I just had a (actually two) bad experience with the lens. Got an open box one and it was not sharp. Second one was supposed to be brand new and it was defective IMO. I'm not sure about the expected sharpness of the lens. I'm a Z8 user and in the process of moving to A1II. Already have 300/2.8 and it's one of the sharpest TELE I've ever used.
I was thinking of replacing 800 PF with 400-800. I didn't expect the 400-800 to match the prime. But 800 PF is not the sharpest lens either. 600 PF is sharper and Nikon super teles are even better.
First two images are using first copy. Third and fifth are using second copy. Fourth image the screen grab for Sony Edit. Last image shows how the first lens compared to 180-600 with 1.4x. I think 180-600 is pretty similar to Sony 200-600 in sharpness
Second copy was even worse. While the second one rarely produced sharp images on tripod with 10 seconds timer, it had issue even on tripod. I almost never got a sharp image using second one hand held even at 1/1250 sec
All images are either OOC or RAW files just opened in PS without any modification.
I think both lenses were defective. I never had this kind of experience in 25+ years of photography. May be I got unlucky. Luckily the shop took them back with a restocking fee. Now I don't have the confidence to buy this lens again.
Aug 07, 2026 at 12:40 PM
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