p.1 #1 · Meeting an old friend - 70-200 f4 ii (vs GM ii, 100-400 4.5, 400 2.8)
I mostly have the large fast glass as I partially enjoy the looks and partially the tech in them. But I also have an A7CR kit, which I've iterated on over time to get the best combo of lenses I like to use with it. I'm generally very happy with what I have for it but when I want long reach, I can make the 70-200 GMii fit into my 6L peak sling without the hood and the camera with another lens like the 24-70 GMii. But it's a big sling and often defeats the spirit of the camera and where I like to take it.
The recent talk of the 1-4 5.6-8 made me think if I could fit it into a small sling. My favorite sling for the 7CR is the 3L peak but unless I bring 2 small primes (which I often do), it's a 1 lens bag. I looked at the new 1-4 lens measurements and it's disappointingly long. I'm not sure what but something about it made me think of the time when I had a 70-200 f4 Gii. For some reason I only remember it being a bit shorter than the GM and I don't remember it looking drastically smaller in youtube reviews. But I looked up the specs online and it made me realize that it's not much bigger than my 24-70 and it could fit the 3L sling, and I could realistically hope to bring a purse sized FF 70-200 camera.
It arrived today and it fits exactly as I'd hoped! It's surprisingly smaller than the GM, even with a 2X tc. I decided to grab a few quick test shots, these are raws exported from LR with no edits. My d-bag Corgi was unusually cooperative, and other than him rolling over to pass out, I was able to get shots from the exact same spot with the same iso (fixed to 1000 arbitrarily) and same light. This UBB version doesn't seem to let me inline images so I uploaded them here. Open the info about the pics, they're annotated with what they are. In summary, I compared 70-200 f4 Gii, 70-200 f2.8 GMii, 100-400 f4.5 GM, 400 f2.8 GM
3 shots @ 200, 4 shots @ 400 (all at max aperture possible, except I didn't notice the 4.5 was at 5.6) https://photos.app.goo.gl/vu1PQFbzNx16fD26A
There's a noticeable difference, and the fall off with the 2x is much more noticeable but man it's still great! The better lens is still the better lens but the only one that was in a clearly different league was the 400 2.8. I know there will be more difference at longer ranges outdoors but this isn't my sports lens, to me it's a more versatile option than bringing only an 85 or 135 to walk around with, in a purse sized package. Welcome back old buddy, you're staying this time.
