The new Sony FE 24-240mm is right now in Stock at SonyStore (Click here) and [shoplink 34616 ebay]BestBuy on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. And it’s shipping from the other US stores. And there is a new hands-on review and image samples posted by George on SonyAlphaForum:
Ergonomically mounted on the A7II it feels fine and it is pretty easy to zoom in and out though a bit stiff. The lens hood brings the width to about 3-3/4” in diameter. I am not much for the lens grading sites so I test the lens for myself to see how I like it and I made a target to shoot at. On the target I try to fill the frame and I shoot at 1 aperture, shutter speed and ISO through the whole range of the zoom. I use 2 flashes in small soft boxes. Anyhow I am more pleased than I thought I would be with this lens as it is really not too bad! It should really make a good travel lens and work well during my impending trip to Disney World. So on the lens itself at 24mm there is substantial barrel distortion (easy fixed in Lightroom) and some softness on the edges but still acceptable. At 35mm the barrel is almost gone but it is still on the soft size. At 50mm the distortion changes to pin cushion but it becomes very sharp and continues that until 150 where the image becomes a bit soft on the edges again and is the same at 240mm.
More new tests at Velgos and in German at SystemKameraBlog.
All new FE lens preorder links:
In USA at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony Fisheye Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Fisheye Converter for E 16mm F/2.8 and E 20mm F/2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Converter for E 16mm F2.8 and E 20mm F2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
In Europe at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide Angle converter at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
In Asia/Australia at:
Sony 24-240mm FE lens at Digitalrev, CameraPRO, Sony Australia.
Sony 28mm FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Sony 90mm FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
13 Responses
10 Benjamins for a crappy superzoom…. Wow, just wow….
If a super zoom has good built quality, and IQ as expected from a superzoom, why is it crappy then?
I would wonder if a 10x zoom on a FF would be crispy sharp to the corners and very low distorions….
Well, every superzoom is generally considered crappy. No matter how good the IQ is when comparing to other superzooms, it is still bad in comparison to more dedicated lenses, with range such as 24-70 and 70-200(or 300). It just seems now that Sony is jacking up prices on just about anything they produce. Although Nikon and Canon are far more guilty when it comes to superzoom prices.
I really think you need to wait for test results to come in before judging. I’ve seen some uploads on Flickr already and very impressed with the examples.
$1000 for a good multipurpose travel lens isn’t so bad, and everyone knows not to expect or compare them to a dedicated lens, that would be daft, as would trying to switch lenses in a blowy Nevada desert!
It is really not bad, I am surprised I kind of thought I would be sending it back but instead it is going to Disney World with me. I posted this in the forum but this is not cropped just a test shot in my yard. 1/250, f/5.6, 240mm, 1600 iso. Could have used a bit more exposure 🙂
Very interesting. The lens stops down to f/6.3 at 240mm, but you were somehow able to open it up to f/5.6… I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that either it’s F/6.3 or not 240mm
I guess you can call me spoiled by my SAL1650, to the point that i’m thinking of selling my Tamron 70-300 F4-5.6 and getting a 70-200/2.8.
On my A65, both would equal to the F4 in FF terms, with a 24-75 and 105-300 range.
One thing I learned when using the current Tamron, is that with telephoto lens you very often have too little light for task at hand, and IBIS or OSS are useless when panning or trying to catch fast action. As such, my primary complaint with such a lens is its arpeture at the long end. F6.3 is just too slow for most things, except daylight conditions. Even looking at your picture, you took it during daylight and you were already at ISO1600.
Your right, I messed up and it was f/6.3 I was looking at the exif data and still typed the wrong thing here.. As to the daylight, it was very overcast and late in the afternoon. Not ideal but yes it would have been better at f/4 or lower.
Crappy in what terms? Mostly from technical point of view.
And even then, considering the usage as a travel-all-in-one as the main buying reason, it does not matter much, as you’d see its issues only when viewed at 50% or more.
If the images are used in the size for photobooks or view on standard screens the softness is not much visible. Almost anything else can be corrected easily.
I am also a fan of primes or 2 to 3x zoom, but as mentioned as travel zoom it’s worth a try.
If superzoom has a IQ of a prime lens, then who would ever buy a prime?
It’s a compromise between convenience over IQ.
Might be a newbie question, but does in-camera lens correction work with A7 series cameras when shooting video?? And how good is it for correcting distortions?
As long as the lens is included in firmware, the camera will correct it.
I doubt any E-Mount camera, today, will correct a new lens such as the one mentioned above. It will require a firmware upgrade(that sony might or might not release on a per model basis), in order to be able to correct this or any other new lens that comes around in the future.
I own an A65(a 3 year old camera), and in video it corrects all Sony lenses that I have. It doesn’t correct my Tamron, but that is to be expected, when you are buying a 3rd party lens. In my understanding, E-Mount cameras would also not touch the image produced by an A-Mount lens, adapted through LA-EA4, as those are not considered native lenses.
Thanks Stan!
This zoom looks nice, but its weight is too much… I need a lighter zoom: 24-120mm or 27-135mm. This 24-240mm weights a ton…