Sony’s new telezoom gathers more light than other 100-400mm lenses

Sony has announced a new premium telephoto zoom lens, the Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS. It’s distinguished from the firm’s existing FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS by having a constant, rather than variable maximum aperture, meaning that it gathers two-thirds of a stop more light at the long end. This in turn will allow users to keep shutter speeds high without having to boost the ISO as much. That should make the lens invaluable for photographers shooting distant moving subjects, such as sports and wildlife.

Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS at a glance:

• £4400
• Constant maximum aperture telephoto zoom
• Designed for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras
• Compatible with 1.4x and 2x teleconverters
• 328mm long, 1840g

Inevitably, though, the penalty for this is increased size and weight. At 328mm in length, 120mm in diameter and 1840g, the F4.5 lens is much larger than its sibling. To a great extent, this is down to an internal zoom design, which has the advantage of allowing quick and easy zooming with minimal change of balance. But it does necessitate a longer lens barrel. The front thread is sizeable at 95mm, but the lens accepts 40.5mm drop-in filters, too.

Sony has used a complex optical formula with 28 elements in 20 groups. It’s packed full of special elements too, including for the first time an Extreme Aspheric (XA) element that’s made from Extra-Low Dispersion glass. There are also three regular ED elements, two Super ED elements, and an XA element, all with the intention of delivering maximum cross-frame sharpness with minimal colour fringing. 

Autofocus is driven by four XD linear motors, promising fast, silent focusing. The minimum focus distance ranges from 64cm at 100mm to 1.5m at 400mm. Sony claims that focus breathing is suppressed optically, too.

You get a full set of external controls, including four focus-hold buttons, a zoom torque switch, a function dial, and an array of switches for the focusing and optical stabilisation systems. The lens is fully weather sealed and has a fluorine coating on the front to repel fingerprints and raindrops. A tripod foot comes as part of the package, although disappointingly, it doesn’t have an Arca-Swiss profile for fitting directly onto heads.

Last but not least, if the lens doesn’t provide enough reach on its own, it’s compatible with Sony’s with 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. These provide 140-560mm f/6.3 and 200-800mm f/9 combinations, respectively. The Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS is set to go on sale in June for £4400.

Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS: full specifications

Related reading:

• Sony Alpha A7R VI review – ultimate full-frame resolution meets super speed
• Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS review
• Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary review

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