DPreview (Click here) posted the comparison between the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR vs Sony 70-400mm F4-5.6 G SSM II: “On DX/APS-C format, the Sony compares very favourably to the Nikon. The former is a touch sharper wide open at the short end, but the Sony pulls well ahead for sharpness at 400mm F5.6. In other respects the two lenses run pretty well neck-and-neck.”
Ken Rockwell keeps testing Sony stuff. He just posted the 28-75mm review (CLick here) and the 50mm f/2.8 review (Click here).
Sony 70-400mm preorders at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and SonyStore USA (via ACDeals).
25 Responses
And the Sony costs 500$ less 🙂 great that the Sony preforms so well, truly amazing that if you look at the full frame results even with the D800 36mpx vs the 24mpx of the A900 the Sony has at least as good image quality in the center with less mpx to work with.
Actually, the Sony is almost twice as expensive…
The Sony is almost twice as expensive if you compare to the old Nikon from 2004 yes. When compared to the new Nikon, the Sony is cheaper.
why compare the old nikon to the new sony price? the old nikon has no VR which sucks, no nano coatings, slow as hell AF speed… completely different lens.. of course the sony will be more expensive than a 10+ year old lens design.
Excellent Sony Lens about £800 cheaper (UK) than the Nikon MK 2 which disappointingly is only slightly improved (increase of 4 Marks) over the MK 1 version (Mk 2 twice the different), however the AF motor is superb and VR is an improvement.
Nikon version still not worth the current mark up against VR 1 and Sony’s excellent Offering + reasonable price as compared to rip-off Nikon price.
Not related to this post, but interesting about a future proposed development of image sensors, achieving an image sensor which is 1,000 times more sensitive to light than current imaging sensors found in today’s cameras and said to use 10 times less energy as it operates at lower voltages.
What a future for the digital cameras 🙂
And what a battery saver for a mirrorless or SLT-type camera with EVF!
http://image-sensors-world.blogspot.se/2013/05/singapore-university-presents-graphene.html
hm… so this would push maximum ISO by roughly 10 EV.
Sadly we’re far away from large-scale graphene sensor manufacturing. Not to mention the fact that it “works best at cryogenic temperatures” – so I doubt it would find much use beyond scientific applications in any foreseeable future.
Actually, there is a wealth of technology and patents waiting for the discovery of an efficient mobile cooling device. Such a device would even boost the SNR of current sensors.
Sadly, most things in physics that have something to do with temperature is kinda ugly.
We’ll have to use really solid gloves then as it works OK in temperature 12 K. In other words there’s still long way to go…
Sony should give their fast teles a proper camera.
Geez… they already have plenty of such.
The A99 is a very proper camera ith it and produces outstanding images.
Hm, availability July 17th?
I bought it here at one of my two pro shops in Dusseldorf already 4 weeks ago.
I’m using it with my A99 and I’m absolutely happy with. Compared to my formerly owned A900 with the 70400G1 the AF speed is pretty much ahead.
IQ is is pretty well, but it seems that the A99’s IBIS is only worth 1 stop at the long end.
Hi DiBok, I tried hand hold 850+740G @ 400mm, shooting things in my house (very short distance, should be more difficult, for about 50-60 shot). I found 1/50 has 70%+ keep rate, 1/80~1/100 will has 90~100% keeper.
If shooting for long disctance subject, such as animals/birds in zoo, rate will be higher.
Gesture ,such as how to use left hand to hold the lens properly, might be a key. Just FYI.
Hi Tristan
If you achieve these results with the mentioned times than you are a lucky guy having very quiet hands.
My results dropped to roughly 2/3 when I came above 1/160s.
Short to medium fl were much better, 200mm around 1/80s and 100mm around a 1/20s
Maybe I have had too few mojitos that day and therefore trembled a bit too much. 🙂
Well, when i use medium FL, seems it doesn’t give me much advantage actually. For example, i require 1/30 or higher for 200mm, and similar shutter speed for my 135/1.8.
For 24mmm, i also need 1/8(no slower than 1/6 if unavoidable) for hand hold.
Did you try IS or VR lens @200/400mm for reference?
Yeah, I found one on ebay last week that came from Hong Kong. I even got it at a nice discount from the new price ($200 less). I’ve been playing with it, and agree the new focus motor is way, way better. IQ is indiscernable from the older version as far as I can tell. The new coatings haven’t made their effects known in my usage yet, as IQ on the old lens was also excellent. But using the new one really shows just how slow the old version focussed. I’ve got a comparison between the old/new versions on my youtube channel Jonathan Stewart.
DPR lens test should improve the result number, how could they just put the result from camera body, and compare directly?
I mean, looking at PZ, they will weight the camera -body/pixel, (such as D3X has 4000 max result, 5D2 has 3700 result, 900 is 3400 or something), so people can have better insigh on lens, removing the body impact.
so, when using D800 and a900 to compare the lens, i would say 70400G2 has similar/same performance in 70/80mm, and “much” better performance on 400mm. Is my understanding right?
(hope guys can understand my poor English)
I think you are right. The lens is much better than the camera it is tested on.
Haha , good news for (our) a mount guys . Seems we can face those guys, who laughing sony can’t make good a-lens, with smile & saying NO.
Hope Olympus can help sony complete the lens lineup sooner .
Ken Rockwell… LOL
Indeed…
“The Sony 28-75mm f/2.8 is a consumer lens. It’s good enough for the people who will buy it, but it’s nowhere near as good optically or mechanically as professional lenses like the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L II or Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8. Even the old Nikon 28-70/2.8 can wipe this lens off the map optically.
Specifically, this 28-75/2.8 is very soft on the sides and corners at larger apertures, but has very low distortion.”
How about comparing the Zeiss to the Canon L and Nikon respective? It’s like saying a “A Yugo does not perform as good as a Porche”… oh really?
If you read to the end he recommends the Zeiss if you need to quality.
NO other OEM offers a budget FF f2.8 mid range zoom as well as a professional model – it’s performance is pretty well to be expected.
I have the old Minolta 50 2.8 and the newer Minolta 50mm 2.8 D and the plastic one is much shaper at all setting and its the same as the Sony one and it has seven electrical tabs instead of 5. Probly work better on the a99.