There are two f2.8 zoom lenses that routinely find their way into enthusiasts bags: a 24-70mm, and a 70-200mm. I have both for my m4/3 bodies – the pair of Olympus 12-40mm and 40-150mm f2.8s. Both lenses actually reach a little further than the 70 and 200mm limits respectively, whereas Panasonic has lenses that are the exact focal length equivalents with their pair of highly-regarded 12-35mm and 35-100 f2.8s. I reckon at the point three years ago when I decided to invest a little more in the m4/3 system, the Olympus lenses were the better options for the Olympus m4/3 bodies I’d been using – hence their purchases.
Not surprisingly, this pair of Olympus f2.8 lenses saw the most use not at home but when we’re traveling. And after I picked up the Panasonic GX85, there was really no more swapping of lenses to bodies. I’d routinely keep the 12-40mm f2.8 on the E-M1, and the 40-150mm on the GX85, and sling both cameras around the neck. That by the way will be one of the key losses now that I’m moving to Sony: I don’t have a second A7 body to mount a second lens with! There are plenty of used A7 bodies on the used market here though ever since the A73 avalanche, with so many owners dumping their older pre-loved A7 bodies at very attractive prices. The lower specifications and lesser performing aspects of these older A7 bodies I can handle fine: it’s the thought of having to deal with a different battery altogether though that makes me nervous!
Still, that the possibility of acquiring high quality 24-70mm/70-200mm f2.8 zooms were a key point of consideration when I finally decided to move to a full-frame camera system. Sony’s professional line of lenses – the GM series – which has these f2.8 zooms cost a royal bomb though: even more than the already pricey f2.8 equivalents from Canon and Sony. Thankfully, there are reprieves: firstly, Sony’s G series lenses are priced affordably if one can handle one-stop difference of f4.0 versus f2.8. And secondly, there are plenty of non-native lenses via the adapter route. For the 24-70mm focal length, I’ve gone with the G option, and the latter for the 70-200mm f2.8 lens – I will write about it once the lens arrives and I’ve had some time on it too.
There are two G f4.0 Sony FE lenses in the 24-70mm focal length bracket: the fairly expensive FE 24-70mm f4.0 that retails for SGD1399 (but used versions are almost half-that), and the FE 24-105mm f4.0 that retails for SGD1949 – and there are barely any on the resale market. I reckon firstly because the lens is widely out of stock at many stores, and secondly maybe because no one is willing to give theirs up LOL. On the surface, one might question whether the price difference of SGD559 justifies that bit of additional reach. On the other hand, the 24-105mm is regarded as simply better performing optically than the 24-70mm, and a more useful focal zoom range at that too. That also meant that the just recently released Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 was dropped from consideration. But man, is that lens a really sweet deal: f2.8 and about a third of the price of the Sony f2.8 equivalent!
I checked out the non-native 24-105mm f4.0 lenses, and there were two that I seriously considered: the Sigma 24-105mm f4.0 which cost a lot less that Sony’s, but I’d need to then also invest in a new set of neutral density and circular polarizers for the relatively less common 82mm filter thread it uses. More favorably considered was the Canon 24-105mm f4.0 L that was priced slightly higher than the Sigma but reportedly to also worked very well with the Sigma MC-11 adapter. Neither would have performed as well as Sony’s FE version of it and would have also made the overall lens + adapter package larger. So, I bit the bullet – Sony it is. The Sony FE 24-105mm f4.0 was out of stock island-wide in late April, but I found someone offloading the item – he’d purchased it just two days before – so I picked it up at the same price one would pay for at local stores – about 13% cheaper than local RRP.
After several weeks of use, the lens works as advertised: pretty good center sharpness (though the 12-40mm f2.8 beats it hands-down), and the various AF modes and Eye AF works as expected for a Sony FE native lens. That the lens uses the 77mm filter thread is a huge bonus: since I still have the pair of B+W 77mm circular polarizer and neutral density filters for it – legacy but still totally usable items from my stay in the Nikon DSLR system ten years ago.
The lens is pretty big though! The A73 isn’t exactly lightweight, but with this lens mounted on it, the entire package feels front-heavy now. The E-M1/12-40mm f2.8 now feels feather-like in comparison.
Pictures!
The posts in this series:
Sony FE 24-105mm f4.0
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