Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Field Usage

I shoot wildlife primarily, including deer bucks in rut and birds-in-flight. I shoot handheld 99.9% of the time and routinely use my FE 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters, with both an a9 and an a7RIII body.

This lens totally rocks, in every respect. On the a9, with the FE 2.0x teleconverter, shooting flying ring-billed gulls is a piece of cake, using Wide Lock-on AF against a mostly blue sky. 10 out of 10 were tack-sharp. With the a7RIII, that falls to around 6 out of 10. Ive only had my lens a few days, so I haven't shot any really fast flying birds, like diving ducks, but I'm confident that this lens, on the a9, with either teleconverter, will give great results.

Shooting bucks chasing doe through the woods is another challenging AF situation where this lens shines on the a9. Within 1-hour of shooting my first shots with this lens, I got a big white-tail buck, running after a doe at full speed, amongst all kinds of trees and brush. The resulting image was sharp and told a great story.

Being able to shoot at f/2.8 makes a huge difference when shooting before and after sunrise. My first day of shooting, I got a big white-tail buck, handheld, at ISO 40000, f/2.8, 1/500-sec. Don't laugh until you see the picture, which turned out quite nicely.

Image quality is through the roof. Ill include a picture of a fox squirrel, at a lower ISO, so you can see the fur and eye detail possible with this lens on the a7RIII. Astounding is all I can say. Darn, could only upload two-images. Believe, the detail is sharp.

I carry two bodies at all times. One with this lens mounted and the other with my FE 100-400mm GM OSS. I have my wide zooms in a backpack. I hand hold everything except long-exposure. Weight is a huge factor, not just in bearing the load for hours, but hold the lens steady. With the lightness of this lens, the OSS and IBIS, this lens is a breeze to handhold. Wildlife photographers that are not already handholding should try it. You'll get way more shots that you've been missing while futzing with your tripod.

Nothing more to add. Worth every penny. Blows away my old EF 500/f4 Series-II rig. I've been shooting super-telephoto lenses, thousands of shots per month, since 2008.

Sample shots in challenging situations:

Handheld a7RIII, with 2.0x teleconverter, ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/800-sec., 800mm:

Waxing Gibbous Moon by David Stephens, on Flickr

Handheld, a9, 400mm, ISO 2000, f/5.0, 1/1250-sec.:

The Chase by David Stephens, on Flickr

Handheld, a7RIII, 400mm, ISO 40,000, f/2.8, 1/500-sec.:

Big Buck After Sundown by David Stephens, on Flickr

Handheld, a7RIII, FE 2.0x teleconverter, 800mm, ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/2500-sec.:

Pelican Landing by David Stephens, on Flickr

The lens gives nice results.

It's like cheating.

Here's a link to an Album on Flickr, where I show way more samples:

Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Samples