We “pulled” birds with the Sony bazooka!

It is the equivalent of the French Caesar canon: the Fe 400-800mm F6,3-8 g oss That we presented to you last month is a massive telephoto lens which allows the Sony boxes to strike far away. But instead of 155 mm shells, this assembly of very high quality glass lenses allows you to shoot … The portrait of your subjects, especially those of birds, main target of this kind of super-stake.

We were lucky to use this jewel in the Malmaison's state forest. Not an extreme field, but a very suitable situation for this perspective. Indeed, if professional animal photographers leave for weeks with telephotives sometimes exceeding the tens of thousands of euros, the zoom of the day is far from so expensive. Yes, its € 2999 is a good sum for many users, but we are far from the more than € 15,000 for some super-eleobjectives.

And for good reason, without mention G Master, so he is not a professional zoom, but a humble representative of the G range. This does not mean that he is sloppy. As you will see, its technical design is very high and the quality of image excellent, despite its limited light.

In terms of range, the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS perfectly completes the FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 g Master. If you are strong enough, you can cover the whole field of nature photo with a couple of boxes and these two optics. The least muscular and wealthy will prefer the FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 g oss, which will see less wide and less far from the shock duo, but will ultimately be lighter and less expensive. Everything is a matter of needs, skills … and budget!

Heavy, but not too much (still a little!)

On the scale, the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS displays 2.5 kg (2,475 kg exactly), a high weight or not depending on the view. If we take into account the focal range, it is rather a featherweight model. A fixed focal length like the Nikkor Z 800mm F6.3 VR Sse already 2,385 kg for a gain of only 1 diaph. Sony's new baby can therefore seem rather light.

If we compare it with his partner Fe 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 g Masterthe latter is much lighter with only 1.395 kg. On the ground, coupled with the Sony Alpha A1 II With which we tested it, the whole formed with the 400-800 mm weighs 3.2 kg, which is quickly felt at arm's length. Decided to confront us with a use without Monopod, we often hated a satanous pool of water which spent its time playing hide!

Unless you are really cut like a lumberjack/a log or a monster of the cast iron raising in the gym, the FE 400-800mm F6,3-8 g oss is designed against a branch, a tank, a coat rack, etc. It can also be supplemented by a monopod for the lift sessions, as for the follow -up of birds in full flight – an exercise which remains trying after a while because of the weight of the whole.

Constant and electronic size at the cutting edge

After having gauged the template of this telephoto lens and before looking at its optical quality, let us stop on ergonomics. A point whose evaluation is undoubtedly more subjective, in particular because of the differences in needs and the differences in habits between the photographers, however often more important than a small piqued piquet.

From the point of view of orders, we already note that Sony went there strong in terms of buttons. Indeed, locking buttons of the development are placed around the barrel, each spaced 90 °, thus facilitating access to the order. Better still, if this focus locking does not interest you, you can assign another function to these three buttons and be 100 % sure to have access to them thanks to their distribution.

Then, it is necessary to point the design of the objective which offers an internal zoom. The optics do not unfold when you zoom in/divest it, which makes it all the more resistant to dust and humidity.

Appreciable detail, the sun visor takes advantage of an opening to handle, for example, a polarizing filter or with variable neutral density. A detail that can make all the difference for some users.

Finally, note that electronics meet the latest Sony standards in AF. This means that the zoom can serve the 120 images per second (i/s) that is capable of spitting an alpha A9 III.

Not very bright, but very stung

Let's immediately plant the decor immediately: with its modest openings from F/6.3 to 400 mm and F/8 to 800 mm, this big baby is not cut for the photo in very low lights, unless you accept a lot of digital noise (which is fixed to a certain extent). It is therefore necessary to reserve its use at the presence time of our solar star in the sky.

Even if it is not a G master's optics and its openings are poor, this telephoto lens offers a very good image of image. This is explained by the approach of Sony opticians who, like all their fellows, have made choices. Rather than looking for the greatest possible opening – a choice that is made against the cost/size or image quality -, the engineers of Sony have focused on a quality optical formula throughout the field of the image.