This wooden head image shows
good subject separation and
pleasing background blur
Sony Alpha 1, 70mm, 1/80sec at f/2.8, ISO 250
where Sony has made most
of the weight savings, as the
previous lens was made up of 23
elements in 18 groups. There’s
also a new 11-blade circular
aperture unit that’s designed to
give beautiful bokeh,
complementing the XA element
which aims to eliminate any
unsightly onion-ring effects.
The Nano AR Coating II is
designed to suppress internal
reflections, reducing flare and
ghosting. The lens also benefits
from a flourine coating that’s
designed to repel dust, oil,
moisture and fingerprints from
the front element. Minimum
focus distance is improved over
the previous version, with the
closest focus distance ranging
from 0.4-0.82m. This brings a
maximum magnification of 0.3x.
There are four XD (extreme
dynamic) linear motors to give
fast, precise autofocus and
tracking, two for each of the
lens’s focus groups. Sony says
that this new system is up to
4x quicker than its predecessor’s.
The lens has also been designedto suppress focus breathing and
axis shift on zooming.
For additional zoom reach, the
lens supports SEL14TC and
SEL20TC (1.4x and 2.0x)
teleconverters at F5.6, giving up
to 140-400mm with the 2.0x
teleconverter on a full-frame
camera. An aperture ring can be
found on the lens body with A
(Auto), and aperture selection
from f/2.8 to f/22. An iris lock
switch lets you lock the lens in
the auto position, which lets the
camera control the aperture, with
auto or the command dials in the
aperture and manual priority
modes. There’s a newly
developed aperture drive unit,
and combined with the linear
motors, it’s designed to be
extremely quiet.
Optical SteadyShot (OSS) is
built-in and works on 5-axis, with
three different modes of
operation available.Build and handling
You’ll find the focus ring at the
front, with three customisable
function buttons behind thisfrom the lens, or your eye away
from the viewfinder. For example,
you could use them to toggle
between the different face
detection modes: Human, Animal
and Bird.
The aperture ring has an A/
Auto setting, where it’s controlled
by the camera. Alternatively you
can turn the ring to set the
aperture between f/22 and f/2.8,
with two click-stops in between
each marking. If you switch the
clicks off, then the aperture ring
is silky-smooth, only stopping
when you get to f/22 or f/2.8.
The tripod collar can be rotated,
as you would expect, although
there are no click stops, as you
might find on some lenses.
Instead, you are left to line up the
dots yourself. The collar can’t be
removed, but the tripod mounting
foot can, which brings the weight
of the lens down from 1,124g to
Sony’s stated 1,045g. The foot
has two tripod threads, with an
additional central hole. Thanks to
the lens’s light weight, the total
weight is under 2kg when it’s
used with the Sony Alpha 1.(bottom, left, and top), then the
zoom ring, plus aperture ring with
click switch on/off. The zoom ring
has been designed to give
optimum torque to allow a
smooth zoom action, and this
certainly feels good in use, not
too tight, and not too loose.
Multiple side switches configure
the autofocus and optical
stabilisation systems. These are
AF/MF; Full time DMF (on/off); a
focus limiter (offering full, or
3m-infinity); OSS On/Off; and
OSS Mode 1,2,3. There are also
two switches that control the
aperture ring, an Iris lock and a
‘Click’ switch on the other side.
The focus ring is very smooth in
operation, and is an electronic
fly-by-wire design, with no stops.
This means once you’ve reached
the focus limit, you can continue
turning the focus ring and nothing
happens. This ring is designed to
give a linear response, like a
traditional manual focus lens.
The function buttons can be
customised, giving you quick
access to settings without the
need to move your hand awayHave you considered trading in your old equipment for either cash or Part-Exchange?
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