Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS

Objektive im Test: 54 Fest­brenn­weiten, Tele-, Reise- und Stan­dard-Zooms

The Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS is an impressive piece of equipment. The broader center-zone is especially outstanding when keeping in mind that the lens has been tested on a 42mp sensor. The far corners could be better at 70mm f/2.8 and 200mm f/2.8 but that's usually not an issue in real life. Lateral CAs are low. Image distortions as well as vignetting are well auto-corrected. The native distortion characteristic is somewhat worse compared to what we've seen with similar DSLR lenses though. The quality of the bokeh is pretty nice for a lens in this class. The amount of bokeh fringing is about average. The build quality is perfectly aligned to professional standards. It feels super-sturdy and the weather sealing certainly helps when the going gets tough outdoors. Sony also paid attention to details such as a retractable window in the lens hood for using a polarizer and a bunch of focus stop buttons. The built-in image stabilizer is good enough for about 3 f-stops. If there's one aspect that didn't really convince us, it's the auto-focus. Things may be different on the A9 but on the A7R II, the speed wasn't all that great (compared to DSLR lenses) and we even experienced a few bugs which we haven't seen in other Sony lenses so far. If you want to achieve shallow depth-of-field with a zoom lens, the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS is certainly a go-to lens in the Sony system - albeit a pricey one. PS: Some readers may be stressed by our 3.5* optical rating. Please keep in mind that our rating system is absolute and not relative to the class of the lens. Also - the rating is aligned to a 42mp sensor. On a 24mp sensor, the rating would be easily 4* or better because the (few) corner weaknesses would not show up quite as much.

The FE 70-200mm f2.8 G Master is Sony’s professional large aperture telephoto zoom lens for their Alpha mirrorless cameras. As such it is one of the most important lenses in their line-up and highly desirable to portrait and wedding photographers, as well as anyone shooting close-range sports or wildlife. Sony equipped its lens well: optical image stabilization, tripod collar, focus limiter, focus-hold buttons and compatibility with Sony’s 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters. Plus there’s fluorine coating on the front lens and thorough weather-sealing. The lens focuses closer than one meter and can achieve a very useful maximum magnification of 1:3.6. Its optical performance is still the best you can get for your Sony Alpha mirrorless camera in this focal range. It may not be the smallest telephoto zoom with a constant f2.8 focal ratio and it's pretty heavy on your neck and wallet too, but other than that I can highly recommend it!