Lens Review: Sony 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM

The super telephoto. The far reach beast. I have been wanting to acquire this lens for as long as I have had my Sony A7III. I have used this lens several times before hand through renting it, however I now own my own copy and its simply a charm. Using telephoto lenses is something I highly enjoy using. I used my 70-200mm when I used to avidly use a Nikon D5000 and D5200, it was only a matter of time before I got one for my Sony system. First thing straight out of the box is that it is heavy. 3.0 pounds heavy. Not a bad thing, the weight gives the lens it worth, as it is a pricey one.

The whole lens is made of very good materials, and it feels it too. Metal, high quality plastics, it feels like a tank protecting the glass. It has 3 custom function buttons between the focus and zoom ring. On the left of the lens behind the zoom ring sits functions for AF and MF (Auto Focus and Manual Focus), focus limiter, optical image stabilizing toggle, and a mode 1 and 2, where mode 2 is more for panning shots.

Picking up the lens and handling it is intimating. Probably why I call it the far reaching beast. I have had family and friends use it and try it out, first words out of their mouths are “intense” “I’m scared to handle it.” “You have this hanging from your neck?” I think all those things too I just don’t tell them. Now while it is hefty to hold, this is typical for super telephoto lenses. It’s a small price to pay for the results that this produces.

In the Field

I said before in the beginning of the post that I have used this lens several times before purchasing it for myself. First time was in 2019 at the air show, where I got my to use to shot photos of the jets in formation.

First thing I noticed is the weight, heavy. I think its been stated before in this post but even though 3.0 pounds doesn’t sound like much, carrying it around all over that day does wear on ya. Also if you are shooting something like jets in the sky, the elements are so heavy, it caused the barrel to sink back into the lens itself as you stare up at the sun. The tight and smooth ring helps with this, which is located right behind the zoom ring. Eases things slightly. Despite this the results the lens produces though are impeccable. Some of the sharpest photos I’ve seen. Even with the 24 mega pixel sensor it squeezes out every pixel on that sensor and brings it to life. While the air show was a good first test, the next time I got to use it was at the Good Wood Festival of Speed in 2019. A 4 day fest of everything speed.

Using this lens for fast up hill action made me feel like a super hero (only with a camera, not sure if one can be super with a big hefty lens, if I find out its possible ill write back here). With continuous autofocus enabled and having the shutter on burst, each photo shot with this was accurate and on the spot, and fast. I mean really fast. The lens comes built in with dual linear motors that enable the lens to continuously change its focus so that photos shot are tack sharp.

A good example of this focusing was the shot below of Esteban Ocon doing a burn out in his Mercedes. In this scene I took at least 30+ pictures of the single burnout. It was all down to my framing of the photo that I got the one good photo (shown below) during this burnout though he was inching slowly forward and I felt the lens itself making very micro adjustments. Was not bothersome these adjustments in the lens, and it made no noise, but shows the very finite adjustments it makes.

Now while this lens is aimed at one main demographic which is sports (hence why I started off with the jets and auto sport photos first) another audience this intents to reach is wildlife. More recently, I had the opportunity to handle a small Harris Hawk and these photos show case the detail it can capture even up close.

Jeffrey (the hawks name) was a good lad, holding still for me to take photos of how majestic he was. It’s hard to showcase the detail that this lens can capture, as it needs to be seen on either a print, or a full resolution screen (Square Space compresses the photos so it can’t be seen fully). Below is a cropped image though of Jeffreys face.

Cropped in photo taken at 400mm, standing approximately 4 feet away

Even at the longest focal length the lens has to offer 400mm, it produces some very impressive results. Detail is retain all around the beak, all the tiny hairs are countable and everything else blurs out nicely and eases into the detail gradually. It’s not only with this photo its with all other photos and everyone taken with this lens.

Wrap Up

A lot of lenses seen on cameras that are big, bulky, and have off white color signify that they mean business (which this lens so happens to fit the criteria). That being said, it is a tool meant for serious creative work, and with its far reach, allows one to capture subjects at great distance (and some close up), and does so all while being sharp and in focus. As stated previously, Iv never seen photos sharper than ones taken with this lens. It makes a joy to use, which makes it difficult for me to point out negatives. Only negative for sure is the hole in the wallet that it put, but that’s a given with anything bought. Weight is one, but with it being 3 pounds, might as well use it for lifting (dual purpose piece of equipment, I did say it was a tool). I see myself never selling this lens, and I am not one to sell items, I know over time it’ll be a useful for me taking photos and I can’t wait to share with what I do with it next.

Lens Review: Sony 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM

In the Field

Wrap Up

Four Till Four Adventure