Sony 70-400mm II exclusive evaluation.

IT 168 Evaluation Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM is a telephoto ultra-telephoto zoom lens released in 2009, which is suitable for animals, sports and other photographic subjects. Because of its excellent optical quality, it has won unanimous praise from photographers. After four years, Sony released an updated version of this lens at the beginning of this year? Sony 70-400f/4-5.6g SSM II. Today, this shot came to the IT 168 evaluation room.

Shooting animals, lotus flowers, sports and other themes can often get good works. Although 70-200mm can meet the demand of this kind of theme, the telephoto end of 200mm can't completely control the shooting at a longer distance. Choosing a telephoto lens with a large aperture can certainly get better results, but this kind of lens is often expensive, and most of them are used by professionals, which is not suitable for our photographers. Sony's 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II lens, which has a longer focal length than 70-200mm and is cheaper than the large aperture fixed-focus lens, is an affordable choice.

Today we will evaluate this new Sony lens from a practical point of view.

▲ Equipped with a hood

Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II ultra telephoto zoom lens adopts ivory lens body, which is suitable for 35mm full-frame camera and supports a99 dual autofocus system (AF-D) mode. As a high-quality G-series lens, in addition to adhering to the high contrast and sharpness of the previous work, it also adopts the same nano anti-reflective coating as the 300mm F2.8 G SSM II, which reduces glare and ghost, and further improves the image quality.

▲ Length and weight

In addition to its powerful appearance, the zoom ring and focus ring of this lens also have a good feel. The diameter of the lens barrel is 94.5mm, the length of the lens body is 196mm, and the weight is 1500g (excluding tripod collar), so it will be a certain burden to shoot outside, and it is not suitable for long-term shooting. On the other hand, if you choose such a telephoto friend, the weight is basically acceptable. Only solid workmanship and excellent technology can make people feel at ease.

▲ lens caliber

The lens extends outward at a focal length of 400. Its lens aperture is 77mm, big eyes? The lens mouth looks bright and coquettish, at the same time, it makes people feel that the optical quality of this lens is guaranteed.

▲ Focus button

From here we can see that there is only one button on the mirror, AF is autofocus and MF is manual focus. FULL means complete focus, and you can find the focus in the whole focus area. ? -3m means focusing from 3m to infinity, which can avoid short-range focusing and improve focusing speed and accuracy.

▲ focus display

The closest focus distance of Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II is 1.5m, which can better shoot close-ups of nearby scenery.

▲ Zoom ring and focus ring

▲ Focus Hold Button

The mirror body is equipped with three focus hold buttons, which can be operated according to personal habits. After half pressing the shutter to focus, long press to lock the focus point, thus re-composing.

Appearance operation summary: Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II continues the powerful appearance of the previous generation lens, which can attract people's attention to the greatest extent, and can also add unique charm with the hood; The focus ring and zoom ring are designed according to the habit of human hands, and it is undoubtedly a more humanized setting with three focus grip buttons. The focusing system is equipped with only one button, so the operation is easy and simple.

Sony 70-400mm real shot feeling

What kind of experience can the focal length of 400mm end bring us? How fast does Sony officially claim to increase the focus speed by four times? Will the lens with weight 1500g and Sony a99 body feel arm pain when shooting for a long time? Let's verify these problems from the actual shooting.

Zoo article

The best way to verify Sony's 70-400mm II lens is to shoot animals, so we came to the zoo for actual shooting.

▲ ISO: 100 Focus: 400mm aperture: F5.6 shutter: 1/500s.

▲ ISO: 500 focal length: 400mm aperture: F5.6 shutter: 1/500s.

The biggest feeling of shooting a swan is that the recent focal length is only 1.5m, which is really useful. When the swan swam to the shore, it took a close-up of 400mm, and the water droplets on its head were clearly visible. Under the action of large aperture, the background blur effect is obvious. Before that, I photographed the moment when the swan just landed, which proved to some extent that this telephoto lens can still meet our needs of shooting animal subjects at the longest focal length.

▲ ISO: 500 focal length: 400mm aperture: F5.6 shutter: 1/500s.

Using telephoto end to shoot has a very unique advantage, that is, it can shoot without disturbing the subject, so it is natural to shoot Yuanyang in the water at telephoto end.

▲ ISO: 500 focal length: 400mm aperture: F5.6 shutter: 1/500s.

The swans and mandarin ducks in front are docile animals, and they can take vivid pictures even when they are around. As we all know, the fiercer tigers or lions in zoos are usually kept in the mountains. We didn't have the opportunity, let alone the courage, to run in front of such animals and take close-ups Only by using a telephoto lens with sufficient focal length can the lion be photographed so big. Does the lion photographed with a 400mm telephoto end have an immersive feeling?

▲ ISO: 320 focal length: 400mm aperture: F8 shutter:11000s.

Shooting birds in flight is difficult to get a good picture without good focusing speed. With the excellent focusing system of Sony a99, the success rate of shooting birds flying in the air is still relatively high.

Summer Palace article

Because I didn't get a particularly satisfactory scene in the zoo, I forgot to bring my long telephoto lens? Tired? Once again, I took Sony a99+ Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II to the Summer Palace to collect scenery and shoot ancient buildings.

▲ ISO: 100 focal length: 70mm aperture: F4.5 shutter:11000s.

This 400mm focal length lens is the main purpose we want to buy. From the actual shooting of buildings, the focal length of 70mm is also very practical. The building in the picture shows a magnificent feeling in a focal length of 70 mm.

▲ ISO: 500 focal length: 400mm aperture: F5.6 shutter: 1/500s.

I met a stray cat in the Summer Palace, with stones as the foreground and rocks as the background, creating the mysterious temperament of stray cats. Once again, it proves the uniqueness of Sony's new product 70-400mm in focusing speed, and the large aperture can make the background blurred enough.

▲ ISO: 1600 Focus: 2 10mm Aperture: F5.6 Shutter: 1/250s.

▲ ISO: 200 focal length: 400mm aperture: F5.6 shutter:1125s.

For many small animals that are difficult to grasp their dynamics, such as cats and birds, if you want to take natural photos without disturbing the subject, Sony 70-400mm II is of course an excellent choice.

▲ ISO: 100 focal length: 200mm aperture: F5.6 shutter: 1/2000s.

The telephoto effect can also compress the space. Yuquan Mountain and Kunming Lake, which were originally far apart, seemed to be close at hand when shooting with 400 mm

Summary of real shooting: From the proofs, we can see that Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II performs very well in color, with accurate and full color and good sharpness, and can depict better details. This lens can accurately express the atmosphere we want in the scene. The imaging quality of the 400mm telephoto end is shocking in real shooting, and we can also get a message from the proofs.

In the whole real shooting process, the optical quality of Sony 70-400mm F4-5.6 G SSM II is excellent, which is remarkable in sharpness, color and focusing. Whether with a focal length of 70mm or a telephoto end. Sony Sony 70-400mf4-5.6g SSM II, how will it perform in the test? Please see the back for the specific evaluation.

Resolution and distortion: good performance.

The best way to test the lens is to go out and shoot it, which also makes the evaluation look easier. Pictures of ancient buildings are more complicated, and they need quite good resolution to show all the details. This pavilion in the Summer Palace is also very clear in photometry, with high sharpness and a three-dimensional overall performance. When choosing a lens, most people first pay attention to the resolution of the lens. After all, the resolution can directly affect the clarity of the photos taken.

▲ Intercept local details

Judging from the actual shooting, the details of the attic can be seen clearly in the case of insufficient light at sunset. What will happen in the resolution standard test environment? Let's take a look at the resolution professional test.

In the resolution test, we use Sony a99 equipped with Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II lens to shoot the sample of ISO 12233 resolution target (line 4000), and test it by Imatest software, and finally get the resolution values of wide-angle end and telephoto end under various apertures. The test results are as follows:

▲70mm wide-angle end center resolution

▲70mm wide-angle edge resolution

The resolution of each aperture at the wide-angle end is relatively average, exceeding 2500 lines at F4-F 1 1. Large aperture shooting is normal, and the best picture quality can be obtained between F4 and F 1 1. When the aperture is reduced again, it presents a smooth downward curve. If you want to take a landscape photo with a wide-angle end, I suggest you use an aperture of around F5.6 to get more details. Overall, the sharpness of this lens at the wide-angle end is satisfactory.

▲400mm telephoto end center resolution

▲400mm telephoto end edge resolution

Compared with the wide-angle end, the resolution of the telephoto end is relatively inferior, but from the overall curve, the performance is relatively stable. The commonly used aperture values can exceed 2000 lines from the maximum aperture F5.6 to F22. Even if you shoot at the telephoto end, you can not only take good photos with blurred background, but also get quite good clarity. The highest resolution appears in F 1 1. If you have no special requirements for background blur, you can get good image quality at F 1 1 aperture, and it is better to get background blur at F5.6 aperture.

Resolution test summary: The test results show that the resolution of Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II telephoto large zoom lens is much better than that of some ordinary lenses. In the telephoto zoom lens, the resolution of this lens can make the details of animals, lotus flowers, stages and other subjects more delicate.

Distortion, Dark Angle and Anti-glare Test

Distortion test

▲ The architectural distortion of Sony's new 70-400mm wide-angle shooting is very subtle.

For a large zoom lens, deformation is inevitable. If the distortion is too large, we are prone to barrel distortion when shooting with wide angle and close range, mainly because the center of the picture protrudes outward. At the telephoto end, there will be pincushion distortion, which is manifested as a central depression. After understanding what kind of visual experience distortion will present, let's take a look at the performance of Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II lens in distortion control.

▲70mm wide-angle end distortion value -0. 1 16%

▲ The distortion value of ▲400mm telephoto end is 1. 19%.

After the actual test, Xiaoqi is quite satisfied with the test results. It is not difficult to see from the figure that the distortion of the wide-angle end and the telephoto end are well controlled, and the wide-angle end has only a slight barrel distortion, and the telephoto end only shows a slight pillow distortion. Whether shooting at telephoto end or wide-angle end, you don't have to worry too much about too much distortion, which will affect the visual experience and have little effect on shooting portraits and buildings.

Test summary: Before the test, Xiaoqi was worried about the serious pincushion distortion of Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II at the telephoto end. From the test results, the distortion of this lens at the telephoto end is very slight, which can be basically ignored, so there is no need to worry about the distortion of the photos taken at the telephoto end.

Dark angle test

For a large zoom lens, it is necessary to test whether the four corners of each aperture are out of light, which is what we usually call dark angle test. Xiaoqi used Sony a99 fuselage+Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II lens in the standard evaluation environment to test the dark angle of the lens at the wide-angle end and the telephoto end respectively.

▲70mm wide-angle end dark angle test

▲400mm telephoto end dark angle test

From the real shot test, it can be directly seen that there is an obvious dark angle below the 70mm wide-angle end F4, and the dark angle disappears completely from F8. At the telephoto end, the lens also has light leakage, but it is slightly less than the wide-angle end. When the aperture shrinks to F8, it is found that it is obviously reduced, and even the dark angle basically disappears at F8.

In this era of pursuing individuality, many photographers can pursue some dark corners to make photos look full of literary atmosphere. And even if we don't want dark corners, we can correct the loss of light in the four corners by correcting the dark corners of the fuselage or later software. Therefore, the existence of this degree of dark angle is not a big problem for Xiao Qi. In lens design, corner loss is a technical difficulty that needs to be overcome.

Test summary: We all know that dark corners are hard to avoid under large aperture. Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II has no longer lost light at the telephoto end and the wide-angle end under the F8 aperture, showing normal illumination, and can completely take a good landscape sample below the F8 aperture.

Glare test

In addition to distortion and dark angle, glare is also an inevitable condition of lens, which is mainly determined by the number of lenses of SLR lens. On the one hand, glare will interfere with the picture to some extent when shooting against the light. Xiaoqi used the IT 168 evaluation room to test the glare of this lens.

▲ Slight glare

▲ Portrait photography with backlight, no glare can be seen in the whole picture.

From the test point of view, the backlight performance of this lens is not bad, the glare is well controlled, the glare and ghost are basically invisible, and the slight glare presents a beautiful shape. It is much better than the previous generation 70-400mm lens, and the glare control improvement is very obvious.

Sometimes when shooting a small fresh portrait, the photo with backlight effect can add some charm, but this requires that the halo angle and size are very suitable under backlight condition, which is difficult to control. In short, in most cases, it is best to avoid strong light. Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II "controls glare in a very slight state, reducing the burden of photographers shooting portraits through lighting.

Edit comments and summarize advantages and disadvantages.

Generally speaking, this lens is amazing from its impressive and powerful appearance to its imaging quality. A product without serious injuries can't conquer people. Xiaoqi pulls the focal length to 400mm every time in the process of external shooting, and its length instantly attracts the attention of passers-by. However, although this big guy is eye-catching, it is quite painful for the smaller Xiaoqi. It is recommended that friends who buy this lens be equipped with a monopod, which can reduce a lot of burden when shooting, especially for people who take pictures for a long time.

▲ With Sony a99

The selection function of focus range and the design of focus lock button are convenient for users, and humanized design is one of the symbols of high-end lens. Secondly, the zoom ring and focus ring of the head also have a good feel.

In the presentation of image quality, Xiao Qi can give a very positive evaluation. The color reproduction is saturated and natural, and the details are well handled. The details on each focal segment are very delicate. Especially the performance of 400mm focal length is unexpected.

▲ ISO: 200 focal length: 400mm aperture: F5.6 shutter:1125s.

Finally, talk about anti-shake ability. In fact, the biggest problem encountered by most telephoto lenses is the anti-shake of telephoto end. This lens itself is relatively heavy, and the 400mm telephoto lens barrel is relatively long, which has certain challenges in hand-held shooting. When the focal length is 400mm, the shutter speed must be at least above 1/400s to obtain a high success rate. For example, in the above picture, the shutter is set to the slower1125s shutter, and the cat is photographed with the slow shutter, and the photographed cat is not blurred. Xiaoqi's hand-held shooting didn't blur the photo because of camera shake, so it is reliable to use Sony's new lens in anti-shake ability, but it still needs to be equipped with a tripod to achieve quite good results.

Summary of advantages and disadvantages of Sony 70-400mm F4-5.6 G SSM II

superiority

1, powerful and domineering in appearance.

2, has a long focal length

3. Glare and dark angle are well controlled.

4, with three practical focus hold buttons.

"shortcomings

The lens is heavy and inconvenient to carry.

Advice to buyers

Sony 70-400 f/4-5.6 G SSM II is more suitable for Sony a77 and Sony a99. The former is an APS-C SLR camera, and the latter is a Quan Huafu fuselage. It is suggested that friends who already own a77 or a99 consider buying this Sony telephoto zoom lens suitable for shooting wildlife, sports events, concerts and other topics. This lens allows you to get more excellent photographs that can't be obtained by other focal lengths.

It is reported that the listing price of this lens is about 16000 yuan, which is equivalent to the civilian price compared with the large aperture telephoto lens. Compared with 70-200mm, it can have a longer focal length and shoot scenes at a longer distance. Many beautiful lotus flowers, birds and other themes can be controlled with this high-quality lens. If a friend thinks the focal length is not long enough, he can add a magnifying glass. Because this lens will be uncomfortable after being used for a long time, you can buy a monopod with a good optical quality of 70-400mm, which can reduce a lot of burden.

The aforementioned 16000 yuan is an approximate quotation from abroad. Taking the current price of the previous generation 1 1000 yuan as a reference, the new product will naturally be more expensive than the previous generation. If this lens is listed in the mainland 12000~ 13000 yuan, you can consider starting directly.

Sony 70-400mm F4.5-5.6 G SSM II

"type

"parameter

Lens type

G lens

Lens structure

12- 18

Focal range (equivalent to 35 mm)

105-600

Aperture blade

9 (circular aperture)

Minimum aperture

F22-32

Magnification ratio

About 0.27

Nearest focal length

About1.5m.

Filter diameter

77 mm

Size and weight

94.5mm (barrel diameter) x196mm (barrel length),1500g (excluding tripod mounting ring)