Sony G 28-135mm f4 Zoom Lens

The Sony 28-135mm G lens gives you a very useful range, ideal on the A7S, although with the smaller chip on the FS7 it’s a little bit long at the wide end. However, after doing a direct comparison with the Canon L-series lenses and a speedbooster, I was very surprised at how much sharper the Sony lens was, particularly with dark areas. It was such a difference that we initially thought we had a dodgy Canon lens or speedbooster. We tested this with another Canon lens and speedbooster on the premises and got exactly the same result. I think it’s because of the fact that Sony lenses are optimised to Sony cameras, but it definitely makes you think about the choice of zooms to use.

Don’t be put off by the f4 aperture, these are very sensitive cameras and with a large chip you would rarely want a depth of field that is shorter than you can get with an f4 lens. The obsession with wide aperture lenses dates back to film days, when we were having to deal with very insensitive materials, and having a wide maximum aperture would determine whether you could shoot at all in certain situations.

The wider the aperture, the more difficult it is to design the lens, and the more expensive it is as a result. A wide aperture lens is always a compromise and a lot of the f1.4/f1.5/f2 lenses suffer from being a bit woolly around the edges when wide-open. For optimum performance f5.6 is the best stop to shoot at. As with all these lenses, they are predominantly designed for autofocus, and therefore are not ideal if you want to pull focus or for use with a follow focus, although possible.

Full Frame G Lens for pro moviemaking

Inheriting technology from Sony professional equipment, this lens boasts a precision optical design that supports 4K as well as upcoming high-resolution formats with minimum breathing and image shift. Three control rings offer manual control for demanding large format production, and the first SSM drive in a lens designed for movies contributes to quiet powered zoom.

LENS SPECIFICATIONS

MOUNT

Sony E-mount

FORMAT

35mm full frame

FOCAL-LENGTH (MM)

28-135mm

35MM EQUIVALENT FOCAL-LENGTH (APS-C)

42-202.5mm

LENS GROUPS / ELEMENTS

12/18

ANGLE OF VIEW (35MM)

75°-18°

ANGLE OF VIEW (APS-C)

54°-12°

MAXIMUM APERTURE (F)

4

MINIMUM APERTURE (F)

22

APERTURE BLADES

9

CIRCULAR APERTURE

Yes

MINIMUM FOCUS DISTANCE

0.4 (Wide)-0.95m (Tele) (AF/MF) / 0.95m (Full MF) (1.31 (Wide)-3.12ft (Tele) (AF/MF) / 3.12 ft (Full MF))

MAXIMUM MAGNIFICATION RATIO (X)

0.15x

FILTER DIAMETER (MM)

95mm

IMAGE STABILIZATION (STEADYSHOT)

Optical SteadyShot

ZOOM SYSTEM

Power zoom / Manual zoom

SIZE & WEIGHT

DIMENSIONS (W X H X D)

105 x 162.5mm (4 x 6-1/2in.)

WEIGHT

1215g (42.9oz.) (Without tripod mount)

FOOTNOTES

*

“35mm equivalent focal-length (APS-C)” and “Angle of View (APS-C)” are with interchangeable-lens digital camera incorporating APS-C type image sensors.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

Lens hood (ALC-SH135: square shape, bayonet type)

Lens front cap

Lens rear cap

Case