Sony 24-105mm f3.5-4.5 SAL-24105
A full frame bargain?

August 2008, Carl Garrard
(Tested on Sony Alpha A700/200)

Sony 24-105mm f3.5-4.5 - Introduction and Overview

Sony's 24-105mm f3.5-4.5 is a carry over from the highly popular Minolta 24-105 RS 'D' (D stands for distance encoding via an 8 pin connector). Distance encoding basically means the camera and lens communicate with each other in multi-segment metering mode so the camera knows what focal length the lens is at during the time of exposure, and as a result helps to more correctly analyze that data for a final exposure calculation. This data is even more important when using a compatible flash unit so all three can work together to gather correct exposure information, and generally speaking you get a more accurate flash reading at any given focal length as a result.