Sony Holy Grail Lenses

March 22, 2023

Yes, I changed lenses again! The Tamron lenses as good as they were, are out, and in what has seemed like a never ending quest to find the best lens combination for travelling, without really compromising reach, I have found what I think are the Sony Holy Grail Lenses!

In my quest to ‘carry less gear’ when I am travelling, I bought the two Tamron lenses, the 35-150mm and the 150-500mm. Both were excellent lenses, but they were still heavy and not the Sony Holy Grail Lenses I had hoped for. Yes, they weighed less than the Sony 200-600mm and all the other lenses I was carrying, but the 150-500mm in particular was a bit of a beast. The 35-150mm, is still I think, the best all in one lens for Sony. It was brilliantly sharp and images off it looked great, but it too was a tad heavy, and became a little tiring when switching from it to the 150-500mm all the time.

I was so intent on getting lighter gear, I came very close to switching away from Sony, to a new Fujifilm Camera that offered a lighter ‘system’ option. I would be compromising on pixel count, but gaining a lighter weight ‘system’, and that is the key here, it is about what the entire system is capable of, and it is one of the huge benefits of having a camera with over 60 megapixels of resolution. This huge resolution allows me to post crop and gain greater ‘virtual’ lens reach by doing so.

I had my Sony gear for sale, and sold a few pieces, and then I noticed something. That something was the new Sony 70-200mm G Master II lens, and in particular its weight. It was significantly lighter than the previous G Master and lighter than my then current Sony 70-200mm G Lens, but the new G Master on its own does not solve my problem of reach.

Sony 70-200mm G Master II

All reports on the Sony 70-200mm G Master II were excellent, and its light weight matched that of the lens I would have bought for the Fujifilm system too. While it did not have the reach I wanted for bird and wildlife photography, it did have a trick up its sleeve…the ability to take the Sony 2x Teleconverter.

Sony 2x Teleconverter

So, after selling my 70-200mm G Lens and the two Tamron lenses, I bought the Sony 70-200mm G Master II and the 2x Teleconverter, but was this going to prove to be the Sony Holy Grail Lenses I was hoping for? In terms of weight first, the answer is a definite yes, but to truly know, I would have to start shooting with them both.

My first shoot was a day at Taronga Zoo, in the dark aviaries so I was shooting at 6400-12800 ISO, not exactly the best test for a new lens setup, but the results were pretty good. However I wanted to test it further, and spent the last two days at Coorongooba Campground again, and attempted to shoot some birds here

Excellent reach, colour and sharpness

Although the combination of the Sony 70-200mm G Master II and the 2x Teleconverter only give me a maximum reach of 400mm, I have over 60 megapixels to play with on the Sony A7R IV which allows me to crop in post processing to gain the extra reach I need when birds are too far away, such as this bird image below shot in Coorongooba Campground.

Large post processing crop, produces a sharp image off the Sony A7R IV’s 61 megapixel sensor.

After chasing birds around for a while and getting some excellent results, I happened to look down at my feet, and noticed a bee in the small ground flowers. I started snapping and to be honest, am amazed at the results. The fact this lens combination can shoot so close, and the resulting sharpness and detail are superb. So much so, I think I will now sell my 90mm Macro lens too, a lens I love, but if I can carry one less lens then so be it.

Impressive Macro Capabilities

So, after these two shoots, I have to say the Sony 70-200mm G Master II and the 2x Teleconverter truly are the Sony Holy Grail Lenses, and cannot recommend them highly enough. And in case you are wondering, I bought one other lens to go with this pair, the Sony 24-105mm G Lens, itself a superb lens that really should be wearing the red G Master badge. It is superbly sharp, reasonable in weight and balances well on the camera, thus completing the Sony Holy Grail Lenses.

The superb Sony 24-105mm Lens

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