Review Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
This review is based on the real-life use of the lens, and I used the lens a lot in the last few months. All statements are my opinion and are based on my style of use. This review is categorized into four sections, and after that, I give you my final thoughts on the lens. Let’s get started with the lens’s build quality. Also good to know is that I don't have any sponsorship I buy all lenses or gear reviewed with my own money.
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
Build quality 4.5/5 stars
The Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS feels very well build. The barrel is made from high-quality materials, And there is just no tolerance between the rings. The focus and zoom rings turn both incredibly smooth and are well damped. The tripod collar turns smooth and is easy to remove. On the downside is that the tripod foot is not an arca swiss one. I think Sony made a mistake not to provide this option standard. Of course, you can buy a third-party tripod foot for the lens, but you pay around 100 euro for something that I believe needs to be standard. When you look at the much cheaper Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0-6.3 DG DN OS Sports, this lens has a build-in arca swiss foot. Ok, let we move on with the sun hood. This is a great implementation. It clicks secure on the lens and is not likely to fall off. Also, a great feature is that the lens hood has a rubberized front end. So when you set your lens on the ground upright, it's not scratching the hood. Overall the lens is built very well up to pro standards, and it could have the GM badge as well, Only the variable F stop made it a G line lens.
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
Handling of the lens 4/5 stars
Let begin with some boring specs. The lens weight is 2120gr, and dimensions are 318mm long and 112mm wide. The filter size is 95mm, and the shortest focus distance is 240cm or 94.4inches. When I see these specifications, I think one thing stands out, and for me, it's the most significant feature of the lens, And that's the length. When you zoom from 200mm to 600mm field of view, the lens does not change size. This is because the lens has an internal zoom design. There are more advantages to this than you might think. First, when you handhold the lens, it will not become front-heavy when you extend the lens. The second advantage is that you don't pull moisture or dust into the lens with rain while zooming. Third and for me personally, a crucial one is that this lens balanced much easier than a protruding zoom telelens when placed on a swing head. Also, a fantastic feature of the lens is its short zoom turn. Quickly you zoom from 200mm up to 600mm without twisting your wrist. With this, the platform becomes more stable, and keeping the subject within the frame is more manageable. Both the focus and zoom ring are nice and wide and offer a good amount of grip. The left side of the lens also houses some switches.
1 AF-MF
2 Focus limiter Full/10-2.4/10-indefinitely
3 Stabilization ON-OFF
4 Mode 1-2-3 (this is for when you do panning shots )
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
The switches are clicking secure but are a bit difficult to find when you have the camera en lens to your eye. When we move on to the tripod collar, I have a point for improvement. With the sigma versions, you hear a slight click when you reach every 90-degree angle point. That's a nice feature because when you have your lens mounted on a swing head, you exactly hear and feel when the lens is straight. Of course, it doesn't mean that the horizon is correct, but it gives you a nice directional feel. Also, when you have a camouflage coat on the lens like me, you don't see the alignment points anymore, making the clicking feature a welcome addition.
The knob of the tripod collar is excellent and secure to operate, But I still prefer the sigma implementation on this point.
A bit further on the lens barrel, we find FN buttons. These are programmable to you're liking. I set these to a fixed AF distance so I quickly can recover focus when lost. These buttons are placed perfectly and all around the barrel. Like I said in the build quality section, the lens hood is nice to use and fix securely on the lens nothing to complain about here.
Now, something about stabilization I am used to and spoiled with the stabilization from my Olympus setup. But I need to say that the combined ibis and lens stabilization works outstanding on the Sony, It’s not on the level of the Olympus but again nothing is. Compare to other systems it’s very capable and helps a lot with handheld shooting. I found out that the best performance is given by mode number two (switch on the barrel) this mode is reacting a bit more naturally to my feeling. Yet good to mention that stabilization only helps with slower shutter speeds to compensate for your own movements. I’ve a subject move fast it doesn’t do anything only thing what you can do is up the shutter speeds.
Last but not least is that on the barrel itself they made two hooks where you can fix your camera strap. This simple feature is only to be found on this lens or the really high-end prime telelens versions. But I think it’s a great feature and also protects your camera en lens mount from breaking. Telelenses are in general heavy pieces of gear and the best way to carry your setup is on the lens itself. More the idea of a lens with a camera than a camera with a lens. So always carry the lens itself, not de camera, otherwise, there is a big chance of breaking you’re lens/camera mount. Another thing to keep in mind is that when you reach your close focus distance this lens will behave like a 300mm instead of a 600mm lens so for tele macro work it is not the best Tele lens.
Overall the useability of this lens is great with some minor issues.
Optical performance 4.5/5 stars
On this topic, this lens is really interesting to be short it’s a very sharp lens now the longer version. The lens performs really well and gives fantastic sharp results wide open and even sharper when you stop down a bit. In my opinion the best zoom telelens I have used when you talk about optical performance. I used and tested all telezooms van Tamron, Sigma, Nikon, and Canon. The sony lens renders the image beautifully from corner to corner, the contrast and colors are fantastic I am really impressed with the sony lens. But when I compare this lens with my Olympus 300mm f4 pro the latter wins hands down. This difference is only in favor of the Olympus with good light when the light conditions getting more tricky the Sony keeps a very detailed image, of course, this is the advantage of a FF sensor. To be more specific the micro four-thirds prime lens is just sharper but the Sony telezoom with a FF sensor behind it gives better results in more difficult conditions. Also, the out-of-focus areas in the image are nice and smooth, so overall the Sony is an amazing performer and can provide a good photographer with amazing results.
Shot with the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
Shot with the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
AF performance 5/5 stars
About the autofocus performance of this lens, I can be really short, It’s fantastic together with any recent Sony camera body it will perform outstandingly. The lens has a Direct Drive Supersonic Wave AF motor that I think only can mean it’s fast and precise because that’s the experience what the lens gives me. Together with the focus limiter on the barrel, you can track effortless birds and other fast-moving subjects. So overall a stellar performer on this topic cant say anything wrong about it.
Conclusion Rating 4.5/5 star A fantastic lens from Sony.
What a fantastic lens sony made for their system. Optical a very good performer fast and silent in operation. Like I said in this review the lens has some improvement points, I think the biggest letdown on this lens is a missing arca swiss tripod foot. For the premium price of the Sony lens, you expect that this is standard. But overall I highly recommend this lens above third-party lenses from Tamron and Sigma for you’re Sony camera. The internal zoom makes all the difference it’s a fantastic piece of gear and can produce very high-quality results.
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
