Sony 600mm f/4

FE GM OSS Full-Frame E-Mount

Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Compatibility   Specs   Performance

Compared   User's Guide   Recommendations

Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS

Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS (covers full-frame and APS-C, 40.5mm drop-in filters, 107.2 oz./6.7 pounds/3,040g, 15'/4.5m close focus, $12,998). bigger. I'd get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

 

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Sample Images

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Format

Compatibility   Specs   Performance

Compared   User's Guide   Recommendations

All shot as Standard JPGs; no RAW or FINE JPGs were used or needed.

You want the cover shot? You need a 600mm lens:

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

The battle. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 400. bigger or full-resolution.

Sharp? Of course! This was cropped from full frame:

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

Frame from which the above was cropped. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 400. bigger or full-resolution.

 

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

Blue, Yellow and Red. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 100. bigger or full-resolution.

 

600mm is also the standard lens for shooting surfing and other ocean sports from shore:

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

Yamaha WaveRunner FX. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/5 at 1/800 at Auto ISO 100. bigger or full-resolution.

 

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

Tackling. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 400. bigger or full-resolution.

 

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

Looped GIF of 18 shots shot at 20 FPS, including the above frame. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 400. bigger or higher-resolution (40MB GIF). Your computer will play this back at whatever speed it can handle, most likely much slower the 0.9 seconds contained in these 18 frames.

 

Introduction

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New   Good   Bad   Missing

Adorama Pays Top Dollar for Used Gear

Amazon

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Crutchfield

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

This Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM is the world's lightest 600mm f/4, rated 10 grams lighter than the Canon EF 600/4 L IS III.

For those of us who actually own and shoot these beasts rather than just talk about it, weight makes all the difference between being able to hand-hold this all day, or being a slave to it and a monopod. Not only is it light weight, the weight isn't all in the front section as it historically has been with these ultra-teles since the 1970s. This makes the Sony 600/4 much easier to point and pan quickly, but makes it less inertially stable so I can't shoot it as well at slow shutter speeds.

I'd get my Sony 600mm f/4 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

 

New

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com World's first aspherical 600mm f/4 lens.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Two extreme dynamic (XD) linear focus motors.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com White-painted carbon-fiber hood.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Completely electronic auto and manual focus; no mechanical connection to the focus ring. Sony claims the focus system responds linearly to the focus ring position in real-time so it should be a big upgrade over other fully electronic focus systems.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com World's lightest 600mm f/4 at 3,040g (107.2 oz.)

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Weight taken off the front compared to other 600mm f/4 lenses. This decreases its rotational inertia making it easier to swing around while shooting sports. Instead of several large front elements as with other 600/4s, there is but one large front element and several more smaller elements deep inside and further back.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Dedicated DMF switch finally gives us instant manual focus override in any autofocus mode, which is relatively rare with Sony lenses.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 11 blade diaphragm.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Function ring (ahead of focus ring) programmable to "Preset" (quickly return to a preselected focus distance) or "Function," which allows you to select what this ring does in your camera's menus. (The world's first Canon 300mm f/2.8 L had a focus preset function ring back in 1987).

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Smooth electronic focus if you set the function ring mode to "Function" and then select Power Focus in your camera's menus. Now the lens will focus at a speed that varies by how far you turn the function ring.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Function ring also settable in some cameras to allow you to select full-frame or APS-C cropping. In other words, instant digital zoom. Bravo!

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com New third stabilization mode designed to make it easier to track moving sports subjects.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Defeatable 90º tripod collar clicks. (collar not removable).

 

Good

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com World's lightest 600mm f/4.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Dust and moisture resistant.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com New autofocus system highly optimized to mirrorless cameras which will outrun anything else you might try to adapt to your Sony.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Super sharp, as all 600mm f/4 lenses have been since the 1970s.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Optical Image Stabilizer.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Autofocuses over the entire frame on an A9.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Four Focus Lock buttons programmable in-camera to do other things.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Additional programmable function ring just behind focus lock buttons.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Same controls in the same places as on the Sony 400/2.8.

 

Bad

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Optical Image Stabilizer works poorly, not giving 100% sharp shots 100% of the time even at 1/500; I have to shoot at 1/1,000 for 100% certainty of 100% tripod-equivalent sharpness. I can shoot Canon's 100-400 L IS II at 400mm and Canon's 400mm f/4 DO IS II both at 1/30 to 1/15 with the same or better results as this lens gives at 1/500. The Stabilizer makes very little improvement over shooting without the stabilizer; I should be able to shoot at 1/60 and get consistently superb results with this lens hand-held, but I can't.

 

Missing

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Doesn't focus particularly close, even for a 600mm lens: 15'/2.4 meters for a 1:7.1 reproduction ratio.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com It has strap lugs, but they are fixed and don't swivel like the ones on the Canon 300/2.8L.

 

Format

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Format

Compatibility   Specs   Performance

Compared   User's Guide   Recommendations

I'd get my Sony 600mm f/4 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This is a full frame lens and I'm reviewing it as such.

It also works great on APS-C cameras, on which you may make the usual inferences.

 

Compatibility

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Format

Compatibility   Specs   Performance

Compared   User's Guide   Recommendations

I'd get my Sony 600mm f/4 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This works on all Sony E-mount cameras, full-frame and APS-C crop-sensor. This includes all the variations of NEX, A9-, A7-, A6xxx and A5xxx series cameras.

As always you may need to update your camera's firmware to work with this new lens.

It will not work on any Sony A-mount DSLR or any Minolta MAXXUM 35mm SLR of any kind. Those use the old A mount which was actually the Minolta MAXXUM mount from 1987.

 

Specifications

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Format

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I'd get my Sony 600mm f/4 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

 

Name

Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS

Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS. bigger.

Sony calls this the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS.

    FE: Full-frame coverage, E-mount.

    GM: "G Master;" one of Sony's "Good" lenses for E-mount cameras.

    OSS: Optical Steady Shot Image Stabilization.

 

Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS

Sony SEL600F40GM. bigger.

It's Sony model number SEL600F40GM.

 

Optics

Sony 90 2.8 construction

Sony 600 f/4 GM internal construction. Fluorite, Extreme Aspherical and ED elements.

23 elements in 17 groups with one flat 40.5mm drop-filter at the rear (not included in the correct element counts, Sony incorrectly counts the filter as an element).

One of Sony's superb Extreme Aspherical (XA) elements. These are more smoothly ground than others and in return give better bokeh without the "tree rings" effect seen on out-of-focus points of light with other aspherical lenses.

Three Fluorite elements.

Two ED extra-low dispersion element to help reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration.

Multi and Nano coated.

Front fluorine coating to resist dirt and smudges.

 

Maximum Aperture

f/4.

 

Diaphragm

11 rounded blades.

Stops down to f/22.

 

Aperture Ring

No.

 

Body

Sony 600mm f/4 Magnesium Alloy Internal Frame

Sony 600mm f/4 Magnesium Alloy Internal Frame. bigger.

 

Focal Length

600mm.

When used on APS-C, it sees the same angle of view as a 900mm lens sees when used on a full-frame or 35mm camera.

See also Crop Factor.

 

Angle of View

4.1º diagonal on full-frame.

2.7º diagonal on APS-C.

 

Autofocus

Focus is internal. Nothing moves externally as focused.

Sony says it uses two XD Linear Motors - but is keeping how they work as a trade secret.

Focus is entirely electronic; both auto and manual focus work with a genuinely silent internal motor.

Four focus-lock buttons, programmable in-camera to do other things.

 

Focus Scale

No.

 

Infinity Focus Stop

No.

 

Depth of Field Scale

No.

 

Infrared Focus Index

No.

 

Close Focus

15 feet (4.5 meters).

 

Maximum Reproduction Ratio

1:7.1 (0.14×).

 

Image Stabilizer

Yes, but not rated for effectiveness

 

Filters

Drop-in holder for 40.5mm filters:

Sony 600mm f/4 filter holder

Included rear 40.5mm filter holder. bigger.

 

Optional VF-DCPL1 drop-in polarizing filter.

 

Cap

Sony 600mm f/4 Front Cap

Included front cap. bigger.

Unlike the Japanese-made lens, the cap is made in China.

 

Hood

Sony ALC-SH158 hood

Included ALC-SH158 hood. bigger.

Carbon fiber ALC-SH158 hood included.

 

Tripod Collar

The collar is permanently attached.

It has 90º click stops.

It has two ¼″ × 20 TPI threads and one ⅜″ thread.

 

Case

Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS case

Included hard case. bigger.

 

Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS case

Included hard case. bigger.

The hard-shell case's internal foam is so perfectly resilient that I suspect you could drop this out the back of a moving truck and the lens would be undamaged.

 

Size

6.44" maximum diameter × 17.68" extension from flange.

163.6 mm maximum diameter × 449 mm extension from flange.

 

Weight

107.23 oz. / 6.7 pounds / 3,040g.

 

Announced

10 AM NYC time, 11 June 2019.

 

Promised for

02 August 2019.

 

Included

Lens (SEL600F40GM).

40.5mm clear filter and drop-in holder.

Front and ALC-R1EM rear caps.

ALC-SH155 hood.

Lens strap.

Hard case with bulletproof internal padding. Drop it out of a helicopter and the lens probably won't be damaged.

Case strap.

 

Sony's Model Number

SEL600F40GM.

 

Price, USA

$12,998 at introduction, June 2019.

 

Performance

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Format

Compatibility   Specs   Performance

Compared   User's Guide   Recommendations

 

Overall   Autofocus   Bokeh   Distortion

Ergonomics   Falloff   Filters

Sharpness   Teleconverters

 

I'd get my Sony 600mm f/4 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

 

Overall

Performance          top

The Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS is optically superb, as are all 600mm f/4 lenses, and it's solidly made and highly optimized for Sony's newest mirrorless cameras.

 

Autofocus

Performance          top

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

The kick. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 500. bigger or full-resolution.

Auto and manual focus is completely electronic, using Sony's newest XD Linear Motors.

It's fast, but not instantaneous.

The best part is that this lens, along with the Sony 400/2.8, are the only focus-by-wire lenses that handle instant-manual focus override correctly. it works great, switches instantly and turns more smoothly than any other lens when you grab the ring.

It easily handles sports, action and wildlife, and especially with the superb Sony A9 rocks at 20 FPS all day and night long — and every frame is in focus!

 

Bokeh

Performance          top

Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is excellent.

Not only do you lose the entire background, it always stays soft:

Sony 600mm f/4 Bokeh

Back of a sign. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 250. bigger or camera-original file.

 

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

Dribbling. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 500. bigger or full-resolution.

 

Distortion

Performance          top

The Sony 600/4 has minor pincushion distortion, which you probably won't ever see. If it bothers you, turn on your camera's automatic correction, or use a correction factor of -1.00 in Photoshop's lens correction filter at infinty.

 

Ergonomics

Performance          top

The tripod collar has a nice rotary friction lock and 90º clicks.

Sony 600mm f/4

Slightly padded carry handle. bigger.

It has an electronic focus ring and the usual switches we expect on a modern 600/4.

It has four programmable focus lock buttons, and a ring between the focus lock buttons and the focus ring, which when rotated slightly, can be set to recall a preset focus distance — just like the 1989 Canon 300/2.8.

Oddly the lock buttons aren't quite where I want them for hand-holding:

Sony 600mm f/4

Programmable focus lock button positions. bigger.

 

 

Falloff

Performance          top

Falloff is invisible. Even below where I've greatly exaggerated it, it's negligible.

This is excellent and important, as we shoot this lens wide-open most of the time.

I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background; it will not look this bad in actual photos of real things:

 

Falloff on full-frame, default correction ON.

f/4
f/5.6
Sony 600mm f/4 falloff
Sony 600mm f/4 falloff
Sony 600mm f/4 falloff
Sony 600mm f/4 falloff
f/8
f/11

© 2019 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

Filters, use with

performance          top

You use the included drop-in holder to hold 40.5mm filters.

Always use the included clear 40.5mm filter; the optics are optimized expecting that filter to be there. It works without a filter, but the focus will be slightly shifted.

Sony also sells a VF-DCPL1 drop-in polarizing filter:

Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS 40.5mm filter holder

Sony VF-DCPL1 drop-in polarizing filter. bigger.

 

Sharpness

Performance          top

It's flawlessly sharp and contrasty from corner-to-corner at every aperture.

The only limitation to picture sharpness will be your skill as a photographer.

Look at the full-resolution file and see for yourself; this is at full aperture:

Sony 600mm f/4 Sample Image File

New Jersey. Sony A9, Sony 600mm f/4, f/4 hand-held at 1/800 at Auto ISO 100. bigger or full-resolution.

 

Sony 600mm f/4 MTF

Sony's astounding MTF charts at f/4 (left) and f/8 (right) at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted).

 

Teleconverters

Performance          top

It works flawlessly with the FE 1.4x Teleconverter or FE 2x Teleconverter.

 

Compared

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Compatibility   Specs   Performance

Compared   User's Guide   Recommendations

 

600mm f/4 or 200-600mm for birds?

Sony 600mm f/4

Sony 200-600mm

Easy choice! This 600/4.

Why?

If you shoot them both at 600mm and f/8 there is no difference in sharpness, but that’s not how we shoot birds.

Most likely you’d be using one or two teleconverters and losing a lot of light.  You’d need the 2.5 times more light gathered by the 600/4 rather than the 200-600mm, which is only f/6.3 at 600mm.  

The 600/4 loves being on teleconverters. Put the zoom on converters and you’re losing more light than you’d like.

In the real world we shoot these wide-open, and you want as much light as you can get at these ultralong focal lengths The 600/4 gathers 2.5 times as much light as the 200-600.

In a magic fairyland even if the two were equally as sharp in the lab on the converters set to 600mm wide-open, once you start shooting you’ll have to use an ISO 2.5x as high with the zoom, or a shutter speed 2.5x longer with the zoom - either of which leads to softer images in the real world, teleconverters or not.

Done.

 

User's Guide

Top   Sample Images   Intro   Format

Compatibility   Specs   Performance

Compared   User's Guide   Recommendations

I'd get my Sony 600mm f/4 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Sony 600mm f/4 controls

Controls. bigger.

AF- MF

AF: Auto Focus. You have instant manual focus override by turning the focus ring at any time.

MF: Manual Focus only.

 

FULL TIME DMF

Leave this on; this lets us have instant manual-focus override all the time regardless of how the camera is set.

 

Full / 15m—4.5m / ∞—15m

This is a focus limiter.

Leave it in FULL.

The ∞-15m position prevents the lens from autofocusing closer than 15 meters (50 feet). Use this setting only if you're having a problem with the lens attempting to focus on irrelevant close items, or if for some reason the lens is "hunting" from near to far looking for distant subjects.

The 15m-4.5m setting keeps the lens from focusing farther away than 50 feet (15m). You might consider this when shooting portraits.

 


 

PRESET - FUNCTION - OFF

This lets us program the SET button.

PRESET lets us preset a focus distance to which the lens returns anytime we slightly rotate the thin black ring between the focus ring and the focus lock buttons. Use this to mark home plate, a goal, birdfeeder or a common distance at an airshow.

To use the PRESET, set BEEP to ON, focus the lens where you want it, and hold SET until it beeps. Now turn off BEEP, and anytime you move the tin preset focus ring in front of the regular focus ring, the lens focuses to your preset distance.

The FUNCTION position lets you use your camera's menus to program other things for the SET button.

OFF makes it ignore the SET button.

 


 

OPTICAL STEADY SHOT Switches

These program the image stabilizer.

 

ON / OFF

Leave it ON unless you're making exposures longer than a second on any kind of tripod.

With a 600mm lens, no tripod is perfectly solid. Leave the stabilizer ON except for long exposures.

 

Mode 1 - 2 - 3

Mode 1: Normal.

Mode 2: Panning.

Mode 3: Tracking unpredictable motion like sports.

 


 

BEEP

Leave this off, unless setting the PRESET.

 

Recommendations

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Compatibility   Specs   Performance

Compared   User's Guide   Recommendations

I'd get my Sony 600mm f/4 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

While I'm the first guy to show how an iPhone makes the same pictures as a $6,000 camera (see iPhone Xs Max versus Full-Frame Mirrorless, iPhone 6S Plus vs Exotic Full-Frame Mirrorless & DSLR, Point & Shoot vs Canon Full-Frame and $25 Camera vs State-of-the-Art Full Frame DSLR), but when it comes to what a real lens like a 600/4 does when you need speed, power and reach, no zoom or iPhone compares.

This is a pro lens for sports and other full-time pros. You know who you are. As all other 600mm f/4 lenses, it is optically perfect and focuses fast. Better than most others, it weighs much less so you're more likely to take it out and use it.

What excites me the most about this lens is its light weight. I personally have owned the Nikon 400mm f/2.8 AF-I for decades, which is the heaviest 400mm lens ever made. My old Nikon 400/2.8 is a beast which weighs over twice what this Sony does, and this Sony adds stabilization and a host of other features. I never use my Nikon since it weighs so much I just never want to take it to a job, while this Sony is light enough to want to take it to every job.

If you can afford it, this Sony is also a superb portrait lens, letting you get great headshots from a longer distance which improves facial rendering. 85mm lenses are for full-body portraits, while 600mm lenses are for headshots that will always explode the background into one solid smooth color.

My favorite uses for 600mm lenses are sunrises and sunsets. 600mm lenses both enlarge the disc of the sun and the orange area around it. Even lackluster sunrises and sunsets often have bright colors very close to the sun, and this lens enlarges them so much they explode!

Mono Lake Sunrise

Mono Lake Sunrise. Nikon 600mm f/5.6 ED-IF, Nikon FA, Fuji Velvia (ISO 50). bigger.

The amazing effects of a 600mm lens don't stop at shooting into the sun; shooting any reflections of a sunset in a glass office building or in the wet sand at the beach also make images that explode with color — even if it's a relatively lackluster sunset.

I'd get my Sony 600mm f/4 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally-approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Sony does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, non-USA, store demo or used lens. Get yours only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

 

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07 Aug 2019, 10-13, 19 June 2019