The announcement of the Sony 600mm f/4 G Master brings a new level of creative freedom to Sony photographers. Several creators and members of the press had the opportunity to try out the new lens in advance. Here are some of their first impressions as they share their thoughts on the performance of one of the newest additions to the full-frame E Mount lineup.

DPReview

“I think it’s safe to say that Sony has absolutely fully fleshed out their full frame telephoto range.” - Chris Niccolls

“These are two lenses that they absolutely had to make I think for slightly different constituencies. I mean this 600mm f/4, it's a birding lens it's perfect for some kinds of sport they really needed it in their range. And the 200 is 600 that's an enthusiastic wildlife photographers dream that I think will be very popular.” - Barney Britton

The Phoblographer

“The Sony 600mm f/4 G Master OSS receives our Editor’s Choice Award and five out of five stars.”

“There isn’t much at all to hate about the Sony 600mm f/4 G Master OSS. It’s a more travel-friendly alternative to many competitors from DSLR cameras on the market. It’s also able to use Sony’s fantastic autofocus system to capture subjects moving quickly. While doing that, it’s capable of resolving a heck of a lot of detail. By all means, the Sony 600mm f/4 G Master OSS is a no-compromise lens. Our beef with the lens is the size, but that’s very personal, and I completely understand how and why it needs to be like this.” - Chris Gampat

Imaging Resource

“What to say? The Sony 600mm f/4 GM lens looks to be another outstanding professional-level lens. At $13,000, you should expect nothing less. Yes, the lens is very expensive, but it's right in-line with other full-frame 600mm f/4 lenses from competing manufacturers. The big difference is usability. The Sony 600mm is a full-frame supertelephoto lens that you can use handheld, and that's quite a rare feat. Combined with high-speed AF performance and crisp, clear image quality, the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM is yet another impressive optic for professional Sony Alpha owners.” - William Brawley

The Art Of Photography

“The lens offers a really nice compression at long focal lengths. The images are sharp all the way to the corners and the bokeh that you get is really nice subject separation from the background. You can the 600mm with the Sony 1.4x and 2.0x Teleconverters which will give you an effective 840mm or 1200mm respectively, without visually compromising the performance of the lens.” - Ted Forbes

PCMag.com

“Focus is very speedy. Dual motors drive the focus elements to keep up with fast-moving subjects and the a9's 20fps maximum capture rate. I performed a very informal test, photographing a pro soccer player running at full tilt in my general direction, and was happy to see the lens and camera captured in-focus images shot after shot.” - Jim Fisher

TheCameraStoreTV

“This combination of the α9 plus the 600mm f/4 allowed me to acquire focus extremely quick and follow tracked action like I’ve never done before. I really liked it.” - Dave Paul

“It’s giving you really nice sharpness and prevents a lot of issues that you could normally have with these super-telephoto lenses. It’s also extremely well balanced with a lot of weight in the center, and that helps with these lightweight Sony bodies.” - Evelyn Drake

“As professional sports photographers, we’re getting moved further and further back for all sorts of different reasons, whether it’s for safety or for legal reasons. So with this new 600mm we have that reach now in the Sony lineup that the others have had for a little while. It’s pretty exciting.” - Nick Didlick

Jason Vong

“When you have the Sony α9 and the 600mm, you really view how well the camera and the lens work together. It’s because of the tech inside of the camera and inside of the lens. Let me explain: So Sony a9 recently got an update earlier this year the version 5 firmware which introduced real-time autofocus and that pretty much allows the camera to be faster at detecting and recognizing what needs to be in focus as part of the whole AI and speed model that Sony is going for.” - Jason Vong