The reports of worse performance stopping down is unfortunate. Would love to have an inexpensive lens double as a small hiking landscape lens that also could be used for birding or some action if it came to it.
Eruditass wrote:
The reports of worse performance stopping down is unfortunate. Would love to have an inexpensive lens double as a small hiking landscape lens that also could be used for birding or some action if it came to it.
Planning on the Sigma 100-400mm for the former.
Can you provide a link for one of these reports? Everything I've seen has been positive and maybe I missed it.
Eruditass wrote:
The reports of worse performance stopping down is unfortunate. Would love to have an inexpensive lens double as a small hiking landscape lens that also could be used for birding or some action if it came to it.
Planning on the Sigma 100-400mm for the former.
Dustin Abbott's review indicated the opposite. Contrast and sharpness do improve at f/8 in the mid frame and corner, but not so much in the middle of the frame as it's already incredibly sharp.
?t=1560
Any lens is going to start performing worse when you get into the f/11 and beyond range because of diffraction.
I'd like to see evidence of the performance being worse stopped down before diffraction really starts to kick in.
Seems a pretty good lens to me, makes sense as a very viable "compromise" to lump the 100-400 and 200-600 together in a single lens. Just pity for the limitation on TCs, which limits the usefulness on the very long end.
Dultimate wrote:
Can you provide a link for one of these reports? Everything I've seen has been positive and maybe I missed it.
AvianScott wrote:
Dustin Abbott's review indicated the opposite. Contrast and sharpness do improve at f/8 in the mid frame and corner, but not so much in the middle of the frame as it's already incredibly sharp.
?t=1560
Any lens is going to start performing worse when you get into the f/11 and beyond range because of diffraction.
I'd like to see evidence of the performance being worse stopped down before diffraction really starts to kick in.
It's in the french SonyAlpha blog by Marc Alhadeff linked on page 7. The issue was called out by InFocus2014 here. Very well could be sample variation. Unfortunately I don't think they provide all of their test images, but they are referenced a lot here.
Eruditass wrote:
It's in the french SonyAlpha blog by Marc Alhadeff linked on page 7. The issue was called out by InFocus2014 here. Very well could be sample variation. Unfortunately I don't think they provide all of their test images, but they are referenced a lot here.
Screenshot of chart:
I forgot, they put their full resolution samples on Flickr:
So far no one has posted a decent wildlife picture. I would really like to see how the microcontrast is like for animal eyes. The Sigma 1-4 looked really sharp when shooting buildings and landscape. When you start to shoot wildlife, the Sony 1-4 and 2-6 just have a different pop to them.
Picked mine up yesterday. Hoping to to get a chance to check it out this weekend. Definitely got some weight to it. Feels real solid. Like the clutch feature. I'm also happy it fits in my smallest backpack in the same space the 100-400 GM fit. So excited about that. Hopefully it will perform optically. Just quick impression shooting some quick test shots outside it may be the extra 100mm but the VC at 500mm doesn't appear to be as good as the GM at 400mm just from looking through the EVF. Will need to check that out more though.
Still, by the quality of the images in general, this review would not be the first I would rely on regarding its ability to track.
Also, one stated "con" is weather sealing. To me, the lens seems quite well sealed although I have not yet seen in person. My 70-180 from Tamron is very well sealed.
Also watched Julia Trotti's review. As much as I find her video reviews pleasant, it's not very helpful in terms of discerning real world use of the lens.
Lastly, one more new video "review" from The Slanted Lens. The gentleman spends the full nine minutes talking about the lens in his hands in front of a quite good looking kitchen. Nothing in actual use.
Considered an impulse buy today, neither B&H or Adorama have it in stock. I wonder if there were enough pre-orders to out strip supply or if they are just arriving late.
nhsonyshooter wrote:
Picked mine up yesterday. Hoping to to get a chance to check it out this weekend. Definitely got some weight to it. Feels real solid. Like the clutch feature. I'm also happy it fits in my smallest backpack in the same space the 100-400 GM fit. So excited about that. Hopefully it will perform optically. Just quick impression shooting some quick test shots outside it may be the extra 100mm but the VC at 500mm doesn't appear to be as good as the GM at 400mm just from looking through the EVF. Will need to check that out more though.
I hope you were able to get out this past weekend and can provide some further thoughts.
A depreview user in the UK had this to say about the Tamron:
Rene9876 wrote:
In the U.K. a few were available on Friday but it’s out of stock now by the look of it. I had mine delivered yesterday. I use the Sony 200-600 as well. The Tamron is far more compact making it a great lens for travel. Of course no internal focussing so it will extend the lens barrel. Feels well built . Weight is not too bad either. One big plus over the 200-600 is the close focus ability of the lens making it a great lens for photographing butterflies etc. AF ( for my feeling) is on par with the 200-600. You lose your 30 fps. Bird AF work without any issues.
bryans157 wrote:
One big plus over the 200-600 is the close focus ability of the lens making it a great lens for photographing butterflies etc. AF ( for my feeling) is on par with the 200-600. You lose your 30 fps. Bird AF work without any issues.
Swedish reseller Cyberphoto recently posted a shorter review. It mentions that the AF is more or less indistinguishable from the 200-600 and they like the shorter mfd and relative lack of focus breathing.They note that the foot is arca swiss but doesn't appear to fit all arca ..I struggle with the word; shall we say fittings? or "fastening mechanisms".. so that sometimes a fast plate might be necessary(for the foot is described as relatively narrow). They also say sharpness is better across the image than the 200-600 up until ~300 and that the Sony is sharper in the center after that (wide open I suppose). A final note they make is that the hood comes loose rather easily.
Got mine today. Nice build, on the heavy side. Switches, zoom and focus ring have a nice feel to them, although the focus ring could be a bit wider. I am no birder (yet ) so in the short time I had with it on my a7RII all I can say I wish I had the a1 To keep it a bit more serious, 99% of my photography is all manual (mostly Voigtlanders) so I really cannot judge the AF performance of the lens. Here are a few shots I managed to get in the 30min of time I could spare...
) so in the short time I had with it on my a7RII all I can say I wish I had the a1 
To keep it a bit more serious, 99% of my photography is all manual (mostly Voigtlanders) so I really cannot judge the AF performance of the lens. Here are a few shots I managed to get in the 30min of time I could spare...
