HE 2020 TOKYO
Olympicsis setto
bethesporting
highlightof the
yearforathletes
and proshootersalike.With
somanyeyeson theevent,
Sonyis aimingto sweetenthe
appealof itshigh-endsports
camera,theα9,withitslatest
professional600mmGMaster
le ns.It’sa fixedf/4aperture
telephotowitha
superiorbuildandexcellent
imagequalityin a relatively
li ghtweight3040gweather-
sealedbody.It boaststhree
modesof OSSstabilisation,for
di fferentmovementpatterns,
aswellas fourfocushold
buttons,a largefocusing
ri ngandfocuslimitswitch.
Internally,you’llfind 24
el ementsin 18 groups,with
two ED(extra-lowdispersion),
oneXA(extremeaspherical
Sony’s new
te lescopic
tw osome
lens)andthreefluoritelenses.
Thesearearrangedcentrally,
makingit feelincrediblywell
balanced– evenhandheld.
There arenewlydeveloped
dualXDlinearmotorsfor
improvedAF,especiallywhen
pairedwiththecompany’s
latestin-bodyAF algorithms,
suchas real-timetracking.
Performance
Asyou’dexpectfor£12,000,
thislensis nothingshortof
gl orious.Thoughourswas
a pre-productionmodel,we
fo undimagesto be sharpand
bothcontrastandresolving
powerto be world-class.
Despitebeinga touchover3kg
and 45cmlong(minuslens
hood)we managedto hold
it foran entirepolomatch.
Focuswasaccurateandrapid,
withtheXDmotorskeeping
upwiththeaction.We could
pi ckfocusinstantlyand
fo llowingtheplayersacross
the fieldwasa joy.We’deven
suggesthandheldpanning
wouldbe feasible.
Whenpairedwitha Sony
α7 II I, theimagesappear
exceptionallysharp,evenwide
openatf/4,returningcrisp
shotswithminimalvignetting,
anddefects,suchas chromatic
aberrationandflare,were
non-existent.Eventhebokeh
(o ut-of-focusareas,especially
specularhighlights),which
won’tbe a primeconcernfor
pro-sportsphotographers,is
cl ean,well-roundedandwith
a swirlyquality.Of course,
asmentioned,we wereusing
a pre-productionsample,and
assuch,it is subjectto change.
Ofcourse,we weresuitably
bl ownaway,andcanseethis
asmorethana matchfor
CanonandNikon’spro-level
offeringsin thesameclass.
Pairedwiththeamazing
autofocusandhighburst
rate of Sony’sAlphaseries,
wedefinitelythinkthisis
set to quicklybecomean
in stantclassic,andconvince
moreprofessionalsports
photographersto jumpship
totheSonysystem.
KirkSchwarz getshands on withSony’s
lat estbrace of sports-orientatedlensesthat
round off thecompany’stelephoto line-up.
SONYLENSES
122 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
GetIntoGear
The600mmprovedincrediblyaccurateandquickto focusfor
capturingthespeedandanglesof thesepoloridersandtheir
mounts,evenwhenshootinghandheld.Andwe weredoubly
impressedwiththe imagequality.
Sharper than steel
PROS Impressivesharpness Pr ofessionalbuild quality
Hugereach XDlinearmotorsmakeforrapidfocus
CONS Veryexpensive Li ghtforclass,butstillheavy
FIRSTIMPRESSIONS
IMAGE
QUALITY
Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS £12,000
KITPRICE
£12,000
MINFOCUS
- 5mm
WEIGHT
3040g
