First Shot : Sony 70-200 GM the ultimate workhorse?
The 70-200mm f2.8 is known as the workhorse in many photographer's kits. It's almost like you can't have a professional camera system without one. And that's why Sony released their 70-200 GM.
We took the test if the 70-200 GM was the lens that brought the E-Mount up to the big boys like CaNikon. And what place to better test its performance than at Spa-Francorchamps?
Corse Clienti is one of the most exclusive events on the planet. This might be the most select club of wealthy people on the planet. You don’t get to join just by putting money (a lot of that) on the table. No Ferrari invites you if you’d like to join this programme filled with FXX’s, 599XX’s, FXX K’s and old F1’s. It’s been 2 years since the Italian stallions have descended onto Spa. But this year, they were back.
70-200 GM Introduction
The 70-200 GM was part of the first lenses labeled under the 'GM' label. It is given to the best lenses in Sony's arsenal. These lenses offer stunningly sharp glass however at quite a price. The 70-200mm GM retails for 3.000€ in Europe making it the second most expensive after the Nikon version at 3.149€.
Build quality is top notch, I love that Sony put a mechanical focus ring on this one and not a focus by wire system like on other lenses. The lens hood fits nicely and even features an opening door so you can still turn your polariser or variable ND filter easily.
At 1480 g it’s not the lightest lens out there, especially when hooking it up to the Sony A7ii which is 3 times lighter than this lens. I’ve switched out my Slim30 Luckystrap with the Standard53 for the occasion as the wider strap spreads the load a lot better on your shoulder.
Now this lens is all about performance, high speed performance. And it truly works great, autofocus is fast but limited by the body to which its mounted to. From time to time it tended to hunt for focus and continuous autofocus stopped momentarily between shots but that’s limitation of the body. The Sony A6500 or Sony A9 would probably fix this issue. We’d have to test the lens again with a different body.
But onto image quality, this lens outperforms literally everything. It’s crazy sharp wide open and remains that way when you stop it down. Lens flaring from headlights was minimal and the bokeh is smooth as butter. You would want that from a lens with a 3.000€ price tag but even then, I’m blown away by its performance.
And it’s not only a very good lens for fast paced action. It also performs wonderfully as a portrait lens. Focus is spot on and DOF rendering separates the subject from the background. It’s perfect for almost every kind of photography possible.
The Sony 70-200 GM fulfils every expectation it had, it's one of the best all round lenses on the market. The GM lenses prove Sony is a serious player on the market now and it won't settle for a 3rd place. It's aiming straight for the top.Having played with it for about 5 days it was hard to return it. I expected the lens to perform good but it has just blown me away. I want one now, really bad. But maybe even more, I want to try this out on an A9.
