Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM II – Review Part II

My long telephoto Zoom lens of choice for the Sony A99 DSLT camera has always been the excellent Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM II. Although not super bright it is highly portable for a lens of this reach and it is sharp at its maximum aperture. Some of the notable features of this lens include:

  • Circular Aperture for enhanced ‘bokeh’.
  • ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass leads to good contrast and dramatically reduces chromatic aberration.
  • Nano AR Coating effectively suppresses reflections that can cause flare and ghosting.
  • SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor) for silent and responsive focusing.
  • Focus range limiter prevents ‘hunting’ through the entire focusing range.
  • Distance encoder for accurate fill flash.
  • A close 5 feet Minimum Focusing Distance.
  • 1500 g weight

Gekko at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat
Gekko at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat. Image demonstrates the excellent close focusing distance of the 70400 lens.

Although I occasionally used this lens on the A7 and A7R cameras via the LA-EA4 adapter, the lack of image stabilisation in this lens limited its usefulness for the early A7 cameras.

The 70-400 lens, however, now comes into its own because it is now stabilised on the A7II and A7RII cameras. With the 399 phase detection points of the A7RII sensor, this lens will start to get a lot more use now that I can use it with the LA-EA3 adapter and use the fast phase detection AF of the A7RII. A review of the the long zoom lenses that are available for A7RII owners can be found at Luminous Landscape.

https://luminous-landscape.com/sony-a7rii-long-lenses/

The LA-EA3 adapter and SAL7040G2 lens can be purchased from the following outlets:

Yellow-faced Honeyeater (Lichenostomus chrysops)