The lens of your WILDLIFE dreams - Sony FE 200-600 G OSS Long-Term Review
MY LIGHTROOM PRESET PACK ▶ geni.us/5SWiEIV
The Sony 200-600 is by far the most used lens in my kit. In this video, I'm going through my thoughts on it after using it for one and a half years.
Is the autofocus any good?
How does the stabilization perform, and what does the three different modes actually do?
FE 200-600 mm f5,6-6,3 G OSS ▶ geni.us/RUqO5P
Camouflage Lens Cover ▶ geni.us/5nC2JW
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I'm a Swedish nature and wildlife photographer capturing Scandinavian nature through my lens. I'm doing products reviews, photography vlogs, and more.
Mostly known from Tiktok where I put up nature-related videos.
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My Photography GEAR:
Sony A7IV ▶ geni.us/Kvzcjrd
Sony A7C ▶ geni.us/HqMmde
Xperia PRO-I ▶ geni.us/FUBPOAlz
F-Stop Backpack ▶ geni.us/vIkU
VLOG-Cam: Sony ZV1 ▶ geni.us/uyW7Ei3
Lenses:
FE 200-600 mm f5,6-6,3 G OSS ▶ geni.us/RUqO5P
Camouflage Lens Cover ▶ geni.us/zb0PSU5
Sigma 500 F4 Sport ▶ geni.us/i37dLgH
Tamron 70-180 2.8 ▶ amzn.to/3JVmdtN
Sigma EX 300 f/2.8 DG HSM ▶ geni.us/5cWmQos
Sigma MC-11 Adapter ▶ geni.us/oReb
Tamron AF 17-28/2,8 Di III RXD ▶ geni.us/YZgBjc
Sigma 35mm Art 1.4 ▶ geni.us/Ef13AY
Sigma 50mm Art 1.4 ▶ geni.us/PkAnHU
DJI Mini 2 ▶ geni.us/Y2amB7
Camo Gear
3D Camo Suit ▶ geni.us/dkPBY
3D Camo for Tripod Legs ▶ geni.us/rIifC
Monal V2 Hide ▶ geni.us/Ba7BA
- Use the code "Nilsson5" for 5% on all items in Tragopan's shop!
Small Tripod Sirui AM225 ▶ geni.us/cskIc
Tripod: Sirui N-3203x ▶ geni.us/ilFaw
Gimbal head: Sirui PH-20 ▶ geni.us/CsqIZF
Peak Design Camera Strap ▶ geni.us/ksQqG
PolarPro ND-Filter ▶ geni.us/A7QPI
Camouflage Suit ▶ geni.us/pIjrTbL:
Software:
Get MUSIC for your videos ▶ geni.us/BHYtm
NOISE REDUCTION in my images: ▶ geni.us/denoise
SHARPENING my images with ▶ geni.us/sharpenai
UPSCALING cropped photos with ▶ geni.us/LpwbeX
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FOLLOW ME:
Instagram ▶ geni.us/ZbH4UzI
TIKTOK ▶ geni.us/Fnbe
Website ▶ www.ollenilssonfoto.com/
Email Adress ▶ ollenilssonen@gmail.com
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:58 Design
02:15 Focus Ring
02:35 Focus Hold button
03:07 Zoom
03:35 Storytime Wolf Encounter + photos
04:54 Sharpness
05:33 Autofocus Performance
06:14 Focus Limiter
07:15 No Full Time Manual Focus Override
07:40 AF in video
08:07 Stabilization
09:33 Out of focus Background (BOKEH)
09:50 Is it worth the money?
All songs are from Epidemic Sound.
DISCLAIMER: Some links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you, thank you for supporting me and my road to be doing this full time!
Thanks for watching,
Olle
Very well edited and filmed. This video is criminally underrated. Keep up the good quality vids!
Thank you so much🙏🏻🙏🏻
Very well presented mate. I very much enjoyed watching this. Everything was explained in simple terms for us "dummies". I now have a total understanding of what all the switches do and when to change them. Keep up the excellent work.
So glad to hear that. Thanks a ton🙏🏻🙏🏻
The 200-600 is now on sale everywhere. 100 off. As of the time of this writing.
I have been using this lens for four months now and its great! Also learned some new stuff from this video so thanks a lot for the explainer :)!
I have had this lens for a few years now. its on my a7r4. I added the 1.4 teleconverter to it. Its amazing.
Great review and I like how you provide example images/video of what you are talking about as you explain it. Great content! Thanks for taking the time to make it
Thanks for the feedback! So glad to hear you like it🙏🏻
It is crazy how I just realized that very few reviews are done in the field with as much B-roll from in the area. Everyone wants to stay at their desks for reviews today. Such a great discussion! Love this lens, but the new Sigma may get my money.
Glad you liked it! The great thing about an outdoor office is that it changes all the time 😃 haha! Cheers, Jeremy!
Great vid! Love long term reviews and this is exactly what I was looking for!
Agreed, would love to switch focus ring to front. Also wish they would add the super fast motors like 600 f4 for an upgraded price!
I bought this lens because of this video you made and I can tell you that I am very, very happy with it. It has served me well for photos of wild animals as a macro and even for portraits at a distance... it is the best.
Really enjoyed this review. Love your style. Just subscribed
I have watched several of your videos and you definitely deserve more subs. You got mine after three videos. I like your knowledge and sense of humor. Keep up the great work. I recently picked up the Sony A7IV and am looking at the Sony 200-600. You gave some great information in this video. Thanks!
Thank you so much Craig! Appreciate the words and sub!
I'M GLAD I FOUND YOUR CHANNEL. I LEARNED SO MUCH!
Absolutely lovely review :D nice to see your videos here 🧡🧡🧡
Love the explanation of how it works too! Subbed!
Thank you for sharing your experience and video. We will start saving to acquire the lens. Cheers
Great review. I love this lens and don’t regret buying it at all!
Man your videos are always so great to watch!!! Great work 👏👏👏
Thank you so much!!🙏🏻
Excellent review, very comprehensive and helped with my purchasing decision for my A1. Many Thanks. Ian (UK)
This is the telephoto lens of my dreams since I'm doing some bird/wildlife photography but it's beyond my budget. Currently I'll hold on to the 70-350mm
Informative, honest, and funny. (Those seagulls at 8:25 💀.) Subbed
I use this lens for my wildlife video work and I'm really happy with it. I agree that it seems to be sharpest at the 600mm end, and I also struggled at first with the relative positions of the focus and zoom rings. I only use manual focus for video, so after trying a few other short cuts, 've set the on-lens buttons to turn peaking on/off. I suspect that I will also hit that by accident a lot, but it doesn't affect the image so I'm not too worried about that. I'm hoping it will allow me to quickly check my focus, then turn off peaking so that I can concentrate on exposure and composition with a clean screen.
Great review Olle! I know you did it a couple years back at this point, but I just picked this lens up yesterday for the upcoming Solar Eclipse! 😎 Always nice to be able to search and find these older reviews such as yours. Keep it up 👍🏻
Thank you! That’s awesome!! Good luck on capturing it. I still use the lens to this day, absolutely love it😃
Love your work 💞💞💞
I'm not even a photographer but still I'm so fascinated by your videos, it just makes me happy, :))
Haha that’s awesome. I’m so glad to hear that!!
Great video... Thoroughly enjoyed😊
great review! love your sense of humour!
Thanks Robert!! :D
Found you ver my starting page. Really enjoyed the video. Thx ;)
Nice review! Thank u and Love it! 😊
I don't even own a camera, just here because i enjoy watching your videos. And your photos. I also enjoy your company, and the outdoors, and fika.... mmm... fika. When does the "Best fika for wildlife photography" video come out? I need that in my life. ❤
Thanks for changing my mind about selling it!
That the lens to lake you move to Sony Fe. Was waiting for it fo years and loved it a lot. Because those teleprime are way too expensive and nowdays the bodys are so good in af and iso that even 6.3 is quite enough. Thanks to share that golden lens buddy !
Great review, Olle. Well done! Just started following you, as I am moving to the A7IV + 200-600 combo.
Appreciate it!! Glad you like it :)
My wildlife portfolio has improved dramatically ever since owning this lens. I use to rely on the 135mm GM in crop mode.
The 135 has also been my longest lens for years... would love to pick up the 200-600
@@ppi57 If you're doing wildlife then I highly recommend. I feel safer photographing deers during the rut and the behaviour of the animal really shows when you're not disturbing them.
Hands down, one of the best purchases of all my life..
Great review! My opinion is this 200-600 is in fact one of the very few underpriced lenses. You can easily compared it to prime lenses like 500/600 f4 in terms of af speed and bokeh. Several blind tests on youtube prove it. But a 1/9 of the price. Good channel I just subscribed
I have had this lens since it was released in the UK and it’s attached to my A7IV.. it’s fantastic. Enjoyed your video all very well explained..👍🏻
Well, thanks, based on that 10s footage on the start I was sure I had to buy the lens. Thanks mate!
I bought it a little while ago now, it sits on my bedside table; my 200watt quad box & tele. Nice dreams right there.
Very nice and informative video, I definitely enjoyed watching it. I also own this lens and have used it a lot in the past 1-2 years so I was looking forward to maybe getting some new tips for using it. You stated lots of (correct and very imformative) facts about the lens but not so much of your experience during the time you spent with it. When I see "long-term review" in the title, I expect a bit more of the experience of using the lens.. Still a very nice video, you definitely got my "like" for it :)
Thanks for the very constructive feedback! Really appreciate it!😃🙏🏻
Dream lens 🙌
Good review.
Great video thanks for sharing
Hi, what Fjällräven jacket are you wearing? You could do a clothing review as well. :)
Fjällräven KEB Jacket. Absolutely love it!
@@ollenilssonen Thanks for the information! :) I really like Fjällrävens Durability and Repairability Focus.
@@christianpatalong yeah they’re great!!
@@ollenilssonen I'm from India...how to pronounce the brand 😀😀😀🥺🥺🥺
Awesome Video and I love this lens 😍
Thanks! It’s such a great lens!
@@ollenilssonen it is!
Yeahh! This is my Dreaming lenses, i will have one some day :D
The lens is awesome. I hope Canon will bring something similar.
Just bought this lens, can't wait to some birding with it
Nice review man! Just sold my 100-400gm and now I am buying the 200-600. I was already decided but watched this video anyway. Btw nice the north face fleece haha. Have a good one!
The 200-600 is a great lens! I’m sure you’ll love it! Haha I love that one!!
Even nicer is the Fjallraven jacket. I love their gear.
Whats the point to sell 100-400?
really good content Olle Nilsson. I killed the thumbs up on your video. Maintain up the quality work.
Thanks a ton mate!!
@@ollenilssonen no problem at all. always happy to support my fellow content creators. I am looking forward to improving on my own current video format I have uploaded and, in the future, trying to create content as good as yours in the long term.
Gratulerar för en mycket bra youtubekanal. Bravo!
Stort tack!🙌
Already from last yr previously with a6400 now on A7iv for my bird photography and I am satisfied
Hi, how do you find the burst rate, buffer time and the AF on the A7iv for birds in flight?
I carry on a heavy duty binocular harness, reason handy and out of the bag (you become the tripod with a flex strap harness), ever go to the zoo and a all day walkabout- things get heavy. Also you can add the 1.4x (not really needed with the APS-C button) and 2x teleconverters that do not affect AF above F8 like a Canon/Nikon - just tracking focus. To really test AF and OSS + IBIS take a series of shots of the moon at 600mm then APS-C to 900mm then use the 2x to1200mm then APS-C to 1800 for a full frame image. It will be in focus and still in all captures. To make the 1800mm a little better just shoot in Hi multi frame and get multi shots and pick one, because the moon moves close up. Also great for lunar eclipse but recommend just 600mm to get stars also. Also will stay locked on (focus) when a bird flies behind a tree and is seen behind the limbs (limbs will be blurry but but bird sharp) even at 2x and APS-C 1800mm you get still action handheld using Hi+. A lens is forever is it worth it very much so!!! Recommend the grey military grey digital camo reason wildlife can see solids, all the other camo seen far away looks like a solid color. The best camo to wear while out is Marine desert camo it is tan and blends with trees and bushes even in snow it is hard to see someone. Also wash all clothing in no glow hunter sports wash. Regular landry wash has brighteners and you will glow Blueish to wildlife in the morning and evening lights the reason deer see you a 100+ yards away they are color blind with a yellow vision BUT green and blue are their highlight colors. Another they do not see hunter orange just yellow this is why a hunter orange camo is best, camo because there is nothing flat in nature. Tan desert camo for birds because they see colors very well even the blue glow. Note: a deer will see a black barrel move 150+ yards away they will look straight at you, it has happened to me!
It is very good lens and if your in the Sony system good value for money ! Awesome 👍😍
Love this piece of kit! Small birds in a dark forest don't stand a chance...
Nice review Olle!! About your lense fallen into the water I had the same issue with a Batis 18mm, but after some period of death (and drying) now it's still working. Anyway, I agree with you on the 200-600G len,s that I think is one of the best zoom lenses in the market.
I’m glad it works!! I’ll see if mine survives aswell😃 thanks!
@@ollenilssonen I hope so!!
I am getting this lens, this lens, 90mm f2.8 macro and 35mm f1.8 are three lens are all I need.
Crazy lens ! Crazy video! Crazy shots !
Crazy price 😉
Thank you for a great video. I am fairly new at wildlife photography, and I wanted to know how this compares to the Sony E 70-350 mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS APS-C Telephoto Zoom G Lens with Optical SteadyShot?
Just got mine so excited to use it, what do you think of the x2 adaptor? I realized the image goes darker with it on
The video quality is very good! 👍
Thanks!
Very nice video!
Riktigt bra video!!
Tack!!🙏🏻
a soothing video
I've got that lens, and love it, but I also like to hear other people say good things about it! :)
It’s such a great lens! Haha 😃
Great review, i really love your work!! I've been using the 200-600 since late 2020, paired with the a7IV i haven't felt the need for anything else (other than a native 300 2.8 😩). Do you have any tips or settings recommendations for video? I mainly shoot photos but lately i've been shooting little clips here and there for IG. Thank you for you time and the work you create!! :'))
Thanks mate! That setup is so good. Yeah a native 300 2.8 would be perf😫Maybe some day! Hmm, I usually shoot stuff for IG/Tiktok in 4k 60, then cropping in from horizontal so I can use the footage for borh YT anf social media!
@@ollenilssonen Oh awesome!! Do you ever shoot anything in 1080 120 or the resolution from the 4k too crucial when it comes to cropping in for ig/ tiktok?
@@RamusJamus I shoot 1080 120 sometimes. But then I need to record vertically. But without cropping it works great!
Very nice ❤
Great review! 17 hundred euros is a price of new iPhone + airpods. I would definitely sacrifice my iPhone and airpods for this lens if I was a wildlife photographer ))
I own this lens and have it on my a7iii and it works really great in most situations. While I do use it for some wildlife which it does really well, I primarily use it a lot for deep space astrophotography and while it does have really nice optics and produces sharp images I do have a few problems with it. 1. Even with the focus limiter, the focus wheel is extremely sensitive and not only is it easy to miss focus, when I leave it outside shooting hundreds of sub exposures, I find the wind can move the focus wheel enough to look out of focus, I don’t know if there is any way to adjust this but it would be nice to have the option. 2. It would be nice to have a lock for the “zoom” ring. I have found as soon as you pitch the lens up above 40 degrees while at 200mm the weight of the glass elements will cause the zoom to slide to around 300mm. But apart from this I absolutely love this lens and is probably one of my favourites to use simply because of the large range of focal lengths accessible within seconds and great optics and beautiful bokeh
Maybe you can try to ductape the rings once they're in place
@@jeroenvdw focus ring is too sensitive to do that, touch it and focus is lost completely. I do sellotape the zoom ring down though but I try to avoid it when possible so I don’t get too much residue on the lens
Maybe try some focus 'rings', which are wearing on lens focus ring and then you can turn a wheel for few millimeters to precise your focus. Such gear often used in video
It is not the wind moving it, it is changing due to thermal expantion and contraction
What's your general setup for astrophotography with this lens?
I use this badboy with my a6600 and my a7III (a7 IV is incomming ^^) and i love this lense. The sharpnes, contrast and colors are great ! Thx for this review, I 100% agree with it :-)
Since you've used this lens with both APS-C and FF, and I am trying to decide on a camera body, what's your impression of the differences? Do you find the extra reach of using the lens on an APS-C body useful and really miss it when shooting with the FF (since you have only 11MP/15MP with equiv. crop on a7iii/a7iv)? Or does that not matter much/you actually prefer using the lens on FF?
I have had this for a while now, and bought the a7iv to dedicate to it as I live on the road in Australia and need to be able to have it immediately to hand rather than change lenses back and forth on my a7iii, which is now used for all the shorter lenes including the old A mounts with adapters. I have just bought the 1/4 teleconverter used but in pristine condition from anothe4 Sony and A7iv user, about25% off best retail.
Jahopp, tack då.. Blir att punga ut med ännu mera pengar på denna "billiga" hobby nu :-) Tack för bra info
*My Sony 100-400mm made me a lot, I filmed Osaka Airport landings where the aircraft would do a drift with the city in the background, I really hope to get this 600mm as I've broken my lens on the other one when it fell out of the bag. Lesson learned I will keep it with it's own bag and put it in the laptop part of the bag so it won't just flop out*
Sorry for your loss but keep up the great work!
Känns som dina videor bara blir bättre o bättre, heja dig! 😄🙌
Stort tack😍🙏🏻
For someone new to wildlife videography would you go with the Sony 200-600 or the new Sigma 60-600? Buying the Sony A7IV and am wondering which lens you recommend for someone just starting out. The ability to do wildlife, macro and landscape with one lens makes the new Sigma very appealing. Please let me know which you would go with. Thanks!
I am interested in Sony FE 500-1000 lenses in such photography.
Great video. Enjoyed it a lot. Which lens cover do you use for it? Do you recommend the lens cover you use?
I think it’s very good! I have a link to it in the description!
It’s a great lens. I am using it on both riv and a1 but the a1 makes everything easier for wildlife especially birds so I’m going to sell the riv.
You got me in the first 30 seconds of video xD
Awesome
Hi nice video, thanks. I have also the 200-600 mm and compared to the 100-400 mm I find that that my 200-600 is not so sharp and CA can be a real issue for me.
Good stuff here.
I was searching for your comparison video with Sigma 150-600 but I guess you didn't do a video about that
It took me 2 minutes to realize its a sony lens. Time to go to bed. Great video m8
07:39 maybe the DMF could be used as sort of a manual focus override option I think ?
Hey Olle, love your pictures! Do you shoot with Teleconverter or without?
Hey! Glad to hear that! I’ve never used one!😊
Thanks
great lens, I love to stay mobile and travel light so I don't see myself even aspiring to another Sony wildlife lens, unless they release a compact 500 f/4. It was the lens that made me switch to Sony once I saw Canon's 100-500 was 100mm shorter and a stop slower
Im currently debating the switch from canon to sony for the same reason. Do you have any regrets?
@@haaspaas2 No regrets. I left Canon right before the R5 came out. Its a very nice camera. I was disappointed in the 100-500. Also, I had an old 300 f/2.8 which was a workhorse with my 5DIV and 1DX. Great lens, but it was old enough where reportedly I wouldn't have the same performance (FPS, AF) with the new MILC bodies. The 200-600 really appealed to me as a relatively light, super versatile lens. The sensor and AF performance was well established for Sony. I have an A9II and A7RIV. I love both of them. Planning to add the new Sony 70-200 f/2.8 II. Matched to the A7RIV shooting in crop mode, I basically get back my 300 f/2.8 at 26mp images. That said, the new generation of Canon gear is top notch and frankly you can't go wrong. Matter of personal preference.
@@rogersmith4308 Great to hear. The r5+100-500 would be a dream combo for me but I can't stomach the price for that lens. I actually just pulled the trigger on the sony switch a few minutes ago. I found a near mint second hand A9 for 2200 euros, and a new 200-600 for 1550 euros! Considering just the 100-500mm rf is 3150 euros around here, I think this is a steal! Coming from a RP+sigma 150-600, this will hopefully be quite a step up.
And a lot more expensive, for 500 f7.1 end ! I think its more expensive that 500 pf 5.6 nikor prime.
And I love you bro and u r tricks
Great video! I have this lens and I absolutely agree. I noticed you have a Sigma 500 f4 and I'm curious to hear how you think it compares in terms of sharpness to the Sony 200-600. I own both lenses myself and I think my Sigma is a bad copy as at f6.3, it's slightly less sharp than the Sony. I would have expected the Sigma to be sharper (at least when stopped down to f6.3). How do your copies compare?
Thanks! About the Sigma lens, I find it very sharp. I’d say my copies are pretty much the same in terms of sharpness! Maybe a back/front focusing issue?
Wonder how the new Sigma 60-600 compares to this now? Ever try the Sigma yet?
Hej älskar dina videor
Kul att höra🙏🏻🙏🏻
Just found your channel - really cool content! Do you use a ND Filter while filming wildlife with the tele lens?
Glad to hear that! Thanks! No not really, I usually close down the aperture. Will probably get a ND for the 500 f4 though!
@@ollenilssonen wow, that was fast :) thank you!
It's a great lens but, for me, it had a major shortcoming. At 600mm the minimum focus distance is around 17 yards. For small birds, such as warblers, that is terrible. I sold mine and got the Sigma 150-600mm instead. Now I'm getting the shots I want.
17 yards? Google told me it’s about 15 meters! Are you sure? Also Google told me that mfd for Sony 200600 is 2.4m and I can’t find any info that it somehow depends on what focal range its currently ‘zoomed’..
Great review! beginner photographer here, just a quick question, when using a extender, like the sony x2, do you lose image quality, is it like cropping, or actually changing the focal length.
Thanks! You do actually change the focal lenght. So you still use the same mount of pixels on the sensor. But you do lose quality due to the optics. haven’t tried it yet though!
@@ollenilssonen thank you!
so theoretically you could use a sony 200-600mm with a x2 extender and get the equivilent of 400-1200mm without major distortion or quality loss? sounds a lot better than paying x10 for a prime 1200mm lens.
I sent mine back to the store! Absolutly impossible to get sharp photos with it. I have the 70-200 f2.8 GM also and that one is a pure dream!
That honestly sounds weird! Mine is tack sharp. However, a friend of mine had issues with this lens. After many tried without sharp photos he for is replaced and that solved the issue!
@@ollenilssonen could be that i got a dropped one :)
U have a way with words...I almost thought I am gonna be 10 from 5 😂😂😂
I wish I had this lens with me in Hawaii over the past two weeks.
🔥🔥
The lens of your shy street photography needs
Wondering since you've used this for a while, if you've found a need for an ND filter when taking video?