Sony FE 400-800mm F-6.3-8

Widget · 27 Feb 2025 at 11:01

I see the initial reviews for the new Sony FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 have hit Youtube and the press. Price looks around £2550 in the UK.

As a current 200-600 user for Wildlife and Airshows etc more reach is always welcome and as I use the 1.4 converter with the 200-600 it is the top end I find myself using most often.

Looks like the new 400-800 performs well with his sharpness so I'll probably trade in my 200-600 for the new lens and then keep my 100-400 for the lower end.

paul10 · 28 Feb 2025 at 12:25

I have done the same pre ordered with parks reach is key ,i have the 200-600mm to trade in also ,although suspect i will only get £500 for the zoom , i still have my sigma 500mm f5.6 which is ultra light but lacks some reach but better iq than my zoom ,i do also like the new sigma 300-600 f4 but the limitations have sort of killed it for me for such a costly item although i hate t/c in genera and the 4kg weight issues ,f8 will be a problem on overcast days at least for bif and you can forget woodland shooting even 5.6 is a no no,but will be nice event stuff not done many air shows of recent last time i went was bournemouth from steamships and a week on the mach ,hopefully do some more this year .but mainly for me a wildlife birders lens i always found 600mm plenty at airshows and way to much for the mach loop

Jase · 5 Mar 2025 at 17:30

The lens looks OK but for Wildlife I do a lot around sunrise, sunset so the 6.3-8 wouldn't be great.

The 200-600 isn't band but I wouldn't use a TC on it so maybe the 400-800 is the better choice if that's what you are doing.

marcus_667 · 19 Mar 2025 at 22:45

paul10 said:
I have done the same pre ordered with parks reach is key ,i have the 200-600mm to trade in also ,although suspect i will only get £500 for the zoom , i still have my sigma 500mm f5.6 which is ultra light but lacks some reach but better iq than my zoom ,i do also like the new sigma 300-600 f4 but the limitations have sort of killed it for me for such a costly item although i hate t/c in genera and the 4kg weight issues ,f8 will be a problem on overcast days at least for bif and you can forget woodland shooting even 5.6 is a no no,but will be nice event stuff not done many air shows of recent last time i went was bournemouth from steamships and a week on the mach ,hopefully do some more this year .but mainly for me a wildlife birders lens i always found 600mm plenty at airshows and way to much for the mach loop

I have pre ordered the 300-600 F4 sigma will kick my 200-600 to the kerb when i get it haha

paul10 · 20 Mar 2025 at 22:36

marcus_667 said:
I have pre ordered the 300-600 F4 sigma will kick my 200-600 to the kerb when i get it haha

tried the sigma at the excel show very nice but not a lightweight lens ,but lack of t/c and fps limitations is a real pain ,i already suffer this with my sigma 500mm f5.6 ,t/c limitations is more annoying for me as i rarely shoot above 20fps if i owned the a9iii it would be different,but i did manage hand holding for 5 minutes ,loved the function ring ,the king of zooms until the canon 200-500mm f4 with built in t/c arrives but that will 3x more ,and sigma really does hold their own with glass ,yeah woodland shooting i do not not do too much of if i did i would prefer 2.8 and the 300mm or 400mmf2.8 would be my choice ,the flexibilty of a zoom for hide work is where the sigma shines at least for me.

ethan · 21 Mar 2025 at 00:06

marcus_667 said:
I have pre ordered the 300-600 F4 sigma will kick my 200-600 to the kerb when i get it haha

Not sure if I'll sell my 300mm f2.8 for this. I'd better read the reviews.

Pooh · 21 Mar 2025 at 13:59

Did you get your hand on the 400-800

Widget · 21 Mar 2025 at 15:15

Pooh said:
Did you get your hand on the 400-800

I'm not sure they have actually released yet, Parks are still saying pre orders will ship in March.

marcus_667 · 21 Mar 2025 at 20:02

paul10 said:
tried the sigma at the excel show very nice but not a lightweight lens ,but lack of t/c and fps limitations is a real pain ,i already suffer this with my sigma 500mm f5.6 ,t/c limitations is more annoying for me as i rarely shoot above 20fps if i owned the a9iii it would be different,but i did manage hand holding for 5 minutes ,loved the function ring ,the king of zooms until the canon 200-500mm f4 with built in t/c arrives but that will 3x more ,and sigma really does hold their own with glass ,yeah woodland shooting i do not not do too much of if i did i would prefer 2.8 and the 300mm or 400mmf2.8 would be my choice ,the flexibilty of a zoom for hide work is where the sigma shines at least for me.

i shoot on an a92 and a74 so 15 fps is perfectly fine for me tbh , i just want to step up from the 200-600

paul10 · 22 Mar 2025 at 09:35

marcus_667 said:
i shoot on an a92 and a74 so 15 fps is perfectly fine for me tbh , i just want to step up from the 200-600

yeah the sigma will be a step up for sure ,light gathering ,faster focusing and a true 600mm f/l ,nothing really like it for the money and you can always mount it on a nikon with megdap adaptor which does work with t/c and higher frame rate no limitations.

marcus_667 · 22 Mar 2025 at 09:54

paul10 said:
yeah the sigma will be a step up for sure ,light gathering ,faster focusing and a true 600mm f/l ,nothing really like it for the money and you can always mount it on a nikon with megdap adaptor which does work with t/c and higher frame rate no limitations.

i wouldnt mount to any nikon i have an a92 which is perfectly adequate for my need case , a93 is shiny shiny but i have 0 need for that body

And · 24 Mar 2025 at 12:10

It looks an interesting lens. The elephant in the room is f8 at the magic 800mm so flight/movement shots are going to mean pushing isos another stop and in darker/overcast conditions call for a bit more creativity and thought with how things are shot, but none of that is insurmountable and I expect it will sell well. Internal zoom and short zoom throw are pluses.

Widget · 24 Mar 2025 at 18:01

And said:
It looks an interesting lens. The elephant in the room is f8 at the magic 800mm so flight/movement shots are going to mean pushing isos another stop and in darker/overcast conditions call for a bit more creativity and thought with how things are shot, but none of that is insurmountable and I expect it will sell well. Internal zoom and short zoom throw are pluses.

Currently using my 200-600 with a 1.4x TC pushes it to f/9 at 860mm so the 400-800 at 800 is f/8 at the top end so performs a 1/3 stop better which is not much but always welcome. Also the image quality is likely to be improved over using a TC adapted lens and seems to reviewing pretty well. Also with modern photo software denoise tools I feel like higher ISO is less of an issue and can be worked around.