Sony SEL24105G Full Frame E-Mount 24-105mm F4 Constant Lens

Product Information

Can't really say anything bad about this lens. I'm used to manual focus lenses, or little micro four-thirds cameras, so it seems big to me, but this lens is full-format, and with all those gears and motors inside for stability and focusing, that's understandable. And it takes a large, telephoto-sized filter, but 77mm is not crazy-big and at least the lens doesn't require some oddball internal filter. So even those factors are okay. By stopping down to F5.6, sharpness across the board is a little better, but the standard is already so high. The story with diffraction is the same at 50mm as the two wider focal lengths I tested. Indeed, this combined with the OSS further enhances my ability to take sharp images without a tripod. Regardless, there is no one lens that does everything well, but the Sony SEL24105G comes the closest in my experience with Sony cameras, which I think exceeds my experiences with the Canon EOS cameras and lenses that I’ve used. From Sony lens literature) Sony Electronics, a worldwide leader in digital imaging and the world's largest image sensor manufacturer, has introduced the latest addition to their expanding full-frame E-mount lens lineup, the FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS Standard Zoom (model SEL24105G).

The Sony 24-105mm F4 G OSS lens has two switches on the barrel, one to switch between autofocus and manual focus, and another to enable or disable Optical Steady Shot image stabilization. Concerning manual focus, the focus ring feels pretty loose. Overall, I didn't find the manual focusing experience especially good, but it's also far from bad. I mostly focus manually for night sky photography, and the F4 zoom lens isn't well-suited to this task, so I rarely used MF anyway. The lens also includes a customizable function button between the two rings. By default, it's a focus hold button, which is useful. Vignette is well-controlled by the Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS lens. Even when shooting wide open, there's no big issue throughout the entire zoom range. What minor vignette is present is gone by stopping down to F5.6. Indeed, the only times where I wished this lens could do more was regarding the more extreme telephoto ends, where I’d need to bring a very distant object closer to fill in the frame. Granted, this was something I wasn’t that conscious of since I’ve had similar functionality with my old Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens, but after switching to the Sony cameras and lenses, I’ve become more acutely aware of this issue. Unfortunately, I got the wrong camera, and I ended up with rather tiny shots of that moose instead of better filling the frame shooting with the camera that had the 200mm zoom.

Given that the Sony 24-105mm F4 G OSS lens is so impressive at 24mm, I expected excellence at 35mm. Zoom lenses often perform best in between the two extreme focal lengths, and the Sony 24-105mm F4 is no exception. Granted, given how high the bar was set at 24mm, there's not much room for improvement. Again, I have no idea why some people get excited about lenses that only go to 70mm; 105mm is far more useful. The lens isn't a macro lens but can focus reasonably closely. You can focus as close as 38cm (1.25 ft.), resulting in a max magnification of 0.31x. Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS Hands-on Review Summary Among Sony's most practical, useful and versatile lenses for full-frame mirrorless cameras The build quality may be a tad below what GM lenses are offering, but it's still up to professional standards. The construction is a combination

The new full-frame lens covers the commonly used 24 to 105mm focal length range, delivering outstanding G Lens™ imaging performance with the most lightweight design in its class 1, maximizing its versatility and usability. Therefore, the FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS can be used for versatile shooting such as landscape, portrait, wedding and so on. This lens also features fast, precise and quiet autofocus capabilities in both still and video shooting, making it an ideal complement for Sony's extensive lineup of E-mount cameras. Finally, if I wanted to attach a filter (like a circular polarizer) to the lens, it accepts those with 77mm in diameter. Due to its rounded diaphragm blades, this 24-105 makes softer sunstars on brilliant points of light, and only at the smaller apertures. The Sony SEL24105G lens has an image stabilizer, which is called the Optical Steady Shot or OSS in the Sony lingo. This long exposure 1/6-second shot of Undine Falls was taken without a tripod

Lens design and handling: Robust and reliable

So the thing is - there's an urgent need for something good and reasonably affordable in their standard zoom lens lineup, and maybe This Sony only has electronic manual focus-by-wire, while the Canon has a real direct-connected manual focus ring with instant manual override — no menus or digital foolishness needed as with this Sony. Don't mistake "plain" for bad, though, because the lens feels great. It doesn't show fingerprints, it's easy to hold, and the rings feel good in use. The zoom ring includes markings at 24, 35, 50, 70 and 105mm, and it requires less than 90 degrees of rotation to go from 24mm to 105mm. There's not much resistance with the zoom ring, but it's enough that there's no zoom creep. On most Sony cameras, set "DMF" as the focus mode (usually via your Fn button) and you'll have instant manual override just by turning the ring in what otherwise works like the AFS mode. In fact, while out on our travels, I had the ability to take photos of our food when at a restaurant without needing to get up out of my seat to create enough separation between myself and the food.