Last Updated on 06/27/2018 by Mark Beckenbach
Sony has been working on more telephoto prime lenses for sports and wildlife photographers, and the Sony 400mm F2.8 G Master is the first to arrive
For true sports and wildlife photographers wanting to use Sony mirrorless there was always one really big (glaring, really) hole in their lens ecosystem – super-telephoto prime lenses for shooting sports and wildlife from a distance. There were some ways to work around this, either through adapters, or by utilizing slower lenses. But today, Sony finally made good on their promise to fill that gap, and they have done so with their long teased FE 400mm f2.8 GM OSS.
As Sony points out in their press release, the Sony FE 400mm f2.8 GM OSS is the first large aperture super telephoto prime lens to join the E-Mount ecosystem. This is a lens Sony took a long time researching and developing to be optimized for use on full frame Sony cameras like the A7R III and the A9. It will be an excellent option for photographers looking to shoot sports, wildlife, and nature – anything where you need a fast aperture and a ton of reach.
The Sony 400mm f2.8 G Master is also just 6lbs, making it the world’s lightest 400mm f2.8. This is a good thing, because as we all know, Sony’s full-frame mirrorless cameras are very lightweight. Pairing them with an extremely heavy 400mm lens would be a recipe for disaster and heartache. But what Sony has done here is put together a lens that gives sports and wildlife shooters everything they want, and managed to do it in a smaller and more lightweight package than anyone else.
As you know, if you are into shooting with this sort of glass, lenses like this do not come cheap. Sony has announced that the 400mm f2.8 GM OSS will start shipping in September with a US price tag of $12,000 (Canadian price will be $16,250). There will be an optional drop-in circular polarizing filter that you can buy, which Sony says will ship in September, and that will retail for an additional $400 in the US.
Additional information regarding this new Sony 400mm f2.8 G Master can be found over on their product page.