[Leica] Comparing legacy Nikon lenses to Leica R lenses on the Sony A7II 70-200 range

[Doug Herr]

Frank Filippone wrote:

>Sounds like Doug looked into the Dark Side and the reflection came up with a
>Sony Lens..... 
>I was wondering what you thought of the Sony 100-400.  How did it compare to
>the 280 APO?  
>Or was it an issue of more convenience outweighed the IQ differences, which
>must have been reasonably small.....? 

Convenience is certainly a factor.  I don't think of it as a 100-400 zoom, it's more like a 400mm lens that allows a wider field of view if a critter is unexpectedly close.

When I bought the lens I had flashbacks to VW's television ads in the late 1960s, when they first started selling beetles with an automatic transmission: "Volkswagen takes a giant leap into the present".  Stealing from the 'total immersion' method of learning a foreign language I've used it almost exclusively for the last few months.  The AF has taken some getting used to.  It scores big on convenience except when it doesn't i.e., picks the wrong target like a distant background instead of the bird on a twig 10' away.  I can say that it's quick and accurate when it picks the right target and there's never any of the AF micro-adjustment BS that most DSLR users take for granted.

Optically: if I'd never seen how good a lens can be I'd be delighted with it.  No bad habits at any focal length or aperture, quite sharp, unobtrusive bokeh, no sign so far of ugly flare.  The thing is, I've seen how good a lens can be (280/4 R APO, 90-280 SL APO).


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com
http://doug-herr.fineartamerica.com