Sony FE 70–200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II - A Quintessential Workhorse

The second-generation Sony FE 70–200 f/2.8 GM OSS II offers excellent optical performance, sturdy built, and is lightweight. Nilofer Khan discovers.

- Nilofer Khan

Six years ago, Sony had launched one of the most classic and popular focal lengths, the FE 70–200 f/2.8 GM OSS. This focal range, colloquially known as a workhorse lens due to its multipurpose use, instantly became a great success amongst photographers. Last year, the company launched its successor ‘with significantly evolved AF performance’, the FE 70–200 f/2.8 GM OSS II.

Features

Unlike the previous version with 23 elements in 18 groups, the 70–200 GM OSS II features 17 elements in 14 groups, including one ED aspherical element, one XA (extreme aspherical), two aspherical, two ED (extra-low dispersion), and two Super ED glass elements. As a result, the new iteration has a great advantage of weight at 1045g (without the tripod foot), far lesser than the predecessor (1480g). The XA element was manufactured to a 0.01-micron surface to suppress the onion ring bokeh.

Additionally, it has four of Sony’s original XD (extreme dynamic) Linear Motors that boost AF speed by up to 4x when used with the Sony Alpha 1. Tracking while zooming has also improved by approximately 30%.

The minimum focusing distance of the 70–200 GM OSS II is 0.4m at 70mm and 0.82m at 200mm. It has a round eleven-bladed diaphragm, a maximum magnification of 0.3x, a Linear Response MF, and a 77 mm front thread. The dust and moisture resistant design features a fluorine-coated front element and Nano AR Coating II for working in difficult environments. Its supplied lens hood features an opening that allows circular polarising or variable ND filters. It also has a flocked interior to prevent unwanted reflections.