Sony FE 200-600mm 5.6-6.3 G OSS

The Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS is not a perfect lens but it is no less than a steal for the money and it alone may be a reason for buying into the Sony system - if you are really into such long tele lenses. The Sony lens is, unsurprisingly, very sharp in the lower to mid parts of its zoom range. At 600mm, the corner quality suffers somewhat whereas the center quality remains impressively high. Most photographers won't probably ever notice this but there are limits when it comes to astrophotography here. Image distortions are present but can be handled via image auto-correction activated. This will also take care of the lateral CAs which are on the high side. The native vignetting is typical for such a lens. A positive surprise is the quality of the bokeh which is (substantially) better than most lenses in this class although prime lenses are better still. The build quality of the Sony lens is superb thanks to a tightly assembled, metal body. Sony also didn't forget to implement dust- and moisture-resistant seals. We can't emphasize enough that it is unusual for a sanely priced super-tele zoom lens to have a constant physical size. Other than the obvious advantage regarding air movement within the lens, it also allows for a much smoother (easier) zoom experience compared to the usual "air pumps". The AF is pretty fast and noiseless. We were also impressed by the real-world efficiency of the image stabilizer. The Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS is a big and heavy lens and mounted to a small Sony camera, the setup can feel a bit unbalanced so adding a vertical grip may be a sensible investment for improving handling. Regarding the sum of its qualities combined with the very reasonable price tag, the verdict can only be - highly recommended!

The new FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS (model SEL200600G) is Sony's furthest-reaching super-telephoto zoom lens. Offering a versatile tele-zoom range from 200mm telephoto to 600mm super-telephoto, the new Sony 200-600mm lens is also compatible with Sony’s 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters, extending its reach to 840mm at f/9 or 1200mm at f/13. In terms of key features, this lens offers built-in optical stabilisation with three different mode settings, a 11-blade circular aperture mechanism, has an internal zoom mechanism and is equipped with Sony’s DDSSM (Direct Drive SSM) focusing system.