Sony FE 70-300mm f4.5 - 5.6 - user thoughts

[Ian5986]

I am considering this lens asI would like the extra reach over the 70-200 and the 100-400 is way out of my price range.

I would love to hear / see sample images from anyone on here using this lens and what they think of it.

I would be using it outside mainly for car racing, airshows and birds in flight.

Thanks,

Ian

[Snowy55]

I don't work for Sony, it's just my opinion. All I can write is I'm happy with the Sony A7 and think it is a wonderful camera for what I use it for. As I mentioned I pair the 70-300mm with my A6500 and it works well for my requirements. The A7 and 70-300 focussed well enough but required a little time to do so, perhaps not fast enough for birding. I didn't try it for that purpose so can't offer any further comment.

[Vandraattila]

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@Snowy55 wrote:

I don't work for Sony, it's just my opinion. All I can write is I'm happy with the Sony A7 and think it is a wonderful camera for what I use it for. As I mentioned I pair the 70-300mm with my A6500 and it works well for my requirements. The A7 and 70-300 focussed well enough but required a little time to do so, perhaps not fast enough for birding. I didn't try it for that purpose so can't offer any further comment.

I have made some experiments today. The AF-c is OK with the 50mm lens, and also with the 70-300 if I use it at 70 mm. If I use it with 300 mm trying to make several photos of a departing car, the auto focus is ok, then  "lost" and and Ok again after a while.

conclusion : The real problem is, that using this lens for subiects being far from me, AF becomes very slow. For subiects at 3-4 m it is OK. it is not an AF-c problem, onlz of speed of focusing at distant subiects. 

Thanks anyway for your opinion. 

Attila

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[Snowy55]

I have now been to an airshow and so have some further thoughts on this lens for that particular purpose.  The aishow was Avalon 2019 in Victoria, Australia. The ambient temperature was around 35 to 38 degrees C with probably 7/10's cloud cover. We arrived early so got a good position on the fence line. My 70-300mm is coupled with my Sony A6500 and I was very pleased with the results. Focus was fast and accurate for the vast majority of shots with any misfocuses most likley my fault, not the lens or camera. The A6500/FE 70-300 combo works well for this purpose, not all that heavy and reasonably well balanced. Here are some photos I took on the day.

RAAF FA18sRAAF RoulettesRAAF FA18