So, here we have the new lens. Price, specs and preorder is already up at BHphoto (Click here).
This is the PRESS RELEASE:
SAN DIEGO, May 16, 2012 – From flattering portraits to faraway wildlife and fast-action sports, nearly every subject can be captured beautifully with the new SAL55300 telephoto zoom lens, the latest addition to Sony’s A-mount lens lineup.
Optimized for use with α A-mount camera models with APS-C sensors, the compact, stylishly-designed interchangeable lens is an ideal addition to the camera bag for any Sony photographer.
“The new SAL55300 lens is a perfect complement to our acclaimed line of Alpha A-mount cameras with Translucent Mirror Technology, allowing consumers to capture distant, faraway subjects with razor-sharp focused images and Full HD videos,” said Mike Kahn, director of the alpha business at Sony Electronics. “With a versatile 55-300mm, 5.5x magnification range, fast, quiet performance and an attractive price tag, it’s a welcome addition to our alpha A-mount system.”
The new SAL55300 lens features a whisper-quiet Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM) and an advanced optical design to get the best from the high-speed performance and high resolution sensors common to Sony’s A-mount camera lineup. Additionally, it contains an ED (Extra-Low Dispersion) glass element, commonly featured on premium Sony G Lens models, that reduces color aberrations, improves image quality and provides excellent contrast and corner-to-corner sharpness.
Pricing and Availability
The new SAL55300 A-mount interchangeable lens for A-mount cameras will be available in September for about $300 at Sony retail stores (www.store.sony.com) and other authorized dealers nationwide.
60 Responses
wow its amazing for such low price
Why do you need Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM) on such a long lens when the microphone cannot zoom?
It’s nothing to do with AF noise.
Sony will put SAM and SSM on every new lens, they will eventually remove the camera AF motor like Nikon did on their low-mid range bodies.
AF noise is annoying no matter what you are shooting…
SAM is also more precise than in-body motor drive AF.
SAM is an Auto Focus motor (the clue is in the name). It has nothing to do with zooming. Also, the lens has a minimum focus distance of 1.4m. You don’t need a zooming microphone for that. So I see no reason why it shouldn’t have an SAM motor, even just for video.
But on top of that, in-lens motors have other advantages over screw drive. Quiet focusing can sometimes be important in a particular environment (church, speech, concert). In-lens motors are faster and more accurate than screw-drive. And ultimately, it’s going to allow Sony to take the screw drive motor out of the camera body, and save the space for something else (or allow the camera to be smaller, like the NEX)
To top it all off, it seems that the SAM in this lens is improved over the older implementations of it, bringing it closer to the excellent SSM motors in the higher end lenses).
All in all, a nice move by Sony.
At the 55mm end, I wouldn’t exactly consider it to be a “long” focal length lens.
just wait and see what’s “about $300″… $299 or $399…
The preorder link mentioned say $299.
that’s really a bargain! can’t wait to read the review!
in Europe it’s 350€.
i’m in Malaysia. we enjoy 0% tax for cameras, lenses, and camera accessories~
Interesting price!
Looks very attractive for the price. Metal mount, finish that matches the newer bodies (unlike the older SAM-lenses) and apparently the new SAM motor that is compatible with DMF. Seems like the entry level Sony lenses are catching up to their Nikon counterparts (feature and finish -wise, I don’t think there was much to complain about optically before).
Hope they update easy choice primes with this finish and the new SAM motor as well – I loved the 1.8/35 optics, but sold it because of the crappy, noisy focus motor and ugly cheapo body. Ditto for the 2.8/85, though that also had the disadvantage of about a stop slower aperture than I would like to see in a prime of that focal length.
This will not work on the 36 MP iso 100-4000 “[James T.] Kirk Tuck” Alpha Nine Nine! 😀
We would rather need more high quality glasses than another consumer grade…
we need both… your “we” doesn’t represent all alpha users…
Indeed. “We” (the “We” of Majesty) need a special dedicated orthoscopic 14 f/2.8 lens. 😀 Thank you Sony to think about “our” little needs.
We-me could use 14mm f/2.8 prime. 😉
We me and We you ! 😛
I agree with you. But actually you can buy several lenses in this range, while several high quality lenses are completely missing, like 24-120 (28-135), 21, 15 (14), 100 Makro Planar, shift, …..
This is the only DT in this range. Why is this important? Well it is smaller and lighter than the FF models and covers wider than 70mm.
Big, fancy, interesting, exciting lenses will be announced beside big, fancy, interesting, exciting cameras. Today is a minor release, of a minor product. I don’t understand why every time Sony release ANYTHING camera related we get the constant comments:
‘Where is X lens?’
‘What about E-Mount lenses?’
‘What about Sony FF camera?’
Honestly? What about them? They are not part of this release! They never were going to be and this release WILL NOT stop them from releasing whatever they are planning to release. I would like to call for a total ban on asking about completely unrelated products when new products are announced! If you have nothing interesting to say about THIS PRODUCT (good or bad) then find somewhere else to have the discussion!
There was a thread about a new Sony video camera, in it there were 2 (total) comments about the camera… Then there were 30 comments like the ones above! If Andrea knows anything new about the products you are interested in, he will usually post them, maybe make your posts in those articles instead of whatever the newest article happens to be regardless of relevance? Keep it relevant people!
can’t agree more.
Further to this it looks like this lens was supposed to be released with the a37 and 18-135mm lens in May (press release dated the same date). An entry level release intended to be released with an entry level camera.
What’s your problem, Matt?
I simply said that I’m not interested in that lens. I definitely know that several others feel the same need for some FF lenses, it’s not me alone.
You mean that has nothing to do with the actual news, but what really makes you angry, is another thread…OMG
What makes me ‘angry’ is having to trawl through 800 posts of the same SPAM with every single news article before finding any actual conversation about the news that is actually being presented. There are lots of articles for the kinds of products you ARE interested in, why do you have to post about them here?
I’m far more likely to end up owning one of these at some point (whether it be part of a kit or bought on it’s own) than I am owing the rumoured Zeiss 50mm f1.2. So to me this is far more interesting, if a little unexciting.
I would rather that Sony continue to release cheap SAM lenses to attract more people to the Alpha range so Sony have the confidence to invest in the mid-high end range.
That way “we” all benefit in the longer term.
Doing it your way would satisfy you, but not make any money for Sony and “we” would all lose as a result.
At $300 this seems like a bargain. It also seems likely at that price point to replace the 55-200mm does it not? I have very little interest in that range, but it looks light, fairly well built and should have fairly ok IQ. Yeah there are better lenses, but for someone like myself who don’t use this focal range much this looks like an interesting, cheap, ‘must have’.
So does this replace the 75-300?
Yep. Although it’s not FF (yet old lens was crap on a full frame anyway – for full frame there’s 70-300G).
Actually here in Oz, the 55-200 is $349, which would put this at pretty much the same price point. My guess is it is definitely replacing the ‘kit’ telephoto, maybe not at first actually appearing in kits though (until stock of the older lens is depleted).
Seems to me that you are comparing incomparable prices.
The $300 is the expected price at store.sony.com. They have a $200 price tag on the 55-200. So this one will be 50% more expensive in the same shop.
I see. You are probably correct, I was basing it off the Aus site (which hasn’t been updated with the new lens) and going by rounding up for taxes etc… But I do always forget the Sony Tax! Hmmm seems like we’ll be looking at $500 for it here 🙁
Isn’t it rather an Aussie tax than a Sony tax?
I see a lot of aussies complaining about too high prices compared to USA, not only for Sony photo equipment, but for any electronic equipment from any company. Even for software sometimes.
And the examples I see from Australia are certainly highly priced, even compared to European prices.
It is true! However Sony have been one of the worst offenders in the past. Consider this, the Australian dollar is pretty much the same value as the US dollar (sometimes even higher) and we have a blanket 10% tax on most items. So a $200 lens should be about $220 (the 55-200), instead it is $350! That is an over 50% markup for what?
Fortunately, Sony actually dropped the prices of their lenses a bit when most counties saw price increases to make them more in line with global prices, but there is still an absurd difference. This 55-300mm ‘should’ be around $350 here, but it will be at least $450 if not $500.
Take a look at some of these prices:
SAL 28-75mm – $1200
SAL 70-200mm G – $2700
SAL 70-400mm G – $2700
SAL 24-70mm Zeiss – $2700
SAL 16-80mm Zeiss – $1200
Considering that that is basically the same value as USD (but does include taxes) and those $2700 lenses were $3200 before the global pricing adjustments, you can see the Sony Tax is in full swing!
Had a quick peek at the Sony US site, the price gap has certainly closed a lot since AUS prices went down and US prices went up. There was often well over $1000 difference for some lenses (such as the G range, the Zeiss range and even some of the super zooms?!).
I think it’s OK to sell products more expensive as in the countries where 200$ is an income of the whole month. It’s good for your own in-country production as well, making it capable of competing on the global market. Beside that, I think the 50% of extra-costs are not only taxes but for example logistics, service and guarantee as well. You can go to Malaysia and buy lenses or cams for origin-price but you will transport it yourself, pay the tourists-guarantee (or how it calls) yourself and so on. I will never complain about more expensive pizza which is delivered (warm and friendly :)) in front of my door. So, do not kill your pizza-man! 🙂
The 55-200mm zoom was actually a pretty high-specification zoom–having a nearly full-frame image circle, and an unusual (for APS-C lenses) 9-bladed aperture diaphragm. In fact, its only fault is that its filter ring rotates along with the front element when focusing.
Nice lens, with a very good price tag. Now if they only would finally make a new 70-210mm/f4.
in addition to FF 28-135mm f4.
If they did, the Tamron and Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 would probably be cheaper and maybe even better.
If it performs well, there’s no harm in having it in the lineup. Especially if this “new Sam” really does support DMF. (can anyone confirm if this does indeed work on the 17-135???)
Also, perhaps I’ve missed it but what happened to the mobile version of this site? There used to be a link at the bottom of the page to switch between Mobile and Classic views but I can’t see it anymore on my iPhone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQJOxHCyYCA here’s a video of the AF on new 18-135 being tested
As fast as in more expensive SSM lenses. Goooooood 🙂
…. And that’s the video AF speed. My a77 focuses more slowly when taking video as it is more pleasant to watch. So for stills, the 18-135 may focus even faster….
“SAN DIEGO, May 16, 2012”
So the new news we have been waiting for, is actually old news?
Looks like this was supposed to be part of the a37 + 18-135mm announcement. Maybe there was some kind of delay? But it makes perfect sense that this ‘basic telezoom’ would have originally been planned to be launched alongside the most entry level model in the Alpha range.
poor copy&pasting ?
At least for me personally, this lens is not of any real interest.
And for me a cheap, light, halfway decent zoom is all I need beyond 135mm on APSC.
I wonder how it compares side-by-side with Tamron 70-300 USD (both in terms of size and image quality, especially at 300mm mark). I doubt Tamron can be beaten as it’s really superb lens, but… the big question is how close Sony came – as Tammy is really a large lens, so something smaller might be a decent alternative.
300USD? Holy sh!% That’s quite interesting!
In my humble opinion, I’d rather have higher quality wide aperture glass, on a full frame camera so you can produce images like these, that I shot recently with my 850 and 70-200 2.8G.
http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/28958610#28958610
http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/28961360#28961360
http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/29099857#29099857
I’ll look forward to the reviews on this. I like my 55-200, but really dislike its loud focusing and rotating barrel. If this lens can get similar image quality with better focusing, and more reach (no small task), I’ll probably go for it. It’ll be a great lens to take on hikes where I don’t want to carry around any extra weight.
I’m never going FF, so this one is worth a 2nd look or a 3rd.
I like that it starts at 55, I want some overlap between the ranges.
If the price is to high, it will make me continue to look at the Tamron 70-200/2.8, but otherwise this may fit the bill.
Just be aware that the Tamron is slow to AF and hunts in low-light, it isn’t exactly known for sharpness wide open either.
These issues might not bother you, but I’d be saving for a second-hand Sigma instead.
Head over to the Dyxum lens database to read reviews before buying any lenses.
I need a Sony (or Sigma) 50-150 F 2.8, please… 😉 Thank´s!
By looking at MTF graphs, the lens is very sharp in the center stopped down. Extreme edges are not sharp even stopped down. Wide open it is worse then 70-300G. Over all it is better then DT 55-200.
with the $300 price tag, I doubt how its long-end performance will be… especially the sharpness & bokeh quality @300mm…. the ambituous f5.6 for a small DT lens at its long-end spells poor sharpness to me… I’m also guessing some nervous bokeh and keeping my expectation low. Anything better than this will surely make this lens a bergain.
How I hoped all the new lens announcements from Sony will give us weather-sealed lenses!!