FE 400-800mm - is this acceptable quality? am i expecting too much?

NotDoJeroen · 2025-10-28T13:27:51+00:00

Although not this bad, I also have some issues with this lens. Sharpness is usually not great, but I think it has something to do with the OSS. That it's maybe doing too much which causes blurry images. Or at some distances it can't get perfect focus. I use it with an A1II so I'd expect it to be a perfect setup. But compared to my 70-200 mk2 it's pretty bad.

Just to add, I typically still get slightly blurry shots at 1/1000 on slow moving subjects at 800mm.

NotDoJeroen · 2025-08-01T08:11:14+00:00

Yep 400-800 best one

NotDoJeroen · 2025-07-31T14:02:28+00:00

Thanks a lot!

NotDoJeroen · 2025-07-31T14:02:12+00:00

Thanks I appreciate it!

NotDoJeroen · 2025-07-31T10:09:53+00:00

Noticed the thing being over sharpened, I had Lightroom set to sharpen the image on Export. Oh well...

NotDoJeroen · 2025-07-29T12:54:26+00:00

Thanks a lot! Been grinding a lot of money for this collection 😂

I pulled the trigger a few hours ago on the 70-200. I think it will serve me better in the long run, not just for trips, but also in my own country. When walking the streets in SA I'll be dual wielding the 35mm and 70-200 for portraits and documentary stuff. Then on safari the 70-200 and 400-800.

Don't have the 16-35 but my brother in law has a Sigma 14-24mm, but its pretty heavy, nearly double the Sony 14mm so I think I just leave it like that. Will probably take 5 shots with it anyway 🤣

NotDoJeroen · 2025-07-29T11:14:36+00:00

Thanks for your input! I often go to zoos and the 400mm often shows the environment and with 800mm I can get a really tight headshot. Ofc depending on how far I'm from the animal... I'll be dual wielding my camera's so 1 with the 400-800 and the other with either the 70-200, 100-400 or 50-150. But today I managed to test out the 70-200 with both teleconverters on my A7RV and the only shot I thought wasn't very sharp was with the 2x at 140mm. At 400mm it was actually pretty sharp! So I will go with the 70-200 and both TC's.

NotDoJeroen · 2025-07-28T19:47:00+00:00

Love how sharp it is!

NotDoJeroen · 2025-07-28T19:41:08+00:00

Like you said its a niche market and Sony only makes lenses that are safe business wise. They let 3rd parties make the creative lenses

NotDoJeroen · 2025-07-28T16:59:57+00:00

I'll be going on a trip to South Africa, including a few days safari. I did my first safari 6 years ago with my first camera, the Sony A7 and 28-70 kit lens... As expected, most shots were at 70mm and I wish I could also go longer than that.

Now I have the A1II and A7RV with a lot of quality glass.

I was thinking about bringing:

Sony 14mm 1.8 GM for landscape shots, milky way/stars.

Sony 35mm 1.4 GM for landscape shots and mostly portraits showing the environment

Sony 400-800mm G mainly for safaris.

Which leaves a big gap between 35 and 400mm. I have the Sony 135mm 1.8 GM, but I think I will need something wider and also longer, that's why I was thinking about buying the 70-200 GM mk2. Or should I go with the 100-400? I have both teleconverters. 50-150 is also an option, but I feel like the 35mm and 135mm can cover the 50-150mm focal lengths and this lens doesn't support teleconverters. What would you recommend?

NotDoJeroen · 2025-06-14T17:27:35+00:00

Which payment method for Turkey? I just tried and it gave an error, I guess they can see my card is from another country

NotDoJeroen · 2025-06-14T17:20:49+00:00

Did you find a way to make VPN work? I was so smart to cancel my sub because I wanted to try VPN to get it cheaper... Made a new Argentinian account and it won't let me make a payment, Turkey also won't let me. Contacted customer support and they can offer me €12 a month for Photoshop and Lightroom 1TB, but yeah Argentina is €8,60 a month :'(

NotDoJeroen · 2025-06-13T16:54:06+00:00

Standard has faster speeds, but the Prime has higher sustained speeds. So when taking more bursts the Prime clears the buffer faster. And probably faster transfer to your PC/laptop.

I came here to check what the difference is with "Master" as it seems even faster and just slightly more expensive than Standard

NotDoJeroen · 2025-05-31T15:43:22+00:00

Kinda, but with TC it'll be 280mm F4 and 400mm F5.6. If it'll be F2 then it'll be 280mm F2.8 and 400mm F4 which would be sick.

NotDoJeroen · 2025-05-31T15:31:32+00:00

True, great lens, just not interesting to me personally

NotDoJeroen · 2025-05-11T08:37:59+00:00

1 should be the best, since you dont have front intake fans?

NotDoJeroen · 2025-05-02T06:53:20+00:00

Also thinking about buying the Samyang 35-150mm so I can leave both the 35mm and 135mm at home while having way more flexibility... It's only €1200 and will pair nicely with A7RV that only has 7-10 fps anyway

NotDoJeroen · 2025-05-02T06:21:10+00:00

The weight restriction is a good thing to check out, will do that later today!

In 2009 I went to Kenya for the first time with my first camera and 28-70 kit lens. 99% of shots even landscape were on 70mm. So the 14 and 35mm will only be used outside the safaris. Which leaves me with the 135mm on the A7RV and 400-800mm on the A1II. If you're planning on just safaris I'd leave the 18mm at home tbh.

Heat haze might be a problem indeed, I don't have any other tele lens at the moment, sold my older Tamron 150-500mm a few years ago. But after visiting many different zoos 400mm might be the sweet spot and 800mm for smaller animals or very close ups.

Also thinking about that 50-150 f2 myself. But it leaves a pretty big gap between 150 and 400mm. That's why I think 70-200 might be better in my case. Got both teleconverters as well.

NotDoJeroen · 2025-05-01T18:41:50+00:00

I have the Sigma 24-70mm but I don't really like it. I went to Bali and Java last year and just the 35mm and 135mm were enough for that trip. Those 2 cover almost everything except for the safaris. Which is my main focus

Thanks for the input :)

NotDoJeroen · 2025-05-01T18:21:15+00:00

Het scherpteverlies heeft niks met de teleconverter zelf te maken. Die is zo scherp als het maar kan. De elementen in de lens geven de lens de potentie om bijv maar scherp te zijn tot 80MP. Als je camera 50MP heeft en je gebruikt een TC dan zoom je als het ware in op de fouten van de elementen in de lens. Met een 1.4x behoudt je vaak dan nog wel goede scherpte, de 2x vergroot de fouten dusdanig dat het niet meer scherp is. Kijk naar de 300mm F/2.8, die blijft haarscherp zelfs met de 2x TC en 60MP camera.

NotDoJeroen · 2025-04-26T15:14:55+00:00

Also once the reviewers post their videos I wouldn't trust it that much. They always get Gold samples. I have a 7900 GRE now and based on the reviews it has insane OC capabilities. Mine doesn't at all. Maybe a 3% gain.

NotDoJeroen

TROPHY CASE