SonyE 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G OSS | APS-C, Zoom, Super Telephoto Lens (SEL70350G)

The media could not be loaded. Key qualities about this lens:- Portability (under 600gr, and very compact dimensions for such a telephoto 105-525 FF equivalent) which makes it easy to bring this lens along on hikes, travel, in a simple messenger bag: "The best camera is the one you carry"- Amazing Image Quality, which completely satisfies consummate pro photographers !- Very good OSS, tremendous help at the long end- Affordability- E-mountA little bit of background which might resonate with a number of hobbyists and enthusiasts who may have found themselves in my situation, and maybe help them avoid making the 'mistake' I made.I got into photography at end of 2019 after a trip to Colombia where I realised the photos from my smartphone, GoPro and Osmo Pocket, were underwhelming compared to my friend's dslr.At the time, as a total beginner, after learning the basics about the exposure triangle and watching countless Youtube reviews about cameras, I chose a Canon M50 instead of a Sony A6400. Key reasons: ergonomics, simple menus, touchscreen, brand reputation and price. After building up a decent lineup of lenses (11-22, 22, 18-150, the sigma trio) and even upgrading to the M6 mk ii, I really enjoyed my kit and took a lot of nice photos.But now that I caught the bug and really enjoy this hobby, I found myself wanting more and more reach for wildlife, sports and even for landscape and street photography. I also noticed that most of my photos were at the longer end. I went from taking more wide angle pictures, to better subject isolation and composition, as well as really appreciating the background compression longer focal lengths create. As a result, my 150mm max focal length was starting to show its limits. I also started to be disappointed with how soft the photos were compared to my sigma 56 f1.4.So I investigated for a while the various options for telephoto lenses, with non-negotiable criterias for my use case: price, portability and IQ. Unfortunately the choice for the ef-m mount just doesn't exist, and won't since Canon has now killed this very convenient and promising system. Adapting EF glass is impractical and defeats the purpose of owning and carrying a small compact apsc setup. I quickly realised I didn't want to carry my sigma EF 18-35 f1.8 once I got the ef-m 16 f1.4. So adapting either the heavy and bulky sigma 100-400 or 150-600 was a no go.I therefore found myself realising I would need to look at other bodies and good lenses that would match them: after watching a lot of content, I landed on either going- Canon RF with the R10 + the excellent compact and light RF 100-400- or Sony with the a6400 (or ZV-e10) + this amazing 70-350After watching one of my favourite wildlife bird photographer notice some AF issues with the R7 and R10, and also knowing that I really wanted the sigma 18-50 f2.8 as my main mid-range lens, which only exists for the E-mount; I was already leaning Sony. Then Canon announced recently they were not going to let 3rd party lens manufacturers develop affordable good quality lenses for the RF mount. This sealed the deal for me.So here I am 3 years later, full circle. I would have saved myself quite a bit of money and frustration by getting that A6400 from the very beginning.My conclusion for any enthusiast getting into this hobby: it's ALL about the lenses ! Ignore any fanboy/partisan brand debate except for the reliability of AF (which is really important indeed). Ignore any road map, rumours of lens release: only trust the ones already available on the market for your needs.And if your budget is under £1k and you want an excellent portable APS-C telephoto, there is essentially no competition with this 70-350. It's the best in the market ! And since it's an E-mount, it will mount perfectly on a full frame body in the future if I feel the need to. This lens is an absolute keeper.Here are a few jpegs straight out of camera with no edits.

This lens is amazing value for money, especially at the reduced price offered during the Prime promotion. It's an apsc lens and works well on my Sony A6000, very sharp and the OSS is superb, I've shot hand held at 1/50 sec with no problem. On my full-frame A7Rv this lens makes a great lightweight set up and still gives you 26MP in apsc mode but surprisingly it can be used in full-frame mode with no vignetting at the low end of the focal length, even at 350mm only modest cropping is needed to remove the corner darkening. So pleased I purchased this.

Obviously it’s not that fast but outdoors it’s fine if you stick to shutter priority or manual. A monopod is handy as it’s a little heavy. Great lens to have.

I am using this with my Sony A6600 that I generally use with the 18-135mm lens that came fitted to it, but I wanted to get closer to some of the wildlife in the vicinity and decided to splash out on the 70-350mm lens. I have no regrets about having done so from the lens handling perspective.The lens handles brilliantly well and is controlled by the camera in exactly the same way as the one that came with it. It is fully compatible, so AF with manual override is just as easily employed as full AF. I can get up close to my subject and am achieving the shots I wanted. The built-in optical image stabilisation means that I have not missed anything for want of a tripod, which I rarely use as it adds extra weight to a casual trip. This lens adds a nominal amount to the load of my bag, so I can swap between this and a couple of other options, but this is a great zoom lens that produces excellent images and without any distortion or camera shake and will probably be the only lens I need on many of my excursions.Well worth the expenditure, but note that it doesn’t come with the stated soft case despite what it says in the listing, which was a disappointment and means I will need to buy one separately.

A long lens was until now the only gap in my Sony system, and for a while I had my eye on one, notably this. When it came up on a lightning deal I couldn't delay any longer and took the plunge then and there and haven't looked back since.My 18-105mm has served me well as a walk around lens with an okay range, but it was limiting in situations like wildlife and sports particularly. I wanted a "proper" zoom and this is it, and with the APS-C sensor on the a6600 you're effectively getting 105-475mm, which is a bonus.It's nicely made, though heavy, and comes with a good sized hood and on-lens focus options and a focus hold. The zooming ring is quite a heavy turn I've found, though I'm used to it now.I've taken it out enough times now to get a good feel for performance and I'm impressed. Yes, a slow aperture is never ideal, but the bokeh when I choose that kind of shot is nice and you just have to get used to the lighting situations where it's performance will drop. I've found the sharpness to be very good from corner to corner and the stabilisation is a dream – where when zoomed to the max there's a huge difference when you slightly depress the shutter and witness the smoothness.The autofocus hasn't let me down either and I find the lens responds better than the 18-105. I'm getting much fewer out of focus images of birds for instance than I was getting with the 105. The bird photo I've uploaded here wasn't in great light at all but I was impressed with the results, even with it being my first time shooting at that length with subjects that quick!I was worried what the quality at 350mm was going to be like, but I'm impressed. With good lighting conditions it's excellent I'd say and there's even room to crop in further when processing. Overall I'm really pleased I took the plunge and bought this, as it completes the hole in my lens range and it performs for me brilliantly.