Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS
f/6.3-8 (2025 ~ today)
Sony's longest lens, but only zooms out to 400mm. Works great with teleconverters out to 1,600mm!
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
Sony: A9 III A1 II A1 A9 II A7R V A7R IV A7 V A7 IV A7 III A7S III A7CR A7C II A7c FX3 FX2 ZV-E1 A6700 A6600 A6400 ZV-E10 II ZV-E10 ZV-1 II RX1R III RX10/4 RX100/7 Flash Lenses
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS (105mm filters, 87 oz./2,460g, 5.8-11.3'/1.8-3.5m close focus, 0.23× macro ratio, $2,898). bigger.
I'd get mine at B&H or and at Adorama, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you take the chance of getting it elsewhere. Sony does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, dropped, incomplete, gray-market, store demo or used lens — and my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new ultratele. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new lens before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
February 2025 Better Pictures Sony Sony Lenses Canon Nikon Fuji LEICA Zeiss All Reviews
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS (use with the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter to make a 280-840mm f/8-9 G OSS).
Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Full-Frame
Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji & OM SYSTEM Menu Systems Compared.
Sample Images top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
More samples throughout this review at Bokeh, Falloff, Macro, Sharpness, Spherochromatism and Sunstars.
These are just snapshots; my real work is in my Gallery.
These are all shot hand-held as STANDARD JPGs; no tripods, no FINE or EXTRA FINE JPGs or RAW files were used or needed.
This is an actual rescue of a real guy I know that unexpectedly came up over me as I stood near a canyon; this was not a practice or glory shoot set up in advance; this is a real rescue to take a disabled person out of a canyon and bring him to the ambulance waiting on the street to take him to the hospital:
Actual mission (not practice) rescuing a man from a canyon, 4:11 PM, Saturday, 01 February 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 800mm at f/8 hand-held at 1/1,000 at Auto ISO 400 (LV 14.0), Radiant Photo software to fill in the shadows under the helicopter. bigger or camera-original 60 MP © 6.7 MB JPG file.
Tighter crop from above. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.
Woman and the Sea, 5:11 PM, Wednesday, 29 January 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 800mm, Sony FE 2× Teleconverter (1,600mm effective) wide-open at f/16 (effective) at 1/250 on a monopod at Auto ISO 400 (LV 14.0), Radiant Photo software to fill in the shadows. bigger or camera-original 60 MP © 4 MB JPG file.
This is from about 300 feet (100 meters) away. The cool thing about ultra-ultra-teles is that the further away you get from a sunset subject, the bigger the glowing background becomes. At the time this person was so far away as to be pretty much invisible, while with the huge magnification it makes the sunset glinting off the sea explode with color.
Sunset, 5:14 PM, Wednesday, 29 January 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 800mm, Sony FE 2× Teleconverter (1,600mm effective) wide-open at f/16 (effective) at 1/250 on a monopod at Auto ISO 125, -1 stop exposure compensation (LV 15⅔), Radiant Photo software to fill in the darkest sections. bigger or camera-original 60 MP © 3.4 MB JPG file.
Any color fringes you may see (blue and green fringes on top of the sun) are caused by the Earth's atmosphere, not this lens. This is how we get green flashes, and this lens has so much magnification that it lets us see there marvelous details in our world that are invisible to our naked eyes.
Introduction top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below. |
This 400-800mm lens is a handy ultra tele, and it works great with either of the FE 1.4x Teleconverter or FE 2× Teleconverters to get you out as far as 1,600mm as you have seen above, and it's easy for me to hand-hold even at 1,600mm.
It zooms internally and it's easy to turn its zoom ring; the lens doesn't extend as does the Canon RF 200-800mm, however this lens zooms no shorter than 400mm. I really wish it covered a broader zoom range; the Canon RF 200-800mm covers twice the zoom range (4× versus a 2× zoom ratio) which makes it able to cover twice as many kinds of subjects and replace both an FE 200-600mm and this 400-800mm.
I have not tried, but the combination of FE 200-600mm & FE 1.4x Teleconverter covers a zoom range of 280-840mm for about the same price, size and weight. I compare these here.
I'd get mine at B&H or and at Adorama, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
New intro top
Sony's first zoom longer than 600mm, in response to the extremely popular Canon RF 200-800mm.
Good intro top
Big, long and still hand-holdable with its great stabilization.
Three programmable buttons, usually set to Focus Lock (all three have to be set to the same thing).
AF/MF switch.
Stabilizer switch.
Hood included.
Bad intro top
Production dumped to China, not made domestically in Japan.
Plastic filter threads and plastic exterior.
Limited zoom range.
Big and heavy.
Missing intro top
No 200-400mm zoom range; requires buying a second lens if you need to cover this range.
No aperture ring.
No always-active manual-focus override, unless you set that in a menu. (Works only in AF-S, not AF-C).
No case included.
No focus or depth-of-field scales.
No infra-red focus indices.
Specifications top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
I'd get mine at B&H or and at Adorama, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
Name specifications top
Sony calls this the FE 400-800mm G OSS:
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS. bigger.
FE: Full-frame coverage, E-mount.
G: "Good," meaning Sony's nearly best, but not quite as physically tough and good as Sony's GM "Good Master" lenses.
OSS: "Optical Steady Shot" Image Stabilization.
Sony's model number: SEL400800G.
Optics specifications top
Internal Optical Construction. ED elements.
27 elements in 19 groups.
6 ED elements: magic Extra-low Dispersion glass for reduced axial secondary chromatic aberration.
Fluorine coating to resist dirt and smudges.
There are quite a few black baffles and stops in the barrel to catch flare.
Diaphragm specifications top
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS (diaphragm not seen). bigger.
11 rounded blades.
Electronically actuated.
Stops down to f/36 - f/45.
Filters specifications top
Plastic 105mm filter thread.
Focal Length specifications top
400-800mm.
When used on an APS-C camera, it sees the same angle of view as a 600-1,200 mm lens sees when used on a full-frame or 35mm camera.
See also Crop Factor.
Angles of View specifications top
6⅙º ～ 3⅙º diagonal, full frame.
4⅙º ～ 2º diagonal, APS-C.
Autofocus specifications top
No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.
Focus Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Infinity Focus Stop specifications top
No.
You have to focus somehow to get precise focus at infinity, just like at every other distance.
Depth of Field Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Infrared Focus Index specifications top
No.
Close Focus (distance from subject to image plane) specifications top
At 400mm
5.8 feet (1.78 meters), actual measured.
Rated 5.6 feet (1.7 meters).
At 800mm
11.3 feet (3.5m), actual measured.
Rated 11.5 feet (3.5 meters).
Maximum Reproduction Ratio specifications top
1:4.3 (0.23×).
Caps specifications top
ALC-F105S front and ALC-R1EM rear caps, included.
Hood specifications top
Sony ALC-SH181 Hood. bigger.
Rubber front bumper.
All plastic.
Access hatch for rotating rotating filters.
Locking pawl.
Tripod Collar specifications top
The tripod collar does not come off, although with an Allen wrench you probably could remove the foot.
It has both ¼″ × 20" TPI and ⅜″ × 16" TPI threads.
Size specifications top
4.72" ø maximum diameter × 13.6" extension from flange.
119.8 mm ø maximum diameter × 346 mm extension from flange.
Weight specifications top
87 oz. (2,460 g) actual measured weight.
Rated 87.3 oz. (2,475g).
Quality specifications top
Made in China.
Announced specifications top
9 AM Wednesday morning, 26 February 2025, NYC time.
Promised for specifications top
Wednesday, 19 March 2025.
Included specifications top
Lens.
ALC-SH181 Hood.
ALC-F105S front and ALC-R1EM rear cap.
Lens strap (for carrying).
Model Number specifications top
SEL400800G.
Price, U. S. A. specifications top
26 February 2025
$2,898 at B&H and at Adorama.
Optional Accessories top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
I'd get mine at B&H or and at Adorama, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
105mm filters.
Performance top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
Overall Autofocus Manual Focus Breathing
Distance Recording Bokeh Distortion Ergonomics
Falloff Flare & Ghosts Lateral Color Fringes
Lens Corrections Macro Max & Min Apertures
Mechanics Sharpness Spherochromatism
Stabilization Teleconverters Tripod Collar
I'd get mine at B&H or and at Adorama, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
Overall performance top
This big lens works fine, and most importantly it works great with either of the FE 1.4x Teleconverter or FE 2× Teleconverters, but only one at a time.
Most people's issues with this ultra-tele won't have anything to do with the lens itself, but with the things that affect all ultra teles. In most cases, atmospheric heat shimmer and camera motion (or using high ISOs to minimize camera shake) are going to be the biggest limitations to sharpness, not this lens itself.
Spherochromatism is this lens' biggest optical limitation.
Autofocus performance top
Autofocus is typical for an ultra tele, which means it takes much longer to motor in and out than lenses with more reasonable focal lengths.
This is from the laws of physics; there is so little depth of field that the system has to move more slowly than it does with shorter lenses to find perfect focus.
It's far from instantaneous; you can see it moving from near to far as it finds focus.
Especially at 800mm it can get lost if you have things between you and the subject. This is why there are focus limiters to help the lens not get distracted. With a lens this long, it takes practice and skill to get fast autofocus.
Manual Focus performance top
Manual focus is fine, and as ultra-long lens it takes a lot of focus ring rotation to accomplish anything. Again, this is the physics of every ultra-tele.
Manual focusing is entirely electronic; the manual focus ring isn't connected to anything other than a digital encoder.
Focus Breathing performance top
Focus breathing is the image changing size (growing and shrinking slightly) as focused in and out. It's important to cinematographers that the image not breathe (change size) as focus gets pulled back and forth between different actors as they speak. The image is said to breathe because it expands and contracts as the focus follows the dialog back and forth.
I can't see any focus breathing with this lens.
Focus Distance Recording performance top
The focused distance is not recorded in the EXIF data, or at least I don't see it in the lower left of my screen in Photoshop's lens correction filter.
Bokeh performance top
Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, isn't that great. While of course things are waaaaay out-of-focus due to the very long focal lengths (which is what most people think of when they hear the word bokeh), this lens is so well corrected that the blur circles themselves have sharp edges if they represent things in the background with sharp transitions like a fence or points of light, which can lead to false resolution (sharper edges) in the out of focus areas rather than just soft washes of color.
Here are photos from headshot distance wide-open. I'm focused on the DAVIS logo. Click any for the © camera-original file:
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6357 Vantage Vue Wireless Sensor Suite (use with WeatherLink console), 31 January 2025. Sony A7R V at 1/320 at Auto ISO 100, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.6). bigger or camera-original © file.
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6357 Vantage Vue Wireless Sensor Suite (use with WeatherLink console), January 2025. Sony A7R V at 1/250 at Auto ISO 160, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.3). bigger or camera-original © file.
As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at 800mm at f/8 and get as close as possible.
Distortion performance top
This 400-800mm lens has no visible distortion when shot with Distortion Correction ON, and moderate pincushion distortion with correction OFF.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct the distortion as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
For more critical scientific use, use these corrections in Photoshop's lens correction filter to JPG images.
These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires hours of photography and calculations on the resulting data.
On Full-Frame at infinity |
Correction factor to use with images made with correction ON in A7R V |
Correction factor with uncorrected images |
400mm |
-0.20 | -3.00 |
500mm |
-0.20 | -3.10 |
600mm |
-0.20 | -3.20 |
800mm |
-0.20 | -3.20 |
© 2025 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
Ergonomics performance top
|
|
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS. bigger. |
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS. bigger. |
It's a big lens, but I have big hands (a span of 26 cm or over 10") and it's easy to shoot handheld. Stabilization is a huge help.
Set DMF ON and the manual-focus ring works all the time, but a deficiency in all current Sony cameras as of 2025 is that if you have AF set to AF-C (continuous), as soon as you stop moving the manual focus ring, it will start trying to autofocus again, instead of holding focus where you just set it. Manual-focus override only works properly in AF-S (single AF) mode, which is a flaw in Sony's cameras, not in this lens.
Zooming is easy because it only covers a small range. Moderate pressure from just one finger is plenty for moving the zoom ring:
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS. bigger.
Falloff performance top
Falloff isn't a problem, which is great for bird and aircraft photographers who used to hate it when teles vignetted blank sky behind their subjects.
I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background and it's still nearly invisible here; it will not look this bad in actual photos of real things:
Falloff on full-frame at infinity, correction at its default of ON NORMAL turned OFF:
© 2025 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
If you save only raw data rather than create JPG images in-camera, whatever software you use to create visible images from that raw data later may or may not correct this as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
If you go out of your way to turn off the correction, or possibly in some raw software, this is what you get:
Falloff on full-frame at infinity, correction at its default of ON NORMAL turned OFF:
© 2025 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
Flare & Ghosts performance top
I have no problem with ghosts shooting straight into the sun at sunset. Bravo!
Lateral Color Fringes performance top
There are no significant lateral color fringes as shot with the default automatic correction ON.
If I look really hard, there is a tiny bit of red/cyan at 400mm, none at 560mm and oddly the same red/cyan again at 800mm.
If I turn off the default corrections and then go looking for it (a fool's errand), there's none at 400mm, red/cyan at 560mm and pretty strong red/cyan at 800mm.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct this as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
It does have spherochromatism, which are color fringes in a completely different dimension than lateral color. See this at Spherochromatism.
Lens Corrections performance top
My Sony A7R V corrects for any or all of Falloff ("Shading Comp."), Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberration Comp.") and Distortion.
You may turn any of these ON or OFF. In my A7R V, "AUTO" is code for ON.
Macro Performance performance top
Its close focus distance isn't very close (try ten feet or 3 meters) , but with such long focal lengths it looks very close.
At 400mm
Oddly it gets more magnification at 400mm because it focuses much more closely at 400mm and I suspect it cheats a bit at 800mm:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 14 February 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 400mm at f/6.3 hand-held at 1/1,000 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 15.3). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (7.9× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
The purple fringes you're seeing are spherochromatism, which is strongest at 400mm.
The texture you're seeing is on the watch face. It looks hazy due to spherochromatism (colored haze), which is at its worst at 400mm and wide-open as shot here.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 16 × 24" (1.3 × 2 feet or 40 × 60 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 32 × 47½" (2.6 × 4 feet or 0.75 × 1.2 meters).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 63 × 95" (5.3 × 7.9 feet or 1.6 × 2.4 meters).
At 800mm
Close focus is twice as far away at 800mm compared to 400mm, and I suspect it's cheating a bit at 800mm. By "cheating," a common optical trick to allow close focusing at long focal lengths is to shorten the actual focal length as you focus more closely. This way you get your full 800mm at far distances, and allows you to focus and get a picture as your subject gets closer.
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 14 February 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 800mm at f/8 hand-held at 1/800 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 15.6). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (7.9× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
The texture you're seeing is on the watch face. This is pretty sharp, and remember I'm shooting this from 11.3 feet (3.5 meters) away!
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 16 × 24" (1.3 × 2 feet or 40 × 60 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 32 × 47½" (2.6 × 4 feet or 0.75 × 1.2 meters).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 63 × 95" (5.3 × 7.9 feet or 1.6 × 2.4 meters).
Maximum & Minimum Apertures performance top
Maximum Aperture |
Minimum Aperture |
|
| 400mm | f/6.3 |
f/36 |
| 450mm | f/6.3 |
f/36 |
| 500mm | f/7.1 |
f/36 |
| 600mm | f/8 |
f/40 |
| 700mm | f/8 |
f/45 |
| 800mm | f/8 |
f/45 |
Mechanical Quality performance top
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS. bigger.
It's the usual from Sony; lots of plastic with metal where we need it.
Exterior Finish
Light tan paint.
Hood
Plastic bayonet.
Rubber bumper.
Plastic rotating filter door.
Front Bumper
Rubber.
Filter Threads
Plastic.
Hood Bayonet Mount
Plastic.
Black Trim Ring around the Front
Black-anodized aluminum.
Barrel Exterior
Plastic.
Zoom Ring
Rubber-covered plastic.
Programmable Focus Lock Buttons
Plastic.
Focus Ring
Rubber-covered plastic.
Slide Switches
Plastic.
Rear Barrel Exterior
Section with focus distance window: plastic.
Tripod Collar, Foot & Lock Knob
All Metal.
The collar doesn't come off the lens. Allen-head screws hold the foot to the collar.
¼″ × 20 TPI and ⅜″ × 16 TPI threads.
No 90º click stops.
Identity
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS. bigger.
Metal-look plate on the top of the barrel towards the rear of the lens.
Internals
Seems like a great mix of metal (zoom cams & etc.) and plastic.
Dust Gasket at Mount
Yes.
Mount
Dull chromed metal.
Aluminum.
Plastic.
Markings
Paint.
The close-focus and filter specs are engraved and filled with paint on the front vanity trim ring.
Serial Number
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS. bigger.
Laser engraved on the bottom near the mount.
Date Code
None found.
Noises When Shaken
Mild to moderate clunking from what sounds like uncaged focus groups, but you really have to shake this huge lens to hear anything.
Ethics
Offshored to China.
Sharpness performance top
Lens sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness; every lens made in the past 100 years is more than sharp enough to make super-sharp pictures if you know what you're doing. The only limitation to picture sharpness is your skill as a photographer. It's the least talented who spend the most time worrying about lens sharpness and blame crummy pictures on their equipment rather than themselves. Skilled photographers make great images with whatever camera is in their hands; I've made some of my best images of all time with an irreparably broken camera! Most pixels are thrown away before you see them, but camera makers don't want you to know that.
Rockwell's Lawn Furniture (oh please save us!), 3:38 PM, Tuesday, 18 February 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 800mm at f/8 at 1/250 handheld at Auto ISO 500 (LV 11.6). bigger or full-resolution 60 MP © 14 MB JPG file.
Of course it's sharp if you can work around heat shimmer, as I did here shooting up close.
This lens is sharper than the atmosphere itself. This lens has such high magnification that one is almost always limited by atmospheric heat shimmer. Ask any astronomer, sniper or long-distance marksman and they're the first to point out that no matter how sharp their scopes, heat shimmer limits what they can see. Try it yourself looking through any 30× or more powerful scope.
While heat shimmer isn't usually that obvious just looking at normal-sized images from this lens, look at images from this lens at 100% on your screen (as you people always do), and they're equivalent to about a 40×~80× scope magnification! At 800mm it's easy to read bumper stickers a mile away — if you can see through the heat shimmer. Astronomers and the military are working on adaptive optics to see through this, but there's nothing in photography (short of multi-frame lucky imaging) to improve this.
Atmospheric heat shimmer means that almost everything shot with this lens will show the effects of these atmospheric waves, exactly like looking at the bottom of a pool through the waves above. Heat shimmer gets worse over longer distances and when you have layers of air at different temperatures interacting, and honestly shooting even 30' (10m) across my pool one cool morning the heat shimmer was very strong. This isn't a problem with any lens; it's simple this lens being so clear that it magnifies and makes obvious the limitations in our atmosphere.
My samples at the top were under good conditions. Heat shimmer comes not from heat itself, but from variations in temperatures which lead make the air having different indices of refraction, and when these regions of different indices of refraction (much as how water and all different indices of refraction), they form moving waves. It doesn't have to be the desert or summer; here's a shot one cool winter morning:
Buildings 2 miles (3 km) Away, 11:35 AM, Wednesday, 19 February 2025. Full frame Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 800mm, Sony FE 2× Teleconverter (1,600mm effective) wide-open at f/16 (effective) at 1/250 hand-held at Auto ISO 320 (LV 14.3), Radiant Photo software. bigger.
Yuck, but this is all heat shimmer, making it look like we're looking through waves if you saw it live — which we are. Here's a mere 4× crop to give a slightly better look at the waviness, rather than just simple softening or defocus:
4× crop from above. bigger.
This is no fault of the lens; I got out my scope and it's just as soft — and of course the atmospheric waves are wiggling around live. The "4× cropped" image is a huge magnification over how it appears to our eye. While it's a simple 4× crop from the 1,600mm image, the 1,600mm image is already about a 32× magnification compared to our naked eye, thus this "4× crop" is actually about what I see through my 128× telescope (2,000mm Celestron 8 with a 16mm eyepiece)!
Nikon mounted with a T-mount on my Celestron 8 at Aviara. bigger.
Other reasons you might not get sharp images with this lens is if you're not in perfect focus (lenses this long have no depth-of-field), and if there's any camera motion not eliminated by stabilization or if spherochromatism is appearing. What also kills a lot of people here is if they've increased ISO above 100 to try be able to use faster shutter speeds or smaller apertures to compensate for the above; every ISO above 100 gets softer and softer and softer. You need to shoot this lens wide-open in Program mode with Auto ISO's minimum shutter speed set to the longest time at which you still get sharp results.
Be sure not to shoot at f/16 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot at ISO 100 or below because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, avoid shooting across long distances over land which can lead to atmospheric heat shimmer, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I set mine to the maximum) and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 or smaller at ISO 1,600 or above at default sharpening in daylight of subjects at differing distances in the same image.
People worry waaaaay too much about lens sharpness. It's not 1968 anymore when lenses often weren't that sharp and there could be significant differences among them; ever since about 2010 all new lenses are all pretty much equally fantastic.
This lens is sharp, limited of course by diffraction at the smallest apertures as well — and it goes to some very small apertures.
Here are Sony's usual "cooked" claimed MTF curves. I suspect that they are merely calculated, not actual measured MTF, and also choose to ignore the effects of diffraction, as made obvious by the curves hugging the 100% line:
 |
 |
 |
MTF at 400mm at f/6.3. |
MTF at 400mm at f/8. |
MTF at 800mm at f/8. |
Sony's MTF at f/1.4 and f/8 at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted).
While it's usually valid to compare rated MTFs between different lenses of a similar age from the same maker, every maker measures or simply calculates MTF very differently, and therefore one cannot compare these curves between brands. Sony seems to calculate and choose to ignore diffraction, while others don't, which lets these lenses hug the mythical 100% line for show, while other brands don't.
Spherochromatism performance top
Spherochromatism is this lens' biggest flaw, especially at 400mm.
Spherochromatism, also called secondary spherical chromatic aberration or "color bokeh," is an advanced form of spherical and chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral chromatic aberration and therefore cannot be corrected with software or automatic corrections. It happens mostly in fast normal and tele lenses when spherical aberration at the ends of the color spectrum are corrected differently than in the middle of the spectrum. Spherochromatism can cause colored fringes on out-of-focus highlights, usually seen as green fringes on backgrounds and magenta fringes on foregrounds. Spherochromatism is common in fast lenses of moderate focal length when shooting contrasty items at full aperture. It goes away as stopped down.
The FE 400-800mm G OSS has relatively strong spherochromatism at 400mm and minor spherochromatism at 800mm.
Spherochromatism is what caused the slight color fringes on the helicopter photo at the top.
At 400mm
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance, 14 February 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 400mm at f/6.3 hand-held at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 16.0). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (7.9× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 16 × 24" (1.3 × 2 feet or 40 × 60 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 32 × 47½" (2.6 × 4 feet or 0.75 × 1.2 meters).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 63 × 95" (5.3 × 7.9 feet or 1.6 × 2.4 meters).
At 400mm, slightly behind the area of perfect focus
Above is if you're in-focus in the middle of the image.
Here's what happens to things that are a bit more out-of-focus, in which case spherochromatism will lead to these weird fringes:
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB a little further away than focused distance, 14 February 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 400mm at f/6.3 hand-held at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 16.0). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (7.9× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 16 × 24" (1.3 × 2 feet or 40 × 60 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 32 × 47½" (2.6 × 4 feet or 0.75 × 1.2 meters).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 63 × 95" (5.3 × 7.9 feet or 1.6 × 2.4 meters).
At 800mm
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance, 14 February 2025. Sony A7R V, Sony FE 400-800mm G OSS at 400mm at f/6.3 hand-held at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 16.0). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (7.9× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 16 × 24" (1.3 × 2 feet or 40 × 60 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 32 × 47½" (2.6 × 4 feet or 0.75 × 1.2 meters).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 63 × 95" (5.3 × 7.9 feet or 1.6 × 2.4 meters).
Image Stabilization (VR) performance top
Optical Image Stabilization (OIS, IS or OSS) works great, which is critical for a lens this long. I get 4½ stops of real-world improvement at 400mm and 2⅔ stops of real-world improvement at 800mm on my stabilized A7R V, which makes hand-holding easy.
While the number of stops of improvement should be the same for everyone, we all vary in how solidly we can hold this rig. In my hands with stabilization I get perfect tripod-equivalant sharpness all the time at 1/125 at 400mm and at 1/180 at 800mm. This is a huge improvement from needing 1/2,000 without stabilization!
"Percent Perfectly Sharp Shots" are the percentage of hand-held, free-standing with no support or bracing, frames with 100% perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness as viewed at 300%. Hand tremor is a random occurrence, so at marginal speeds some frames will be perfectly sharp while others will be in various stages of blur — all at the same shutter speed.
This rates what percentage of shots are perfectly sharp, not how sharp are all the frames:
At 400mm on stabilized A7R V
| % Perfectly Sharp Shots | 1/4 |
1/8 |
1/15 |
1/30 |
1/60 |
1/125 |
1/250 |
1/500 |
1/1K |
1/2K |
| Stabilization ON | 0 |
10 |
20 |
55 |
55 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
| Stabilization OFF | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
30 |
30 |
60 |
100 |
I see 4½ stops of real-world improvement.
At 800mm on stabilized A7R V
| % Perfectly Sharp Shots | 1/15 |
1/30 |
1/60 |
1/125 |
1/250 |
1/500 |
1/1k |
1/2K |
1/4K |
| Stabilization ON | 0 |
20 |
35 |
70 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
| Stabilization OFF | 0 |
0 |
33 |
0 |
0 |
60 |
60 |
90 |
100 |
I see 2⅔ stops of real-world improvement.
Teleconverters performance top
it works great with either of the FE 1.4x teleconverter or FE 2× Teleconverter to get you out as far as 1,600mm as you have seen above.
It only works with one converter at a time; you can't stack them.
Tripod Collar performance top
The tripod collar doesn't come off.
It has no clicks at 90º.
Compared top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
I'd get mine at B&H or and at Adorama, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
Versus the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS & FE 1.4x teleconverter
This tempting combination becomes a lens with a much broader focal length range and much closer focussing for about the same price, size and weight:
FE 400-800mm |
||
Effective Focal Lengths |
400 ~ 800 mm |
280 ~ 840 mm |
Zoom Ratio |
2:1 |
3:1 |
Effective Maximum apertures |
f/6.3-8 |
f/8 ~ f/9 |
Filter Size |
105mm |
95mm |
Close Focus |
5.8-11.3' / 1.8-3.5m |
8'/2.4m |
Maximum Macro Ratio |
0.23× |
0.92× |
Size |
ø4.72" × 13.6" ø119.8mm × 346mm |
ø4.39" × 13.2" ø111.5mm × 335mm |
Weight |
87 oz./2,460g |
74.7 oz./2,115 g without tripod foot + 5.9 oz./167g = 80.6 oz./2,282g |
Price, 2/2025 |
I haven't gotten to shoot these two against each other. On paper the FE 200-600mm & FE 1.4x teleconverter combination seems far more flexible — and with it you can pull the FE 1.4x teleconverter and get all the way down to 200mm. I suspect they are equal in practical sharpness, and I love having a much broader focal length range in one lens.
Versus the Canon RF 200-800mm IS USM
Obviously this is a silly comparison because only one brand of lens will work on your camera. However if you have to ask, the Canon RF 200-800mm IS USM is twice the lens because the Canon RF 200-800mm IS USM has twice the zoom range (200-800mm versus just 400-800mm); a 4× zoom ration compared to just 2× in the 400-800mm.
Yes, the Sony 400-800mm is a convenient internal zoom with an easy-to flick zoom ring while the RF 200-800mm requires a bit more work to turn the zoom ring further, but I'd much rather not have to swap lenses to get the 200-400mm part of the range sorely lacking in the 400-800mm. In other words, of course it's easier to zoom the 400-800mm because the 400-800mm only covers half the zoom range of the 200-800mm.
To put this in perspective, to cover the 200-800mm range in Sony, you'd need buy both this 400-800mm and the FE 200-600mm to cover 200-800mm, and worse, you'd have to swap between this monster lenses while with the Canon RF 200-800mm IS USM
Sharpness, stabilization, close-focus, macro ratios and f/stops are all too close to worry about between the two. Yes, the 400-800mm is a whopping third of a stop faster, but the RF 200-800mm weighs and costs a third of a stop less, but to me, having double the zoom range and replacing the need for carrying an extra lens to cover the 200-400mm range with the 400-800mm lens is everything to me.
Both are super sharp; atmospheric conditions are the real limitation for either of these. The RF 200-800mm gives sharper real-world images because the RF 200-800mm has much less spherochromatism, which is the 400-800mm's biggest optical flaw.
Never try to compare modulation transfer function graphs between brands because each brand measures them so differently that comparisons are invalid based on manufacturer's graphs. See more at Modulation Transfer Functions.
Get whichever fits your camera. Obviously I prefer the RF 200-800mm, but it won't fit your Sony.
User's Guide top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
I'd get mine at B&H or and at Adorama, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS. bigger.
AF - MF Switch user's guide top
AF: Autofocus, with manual focus override as available.
MF: Autofocus disabled; manual focus only.
FULL TIME DMF (Manual-Focus Override) user's guide top
ON: This gives instant manual focus override when in AF-S (single autofocus and lock), however in AF-C (continuous) mode this setting lets the lens focus manually as you turn the ring, but as soon as you stop, the AF system takes over again and keeps tracking focus! Oh well, this is still a defect in all Sony cameras, not so much the lens itself.
OFF: The manual focus ring is ignored unless the AF/MF switch is set to MF.
Full / 10m-NEAR / ∞-8m Switch user's guide top
This limits the range over which the lens can focus.
Leave it in FULL (no limits).
The 10m-NEAR position prevents the lens from autofocusing farther away than 10 meters (30 feet). Use this setting only if you're shooting things closer than 30' (10m) and you're having a problem with the lens attempting to focus beyond your intended subject farther away, or if the lens is "hunting" back and forth from near to far while looking for your intended subjects.
The ∞-8m position prevents the lens from focusing closer than 8 meters (25 feet). Use this if you're shooting things at a distance and closer objects are confusing or fooling your AF system, or if the lens is "hunting" back and forth from near to far while looking for your intended subjects.
OSS (Stabilizer) Switches user's guide top
ON / OFF
Leave it ON unless you're on a very sturdy tripod (like a $100,000 Vinten pro broadcast pedestal), or if you're making exposures longer than a second on any kind of tripod.
Mode 1 / 2 / 3
Mode 1: Normal.
Mode 2: Panning.
Mode 3: Random motion. Use this for sports.
Recommendations top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Specifications Accessories Performance
Compared User's Guide Recommendations
I'd get mine at B&H or and at Adorama, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
Obviously this is a lens for people who need the longest lens they can get in the Sony system, and it works great with either of the FE 1.4x teleconverter or FE 2× Teleconverters.
I'd also suggest if you're going for this lens, by all means you know you want a teleconverter. I prefer the FE 2× Teleconverter; the FE 1.4x teleconverter is really only half a converter - it doesn't make much difference.
I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap (exactly like an iPhone) so I'm always ready to shoot instantly. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear without padding — which is never. The UV filter never gets in the way, and never gets lost, either.
I'd use a 105mm Hoya EVO Antistatic UV or Sigma 105mm protector to protect this lens. Another excellent and less expensive option is the B+W 010 MRC UV, and the least expensive is the uncoated 105mm Tiffen Coarse Thread (1.0mm pitch) UV. All these filters use the coarse 1.0mm thread pitch; Tiffen makes so many filters that only they bother to mention the pitch.
All these filters are just as sharp and take the same pictures, the difference is how much abuse they'll take and stay clean and stay in one piece. Since filters last a lifetime or more, there's no reason not to buy the best as it will last you for the next 40 years. Filters aren't throwaways like digital cameras which we replace every few years, like it or not. I'm still using filters I bought back in the 1970s!
Be careful; a lens this long will be sensitive to poorly made filters. Check any filter you hope to use with this lens for flatness. Take photos with and without the filter, or even better, just hold it over the front of one side of a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. The image should be perfectly clear with or without the filter. If the filter is even slightly unflat, the image seen through the telescope will look awful! So long as it looks good when held in front of your scope, it will be perfect for pictures. This test instantly makes even slightly bad filters look absolutely awful, so if it looks OK through your scope, you're good.
I'd get mine at B&H, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.
This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you take the chance of getting it elsewhere. Sony does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, dropped, incomplete, gray-market, store demo or used lens — and my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new ultratele. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new lens before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
Thanks for helping me help you!
Ken.
© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Alla rättigheter förbehållna. Toate drepturile rezervate. Omnia jura reservata. Ken Rockwell® is a registered trademark.
Help Me Help You top
I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.
The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places always have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.
If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.
If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!
If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.
As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!
Thanks for reading!
Ken.