Wish List - Sony 24-240 GM lens

[DrJohn]

I wish Sony would upgrade the 24-240 mm lens to a G or GM lens. It is perfect for both wildlife and landscape.

John

 

[AlphaWorld]

I don’t think a super-zoom can meet Sony’s requirements for a GM lens. A super-zoom has to be a bundle of compromises to get such a long range. It’s beyond possibility to make a lens that can zoom that far and be sharp across the field of view at every focal length.

A GM zoom is normally 3x (4x for the 100-400), like 24-70, 70-200, even 200-600 (although the 200-600 is a G). The 24-240 is 10x.

I think the only way to make a GM 24-240 would be to redefine what makes a lens a GM, and I, for one, don’t want to see that happen. I appreciate that GM is a sign of a lens that is as good as Sony’s wizards can make it, and designed to still be world-class in ten years time.

Could they make a new, better 24-240 - I’m sure they could, but it still would not be a GM.

 

[Boojum]

Wide angle 24 - 240. This lens works for me across a wide variety of situations.

Wide angle, 27mm.

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Midrange, 70mm

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240mm

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If I had to choose one camera and one lens, this would be it. These do not reproduce as well as they do here on my computer or on Flickr. Sorry.

 

[Gaz]

If you rely on popular reviews of this lens you’d avoid it. Most critics lampoon it because of inconsistent sharpness especially in the corners. It’s in the bottom group of lenses in that diagram of Sony lenses listing them all.

Why then, is it still in my kit and why won’t I let it go?

• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro back triple camera 6.86mm f/1.78
• 6.9 mm
• ƒ/1.7799999713881
• 1/25 sec
• ISO 800

It’s an excellent walkabout and travel lens. I like to use it with a DMF setup triggered by customization of the AEL button. There are times that corner focus isn’t relevant. I reckon I can use a tool well by experiencing the limitations and that applies to each lens in the box. True 24mm isn’t always wide enough for me, and I have to whip out my iPhone, or 240mm isn’t long enough so I engage clear image zoom yielding up to 480mm focal length, and the aperture is too high and I have to increase the ISO… but what would you rather do? Travel through a European holiday in sleet and snow, or a Cambodian treck in torrential rain…. With a half dozen primes, or a couple of very expensive zoom lenses that’s conspicuously large and white, and will attract all the wrong kind of attention… or would you blend in with a more discreet, more replaceable bit of kit?

This 10x zoom is in my messenger bag attached to my A7iv.

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/30 sec
• ISO 160

• ILCE-7M4
• 208.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 800

• ILCE-7M4
• 178.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 800

Gaz

 

[DrJohn]

Gaz,

Thanks for posting. Your post is interesting. Currently, I'm carrying the 70-300 mm and a 24 mm prime. The 300 mm is sometimes too short, but the 100-400 is too heavy to hike with for me. Sometimes if I just want to go from my car to the creek, I will take the 100-400 or 200-600 mm.

For me weight is critical, especially if I'm hiking several miles. Lyme disease has cramped my style.

John

 

[Gaz]

Gaz,

Thanks for posting. Your post is interesting. Currently, I'm carrying the 70-300 mm and a 24 mm prime. The 300 mm is sometimes too short, but the 100-400 is too heavy to hike with for me. Sometimes if I just want to go from my car to the creek, I will take the 100-400 or 200-600 mm.

For me weight is critical, especially if I'm hiking several miles. Lyme disease has cramped my style.

John

I prefer primes but I’ve got a Sony 20mm and Sony 35mm GM so that beautiful 24mm of yours has been skipped. It’s a very familiar focal length because it matches my iPhone’s main camera which yields 48Mp RAW format images. I’d rather use your lens though!

I should be carrying my whole kit for the exercise benefits. Domestically, I often just pick one lens and make the best of the outing. It helps because I walk the same or similar places in my neighborhood every day and a different lens generates different results of the same or similar subjects.

The 24-240mm is not the greatest lens available. You’re not going to select it for professional purposes. But, it cuts the weight of the 100-400 in half, and by using Clear Image Zoom it yields up to 480mm reach. There’s nothing as capable as this lens’ zoom range.

Hire one, shoot a few rounds to explore its capabilities, knowing at 1/3 the cost, it isn’t the fabulous 100-400, and decide if the compromise is bearable. All lenses have their nuances. The 100-400 zoom doesn’t stand up to the 400 prime.