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Anyone have the FE 70-200/F4 yet?

dwood

Well-known member
I have one on order but haven't received any shipping info. yet. I'm anxious to see what this puppy can do.
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
Annoyingly, they went from 'pre-order' to 'sold out' with nothing in between on the Sony store UK. I have had one on order for ages and my dealer today said that they haven't had a sniff of one yet. I expect early May, which is a bummer because I am off on a trip on Monday...
 

dwood

Well-known member
Yeah, I've had one on order for about a month and the word was "expect to ship April 15th". I have a trip in mid May. Sure hope it arrives by then. I'm hoping this performs as well as it appears on paper.
 
D

Deleted member 7792

Guest
Doug, I feel your pain. My order with B&H was placed on February 12 and they're closed until April 23 for the Passover Holiday. Hopefully, I'll get my hands on one shortly after that. In the meantime, I'm using the Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS with the Metabones III adapter.

Joe
 

cjl

Member
I have one. It (at least the copy I have) is competent, but not quite as sharp at any focal length and aperture combination I've tested so far (70, 135 and 200mm) as the Canon 70-200 f2.8 with a metabones adapter. Chris
 

cjl

Member
Version II. I understand this lens sets the standard for this class, so perhaps it isn't surprising that the Sony f4 isn't quite as good (although this was just my one copy, one of the first batch available in Japan; perhaps others will find they have better samples).

Still, the Sony wins in at least two areas: smaller size and lower weight. You would definitely prefer the Sony if you had to carry a 70-200 any distance.
 

dwood

Well-known member
I have one. It (at least the copy I have) is competent, but not quite as sharp at any focal length and aperture combination I've tested so far (70, 135 and 200mm) as the Canon 70-200 f2.8 with a metabones adapter. Chris
Jealous that you have one to play with. I was hoping for performance a bit north of 'competent', but I'm still looking forward to checking this out when it eventually arrives. Hurry up and wait.
 

dwood

Well-known member
Just got a notice from Amazon that the FE 70-200 I've had on order now has an expected ship date between May 20th - June 2nd. Well, that's not so good. Might have to think about a plan b.
 

tn1krr

New member
Just got a notice from Amazon that the FE 70-200 I've had on order now has an expected ship date between May 20th - June 2nd. Well, that's not so good. Might have to think about a plan b.
Had a similar experience with sony.fi web shop. I was supposed to get my 70-200 on April 8th or 9th, but no lens or update came even week after that. Called them on April 15th and they said "early May", my account/order in their site has not been updated, it is still showing April 8th to April 9th so early may.

Their excuse was that "surprisingly many preorders so not everyone got their lens from the 1st allocation blah blah", but since to my understanding sony webshop has not shipped yet anywhere in Europe it sounds like some kind of overall delay to me. A batch is out in Australia/Asia, but I think in Europe/US production model lenses have not yet reached anyone.
 

jfzander

New member
Mine arrived on monday. 24-70/f4 55/1.8 and now 70-200/f4. What would I need more!? Ah..maybe a 16-35?

Waiting for the first shutter shaker....
 

hcubell

Well-known member
My "initial" copy of the FE 70-200mm zoom arrived yeasterday. I have only had the opportunity to take a few test shots with it so far, but it looks very promising in terms of its inherent optical quality. I see none of the blurred corners that I see with my Sony Zeiss FE 24-70. I am, however, seeing some evidence of shutter shake depending upon the shutter speed. If someone could explain to me how to create a 100% crop from LR, I will post some examples.
I have a Nikon 70-200 VR II zoom that I will shoot on a D800E for comparison.
One thing I did notice is that there is a little "play" in the lens mount with this lens. If you hold the lens in one hand and the camera in the other, you can feel the lens turn a bit in the mount if you twist the lens back and forth.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
My "initial" copy of the FE 70-200mm zoom arrived yeasterday. I have only had the opportunity to take a few test shots with it so far, but it looks very promising in terms of its inherent optical quality. I see none of the blurred corners that I see with my Sony Zeiss FE 24-70. I am, however, seeing some evidence of shutter shake depending upon the shutter speed. If someone could explain to me how to create a 100% crop from LR, I will post some examples.
I have a Nikon 70-200 VR II zoom that I will shoot on a D800E for comparison.
One thing I did notice is that there is a little "play" in the lens mount with this lens. If you hold the lens in one hand and the camera in the other, you can feel the lens turn a bit in the mount if you twist the lens back and forth.
Could it be possible your mount needs to be tightened down? I get reasonably sharp handheld shots with my Contax 180/2.8 when I do my part and extremely sharp on a tripod.
 

hcubell

Well-known member
Could it be possible your mount needs to be tightened down? I get reasonably sharp handheld shots with my Contax 180/2.8 when I do my part and extremely sharp on a tripod.
No, the connection of the Sony tripod foot is to a RRS clamp, and it is VERY tight.
The consensus as to how to minimize the effects of shutter vibration with longer lenses is to add weight to the camera. Joe Holmes went the route of creating a small tungsten block that he attaches to the bottom of the A7R. Lloyd Chambers suggests putting a flash in the hot shoe. Unfortunately, the diminutive size and weight of the A7R are a major part of the attraction of the camera for me. I would consider the deadweight that Joe Holmes is using, but I would need a machine shop to do the work and I am not aware of any that would be up to it at a reasonable price.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
No, the connection of the Sony tripod foot is to a RRS clamp, and it is VERY tight.
The consensus as to how to minimize the effects of shutter vibration with longer lenses is to add weight to the camera. Joe Holmes went the route of creating a small tungsten block that he attaches to the bottom of the A7R. Lloyd Chambers suggests putting a flash in the hot shoe. Unfortunately, the diminutive size and weight of the A7R are a major part of the attraction of the camera for me. I would consider the deadweight that Joe Holmes is using, but I would need a machine shop to do the work and I am not aware of any that would be up to it at a reasonable price.
I meant the actual mount on the camera and not the lens collar/ tripod foot.
 
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