Sony 70-350 OSS G thoughts?

[markeb]

I'd drop this into the Alaska thread, but I might get more thoughts here.

 

I have an a6500 (would love to go to the a6700 just for the battery, but I can buy a lot of batteries for the cost of a new body!). We're doing an Alaska cruise with a pre-cruise trip to Denali. My primary walk around lens is the Tessar/Zeiss 16-70. I don't have much reach. The Sony 70-350 OSS G lens is on promo, I assume for the month, for $898 down from $998. It "should" be a great lens for Denali, and probably the cruise, and I'm sure I'd use it post cruise. 

 

Anyone have any experience or thoughts? Not currently doing the FF upgrade. There's a certain fear of spending the money and time to go to Alaska and being frustrated with not getting any good pics. 

 

Thanks!

[pierces]

14 hours ago, markeb said:

Anyone have any experience or thoughts?

 

I have the 70-300 G full-frame lens and use it on my A6600. It is an excellent lens with good sharpness and autofocus. The 70-350 is a newer lens and based on my experience with Sony lenses, I would expect it to be at least equal to the 70-300 in image quality and performance since it's a G.

 

If you plan on sticking with the APS-C bodies, the 70-350 is a great choice. If you someday plan a shift to full-frame, the 70-300 might be a consideration. The 70-350 gives you a little more reach, but it will have noticeable vignetting on a full-frame camera.

 

Dave

[markeb]

Thanks!

 

Probably sticking with the APS-C body for now. The 70-350 is almost 3/4 of a pound lighter, so that may be a factor as well. It’s in the B&H cart…

[markeb]

Arrived today. Haven't had a chance to use it yet. The infamous FW50 batteries were dead (haven't shot for awhile). Slapped it on the a6500 and just focused across the house. Even that was impressive. I think the longest lens I've owned was a 55-250 "kit lens" for a Canon Rebel. I can already see this will blow that out of the water!

 

Have a road trip next week where it's probably the absolute wrong lens, but I think it's going anyway. Need to play with it and check its limits before trying to turn that brown spot on the spring snow into a bear...