Sony has unveiled the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS, a G Grasp telephoto zoom constructed round a continuing F4.5 aperture throughout your complete focal vary, an inner zoom design, and 4 XD Linear Motors driving a floating focus system. The brand new lens sits alongside the prevailing 2017-vintage FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM quite than changing it, occupying a beforehand empty slot in Sony’s super-telephoto lineup.

The announcement arrives on the identical occasion that launched the brand new Alpha 7R VI, and the 2 merchandise are clearly designed to work collectively. Sony is positioning the brand new lens as “the primary 100-400mm with no skilled compromise,” with the fixed F4.5 aperture changing the unique lens’s F4.5-5.6 variable design. The unique FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS grew to become one of the vital fashionable telephoto zooms within the Sony system after its 2017 launch, and Sony’s up to date lineup chart nonetheless retains it within the Fanatic and Novice zoom tier alongside the FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G and the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G. The brand new F4.5 GM strikes up one tier right into a hybrid Skilled/Fanatic place that has been empty till now.

What fixed F4.5 really adjustments

Throughout the 100 to 400mm zoom vary, the brand new lens stays at F4.5. For comparability, the unique FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens hits F5.6 on the telephoto finish, the Sony FE 200-600mm lens arrives at F6.3, and the FE 400-800mm lens stops right down to F8.0. At 400mm, the brand new lens is subsequently one cease brighter than the unique 100-400 GM, roughly 1.3 stops brighter than the 200-600mm lens on the identical focal size, and a full two stops brighter than the 400-800 lens.

For video work, the sensible implication is extra vital than the cease depend suggests. Variable-aperture zooms pressure an publicity shift mid-move at any time when the focal size adjustments, which both requires handbook ISO ramping or auto-exposure compensation that introduces seen brightness pumping. A relentless aperture eliminates that downside fully, which is one cause cinema lens designs virtually universally keep away from variable apertures. The identical logic applies to stills shooters working in shutter-priority modes, the place a 2/3-stop aperture shift throughout a burst on the unique 100-400 GM beforehand meant adjusting ISO mid-sequence or dropping shutter pace on the lengthy finish.

A brand new optical components with 28 parts

The lens makes use of 20 teams, 28 parts (together with one filter), constructed round a extra aggressive special-element depend than the unique. Sony has specified two Tremendous ED glass parts, three ED glass parts, one XA excessive aspherical aspect, and one new ED XA aspect that mixes extra-low dispersion with the acute aspherical floor. The unique SEL100400GM, against this, used one Tremendous ED and two ED parts, with no XA or ED XA parts.

The ED XA aspect is the genuinely new piece of glass right here. XA parts are manufactured to sub-0.01-micron floor precision and are particularly chosen to suppress onion-ring bokeh, an artifact the place floor unevenness on typical aspherical lenses reveals up as concentric rings inside defocused highlights. Combining that floor precision with extra-low dispersion in a single aspect ought to, in precept, suppress chromatic aberration and spherical aberration concurrently with out introducing the onion-ring downside that XA parts are designed to unravel. Sony additionally says every lens is individually fine-tuned throughout manufacturing to maximise bokeh high quality, past design-level aberration management.

Floor coatings embody Nano AR II for flare and ghosting suppression, plus a fluorine coating on the entrance aspect to withstand contamination. The aperture is constructed from 11 blades organized in a round sample for smoother ball bokeh.

The interior zoom is essentially the most video-relevant change

For cinematographers, the inner zoom design is arguably essentially the most consequential choice on this lens. The unique SEL100400GM was an extending zoom, with the bodily size rising from 205mm at 100mm to 289.6mm at 400mm. The brand new lens stays fastened at 328mm / 12.91 in all through the zoom vary.

Inside zoom issues for a number of sensible causes in movement work. In the event you insist on working with this lens on a gimbal, the steadiness is not going to shift throughout a zoom transfer, which implies a one-time steadiness setup holds throughout your complete focal vary. The lens doesn’t pump air out and in of the barrel because it zooms, decreasing mud ingress threat in discipline circumstances. Weight distribution stays fixed for handheld operators. And the barrel doesn’t prolong into topics or surrounding obstacles, which issues in press containers, wildlife blinds, and different space-constrained taking pictures positions. Sony has additionally added a zoom smoothness change with two settings, Clean and Tight, that alter the zoom ring torque. The Clean setting is positioned for monitoring fast-moving topics, whereas Tight is for fixed-composition work the place the operator wants the ring to carry place firmly.

4 XD Linear Motors and Sony’s autofocus claims

The brand new lens drives its floating focus system with 4 XD Linear Motors, which Sony says have been redesigned to ship considerably larger thrust than earlier generations. Sony’s revealed efficiency claims in comparison with the unique SEL100400GM are an autofocus pace enchancment of as much as 3x and roughly 50 p.c higher monitoring efficiency, measured below Sony’s personal take a look at circumstances with the lens held at a hard and fast focal size. The lens helps as much as 120 fps autofocus monitoring and steady taking pictures when paired with the Alpha 9 III, and 30 fps monitoring on the Alpha 7R VI.

As with all manufacturer-supplied efficiency figures, each the 3x pace declare and the +50% monitoring declare have to be verified in real-world use.

Measurement and weight, and what Sony selected to sacrifice

The brand new lens measures 119.8 x 328mm / 4.72 x 12.91 in and weighs roughly 1,840g / 64.9 oz. In comparison with the unique SEL100400GM, which measures 93.9 x 205mm / 3.70 x 8.07 in (minimal size, extending to 289.6mm) at 1,395g / 49.2 oz, that could be a substantial step up. The brand new lens is roughly 26mm wider, 39mm longer at minimal, and 445g heavier than its predecessor. A few of that comes from the fixed F4.5 aperture, which requires extra glass on the lengthy finish. Some comes from the inner zoom mechanism, which provides bulk in alternate for the fastened barrel size. And a few comes from the extra aggressive special-element depend.

For context in opposition to Sony’s different super-telephoto zooms, the brand new lens is definitely extra compact than the FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G, which measures 111.5 x 318mm at 2,115g, regardless of the brand new lens having an identical diameter and size. Additionally it is over 50 p.c lighter than the older A-mount Sony 200-400mm f/4 G SSM with the 1.4x extender connected (3,620g). Sony’s framing is that the brand new lens represents the lightest professional-grade 100-400 constant-aperture choice, which is technically true, though it’s also the heaviest 100-400 within the Sony lineup by some margin.

Skilled-grade operational controls

The management structure is shared with the SEL300F28GM (300mm f/2.8 GM), suggesting Sony intends the brand new 100-400 to fit instantly into professional telephoto kits. On the proper facet of the barrel, the lens has 4 focus-hold buttons distributed across the circumference, a operate ring, a zoom ring, a focusing ring marked LR MF, and a row of 5 management switches: focus mode, full-time DMF, focus-range limiter (specified for infinity to 4m), SteadyShot on/off, and SteadyShot mode. The tripod collar locking knob, safety slot, and drop-in filter slot all sit on the proper as nicely. On the left facet are the zoom smoothness change and the tripod collar ring-clicking choose change, with strap holes on each side.

The operate ring presents three assignable modes through the digicam menu. The default is Energy Focus, the place rotating the ring proper or left strikes focus towards infinity or shut vary, respectively. The second mode is Full Body / APS-C S35 toggling, the place any rotation switches the angle of view between full body and the Tremendous 35 crop, helpful on high-resolution our bodies just like the Alpha 7R VI or Alpha 1 II for immediate further attain. The third mode is Preset Focus, the place the operator can register a selected focus and zoom place by holding the ring, and recollect it immediately with a flick.

Constructed for fastened installations in addition to discipline work

Past the usual G Grasp sealing, the lens consists of two options clearly aimed toward skilled fixed-installation use. A built-in safety slot within the tripod collar space accepts a third-party safety wire (not provided), enabling asset safety in press facilities, stadiums, studios, and distant taking pictures places. Sony notes this is identical safety slot specification as on its latest G Grasp super-telephoto primes. The fluorine entrance aspect coating resists contamination and simplifies cleansing when the lens is mounted open air for prolonged intervals.

The lens is rated mud and moisture-resistant, with seals on all buttons and rings, although Sony explicitly notes it isn’t assured to be one hundred pc mud or moisture-proof. The tripod foot offers each a 1/4-inch and a 3/8-inch mounting gap. Equipped equipment embody a lens hood, a strap, and a lens case.

Teleconverter compatibility extends attain to 800mm

The lens is appropriate with each the Sony SEL14TC 1.4x and SEL20TC 2.0x teleconverters. With the 1.4x connected, the efficient focal vary turns into 140-560mm, and with the two.0x it turns into 200-800mm. Sony particularly claims that “full G Grasp high quality is maintained when the teleconverters are in use,” which is a notable assertion on condition that teleconverters sometimes introduce measurable optical degradation. This is likely one of the claims that can want verification as soon as the lens reaches reviewers.

With the 2x converter connected, the brand new lens successfully covers the focal vary that beforehand required the FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G or the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G, which is a part of why Sony has positioned it in a tier above these zooms within the lineup chart.

Pricing and availability

The Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS will set you again $4,298 (€4,567.44), and we are going to replace this text when its availability time is outlined.

Does Sony’s first fixed F4.5 telephoto zoom transfer the 100-400 class ahead sufficient to justify carrying an additional 445g over the unique? Don’t hesitate to tell us within the feedback beneath!