignette adjustment tool.

Conclusion
The Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS is a killer macro lens, and an easy pick for Editors' Choice. It's perfectly sharp from edge to edge when stopped down the the narrow apertures that you're likely to use for macro photography, handles diffraction well through f/16, focuses close enough for 1:1 magnification, and avoids distortion. Yes, it's on the large size for a prime—and expensive—but you get what you pay for. The major hurdle for some photographers may be the focus-by-wire system—even though it feels similar to a mechanical focus ring, it isn't quite the same. For those users, and shooters on a budget, you can opt for the pure manual focus Samyang 100mm F2.8 ED UMC Macro lens—it's less expensive, but it doesn't support autofocus at all. If you're simply shopping for a lens in this focal length, without close focus as a priority, you may be more interested in another Editors' Choice winner, the Zeiss Batis 85/1.8. it captures images with a similar field of view and has a wider maximum aperture, but won't let you focus nearly as close as a true macro lens.

Best Lens Picks

• The Best Fujifilm Lenses for 2020
• The Best Leica M Lenses for 2020
• The Best Micro Four Thirds Lenses for 2020
• The Best Pentax SLR Lenses for 2020
• More Lens Reviews
• More from Sony

Further Reading

• Tamron Details Affordable 70-180mm F2.8 Zoom Lens
• The Best Sony Mirrorless Lenses for 2020
• The Best Nikon Lenses for 2020
• The Best Canon Lenses for 2020
• Oops! $13K Camera Lens Sells for $95 Due to Prime Day Error