Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Definitive Review | Lighter, Faster, Sharper

Nice review. Has anyone tried this lens with 2x teleconverter. Love to know how it compares with the 100-400 at 400mm

I recently use this lens (borrowing from a friend) for a family portrait session.. I literally blown away by its optical performance.. Earlier also I have watched your this particular video, but now I can correlate about your all excitement about this lens... Thanks Dustin for all your review.. All I can say, I bought more than 5 lens based on your review and I already ordered this one for myself.. so which makes it to 6.. Thank you again Dustin.. Regards from Australia..

Great review. Thank you very much for such informative review

this is a masterpiece of a lens. i just bought it and can't believe sharpness even at the extreme corners. af is blazing fast and accurate, lightweigh and razor sharp at all FL at all areas of the image...I also found OSS extremely helpful , for example i can't get tack sharp photos with my sigma 85 1.4 dg dn at 1/60s but with Sony, i get tack sharp photos at 1/60 and over 100mm FLs. how did they achieve it..amazing lens amazing, i glued it to one of my A7IVs.

I think this would complemen the sony a7R5 very well since in crop mode you basically get a 300mm f2.8 for free. Or am I missing something?

in terms of sharpness, and contrast, which is better, this or the sony 70-200 f4 G2 macro?(at f/4 obviusly)

Hey Dustin,
Thanking you for all the great work you do, I'd like to ask you the following: I own a Sony A73, Tamoron 28-75mm f2.8 and 150-500mm, considering I shoot wildlife, birding, landscape, street photography and family portraiture, would you recommend the Tamron 70-180 f2.8, this Sony f2.8 o the Latest Sony 70-200m f4 macro, all things considered?
God bless,
Giuseppe.

Great review as always.
Very versatile but would you ditch the amazing 135 1.8 for it?

I got it for 2300€ (new 2800€), no regrets :) i kept waiting for F4 sharp version, but the size of this thing is so good, and F2;8 is more usefull then I expected, this Sony lens brings a lot of stuff together: AF, sharpness, Size, internal zoom, focus speed etc. I'll certainly not be buying primes in same range for a while, they would not get enough use to warrant their purchase ;D

Nice job as always God bless you!

Thank you for the review!!! Which one would you suggest in between sigma 105mm and Sony 70-200 gm ll ?

What the hell, why did you hack Dustin's channel?

This is the best 70-200 ever produced, by any brand.

My only and favorite (landscape) zoom lens. My other lenses are all primes, indeed the images from this lens are indistinguishable from my other GM primes. And it is surprisingly good as a "macro" lens.

I am not a pro, so indeed it is an "expensive" lens. If you are a pro this lens should pay for it self in a few sessions.

well now we know sigma will hopefully be putting out their 70-200 or whatever they are planning so hopefully they might bring a mid level pricing

come on sigma, give us 95% performance at half the price 😅

How’s the microcontrast compared to the 24-70 GM II?

Would you prefer the 35-150 mm or this lens for portrait photography?

Hard to take a review of any Sony lens seriously when the reviewer shows and talks about Sony MTF charts as if they matter. Sony MTF charts are all theoretical. The charts are not based on a actual lens being tested. And yes it matters a great deal. Not saying this latest Sony version of the 70-200mm F2.8 is not a fantastic lens because it is a great lens. But as great as it is the performance does not match the MTF charts. This is the same for Canon, Nikon, etc. The only MTF charts that matter are those that come from actually testing a production sample of the lens. To my knowledge only Leica, Zeiss and Rodenstock produced MTF charts that have actual meaning in reality.

Hi Dustin, what tele would you recommend for someone looking into hiking/wildlife photography and owning a Sigma 85 DN as my longest focal length (on A7IV)? Thanks for your great content as always.

great video, thank you Dustin! But isn't it too cold for your daughter without warm clothes and winter-boots ?

For travel would you recommend the Tamron over this? I could use this Sony for work events as well but I wasn’t sure if going for the cheaper Tamron makes sense for travel - much smaller and still lighter yet again…

Thank you very much Dustin for the review! What would you choose between this Sony 70-200mm GM version 2 vs (Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 + Samyang 135mm f1.8 + sigma 105mm Dg Dn Macro) with the same budget on a Sony a7 IV? I shoot weddings, portraits, pets and product as main activities and sometimes nature. Thanks a lot Dustin.

Like I said before its one awesome lens! Yep almost broke the bank for $3000 with tax and all but I have made it back 3x more. I love this lens for a lot of things.I also have 1.4 converter for it and the 200-600 sony and its awesome!

Better than the Canon RF version?

Zooms are getting ridiculously good. At a cost of course.

Great review! I agree as well and am a super happy owner of this beauty. This lens is pretty much the most impressive zoom lens I've ever used. It's literally everything you could ask to improve in a GM II. That lighting accurate af is so crazy to experience in real life. Every image just is so sharp and has such beautiful rendering. This might be sonys most impressive zoom lens they made.

Easily the most impressive zoom lens ever made, period. The AF is as fast as my 135 GM, 400 GM, etc., and it's about as sharp as those too. Super lightweight, lots of good features, it's just unreal how spoiled we are these days. I was comparing some shots that I had taken with the hold 70-200 GM, and it was pretty darn soft in the corners!

Whole heartedly agreed with this review, the lighter weight and sharper image's are worth the price of admission alone imo but add everything else Sony added to the lens and it's glass worthy of the Gold Master badge. Also got mine for 1500 CAD after trading in the mk 1 version.

I don't like 70-200mm focal length. Tamron has made a better choice with their 35-150mm.

135GM is too tight for a lot of situations, & 85GM is soft. 70-200GMII is the GOAT for daytime, but for event indoor shooting & concerts...the ISO gain from the 50GM to the 70-200GMII is GIGANTIC & we need the 85mm F1.2 that will bring the speed to event telephoto and also double as a 128mm F1.8 Super-35. 50&85 1.2s plus 20G is how you wreck an event/party/gathering. I enjoy the telephoto, but I need more speed than F2.8 because I have the A1 & I am skating to where the puck is going.

85mm F1.2 2023
24mm F1.2 2024

Though a Canon 6D and Fuji ( various X bodies) ,the usual quality review.
Clearly a top flight lens. That said , even if I shot Sony, the price would be an issue.
Not sure if I need the "sharpest 70-200 2.8" in the world as so many other factors affect the creation of a top flight image.
That said, for those invested in the Song ff system, with deep pockets , the choice seems readily apparent.

It is a fantastic lens. You pay lots of money and Sony deliver a superb 70-200 f2.8

Great review as always. The eyelash detail was incredible. Hard to believe this is a zoom.

I'm not really interested in zoom lenses, but this looks exceptional. A 'one lens to rule them all' kind of affair.

That looks like an amazing image quality lens for people who enjoying the 70-200mm range. For me the versatility of the Tamron 35-150mm f/2.0-f/2.8 on a A7RV that is partially a 35-225mm when combining the use of both full and APS-C modes (61MP/26MP) together without the weight and lost of light of a teleconverter while still getting f/2.0-f/2.8 aperture range throughout the entire zoom. For someone just need/want Sony or to have the option to shoot 30fps, Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II is definitely without any question the best of the best in its class.

Excellent review, many thanks!

I hope your model is well paid!🙂

Top review. Do you think that the 70-200 2.8 GM II with 2X teleconverter will be any close to the 100-400mm GM at 400mm. Cant decide between those two. As autofocus doesnt matter much to me this would really just come down to the IQ. If the teleconverter would be pretty close that would be an easy decision for me.

Would love to see a sharpness/contrast comparison with this and the 70-200 mk1 and GM 135

nice review as always

Finally, the definitive review of the 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II. Thank you Dustin, this lens seems to be a worthy investement despite the cost. This paired with the 24-70 GM II are pretty much the only lenses I need for my A9/A7RIII.

The only lens that has no con except cost. But for what it can do and bring to the table .. the cost is really ok. best 70-200 ever made. Period.

Have been waiting everyday! Thank you Dustin :)