Long Term Review of the Sony FE 200-600 f5.6-6.3 G OSS

A review after extensive use by the author:

https://fstoppers.com/animal/fstoppers-long-term-review-sony-fe-200-600mm-f56-63-g-oss-lens-492784

Joe

- The reason it is not a designated GM lens is because it has a single AF motor instead of dual - it has nothing to do with the optics.
- Sony cameras have a DMF mode that you set in the camera to allow you to manual focus override - he is using Canon thinking and applying it to a Sony body.

Hello,

I am new to this forum and this is my first post although i have been following a lot of discussions. Is anyone using this lens on an A7R4 body? I would like to know how this combo performs for moving subjects, particularly BIF. I recently bought the R4 and 200-600 and this is my first sony mirrorless set-up (i am primarily a Nikon user). I was blown away by the quality of images when photographing static subjects but struggle to get decent shots of birds in flight/ fast moving subjects.

I tried configuring the camera/ lens with all possible settings that would work ideal for moving targets but the percentage of good shots with precise focus is very low. I have used rented sony cameras (like A7R3, A9) before and never faced this problem and i would always get 80-90% of my shots in perfect focus)

When i track the flying birds through the view finder and press the focus button, the focus boxes are tracking the subject fine but when i review the images on a computer, the images are soft and looks completely out of focus. When i shoot a burst of few images (say 10-12) if i am lucky, i would probably get 1 image in focus but again, this does not happen always.

After trying a lot of test shots and failing to get a good hit rate, i decided to use my friend's Sony 600 F4GM lens on my A7R4 and the combo worked flawlessly. Likewise, i tried the 200mm-600mm G lens on an A9 body and that combo worked amazingly as well. So i felt the problem was with this specific combination of A7R4 and 200mm-600mm G lens.

Would love to hear from anyone who has been successful in shooting BIF/action with this combo

Regards,
Ganesh

I can't see what camera was used as this effects how the lens performs this lens works better on my a9mkII than on my a7r4 I really like this lens and the iq is not to far behind my FE 600f4 so for it's price that is quite an achievement by Sony.
Rob.

gannis wrote:Hello,

I am new to this forum and this is my first post although i have been following a lot of discussions. Is anyone using this lens on an A7R4 body? I would like to know how this combo performs for moving subjects, particularly BIF. I recently bought the R4 and 200-600 and this is my first sony mirrorless set-up (i am primarily a Nikon user). I was blown away by the quality of images when photographing static subjects but struggle to get decent shots of birds in flight/ fast moving subjects.

I tried configuring the camera/ lens with all possible settings that would work ideal for moving targets but the percentage of good shots with precise focus is very low. I have used rented sony cameras (like A7R3, A9) before and never faced this problem and i would always get 80-90% of my shots in perfect focus)

When i track the flying birds through the view finder and press the focus button, the focus boxes are tracking the subject fine but when i review the images on a computer, the images are soft and looks completely out of focus. When i shoot a burst of few images (say 10-12) if i am lucky, i would probably get 1 image in focus but again, this does not happen always.

After trying a lot of test shots and failing to get a good hit rate, i decided to use my friend's Sony 600 F4GM lens on my A7R4 and the combo worked flawlessly. Likewise, i tried the 200mm-600mm G lens on an A9 body and that combo worked amazingly as well. So i felt the problem was with this specific combination of A7R4 and 200mm-600mm G lens.

Would love to hear from anyone who has been successful in shooting BIF/action with this combo

Regards,
Ganesh

Welcome Ganesh - since it was your first post, there is a delay to insure it isn't spam but from now on your posts will appear immediately.

I do use this lens with an a7R4 and have not had the issues that you have.  What shutter speeds are you using?  Also what EVF options do you have selected?

I recommend using the Tracking: Expand Flexible Spot mode - it's the last selection in the AF mode selection menu.  Do not use area or zone as those always grab the closest thing in the frame which is usually the wingtip.

E.J. Peiker wrote:

gannis wrote:Hello,

I am new to this forum and this is my first post although i have been following a lot of discussions. Is anyone using this lens on an A7R4 body? I would like to know how this combo performs for moving subjects, particularly BIF. I recently bought the R4 and 200-600 and this is my first sony mirrorless set-up (i am primarily a Nikon user). I was blown away by the quality of images when photographing static subjects but struggle to get decent shots of birds in flight/ fast moving subjects.

I tried configuring the camera/ lens with all possible settings that would work ideal for moving targets but the percentage of good shots with precise focus is very low. I have used rented sony cameras (like A7R3, A9) before and never faced this problem and i would always get 80-90% of my shots in perfect focus)

When i track the flying birds through the view finder and press the focus button, the focus boxes are tracking the subject fine but when i review the images on a computer, the images are soft and looks completely out of focus. When i shoot a burst of few images (say 10-12) if i am lucky, i would probably get 1 image in focus but again, this does not happen always.

After trying a lot of test shots and failing to get a good hit rate, i decided to use my friend's Sony 600 F4GM lens on my A7R4 and the combo worked flawlessly. Likewise, i tried the 200mm-600mm G lens on an A9 body and that combo worked amazingly as well. So i felt the problem was with this specific combination of A7R4 and 200mm-600mm G lens.

Would love to hear from anyone who has been successful in shooting BIF/action with this combo

Regards,
Ganesh

Welcome Ganesh - since it was your first post, there is a delay to insure it isn't spam but from now on your posts will appear immediately.

I do use this lens with an a7R4 and have not had the issues that you have.  What shutter speeds are you using?  Also what EVF options do you have selected?

I recommend using the Tracking: Expand Flexible Spot mode - it's the last selection in the AF mode selection menu.  Do not use area or zone as those always grab the closest thing in the frame which is usually the wingtip.

Thanks E.J!

I use 1/3200 to be on the safer side. I prefer using a slightly higher shutter speed with high MP cameras. When i started taking some test shots, i started off with tracking modes but none of the tracking modes worked great for me (as opposed to using an A9 where tracking modes were so accurate). Regarding the Zone/Wide mode, i used it mainly for birds diving or flying head-on. I can understand using zone/wide modes can result in unsharp eyes for birds flying side ways. As for EVF settings, i left most of the settings at default except i think the finder frame rate which i chose high. I tried playing around with the usual suspects like AF sensitivity 1 vs 5, Turning the Stabilization completely off, using short bursts but no luck. What is strange is, when i used the 600GM with the exact same settings the results were spectacular.That's when i started searching for this topic online and was surprised to see a lot of folks reporting the same problem in several forums.

OK, sounds like you are using good settings but I still find the mode I wrote earlier was better in every circumstance. For sure the a9 is better but the a7R4 certainly can handle the job for most birds, although fast unpredictable flyers could be a bit of a problem and that's mostly due to the fact that it is so super tracking technique sensitive. The 600GM collects almost 3 times as much light so the AF system will be much faster. Also the 600 has dual linear focusing motors where the 200-600 has only one - it is the reason why the 200-600 did not get the GM classification. Definitely the best in the Sony line would be an a9 II with the 600 f/4. Anything else will not be as good. The question really is whether or not it is good enough and that depends as much on technique and subject as it does on equipment.

gannis wrote:
Thanks E.J!

I use 1/3200 to be on the safer side. I prefer using a slightly higher shutter speed with high MP cameras. When i started taking some test shots, i started off with tracking modes but none of the tracking modes worked great for me (as opposed to using an A9 where tracking modes were so accurate). Regarding the Zone/Wide mode, i used it mainly for birds diving or flying head-on. I can understand using zone/wide modes can result in unsharp eyes for birds flying side ways. As for EVF settings, i left most of the settings at default except i think the finder frame rate which i chose high. I tried playing around with the usual suspects like AF sensitivity 1 vs 5, Turning the Stabilization completely off, using short bursts but no luck. What is strange is, when i used the 600GM with the exact same settings the results were spectacular.That's when i started searching for this topic online and was surprised to see a lot of folks reporting the same problem in several forums.

I'm using A7R4 with 600 and 200-600. For birds in flight I mainly use 200-600 and my experience is similar to yours.
When photographing Falcons my rate is between 25% and 50%. When photographing slower birds my rate goes up to 75% depending
on size and speed of the bird. Frustrating but I must say that using D850 with 600G wan't much better at all. I think my best rate was using
D500 with Tamron 150-600 G2.
I'm going to make an effort from now on to use shutter speed of 1/4000 for flight shots since I have that habit of prioritizing ISO
over shutter speed. Maybe that will help. Also I find , at least in case of falcons that fast approaching subject is the worst situation
for A7R4 and 200-600.
I must say that I didn't experiment with tracking expand flexible spot yet.

Andrew_5488 wrote:

gannis wrote:
Thanks E.J!

I use 1/3200 to be on the safer side. I prefer using a slightly higher shutter speed with high MP cameras. When i started taking some test shots, i started off with tracking modes but none of the tracking modes worked great for me (as opposed to using an A9 where tracking modes were so accurate). Regarding the Zone/Wide mode, i used it mainly for birds diving or flying head-on. I can understand using zone/wide modes can result in unsharp eyes for birds flying side ways. As for EVF settings, i left most of the settings at default except i think the finder frame rate which i chose high. I tried playing around with the usual suspects like AF sensitivity 1 vs 5, Turning the Stabilization completely off, using short bursts but no luck. What is strange is, when i used the 600GM with the exact same settings the results were spectacular.That's when i started searching for this topic online and was surprised to see a lot of folks reporting the same problem in several forums.

I'm using A7R4 with 600 and 200-600. For birds in flight I mainly use 200-600 and my experience is similar to yours.
When photographing Falcons my rate is between 25% and 50%. When photographing slower birds my rate goes up to 75% depending
on size and speed of the bird. Frustrating but I must say that using D850 with 600G wan't much better at all. I think my best rate was using
D500 with Tamron 150-600 G2.
I'm going to make an effort from now on to use shutter speed of 1/4000 for flight shots since I have that habit of prioritizing ISO
over shutter speed. Maybe that will help. Also I find , at least in case of falcons that fast approaching subject is the worst situation
for A7R4 and 200-600.
I must say that I didn't experiment with tracking expand flexible spot yet.

My plan was to get started with the A7R4+200-600 and then buy a 600 f4 but my experience with the sony combo was not so great. In my case the hit rate was not even close to 25%. There were instances where all the images were soft when viewed 1:1. There were times when i got some 1 or 2 shots in focus out of a burst of 10-12 image but the problem seems to be some kind of AF inconsistency. I do understand the R4 is a high res camera but so is A7R3 and that camera works great with the 200-600.

There is an ongoing discussion on this topic at fred miranda sony forum. Sony pro suport (i think at LA) had requested this photographer to send in the body+lens and they have acknowledged the problem. After a month or so it looks like they have now escalated the case to the engineers in Japan. A similar issue was reported by several photographers at Germany and apparently a service center was able to fix the issue. I have approached the sony support as well, detailing out the problems but they are yet to revert.

I am surprised with your results using D850/600G, thats such a stellar combo. I have used the D850 with a 500G+1.4TC extensively and had exceptional results even with BIF, so the 600G bare lens should be even better. I still use my D850 with 400 2.8 and 1.4/1.7 TCs and get excellent results. Did you try AFFT with the D850? in my case, that made all the difference.

That is really strange because for me, the a7R4 with 200-600 is WAY better than the a7R3 with the same lens.

E.J. Peiker wrote:That is really strange because for me, the a7R4 with 200-600 is WAY better than the a7R3 with the same lens.

Slightly off topic but since you use both EJ, the Sony 200-600mm + a7R4 and the Nikon 500mm PF + D500 how do they compare in terms of AF performance? And what would be your deciding factors for choosing one 'rig' over the other for a given shoot? 

I have the Nikon 500mm PF but really want to add a telephoto zoom to my bag and don't see anything in the Nikon line up that works for me given price and reach. I've had the Sigma Sport in Nikon mount and while it was OK on the D500, it wasn't great away from the center of the frame on the D850 and it was pretty heavy. I can get a Sony 200-600mm at a good price at the moment but have no experience with Sony at all.  

The D500/500PF is superior but once you slap the 1.4x on it's much worse. So if I know I need more than 500 the Sony wins. Also, the Sony in APS-C gives my 26mp where the D500 is only 20 so if I need to crop the Sony is superior. I have no idea what you mean with Sigma Sport since there are many different Sigma Sport lenses. If you are talking the Sigma 500 f/4 Sport, it's superior on the D500 to the above two options for AF but you are getting a lot more light for the AF system to work with. Even with a 1.4x you are still at f/5.6 which is more light than either of the others when shot at a similar 700mm. If you are talking the Sigma 150-600, it's the slowest of the bunch but still very usable for flight with good technique. I have no experience at all with the Sigma 60-600 but I can't imagine it would be as good as the others listed here. As for zooms, the Sony has two big advantages over the Sigmas - it is internal zoom so it stays the same size as you zoom and the balance stays the same regardless of focal length. Secondly, the zoom throw from 200-600 is less than a quarter turn of the zoom ring making it super easy to use. The Sigma is very difficult to use in this regard - I resorted to using a much less precise push pull method of zooming that lens.

E.J. Peiker wrote:That is really strange because for me, the a7R4 with 200-600 is WAY better than the a7R3 with the same lens.

Ya, it is. I have written to Sony regarding the problem i face and awaiting a response. I hope they are able to fix it.

E.J. Peiker wrote:The D500/500PF is superior but once you slap the 1.4x on it's much worse.  So if I know I need more than 500 the Sony wins.  Also, the Sony in APS-C gives my 26mp where the D500 is only 20 so if I need to crop the Sony is superior.  I have no idea what you mean with Sigma Sport since there are many different Sigma Sport lenses.  If you are talking the Sigma 500 f/4 Sport, it's superior on the D500 to the above two options for AF but you are getting a lot more light for the AF system to work with.  Even with a 1.4x you are still at f/5.6 which is more light than either of the others when shot at a similar 700mm.  If you are talking the Sigma 150-600, it's the slowest of the bunch but still very usable for flight with good technique.  I have no experience at all with the Sigma 60-600 but I can't imagine it would be as good as the others listed here.  As for zooms, the Sony has two big advantages over the Sigmas - it is internal zoom so it stays the same size as you zoom and the balance stays the same regardless of focal length.  Secondly, the zoom throw from 200-600 is less than a quarter turn of the zoom ring making it super easy to use.  The Sigma is very difficult to use in this regard - I resorted to using a much less precise push pull method of zooming that lens.

Apologies EJ for forgetting to type in the Simga lens, it was the 150-600mm I was talking about.

In terms of sharpness of the two lens (200-600 vs 500PF) I would assume the prime has the advantage but is there a lot in it?

I've noticed a similar thing with the A7R4 and 200-600. I find the hit rate to be too dismal to use it regularly. If I'm shooting flight, I don't even bother trying the A7R4 and use the A9, it's night and day difference. OTOH, using the A7R4 for small birds with that lens is a workable combination. I didn't find the A7R3 to be very good with small birds. Hopefully, there will be a firmware update coming.

I did some tests today as I had not really seen this as much of a problem the a7r4 and 200/600 has given me some nice shots but I tend to go through them quickly and delete most just keeping what I think are the nice ones so often many never got a close look .

Far more had missed focus than I had realized I won't be using this combo again I shot wide open and at 1/4000 and above shutter speed .
I then put the A9mkII on the lens yes I did miss a few but focus was far more precise and a much greater hit rate and was as good as I could wish for.

Next I put the FE 600 on the a7r4 it's not up to the a9mkII in accuracy or speed in grabing the subject but not to bad over all I need to test this a bit more as it's no good having MPs if there not as sharp as they could be the a9mkII and FE 600 just blows me away I might just by another a9 MKII and put a 1.4 on the lens as this make very little difference .
I used Zone + tracking and tracking expand Large on both cameras for my testing most shots in clear blue sky so nothing to take the focus of the birds .

I'm pleased this thread was opened as it made me more aware of what seems to be a problem but it also showed me just how good the a9mkII is even with the 1.4 on the 200/600 at f9 it very capable .
Just my thoughts on this.

Rob.

Scott Fairbairn wrote:I've noticed a similar thing with the A7R4 and 200-600. I find the hit rate to be too dismal to use it regularly. If I'm shooting flight, I don't even bother trying the A7R4 and use the A9, it's night and day difference. OTOH, using the A7R4 for small birds with that lens is a workable combination. I didn't find the A7R3 to be very good with small birds. Hopefully, there will be a firmware update coming.

Unless you post exactly what AF settings you are using, it's difficult to figure out why you are having problems.  The Sony AF system is very complex and it is critical to have the right settings for good performance.  Also, it takes a while to get used to changing from an OVF to an EVF where you need to lead the subject a bit.

E.J. Peiker wrote:

Scott Fairbairn wrote:I've noticed a similar thing with the A7R4 and 200-600. I find the hit rate to be too dismal to use it regularly. If I'm shooting flight, I don't even bother trying the A7R4 and use the A9, it's night and day difference. OTOH, using the A7R4 for small birds with that lens is a workable combination. I didn't find the A7R3 to be very good with small birds. Hopefully, there will be a firmware update coming.

Unless you post exactly what AF settings you are using, it's difficult to figure out why you are having problems.  The Sony AF system is very complex and it is critical to have the right settings for good performance.  Also, it takes a while to get used to changing from an OVF to an EVF where you need to lead the subject a bit.

Hi, I'm familiar with Sony, I've been using it since the A7R came out so I'm used to EVF too. I have a location in winter that offers predictable flight paths of fast-flying ducks like mergansers and Long-tailed ducks. I've taken every camera I've owned there is put it through its paces. If it can excel there, then I know it's got good enough AF for me. 
I tried the A7R4 and 200-600 there this past winter. I tried various modes except for the wide zone modes where it picks the subject out, it's not reliable enough without clear backgrounds, so I rarely use that mode. It didn't seem to matter, the hit rate was not that great. Now I should preface that with the fact that I'm comparing it to the A9 which makes mincemeat out of the task. So I may be a bit jaded by comparing it to that camera.
I've also used Nikon cameras in that situation and a D500 does well, the Z7 is hopeless for flight. This is all just my experience of course!

I think Sony left some money on the table with this lens. I would have rather they put two motors in and paid a higher price for it. I'm not sure I'd want the weight penalty of making it a f5.6, but that extra motor would've been appreciated. I'm hoping they come out with a 500f4 at a not too crazy price.

Scott Fairbairn wrote:I think Sony left some money on the table with this lens. I would have rather they put two motors in and paid a higher price for it. I'm not sure I'd want the weight penalty of making it a f5.6, but that extra motor would've been appreciated. I'm hoping they come out with a 500f4 at a not too crazy price.

Actually they have a 500 f 4.0 out already. I have an a6600 camera. I'm wondering if the 200-600 lens would work well with this little camera. The combo would be front heavy for sure. Right now I only have the 70-350 lens but it is super light and sharp, focuses fast but I have problem with the reach.