Sony Vario-Tessar T FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens

In 2013 one of the first ever Sony FE mount lenses was a collaboration between Sony and glass giants Zeiss. We decided to take the 24-70mm out for a spin and see if it still impresses us.

Physical Specs

• Aperture Range: f/4 to f/22
• One ED and Five Aspherical Elements
• Zeiss T* Anti-Reflective Coating
• Optical SteadyShot Image Stabilization
• Dust and Moisture-Resistant Construction
• Seven-Blade Circular Diaphragm

Aesthetic and Construction

One of the highlights of this lens is its amazing construction. It is built with a full metal construction and feels premium in your hands when you use it. The lens does like rubberisation so you will have to get used to gripping it firmly. The position of the focus ring is a bit close to the zoom ring so you’ll have to be aware of your finger positioning too.

Overall the lens boasts a dust and moisture resistant construction and the form factor is great. The lens is super compact and perfect for travel.

Performance

Lets start off with the autofocus. The autofocus on the Sony Zeiss 24-70mm F4 lens is brilliant no matter which Sony body you put on it. It’s quite swift, quiet and accurate. There are just a couple things to touch on with the optics. Firstly when shooting out wide at 24mm the images seem a bit soft and the more you zoom in the lens does get sharper. We found the sharpness between 35mm and 50mm was brilliant. Distortion out wide is not too bad and controls chromatic abberations very well. It has a decent minimum focus distance too of 40 cm.

Image Quality

The image quality on the Sony Zeiss 24-70mm F4 lens is adequate. The images do come out sharp and thats thanks its Zeiss Tessar construction. At some focal lengths it may not perform as well as others however we did quite like the photos it produced.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a good quality starting lens than the Sony Zeiss 24-70mm F4 is the perfect lens for that. It’s compact performance and consistent DOF control throughout the focal length makes it a great lens to learn photography/videography. For people who are travelling and hiking but don’t really need over the top low light performance this lens is great for that too. Construction is solid, form factor is compact and overall feel of the lens is great. If you are looking for the step up into the higher end spectrum of lenses than it might be best to go for the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM lens.

This full-frame Carl Zeiss mid-range zoom lens answers the needs of advanced photo enthusiasts. It covers the frequently used 24mm through 70mm zoom range with a constant maximum aperture of F4, providing outstanding shooting and creative flexibility in a high-performance mid-range zoom.

Specifications

Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens

• ALC-SH130 Lens Hood
• ALC-F67S 67mm Front Lens Cap
• ALC-R1EM Rear Lens Cap
• Lens Pouch