Sony E PZ 10-20mm F4 G
The ultra-wide — how it sees, what it is for, and why its constant f/4 and power zoom suit video.
- Describe what ultra-wide focal lengths do to a scene
- Use the 10-20mm for architecture, interiors, and near-far composition
- Exploit its constant f/4 and internal power zoom for video
The Sony E PZ 10-20mm F4 G is the smaller, stranger, and in some ways more exciting of your two lenses. At 15–30mm equivalent it sees far more than your eyes do, and learning to compose that much view is the whole craft of using it.
How ultra-wide sees
Wide is not just “more in the frame.” An ultra-wide stretches near-far relationships: a foreground object placed close looms enormous over a distant background. That is the lens’s superpower and its trap. Used carelessly it makes everything small and far away; used deliberately — one bold thing up close, anchoring depth into the distance — it pulls the viewer bodily into the scene.
Straight lines also matter more here. Tilt the camera up and verticals converge dramatically; keep the sensor level and they stay parallel and clean. With this lens, where you point it is a composition decision, not an afterthought.
What it is for
- Architecture and interiors — it takes in a whole room or facade from a realistic distance, and kept level it renders buildings honestly.
- Landscapes with a foreground — a rock, a flower, a puddle up close, mountains behind: the classic wide composition.
- Vlogging at arm’s length — at 10mm you can hold the camera out and still fit yourself and your surroundings, with room to spare.
Constant f/4
The aperture is f/4 across the whole zoom range. It is not a fast lens, but at these focal lengths depth of field is deep anyway, so f/4 is rarely a limitation for wide work — and IBIS covers the lack of a fast aperture for handheld stills. What the constant aperture buys you is consistency: zoom without your exposure shifting, which matters most for video.
Built for video
Two features make this a natural video lens. The zoom is internal and powered (the “PZ”) — the barrel does not extend, and you can drive the zoom smoothly and silently, even remotely. And because it is a Sony G lens, it supports focus-breathing compensation on this body. There is no optical stabilization, but the wide view and the a6700’s IBIS and Active mode more than make up for it.
In the field
Find a strong foreground — anything with texture within arm’s reach — and shoot it at 10mm with a deep background behind. Move the camera just a few centimetres and watch the foreground swell and shrink against the distance. That exaggerated depth, under your control, is why this lens exists.