Sony 70-300G SSM 4.5-5.6 Telephoto Zoom Lens
You can also go direct to the SAL70300G Sony 70-300G Full Review

At PMA 2008, I was fortunate enough to be able to strap this lens onto my A700 and fire off a couple of pictures. But before I go into my impressions I want to say that before PMA, my general thoughts on the 70-300 zoom range lenses were that there are a couple really good lenses in that range, and many that are mediocre.

One is very much dated (75-300 beercan) but venerable and probably one of the most popular Minolta lenses to date. Great value for the price. The other was the Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro 1:2. For my 30 or so minutes with my A700, this lens performed magnificently, until the plastic gear inside was stripped by the higher torque motor of the A700. No fault of the camera though, as this is the only lens that has any trouble on my A700. Due to internal build quality it simply couldn't hold up.

Needless to say, I haven't used the 70-300 since, and I've wanted a "new" replacement. When I purchased the 55-200 Tamron, my heart strings were again pulled and I have long since forgotten my beloved Sigma. While I have silently vowed not to purchase a 70-300 class lens again, all that changed on that Thursday at PMA.

As soon as I took a look at this lens I realized that Sony was out to create another winner. Its build quality feels as good as this lens looks. I was shocked to hear the asking price of this lens of $799.00. From the ultra smooth zoom and focus ring action, to the silent motor focus, I was instantly hooked. The end of the lens body is topped off by a rather thick anodized aluminum ring, which gives is not only a clean and well engineered finish, but probably aids in overall durability as well. I particularly liked the focus hold button placement on the lens body, and the fact that it has an electric focus limiter to speed the hunting scenario up to boot. All this says this lens was out to be a serious product.

Another point worth mentioning is how this lens handles. It is not a light lens, nor is it an anvil either; weighing in at 1lb 12oz, or 800 grams. However, matched with the A700 they felt very well balanced together. I can foresee handheld birding shots all day with this lens. It just mates perfectly well with the A700, in feel, weight, and looks. I found myself embarrassed when I realized that while I was wielding left and right trying to simulate a fast action sequence and getting feel for the heft, the Sony Tech rep was just silently watching me. I just smiled and called myself a photo geek.

A specification that also adds to the allure of this lens is a very decent maximum magnification ratio of 1:4. This should be plenty for flower shots and even decent macro shots (with a bit of cropping). This lens is also incredibly bright, when I looked through the viewfinder I immediately noticed how well light transferred through it. Seems by first impression to live up to the G badge rather well. In the few shots I took with it, I could tell this lens should be capable of very good results. Luckily we will be able to review one as soon as it is available in mid to late March.

*Focusing notes: Due to low light and low shutter speed figures with the image samples, I didn't want to go into how fast this lens focused. However, I can say that it focuses very quiet and very smooth. When we have a review up, I will go into this into great detail. Sorry I don't have more for you but I didn't think it would be fair to report about it in detail at this time. Hope you understand.

For now, I will have to live with my short time at the counter with it and dream of having it in my kit.

Here are a couple of sample shots I took. Lighting was relatively dim at PMA and I had to ramp up the ISO to 1000 to get a decent shutter speed. They aren't much, but at least we have a couple. CA seems to be tamed well, and the images have a nice smooth overall look to them from my perspective.

Full resolution samples here:

Sample #1

Sample #2

For 56K users:

Image #1

Image #2

And a shot showing the 70-300G fully extended (not taken with the 70-300G, rather the 18-250)