AFFORDABLE SUPER TELEPHOTO:  Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

The new Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS is a super telephoto zoom. It is the second telephoto zoom from Sony for the E-mount system after the Sony FE 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS. Just like the 100-400 mm, this Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS must offer excellent sharpness and fast AF. But unlike the 100-400 mm GM, this is a G-lens. Partly because of this, the price tag of the Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS is a bit more pleasant. The compact design is also striking. The Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS is of course a bit bigger than the 100-400 mm, but thanks to the internal zoom, it does not change its length. The Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS can, according to Sony, be combined with the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters while maintaining autofocus. This allows the range to be extended to a maximum of 840 mm at f/9 or 1200 mm at f/13, with still excellent image quality and AF performance. This is something that we will of course be happy to test as soon as we have a copy in our test lab. The built-in optical stabilization with three different mode settings makes it possible to work by hand at long super telephoto focal lengths.

BUILD

The Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS is impressive in appearance. For a lens that can zoom up to 600 mm, it is compact, but of course it remains a super telephoto zoom. It is almost 32 cm long and weighs 2115 grams. It has a magnesium alloy metal housing and is weatherproof. That is of course good news for sports and nature photographers who want to take pictures in all kinds of conditions. The lens has a design with five ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements and an aspherical element that minimizes chromatic aberration. The Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS has an 11-blade circular aperture mechanism that should ensure beautiful bokeh. The lens elements are coated with the Nano AR coating from Sony to suppress unwanted reflections or ghosting in images, and the front lens element has a fluorine coating to prevent dust and grease from sticking. The internal zoom mechanism also helps prevent the entry of moisture or dust. The lens has a turning and removable tripod base and the well-known Focus Hold buttons between the focus ring and the zoom ring. At the back are the AF/MF switches, limiting focus range and image stabilization settings. Because the lens has an internal zoom mechanism, there is hardly any weight shift when zooming. That makes the lens more stable, which contributes to a higher sharpness when shooting by hand.

Autofocus

The Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS has fast, accurate and quiet autofocus that uses Sony’s DDSSM (Direct Drive SSM) focusing system. Extra attention has been paid to the exceptionally quiet operation. As a result, the lens does not cause unwanted noise that can disturb an unpredictable subject such as a resting bird or other animals in the wild. The focus ring has a Linear Response MF. That is good news for videographers, who can make good focus pulls with this lens. But it also provides nice manual focus for photography. The Sony FE 200-600 mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS has three adjustable focus-hold buttons plus a Focus Range Limiter to get the most out of autofocus.

SpecificatiONs

• Focal point: 200-600mm
• Aperture: f/5.6-6.3
• Number of aperture blades: 11
• Image stabilization: yes
• Weatherproof: yes
• Optical design: 24 elements in 17 groups
• Shortest setting distance: 240cm
• Maximum magnification: 0,2x
• Length: 318mm
• Diameter: 112mm
• Weight: 2115 gram