Hands On With Sony's G Master Lenses

Since Sony started to strongly market place its mirrorless photographic camera system to enthusiast and professional photographers—y'all could fence that was around the time that the NEX-7 was released in 2022, but the 2022 release of its full-frame Alpha 7 and Alpha 7R is really what cemented just how serious the visitor was about mirrorless cameras—its lens system has grown greatly.

Today, with the declaration of a new premium line of Sony lenses—dubbed G Master—the visitor is finally delivering the glass that pros accept been clamoring for: 24-70mm and 70-200mm zooms with constant f/2.viii apertures and an 85mm f/ane.iv prime. Sony still has some work to practice to fully finish the system—farthermost telephoto drinking glass isn't available notwithstanding, and at that place are certainly some more f/ane.4 primes to come. But if yous buy a Sony mirrorless camera today, your lens choices are earth's improve than they were just a couple of years ago, especially when you factor in strong third-party support from Zeiss.

Before nosotros get into the specifics of each G Master lens, it's of import to look at just how Sony is positioning One thousand Master. It promises a level of quality control and epitome clarity beyond its Thou series. With loftier-resolution cameras like the Alpha 7R II at present in the company's portfolio, this is a necessary pace—when I was testing that photographic camera in the field I discovered that the seventy-200mm F4 Grand OSS needed to be stopped downward a bit to take total advantage of the A7R Ii's 42-megapixel image sensor.

The philosophy behind M Master is pretty unproblematic: produce lenses that can go along up with the latest (and future) loftier-resolution prototype sensors in terms of clarity, without sacrificing the pleasing defocused areas (bokeh) that surroundings your in-focus subject.

Sony feels that the play a trick on to doing that is to have a smooth transition from subject to groundwork. And it feels that high-precision design and manufacturing will lead to that. The molded glass elements of the M Master series are manufactured to 0.01 micron standards. And the designs are capable of resolving 50 line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm) at a minimum—that's significantly crisper than the 30lp/mm that many manufacturers utilize to judge premium lenses.

How this translates into existent-world performance is going to crave a bit more time and analysis. But my initial impressions of the 2 lenses I was able to use—the Iron 24-70mm F2.8 GM and FE 85mm F1.4 GM—are both quite positive. The 3rd lens, the Fe seventy-200mm F2.8 GM OSS, wasn't available to test.

The 24-70mm f/ii.8 is the bread-and-butter lens of many an event shooter. The Iron 24-70mm F2.8 GM isn't particularly small or lite—at 5.4 by 3.5 inches and ii pounds, it'south about the same size and weight as the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED. But it does balance well on the Alpha 7R II. The lens is low-cal on controls—there'south only a switch to toggle the focus mode betwixt automatic and manual, and a control push button on the side of the barrel. Information technology's not a stabilized zoom, but the latest generation of Sony's total-frame mirrorless organization enjoys the benefits of 5-axis in-body image stabilization.

The zoom ring sits at the middle of the lens. It's finished in textured rubber and has markings 24, 35, 50, and 70mm. It extends when zoomed and features a lock switch to prevent the barrel from extending when information technology hangs at your side. Focus is driven by a Directly Bulldoze Super Sonic Motor (DDSSM). There are nine discontinuity blades, so out-of-focus highlights volition remain circular when the lens is stopped downward—that'due south not surprising.

Sony prepare up several shooting stations to examination out the lenses. When shooting action—a mix of boxers, basketball players, gymnasts, and a funk band—I found the DDSSM motor to be quick when paired with the A7R Ii. There were too models available in a portrait studio environment—I employed Center AF in those situations.

Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM : 100 Percent Crop

While I wasn't able to perform benchmarks in the lab to compare the 24-70mm F2.8 to like zooms on a numbers basis, my early on impression is that this lens is an first-class performer. Just look in a higher place at the pixel-level crop of a model's eyes, taken from an uncompressed Raw image. I was able to induce some flare and ghosting in one situation, shooting the lead singer of the band under bright spotlights that varied in intensity and colour. Still, even in this difficult, backlit scene, I merely had to brand a few tweaks in Lightroom to terminate the image.

The FE 85mm F1.4 GM is a curious addition to the Sony lineup. Later all, Zeiss already makes a fantastic portrait lens in the class of the Batis 85/one.8, which is not just insanely sharp, merely besides optically stabilized and downright affordable, at to the lowest degree in Zeiss terms. Just the Sony lens does have a half-stop advantage in terms of light-gathering capability, and it has a physical aperture band that can be used with click stops or without, the latter of which volition make videographers happy.

It too is a large lens. It measures 4.25 by 3.4 inches (HD) and weighs one.8 pounds—the Batis is iii.half-dozen by three.2 inches and insufficiently calorie-free at 1.1 pounds. The Sony lens has an eleven-blade aperture, more than the nine blades you meet on the Batis and other premium portrait lenses. That's some other sign of Sony's delivery to pleasing bokeh. And particular is extremely strong, fifty-fifty at f/1.4, every bit you can see from the crop higher up.

Finally, at that place'southward the Iron 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS. I didn't get to shoot with that lens, and so at that place's non much I can say about how it handles. Only it is similar in size and physical blueprint to the 70-200mm F4 One thousand OSS (6.9 by 3.ii inches, 1.ix pounds). The F2.viii zoom is heavier (iii.3 pounds), but at 7.9 by 3.v inches, it's not much larger. The lens is optically stabilized—its OSS organisation works in concert with the in-torso stabilization with bodies that back up that feature.

Two dedicated teleconverters are going to be bachelor for this lens, which helps to bridge the gap that exists in the super telephoto realm with the FE organisation—the SEL14TC is a ane.4x converter and the SEL20TC is a 2x converter. Extending the attain to 400mm at a maximum f/5.half-dozen aperture certainly does help nature photographers, but the FE organisation is still in desire of lenses with farthermost achieve. The 70-200mm is set to send in May, but a price has not nevertheless been appear. Shipping dates and prices for the teleconverters will also be announced at a futurity date. At this time, the but lens with which you can use the teleconverters is the FE seventy-200mm F2.8 GM OSS.

The FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM is going on auction sooner, in March. Information technology's priced at $two,220 in the U.S. and $2,900 in Canada.

The Iron 85mm F1.4 GM is as well aircraft in March. It volition cost $1,800 in the U.S. and $ii,400 in Canada.

The Sony Alpha 6300, a new APS-C mirrorless photographic camera, was also announced today.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.