Having lastly gotten my fingers on the Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS, it’s not the monster lens I envisioned. And that’s no unhealthy factor. In actual fact it’s not a lot larger, nor heavier, than the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS. And whereas it’s larger and heavier than the Canon RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM, it has an inside zoom – so it’s fairly a bit shorter when the Canon is maxed out on the telephoto finish.
I attempted the 400-800mm on the Sony A7R V at The Pictures & Video Present in London, England, and was impressed with the mix’s AF velocity.
However what actually received me was the probabilities that this lens might afford fanatic wildlife, motorsport and aviation photographers. At 5.45lbs / 2475g it’s handholdable, though extended use would probably warrant one of many finest monopods or some such stabilization.
I wasn’t in a position to check the lens with a teleconverter, however it’s value mentioning that this lens’ already monster attain may be elevated through 1.4x and 2x extenders, delivering as much as a whopping 1600mm attain. And whereas this could produce as much as a really slender f/13-f/16, a Sony rep assured me that the autofocus nonetheless works properly.
And naturally, use APS-C / Tremendous 35mm mode on a full-frame Sony digicam and you may flip that 400-800mm right into a 600-1200mm.
Finally, this isn’t a lens that’s going to attraction to the very severe wildlife photographers who have already got an inexpensive quantity of drugs. And I do suppose for my very own private makes use of, the marginally wider aperture vary of the Sony 200-600mm continues to be extra my velocity.
However, in the event you’re in search of your first super-telephoto lens and need to seize a variety of topics, the Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS seems like an amazing companion for, say, safaris, air reveals and even motorsports.
I’ve mentioned it earlier than and I’ll say it once more: we’re within the golden age of the super-telephoto!
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