- Sony’s first pro G Master macro lens comes 10 years after the 90mm F2.8 G
- It boasts a 1.4x max magnification and is compatible with teleconverters
- It will cost $1,500 / £1,400 (Australian price TBC), and sales start in November
Sony just upped its macro photography game with its first professional G Master macro lens, the new Sony FE 100mm F2.8 Macro GM OSS.
The full-frame 100mm F2.8 Macro is a first for Sony, and should excite macro photography fans – it delivers a 1.4x maximum magnification, which can be doubled with a 2x teleconverter to a 2.8x magnification.
True macro lenses should deliver at least a 1x magnification – that’s true life size – which is something that Sony’s 10-year-old 90mm F2.8 macro does, but the new 100mm F2.8 focuses even closer on the little details.
And being a G Master lens, the 100mm F2.8 Macro promises top drawer optical quality from corner to edges with minimal distortion, while its 11-blade aperture seemingly creates dreamy circular bokeh, if the spectacular sample images are anything to go by.
The lens is equipped with with optimized optical image stabilization specifically for macro photography, plus a raft of external controls and a rugged weather-resistant design.
Beyond the headlines, it’s the autofocus and manual focus features that grabbed my attention as a seasoned macro photographer. There are no fewer than three external controls on the lens for focusing, which make switching between modes and acquiring sharp focus as easy as possible.
Firstly, autofocus is responsive – up to 1.9x faster than Sony’s 90mm F2.8 Macro lens and fast enough to support 120fps stills shooting and slow motion video recording.
Then there’s the focus range limiter for near focus, far focus, or the full range, which should avoid unnecessary focus hunting, plus Sony’s Full-time DMF switch for seamlessly switching between auto and manual focus.
Slide the focus ring forward, and you get full manual focus control and focus distance markings, complete with mechanical stops for minimum and infinity focus positions. Put simply, this is a properly-designed macro photography lens.
The Sony FE 100mm F2.8 Macro GM OSS costs $1,500 / £1,400 (Australian price TBC), and sales start in November.
Impressive as Sony’s new macro lens sounds, it’s not the only option for macro fans shooting with Sony, nor is it a first of its kind. For example, Canon launched a macro lens with 1.4x magnification in 2021, which we awarded 4.5 stars in our Canon 100mm F2.8 in-depth review.
OM System goes one step closer with the five-star 90mm F3.5 Macro IS Pro, which has an equivalent 180mm focal length and 4x magnification. Still, those are other systems, so let’s consider your other options for Sony.
Macro magic
The headline feature is undoubtedly the beyond-life-size 1.4x magnification. For context, an object as small as 24mm will fill the entire width of your frame when you are maximizing the 0.26m close focusing distance. Whack a 2x teleconverter on, and objects as small as 12mm fill the frame from a distance of 0.29m.
Let’s be clear, however – there are other Sony E-mount macro lenses with even higher magnification from third party brands, namely Laowa. There’s the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO with 2x magnification and it costs just $499 / £569, plus a 90mm F2.8 alternative, but focus and aperture is fully manual when paired with Sony cameras, so handling will be trickier in the field.
What you get with Sony’s latest E-mount lens, however, is the promise of G Master quality and superb handling.
This year I’ve been blown away by some of Sony’s pro lenses, such as the FE 50-150mm F2 GM. I’d expect things to be no different with the Sony FE 100mm F2.8 Macro GM OSS, and I can’t wait to get my hands on one and get lost in the micro world around me.
Macro is a genre of photography where camera phones still can’t compete with proper camera and lenses, and one in which Sony has just levelled up.
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