I’ve been a Sony ambassador (they call them Artisans) for nearly 10 years now. Over the years they’ve reached out to me a few times to test out a prerelease camera or lens before it was announced. While I’m always appreciative for the opportunity, I can’t say the gear has ever been something that really changed my photography. The Sony 300mm f/2.8 was close, but I ended up not buying one.

But last month I was invited to test out an upcoming lens. The moment I saw what it was I texted my Sony contact: “I’m 100% in… how soon can you send it”. (there may have been some expletives in there because I was so excited) 😉

The lens was the newly announced (Feb 2025) Sony 400-800mm f.6.3 to f/8 – and the moment I saw it, I knew this would be my new favorite wildlife photography lens. I had about 4 weeks with the lens to test it out, and unfortunately had to send it back already. But you can bet by the time you read this my preorder for the lens is already placed.

Rather than rehash all of the specs that you can already read about out there, I thought I’d share a little self-FAQ on the lens to help you figure out if it’s something you’d be interested in. Here goes:

(Side Note: All photos taken with the Sony a1 ii and the 400-800mm lens)

Q. What did you like best about the lens?

A. The size vs. focal length is the number 1 selling point for me. With bird and wildlife photography I usually can’t get close enough so I always want more reach. And now I don’t have to bring a huge lens out to get it.

Q. Don’t you have the Sony 200-600mm lens though? Isn’t that enough?

A. Nope. I hesitate to say never, so let’s go with the 200-600mm was ALMOST never enough reach for many situations. Sure, I could put a teleconverter on it, but that comes with it’s own limitations. For what I shoot and how I shoot it, I’ll take longer any day.

Q. Are you upset that they went with 400-800mm instead of a wider 200-800mm range?

A. Not one bit. In fact, the lack of the 200-400mm range is a selling point for me. Sony mentioned they had examined metadata for some popular competing lenses out there and any lens that was in that 200-800 range all had one thing in common… most photos were taken at the long end of the range of the lens. So I did some checking on my own because I primarily shoot birds and wildlife with my Sony 200-600mm, and I wondered what focal length I shoot at the most. As I expected, over 80% of my photos were taken at 600mm, and less than 2% of them were taken at 200mm. That 200mm to 400mm range is typically useless for me and what I personally shoot, so I’m happy they did away with it in this lens.

Q. Are there any advantages to not having that 200-400mm range in the lens?

A. There are. For starters, adding that extra range would cause the lens to weigh more. Also, photo quality typically drops off on those wider ranged telephoto zoom lenses. So, having only 400-800mm helps with both the weight of the lens as well as the quality of the image.

Q. How does it compare with the Canon 200-800mm?

A. I have no idea. I shoot Sony and I’m happy and I have no reason to switch. Even if I weren’t a Sony Ambassador, I’d still shoot Sony because I like it.

Remember… Only YouTube “influencers” and website reviewers, who get sent gear from multiple companies to use and test out, actually shoot with multiple brands. The rest of the world can’t afford to constantly switch brands. And at this point in the game, where all brands produce excellent quality wildlife gear, there would be no reason to switch.

Q. How big is it and how much does the lens weigh in comparison to the Sony 100-400mm or the 200-600mm?

A. The 400-800mm weighs in at 4.66 lbs.
The 100-400mm weighs 3.1 lbs
And the 200-600mm weighs 4.65 lbs.
However, I believe the weight on the 400-800mm doesn’t include the lens foot, so that’ll probably add a few ounces.
Overall, it is a little bigger than the 200-600mm. And while on paper it doesn’t seem to weigh more, it does feel a bit heavier. Not much though, but if you’re some one who thought the 200-600mm was too heavy, and looking for something lighter, this ain’t it.

Q. Is this an internal zoom lens like the 200-600mm (meaning it doesn’t extend out when you zoom)?

A. Yep.

Q. How did the lens focus and was it sharp?

A. I’m shooting with an a1 so asking about focus is kind of cheating. That camera is amazing at focussing, and at this point I’m pretty much just a button pusher. Most of the effort and skill these days is spent trying to get my camera in front of something great in great light, rather than worrying about buttons, dials and settings.

But focus was fantastic. I’m used to using the 200-600mm (which has always been spot on for focussing speed) and I didn’t notice anything different from that. Here’s a little video if you want to see it in action.

Side Note: Before you criticize my framing and shaky-ness, keep in mind I’m shooting hand held with a Ninja video monitor on top of the camera. It adds weight to an already heavy setup and because of the HDMI monitor, the viewfinder screen is no longer functional when it’s on. so you have to hold the camera out in front of you like an iPhone. Needless to say, it’s about 10+ lbs and it gets heavy 😉

Q. Is there anything you don’t like about the lens?

A. If I could wish for one thing to improve on this lens it would be the widest aperture at 800mm. At 800mm, which is primarily what I shot it at, you’re at f/8. Since I’m typically at 1/3200th of a second when shooting most birds in action, the ISO did tend to creep up at times in lower light. For example, I went out on a cloudy overcast afternoon and at times my ISO did get about 12,000. For me personally, I don’t think twice shooting a Sony a1 at ISO 6400. Anything between 6400-10,000 I start to get a little concerned about the quality of the photo, especially if the subject is far away and will need cropping. Anything over 10,000 I usually try to avoid. However, I also went out on a sunny and partly cloudy day and had absolutely zero issue with shooting at f/8. So the concern is there, but if you’re shooting in enough light, it’s not that big of a deal.

Also, remember that this lens is trying to compete with a very specific category of lenses out there and they’re all in the same f/8 range or worse.

The only other thing isn’t necessarily something I didn’t like, but more something I wish was included – and that’s a built in Teleconverter. Other companies are doing this and I’d really like to see that feature make it’s way in to Sony lenses. But it’s more of a missing feature, than it is something I don’t like.

Q. Any concerns over f/8 not giving you enough background blur, or bokeh, as the fancy photographer measure-bater people like to call it?

A. Nope. I’ve been shooting the 200-600mm lens for years and the aperture is f/6.3. There’s just not that much difference between that and f/8. I always watch the distance of my subject to it’s background, as well as my shooting angle, and that helps me get the background blur that I’m looking for most of the time.

Q. Did you try a teleconverter on it?

A. I didn’t but it will take the Sony 1.4x and a 2.0x TCs just fine. I’d expect performance of a TC on the lens to be similar to what it is on the 200-600mm. They’re both G lenses so they should perform pretty close to the same.

Q. What about all the other stuff like buttons, dials, weather proofing and all that?

A. Pretty much the same as you’d expect and see on other lenses in this category. Nothing stood out to me as different. I really felt like I was just holding a slightly larger version of my 200-600mm, both in shooting and features of the lens.

Q. Can I shoot other things with this lens, besides wildlife?

A. Of course. The lens isn’t tuned for birds or animals. The lens won’t know what you’re shooting. You’d shoot this any time you want that focal length, so possible uses could be air shows, sports, etc… From a sports perspective I may worry about this lens indoors or at night, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t perform perfectly outdoors in decent weather.

Q. Are you ordering one and what lenses are in your wildlife kit once you get this?

A. By the time you read this I will have probably put my preorder in. I’ll most likely sell my 200-600mm, as I can’t see a reason to use it anymore, even though it’s been my workhorse lens for wildlife since 2019.

I also have the 100-400mm which hasn’t left the shelf in nearly 5 years so maybe it’s time for that to go too. And my 600mm f/4 prime, which is really hard to convince myself to take out anymore since the 200-600mm lens has been so good.

For me, this will be my most used lens. If I go out on a day that looks cloudy where light is an issue, I’ll probably reach for the 600mm f/4 prime, to try to keep those ISO levels down.

Final Thoughts

I hope that helps give you a quick intro to the new Sony 400-800mm lens. You’ll see a lot of “First Look” things out there which are great, but very few people actually shot the lens for a month in real life, so hopefully that experience helps give you an idea if it’s something you’d be interested in.

I’d love to know if you’ll be getting one, or if you have any questions. So feel free to leave a comment below. Enjoy!