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CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Earlier this year, Sony announced a trio of new lenses dubbed G Master, which include the Sony FE 24-70 F2.8 GM, the Sony FE 70-200 F2.8 GM and the Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM. These three lenses helped to fill noticeable gaps near the higher end of Sony’s lens lineup.

And, no, we didn’t Photoshop in that gap in the lens lineup above just to make a point.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

The G Master lenses are chock-full of new and advanced technologies meant to maximize image quality, autofocus speed and accuracy, durability, and bokeh. Let’s take a look inside…

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Here’s the 24-70mm F2.8 GM lens cut in half. This lens comprises 18 elements in 13 groups, and features three aspherical elements, including an extreme aspherical (XA) element – more on that later. An ED (extra low dispersion) and Super ED glass element help minimize chromatic aberration while maintaining high resolution and bokeh characteristics. We believe it – our initial samples show very well-controlled chromatic aberration, and bordering on eye-popping sharpness even on a 42MP sensor, when shooting this lens wide open.

A 9-bladed aperture helps confer a circular shape to out-of-focus highlights, but it’s the autofocus system in this lens that most excites us. A Direct Drive SSM (super sonic wave motor) positions a relatively small group of focus elements accurately and quickly, and when we say quickly we mean with nearly unprecedented speed for this type of lens. We’ve become fans of Direct Drive SSM for AF ever since we saw the speed it confers in the FE 35mm F1.4. Focus, including continuous tracking, is nearly instantaneous on this 24-70 GM, which is fairly unexpected considering its counterparts in the DSLR arena. Focus is also both smooth and quiet, making it a great lens for video as well as stills.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

The new XA (extreme aspherical) element is claimed to reduce aberration and deliver high resolution throughout the entire zoom and aperture range, across the entire frame. Sony claims to have achieved this via extremely high surface precision, maintained to within 0.01 micron tolerances. This should help reduce imperfections that can lead to onion-ring bokeh, typically an issue with aspherical lenses. 

And speaking of high precision, Sony claims to iterate their internal development of optical design by looking at actual lens MTF performance at 50 lines/mm. That doesn’t mean the lens only resolves to 50 lines/mm, it means that Sony’s threshold for acceptable performance in designing these lenses is quite high. Judging from the sharpness wide open on an a7R II, we’re inclined to believe it’s working for Sony.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Sony has also recently announced the FE 85mm F1.4 GM, shown here cut in half. This lens comprises 11 elements in 8 groups, and features a new XA (extreme aspherical) element as well as three ED (extra low dispersion) elements that help optimize both resolution and smooth transitions to out-of-focus areas. It’s also got a ‘Nano’ anti-reflective coating on its front element to reduce flare and ghosting, particularly useful for maintaining contrast in backlit portraits. 

The 85mm GM lens utilizes a ring drive SSM (super sonic wave motor) to drive the lens’ large, heavy focus group. In other words, this lens is much like some of its DSLR counterparts in terms in focusing speed – very fast, but not quite as fast – in our initial impressions – as Sony’s own Direct Drive SSM combined with a relatively small focusing group in the 24-70mm F2.8 GM. Two position sensors support accurate positioning of the focus elements, which should ensure accuracy of focus.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Particularly nice is the 11-blade circular aperture in the 85mm F1.4 (and 70-200mm F2.8) GM lenses. The more blades you have, the more circular the aperture remains even when stopped down significantly – especially with the curved blades typical of almost all lenses today. Most modern lenses have between 7 and 9 blades these days, with 9 blades being reserved more pro-level lenses. 11 takes it a step further and, indeed, the opening retains a circular, less polygonal shape as you stop down (here it is in action). This should ensure circular out-of-focus highlights and increased quality of bokeh, even at smaller apertures.

And why go from 9 to 11 blades, skipping 10? Odd numbers of aperture blades are generally better for their more favorable sunstar rendition, creating sunbursts with twice the number of rays as aperture blades when stopped down. Even-numbered designs only create sunbursts with as many rays as aperture blades, so while a 10-blade aperture would produce 10-ray stars, an 11-blade aperture would produce 22-blade stars. Of course, longer focal lengths and circular aperture designs are less prone to creating sunstars at all – and we have no idea if this was the actual thinking behind the choice – but it’s still nice to see the general trend toward odd numbers of aperture blades.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Pictured here is the new FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS telephoto zoom lens Sony recently announced, cut in half of course. This lens, like the 24-70mm GM lens, features XA, Super ED, and ED glass elements to help achieve high resolution and desirable bokeh characteristics. It’s got 23 elements in 18 groups. A ‘Nano’ anti-reflective coating ensures reduced flare and ghosting. An additional fluorine coating to the front of the lens help keep it clean, and the lens is dust and moisture resistant.

OSS (Optical Steady Shot) is built into the lens, despite the availability of IBIS in a7-series cameras, because for longer focal lengths, it’s beneficial to do a certain amount of the stabilization in-lens, because of how much the sensor would have to move to compensate for even slight angular displacements. The two systems – OSS and IBIS – theoretically work together to provide even more effective stabilization than any one method might provide.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

The autofocus system on the FE 70-200mm GM OSS is quite intriguing: it’s a floating focus system, which sees its debut in an ? lens. This floating system design contributes to its impressive minimum focusing distance of 0.96m, and also helps control aberrations that might otherwise be problematic when focusing at close distances. 

Pictured on the left is the more traditional ring-drive SSM motor that’s required to drive the large, heavy glass elements typical of this type of lens. The double linear motor of this system, pictured on the right, allows for effective ‘wobbling’ actuation (typically used in contrast-only AF), which is useful when shooting video. The entire focusing mechanism is also very quiet – and smooth – which ensures AF performance is optimized for both stills and video shooting. 

The 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS lens also functions with Sony’s newly announced 1.4x and 2x teleconverters, which may somewhat make up for the lack of longer telephoto lenses (for the time being anyway).

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Lifting our heads back up from the tech demos and turning our attention to other things (wait, where’d Rishi go?), we see that in typical trade-show form, Sony’s provided some subject matter for eager attendees to test the latest tech. But if you were to show up to CP+ hoping to capture some model mayhem using the new GM lenses, you’d have to make do with the 85mm F1.4 GM, the only new GM lens available in front of this display.

And don’t worry, if you’re already missing the lens-cut-in-half thing, you can get your fix when our Editor Barney returns with many more things cut in half later this week. Like nicely packed, and then cut in half (naturally) sandwiches.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

At first glance, the 85mm F1.4 GM looks a little unwieldy on an a7-series camera, but in hand, the pair balance remarkably well. The lens has a pleasingly solid heft to it without feeling too front-heavy. At 820g, it’s significantly heavier than, say, Nikon’s counterpart (595g), but our initial impressions are that the sharpness wide open – even off-center – and lack of chromatic aberration might make the weight more than worth it.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Beyond the price of a CP+ admission ticket, there’s no charge to try out the new 85mm F1.4 GM – but to get one of your very own, you’ll need $ 1800 when it goes on sale in March. Also of note for video shooters is the ability to de-click the aperture dial for smoother operation.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Although you’re a little ways away from the real models, you can try out the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM on some beleaguered Sony reps behind the counter. And though it appears a bit hefty on the smaller a7-series bodies, it balances well – particularly if you have a vertical grip attached. At 886g, it’s not unreasonably heavy, and the extra heft may be well worth it anyway – our preliminary impressions are that this is the sharpest 24-70mm zoom (particularly wide open) we’ve ever seen.

It will be available in March for $ 2200.

CP+ 2016: Sony stand report and G Master action

Last up is the FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM. As you can probably tell from this image, the lens itself isn’t overly large, but it’s definitely got some weight to it. At 1480g, it’s around the weight of Canon’s equivalent lens, which means you’ll really want a grip on an a7-series camera to balance the weight well. The FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS will be available in March, and the price is still TBD.

Overall, the G Master lenses appear to be solid additions to Sony’s FE lens lineup, potentially addressing the need for professional-level lenses for the system. We’ve shot a few shots with these lenses on a 42MP a7R II, and it’s clear from the sharpness and chromatic aberration results, as well as AF speeds, that Sony is clearly targeting professionals, and high-end enthusiasts, with these lenses. And we expect them to compare favorably against even the best counterparts offered by the stalwarts in the industry. We’ll reserve judgement until we’ve had time to do more rigorous, side-by-side testing, but for the time being, it’s safe to say we’re very impressed.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)