Sony’s FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS ($11,999.99) was the company’s first high-end lens for its mirrorless system back in 2018. Its focal length is ideal for bringing distant action closer into view and the lens focuses fast enough to keep pace with world-class athletes, skittish wildlife, and other subjects in motion. It’s as good a performer as you’d expect for the price, and its magnesium alloy barrel should outlive most digital cameras. This is a lens for the most demanding photographers, especially those capturing action with Sony a1 and a9 II cameras.
Sony’s Big White Lens
The FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS is hefty, but that’s the case with any telephoto prime that has such a tight angle of view. At 14.1 by 6.2 inches (HD), it looms large over any full-frame camera you attach. The lens is heavy too, weighing in around 6.4 pounds. Add an a1 and you’re carrying about eight pounds. The size and weight are not out of line, though; the Canon RF 400mm F2.8 L IS USM for the EOS R mirrorless system is nearly identical in size, shape, and mass.
Sony designed the lens to make it easier to use, despite its bulk. For example, Sony centered the largest and heaviest optical glass in the barrel right under the tripod foot. The lens barrel uses a magnesium alloy material, strong but light, and incorporates extensive dust and splash protection for all-weather use. The 400mm is finished in white, a common choice for telephoto lenses. The color reflects light, so the lens isn’t as prone to picking up heat versus black barrel optics.
The sizable front element includes anti-smudge fluorine protection, and it’s always a good idea to use the hood to keep raindrops and fingerprints away. The hood is large on its own and adds a good five inches in height to the lens when attached. It’s made from carbon fiber, secures with a thumbscrew, and has a rubber bumper around its front. Sony includes a nylon slip-on lens cover in the box, along with a carry strap and a hard-shell carrying case.
The tripod collar is integral to the design and I wouldn’t want to use the lens without it. It’s a useful handle for carrying the lens, with a soft leatherette finish on top for some added comfort. There are two standard 1/4-20 sockets for a quick-release plate or sling strap, as well as the larger 3/8-16 thread to mount directly to a monopod. The collar rotates for quick swaps between portrait and landscape shots when mounted.
Photographers using Arca-Swiss mounts will need to add a quick release plate or swap the foot out for one with a compatible dovetail cut. Sony hasn’t embraced the standard for its lenses, but third-party manufacturers have. For example, Really Right Stuff sells a replacement Arca foot for $100 and Kirk Photo has one for $65.
The 400mm doesn’t support front filters, but you can still add a neutral density (ND) filter or a circular polarizer. The drop-in filter holder is positioned far back at the barrel’s narrow rear throat. For basics, such as ND filters, it accommodates 40.5mm threaded filters. The circular polarizer for this lens is a $399 add-on and also works with the $13,000 FE 600mm F4 GM OSS. The 600mm F4 features a similar design and puts its control surfaces in the same positions, a benefit for photographers who rely on muscle memory to change settings.
On-Lens Controls
The FE 400mm goes well beyond the basics when it comes to controls. Manual focus is an option—the control ring is prominent and takes up much of the mid-barrel section. There are four control buttons just ahead of it. They’re spaced at 90-degree increments and can be set for AF-ON, AF Hold, or other sundries via the camera menu.
A second ring sits between manual focus control and the function buttons. It supports a simple twist action and works with the Preset focus function, one of many switches located on the left-side control panel. It’s a useful tool for shooting certain sports—for baseball, you can save a preset for plays at first base or the plate, and for soccer, you could lock the distance between camera and goal. You can configure the lens to make an audible beep when setting the distance or make it silent (a plus for wildlife photography, where silence is a virtue).
There are also switches to set focus modes. It’s quick to swap between manual and autofocus, and you can turn full-time manual focus override on or off with the DMF switch. There’s also a limiter option—autofocus can be set to find focus across its full range, at close distances only (2.7-7m) or for distant targets only (7m to infinity).
Autofocus is deadly fast. Dual linear motors drive the focus and the lens is capable of matching the a1’s 30fps and the a9’s 20fps shooting speeds; Sony limits third-party zooms to 15fps and 10fps on those bodies, respectively.
Sony’s Optical Steady Shot stabilization system is present here, too. There’s a switch to turn it on or off and another to set its mode on the lens. Use Mode 1 for when the camera is still, Mode 2 for panning, and Mode 3 for tracking subjects moving in unpredictable directions.
The OSS works in tandem with the in-body stabilizers included in most Sony cameras. It’s not as effective as some others we’ve tried, though. With the 60MP a7R IV, I had to stick to shutter speeds above 1/60-second to ensure photos free of handshake-induced blur; my results were hit-and-miss at 1/30-second.
Slower aperture zooms do a better job with stabilization, generally speaking. The Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports gets sharp results at 1/8-second. That lens doesn’t gather nearly as much light, though, so you end up using lower ISOs with the 400mm F2.8, especially for the quick 1/500-second and 1/1,000-second exposures you’ll want to use to freeze motion in place.
Zooms with narrower f-stops are also better macro lenses. The aforementioned Sigma focuses very close, for 1:2.9 reproduction. The closest the FE 400mm can focus is nearly 9 feet (2.7m) from the camera’s sensor. It’s good enough for some close-up shots, but macro it is not. At its nearest focus distance, the lens captures subjects at 1:6.3 life-size.
The FE 400mm F2.8 works with both of Sony’s E-mount teleconverters, which narrow the angle of view. These are useful for getting more magnification at closer distances and for bringing distant subjects into clearer view. When paired with the 1.4x extender, the lens becomes a 560mm F4. With the 2.0x, it becomes an 800mm F5.6.
High-Resolution Optics
I used the FE 400mm in the field with Sony’s stacked-sensor a9 and a1, but opted to test its resolution in the lab with the 60MP a7R IV. Imatest shows resolution to be very good at f/2.8 (4,300 lines) and excellent from f/4 through f/8 (4,700 lines). Apertures down to f/22 are available, though you’ll note some loss of detail when using the smallest settings, the unavoidable result of optical diffraction.
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Details in the shots I took are just as clear toward the edges of the frame as near the center. I noted some field curvature in close-up resolution tests, but it’s nothing to worry about in real-world use. A 400mm lens blurs backgrounds with ease. If you’re tight on your subject, backgrounds simply melt away.
Defocused highlights are slightly elongated when using the lens at f/2.8 and take on a distinct cat’s eye shape at the edges of the frame. Narrowing the aperture makes them rounder—the 11-blade diaphragm closes down into a circle, netting highlights to match.
Exceptional, But Expensive
The FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS stands up to the most demanding types of photography. Its focal length hones in on a narrow angle of view, what you’ll want to use to get shots worthy of the sports page from your place on the sidelines. And its bright F2.8 optics help keep your ISO low when you work under overcast skies, during night games, or inside a sports arena.
Teleconverter support adds some versatility—with an extender, the 400mm becomes long enough to make birders happy. Its all-weather design and magnesium frame make it a good fit for outdoor use, though I’d imagine many wildlife photographers would find the FE 600mm F4 a better fit because of its longer focal length.
The FE 400mm and FE 600mm are prohibitively expensive for most of us, though. It’s one thing if they’re the tools that help you work and put food on the table, but aside from the one-percenters, lenses like these are out of reach for hobbyists and enthusiasts.
For the rest of us, a rental is always an option for one of those once-in-a-lifetime photo excursions. Or you can make do with a zoom. The $2,000 Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS is capable of matching the full focus speeds of Sony’s stacked sensor cameras. If you’re using an a7 series body, the Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 and our Editors’ Choice award winner, the Sigma 150-600mm DG DN OS Sports, are killer lenses in their own right.
Thanks to LensrentalsLensrentals for providing the FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS for review.
