Anyone have the FE 70-200/F4 yet?

[k-hawinkler]

Has any of you experienced the shutter-shake issue with your 70-200 mounted on a tripod via the tripod collar?

... In portrait orientation?

Also, which lens is optically or AF-wise better?
The Sony 70-200/4 on the A7R?
Or the Nikkor 70-200/4 on the D800E?

I have both cameras but am thinking about getting one of those two lenses.
Assuming I could get a well-centered one.

 

[Viramati]

Just wondering if anyone who has this lens might also have the leica apo-telyt 135/3.4 and could do a comparison. I have been truly amazed by the IQ and micro-contrast of this lens on the A7 but would be interested in the 70-200 if it is as good as I would get a greater range and OSS. Thanks

 

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

I had the Apo Telyt M and it was very good indeed on the a7r. I sold it when I got the 70-200 EF so I have not done a direct comparison. But the 70-200 is excellent at 135 mm, certainly good enough for my purposes.

 

[flash]

Just wondering if anyone who has this lens might also have the leica apo-telyt 135/3.4 and could do a comparison. I have been truly amazed by the IQ and micro-contrast of this lens on the A7 but would be interested in the 70-200 if it is as good as I would get a greater range and OSS. Thanks

I have both. Just waiting to get my 135APO back from adjustment. Give me a few days and I'll see what I can do.

Gordon

 

[Viramati]

I had the Apo Telyt M and it was very good indeed on the a7r. I sold it when I got the 70-200 EF so I have not done a direct comparison. But the 70-200 is excellent at 135 mm, certainly good enough for my purposes.

Thanks. How do you find the FE70-200 size wise compared to the 135 apo. I should imagine that it is bigger especially if you use the rather large looking hood

 

[DennisHHH]

I just received my 70-200 f4 and the first thing I did was take off the lens hood and put on a collapsible rubber one. Looks much smaller also fits without any problem into my Domke bag. I'm finding the lens to be extremely sharp and perfect for my travel kit. I guess I was lucky not to get a decentered version.

 

[weeks82]

I received my copy of the lens today. Does anyone else's collar never fully tighten down ? No matter how hard I tighten the knob, the collar still spins. I just want to see if this is normal.

Thanks!

 

[tashley]

Not normal.

 

[Smoothjazz]

I just got mine from Amazon. Everything works great; I really like the feel of this lens in the hand, not too large, like so many other zoom lenses. I plan to use the OSS function with this lens.

I notice that when this zoom lens is attached to the A7r, the 'Steady Shot' function in the camera is disabled. Is this because the OSS in the lens takes priority over the in-camera stabilization?

 

[philber]

There is no in-camera stabilization in the A7R

 

[Annna T]

There is no in-camera stabilization in the A7R

No, there is no in body stabilization, but there is an item in the menu. This is what you use for the Zeiss FE 24-70mm F4, which is stabilized, but has no switch on the lens.

And yes, this item is greyed out when you put the 70-200mm on the body. Seems logical since you have a switch for stabilization on the lens itself. I guess it is so to avoid contradiction between the lens and the body.

 

[Smoothjazz]

Thanks for the info- now I understand. I have read that it is recommended to turn the OSS off when the camera is on a tripod in a very stable set-up.
I was curious to know if anyone has tested this; perhaps leaving the OSS on would still be of benefit, especially if the camera is not perfectly stabilized.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

No turn OSS stuff off when on tripod same with Canon , Nikon and any other system that has it. The lens will internally be trying to stabilize. Not what you want when on tripod.

 

[Annna T]

No turn OSS stuff off when on tripod same with Canon , Nikon and any other system that has it. The lens will internally be trying to stabilize. Not what you want when on tripod.

Plus stabilization eats a lot of battery power.

 

[garyroach]

Has anyone compared the IQ of the Sony FE 70-200 f/4 G OSS to the Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L IS lens? If I remember correctly, the Canon lens is about the same length without an adapter, weighs less, and has a 67mm diameter vs the Sony's 72mm diameter.

 

[Viramati]

tried out the lens today in store and have checked out the files in Lr5. While good and obviously more versatile it would appear (I didn't do side by side testing) that the leica apo-telyt 135/3.4 is ahead in the IQ stakes (the micro detail and sharpness are fantastic) so I now have to weigh up whether I want the stabilised larger zoom lens or the smaller, lighter 135. Decisions!!

 

[turtle]

Sounds like a lens with a lot of attention, but I really do hope Sony sorts out the decentering issues that seem apparent in a ridiculous number of new lenses.

 

[tashley]

Sounds like a lens with a lot of attention, but I really do hope Sony sorts out the decentering issues that seem apparent in a ridiculous number of new lenses.

Me too. I still haven't managed to get ANY FE series lens that was right first time, and I have them all...

 

[Viramati]

Me too. I still haven't managed to get ANY FE series lens that was right first time, and I have them all...

Interesting, my 35 and 55 were both fine first time round but I had to get a 2nd copy 0f the 24-70 before I was happy. As much as I thought the build and feel of the lens were very good I wasn't impressed by the IQ of the one I tested and am not sure if I want to go through all of the testing game again. Consequently I will probably stick with the leica 135 for the time being as it is superb on the A7 and a lot smaller and lighter

 

[turtle]

I have the lovely 35mm FE and that's the only native prime I have (first copy returned). Now that I have a bunch of very decent FDn and OM lenses and have seen how brilliantly my Canon EF mount lenses perform, I am so put off by Sony decentering issues that I think I will wait until Zeiss releases their manual focus primes before buying again. I was very interested in the 70-200F4, but might instead put my money into a new Canon 70-200 f2.8 II, or stabilised 70-200f4 (I have the non-stablised version) as I can use it with both systems. New Canon zooms might be expensive, but boy are they impressive. I wonder if Sony will lose sales to the new Canon 16-35 f4 L?

Tim, I see the same 'zones of focus drift in/out' with my 28-70 OSS as you are seeing with the 70-200. Sony needs to sort these issues out.