I tried Sony’s new 100-400mm f/4.5 GM — this lens is for bird and sports photography ‘on easy mode’ with the A7R VI
When Sony invited me to try the new Sony A7R VI, naturally, I leaped at the chance to handle a camera that we just rated five out of five stars in our recent review. The camera wasn’t the only thing I wanted to try, however, as the brand was also debuting the rather eye-catching FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS — a lens that looks to offer serious reach for birders or sports photographers alike.
Such reach, alongside the A7R VI’s impressive 66MP resolution, should be a birders’ dream considering the camera’s rather ridiculous cropping potential. Couple that with the brand’s latest autofocus? Even a street photographer like me has no excuse for not nailing the shot anymore.
The Sony 100-400mm f/4.5 GM currently retails for €5,000 / £4,400 (AU$ TBC), so it’s not a cheap lens by any stretch. According to Sony, it’s aimed at the Professional/enthusiast crowd, straddling the middle-ground between ‘amateur’ and the brand’s highest-end professional glass.
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In the hand, the 100-400mm f/4.5 is a hefty specimen, but it’s surprisingly lightweight for a telephoto of this size. Sony stated that they were deliberating between making this one either an f/4 or an f/4.5 constant aperture, but they chose the latter because of its substantial weight savings.
At 1,840g, I think they made the right choice here. Considering just how good the brand’s BSI full-frame sensors are, you’re not losing much light-gathering capacity with a half-stop of aperture. The lighter weight, however, should pay dividends when lugging this lens out and about in the field.
A few other things I really liked about this lens are the well-thought-out FN buttons scattered around the barrel of the lens, which offer plenty of customization options. The support for 45mm drop-in filters at the base of the lens is also a nice touch, meaning you don’t have to fork out for massive 95mm front filters.
A great pairing with the Sony A7R VI
There is an old adage that gear doesn’t make the photographer. Certainly, that’s true, but if there’s anything that can help you nail that telephoto shot, it’s got to be this lens in combination with the Sony A7R VI.
I have to admit, I’m a relative beginner when it comes to bird photography. I could not even tell you the difference between a coal tit and a great tit. I can tell between a duck and a goose, but only just.
Even I was able to get some good shots with the 100-400mm f/4.5. In the hands of a pro, the possibilities here are surely expansive.
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At 400mm, the lens features impressive reach, but it’s in combination with the A7R VI’s 66MP sensor where it truly shines. With such cropping potential, you can reach far beyond an APS-C crop here – upwards of 100% zoom, in fact.
This is where the lens’s constant f/4.5 aperture also comes in handy, in that you still get a decent level of background separation at the most extreme end. While the bokeh can still get a little busy, it will be smoother than the f/5.6 featured on the older 2017 lens.
I didn’t have much time to test this lens in the field, but from my short experience, it was a very potent combination. I still missed a few shots (mostly due to my own failings), but I was definitely surprised at how sharp the images were at such extreme crops upon inspection in post. Again, there’s serious potential here for experienced birders.
Excellent autofocus, too
Everyone knows the Sony A7R VI is a beast when it comes to autofocus, but this lens is arguably just as impressive. Throughout my session, I tried quite a few lenses, including higher-end GM primes, and I was surprised that the hefty 100-400mm f/4.5 didn’t lag behind any of its siblings.
Sure, when compared to something like the stunning FE 50mm F1.2 GM, the 100-400mm f/4.5 is not quite as rapid, but it is surprisingly close. In my brief testing, focus acquisition was extremely impressive when paired with the new A7R VI. Even on a busy basketball court, the lens had no trouble tracking faces and action with the camera’s admittedly excellent human-priority focus mode.
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Again, I’m reminded of the previous gear adage, but really, with equipment this good, it really is so effortless to nail a shot – this is action and bird photography on easy mode. From my few hundred-or-so test shots, I had an impressive hit rate, and the images from the basketball scene in particular rendered with impressive sharpness thanks to the lovely light conditions.
For a full assessment, I’d need to properly judge low-light performance as well as distortion, aberration, and so on, but this lens definitely impressed me from my initial hands-on.
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