70-200mm f/2.8 Telephoto Zoom Lens

Incredible lens

Pros: Sharp image, great contrast, beautiful bokeh.

Cons: NONE!

Hoard all your nickels, dimes, and quarters. Do everything necessary to get this lens. You simply get what you pay for and this lens is worth the expense. The first picture I snapped with this lens on my a77 made my jaw hit the ground. I mounted it on my a77 and pulled it up to capture a low light shot of my daughter without giving any thought, just wanted a quick pic. No flash, in a huge hurry, very low light....WOW! She looked like she was about to walk right out of the photo. Thanks to a hard drive crash a few days later, I lost all of those great photos (now I back up immediately.) The lens is heavy, which is exactly what you should expect from such a large piece of equipment. Solid build, great feel in manual focus without creep, handy focus limiter, and a decent lens hood.

Reviewer Images: (click to see full-size image)

Had to make a choice...

Pros: A sharp, fast, exceptional zoom lens.

Cons: As always, one must pay for this level of lens.

I had a SAL70300G that I was quite happy with, until I started running into more and more situations where a faster lens was called for. I finally made the decision to go to the SAL70200G. I am very well satisfied with the value to cost ratio. This lens more than makes up for the -100mm differance with its f2.8 speed. For my most common shooting situations, it's a trade off I can live with. Its sharpness is something quite exceptional. The weight of the lens is generally balanced for me on the a900 with V-grip. This is further aided by the lens' internal zoom and focus system. As I said in a previous review, I am not the world's greatest zoom lens fan, but Sony is most certainly doing their level best to convert me.

Terrific lens - even for the price

Pros: Sharpness, color

Cons: Weight

I looked at this lens for a long time before picking it up on sale (plus employee discount) through the Sony Family Center. I do a lot of sports photography, and before I got this lens, I was using a Minolta AF 100-300 F4.5-5.6 D APO with an a700 body. The Minolta lens has very nice color, but nothing compared to the 70-200G. The focus speed is also a huge improvement over the Minolta lens, although not quite as good as expected in low light conditions. However, the most impressive aspect of this lens is its sharpness - it is very good wide open, but stopped down to f4 it is outstanding. It is so sharp that you will want to use it all the time, even considering the extra weight.

Great Glass Worth the Money!

Pros: Sharp from f2.8 up, great color and contrast

Cons: none

Excellent piece of glass. I've had this lens for a little less than a month and it is extremely sharp at all aperatures. It lives up to it's G status. I've shot everything from wild life to live performances in low light and it performs incredibly well. Previous posts mention issues with the tripod collar and the lens hood... I found that not to be the case. The studs for the collar are not positioned where most people place their hands and sony cameras have a built in level so turning the lens/ camera to verticle isn't an issue. The hood attaches in place with a firm click . Great lens, highly recomend.

Reviewer Images: (click to see full-size image)

Piece of junk

When I got it it had very bad back focus and very bad chromatic aberration. I sent it in to Sony for repair. They said they replaced two lenses in it and now meets quality control. It's somewhat better but not what it should be for the amount of money they charge.

high performance med range telephoto lens

Cons: i recommand this lens

This is a high performance lens,sharp and quick focus ,also has f.stop f2.8.I have been using it almost one year,it takes beautiful pictures and has very good bokeh.

AMAZING!!!!

Pros: Everything

Cons: Weight

This lens is amazing. I have no clue why some people find it junk. I have had this lens for a year and she has never let me down. It was well worth the wait and cost to get.

Fast photography

Pros: Great action shots. Lots of setings

Cons: Heavy, Price

I got this lens about 2 weeks ago and cound not be happier. I have taken about 1000 action shots so far. I am very satified with most of those shots. I am an amiture photographer. My GF used it some aswell, however she could not hold it up for long periods of time and complained about how heavy it made the camera. Over all this is a great investment for someone who is amiture to semipro. I Love this lens!

Sharp at F2.8

Pros: Everything except for the tripod mount and lens hood

Cons: Tripod mount, lens hood

I have seen reviews stating that at F2.8 the lens is not that sharp, as compare to F5.6. Well when I paid for a F2.8 lens I expect to use it at F2.8 most of the time, end of story. You look at the attached photo and see for yourself if that is sharp enough. The only changes I made to the RAW file were to brighten it and cropped the top part, no sharpening applied. The speed, handling, contract, colour, sharpness, and bokeh of this lens are amazing, well worth the money. The outfit of the performer exaggerated the colour fringing, so consider it the worst case scenario. I find it acceptable. To qualify what I meant by handling is amazing: the 3 focus hold buttons are perfectly placed, you can manually override the autofocus at any time, zoom and focusing rings are smooth with the right tension. And the weight is just right for hand held. Now I should be able to take off the tripod mount without taking the lens off the camera, and I find the lens uncomfortable to hold without the tripod mount because of the 4 metal studs sticking out. Also I expect the locking mechanism to “guide” me to the portrait or landscape positions, but you can actually lock it at any angle you want with no clear "clicks" of the horizontal and vertical positions. Lens hood comes off too easily, I dropped it a few times already so nowadays I don't even put it on.

Reviewer Images: (click to see full-size image)

Amazing

Pros: The whole package

Cons: Pricey but worth it

This lens is the best in its class as far as imaging goes as it produces beautiful professional grade imaging at every shutter release. Caught this puppy on sale and was so glad and amazed at the image quality it produces. The bulid quality and design are both solid as well as outstanding. The functional controls are well positioned ands its defenately a favorite for short -long range shooting Just great glass

Nice lense but.............

Pros: fast focus, good image quality, good build

Cons: squealing/squeaking AF on 1st copy, pricy

1st lens I had sounded like a mouse was controlling the AF. Notified Sony twice, one agent said it was normal, the other said it was not and to send it in!! I took it back to the local store for an exchange and the 2nd model is silent as it should be. I have also been told that this sound is normal for the piesoelectric motor technology found in various brands under USM, SSM, SWM, HSM, etc...DON'T believe them I have this SSM (2nd copy) and an HSM (Sigma) and they are both very quiet.

Reviewer Images: (click to see full-size image)

SUPER FAST & QUIET LENS

Pros: excellent build, whisper quiet and super fast, attractive

I paid full price for this lens and am still very happy with it. gorgeous looking, fantastic build. Probably the best lens i have ever used, and currently my finest sony lens i own. super fast focus and whisper quiet. very pricey, but is definately top quality and worth every bit. I highly recommend this lens and give it a complete perfect rating. If you are even considering getting this, don't wait just order it now. I did and truly love it.