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Lenses

Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS Review: A Heavy Hitter That’s Light on Your Back

Alberto Lima
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Last updated on 05/14/2026
05/13/2026
6 Mins read
A Sony camera with a large telephoto lens rests on a textured stone surface; red logo at bottom right.
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Last Updated on 05/14/2026 by Chris Gampat

Sony’s latest G Master lens might’ve been one of the industry’s worst kept secrets. That being said, the Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS is finally here and while the specs might have been leaked well in advance of its official announcement, specs are only part of the story. At 100–400 mm, it’s expected that a lens with this reach will be on the larger side, but is it going to feel like a millstone around your neck?

The Big Picture: Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS Review Conclusions

A large Sony telephoto camera lens lies on a white surface, with a red logo in the bottom right corner.
The Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS is an absolute unit in size, but not weight.

This story is still developing.

We were invited to Sony’s launch event in New York City (May 2026) and as of this writing, we’re treating this as a first impressions of the lens. We’ll be updating with a full review and rating of the lens in the near future.

Experience

A Sony camera with a white 100-400mm lens rests on a white surface.
The Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS mounted to the Sony a7R VI.

This story is still developing.

As you can see from the lead image, this lens is a UNIT. It’s huge; when paired with the Sony a7R VI and with the lens hood attached, this lens is longer than a standard sized chair is wide. That’s a lot of glass, metal, and rubber that went into building this lens. But what I found absolutely confounding was just how light this lens is. At “only” four pounds, the lens looks like it should be a lot heavier. So much so in fact, that I couldn’t get over just how much lighter it was compared to the Tamron 150-500mm F5.3-6.7 DI III VC VXD which we tested with the Sony a9 III.

Beyond the weight, my initial tests were limited as the event space was too tight to really explore the full range of the lens’ focal lengths. That said, I’m cautiously optimistic based on the handful shots I got of birds in Central Park and a dancer in Sony’s event space.

Image Quality

This story is still developing.

The following images are JPEG images taken with the Sony a7R VI during Sony’s launch event. We look forward to testing this lens in real-world conditions in the very near future.

SooC JPEG samples below:

A ballet dancer in a black leotard poses with one arm raised, looking upward in a bright studio.
A black bird decoy hangs on a rod above a wall with a red circular logo, near a glass structure.
A robin stands on a cobblestone path near a garden bed with green plants and a black metal fence.
A ballerina practices at a barre while two musicians play string instruments in the background.
Ballet dancer in black poses at barre; musicians play string instruments in the background, indoors.
A small bird perches on a wire fence near a black lamp post in a grassy park.
A ballerina in black dancewear poses gracefully in a studio with musicians playing strings in the background.
A bearded man in a suit sits on a leather couch with two women at a vintage-themed gathering.
A ballerina dances in front of a string quartet in a bright room with large arched windows.
A ballet dancer in a black leotard raises one arm gracefully, with soft natural light in the background.
Ballet dancer in black leotard poses gracefully at barre, musicians play strings in the background.

Here are some edited images, mostly cropped images:

A ballerina in a black leotard gracefully extends her arm in a dance studio with soft natural light.
A bearded man in glasses and a tan suit sits holding a drink, looking thoughtful in a dimly lit room.
A robin stands on a paved path near a metal fence and some green plants.
A small sparrow perches on a black metal fence, with grass and plants in the background.
A woman in an elegant dress and gloves stands behind a man in a suit holding a drink, looking serious.
A squirrel stands on a rock in a sunlit garden with purple flowers and green plants.
A bronze eagle sculpture with outstretched wings above two stacks of black cannonballs on a white wall.
A bronze eagle with spread wings atop gray clouds, flanked by stacks of black cannonballs on a white wall.
A robin stands on a sidewalk near a garden bed with a black metal fence in the background.

Do You Really Want To Buy From Sony?

We believe that everyone should be aware of the ethical decisions that they’re making when they spend money. So to do this, we research the companies that whose products we test and make folks aware of both possible concerns and reasons to feel great about giving a company your money.

Here’s what we’ve got for Sony:

  • Sony’s emphasis on inclusivity is stronger than many others. They’ve done initiatives for low-vision photographers in addition to projects like the Alpha Female program and Create Action.
  • Sony has done philanthropy work to support music education and arts education. Much on their website doesn’t talk about it in detail.
  • Sony has done work to help non-profits, and their employees have a history of volunteerism.
  • Many years ago, Sony purchased Minolta and kept almost nothing of the identity of the brand. Japanese companies tend to do this with the brands they purchase.
  • Lots of news agency photographers don’t typically reach for Sony. They only do because of agency deals. This should make you question their authenticity when you see Sony gear everywhere.
  • Sony’s problems over the years have taken a really long time to fix. For example, for many years, their cameras weren’t so great at autofocus on people of color in low light. But they responded and fixed it. The same goes with apparently learning lessons about working with third-party companies, even those that don’t have a license to create lenses to E-mount.
  • Sony is involved in a lawsuit in part with Capture One for discontinuing the license to Capture One Express for Sony.
  • Sony is one of the brands that talks about moisture resistance and splash-proofing but doesn’t hold their products to their warranty protections for this.
  • Sony has been suspected of using troll bots and commenting farms to make their brand look better.
  • Sony’s website has an “influencer and endorsement guidelines” page that discusses giving things away for promotion. They’ve at times circumnavigated these kinds of transactions using third party companies. Therefore, they admit that they do provide products for free promotion. You should keep this in mind as you consume review-based content on the web.
  • The Sony a7 III was the subject of a class action lawsuit regarding a shutter issue.
  • Sony’s Playstation store has been the subject of multiple hacks where user information is leaked over and over again. In fact, there was a class action lawsuit about it. The company then switched the program to imaging edge and now the Creator’s app. If you give Sony your information, know that it may be subject to a leak.
  • Several years ago when full-frame E-mount launched, Sony had an initiative through the PlayMemories store to bolster their cameras using a paid app store. Photographers could add a time-lapse mode, a light painting mode that let you superimpose the light trails onto other photos, a form of live composite, multiple exposures, touchless shutter, star trails, and a smart remote control. They’ve been shelved since the launch of the original Sony a9. Please know that Sony took this away from consumers and never gave the features back.
  • Sony is notorious for not discontinuing older cameras and yet not providing firmware or warranty support for them. For example, the Sony a1 is listed on their website as brand new when the Sony a1 II was released at least over a year ago.

Declaration of Journalistic Intent

The Phoblographer is one of the last standing dedicated photography publications that speaks to both art and tech in our articles. We put declarations up front in our reviews to adhere to journalistic standards that several publications abide by. These help you understand a lot more about what we do:

  • At the time of publishing this review, Sony isn’t running direct-sold advertising with the Phoblographer. This doesn’t affect our reviews anyway and it never has in our 15 years of publishing our articles. This article is in no way sponsored.
  • Note that this isn’t necessarily our final review of the unit. It will be updated, and it’s more of an in-progress review than anything. In fact, almost all our reviews are like this.
  • None of the reviews on the Phoblographer are sponsored. That’s against FTC laws and we adhere to them just the same way that newspapers, magazines, and corporate publications do.
  • Sony loaned the unit and accessories to the Phoblographer for review. There was no money exchange between us or their 3rd party partners and the Phoblographer for this to happen. Manufacturers trust the Phoblographer’s reviews, as they are incredibly blunt.
  • Sony knows that it cannot influence the site’s reviews. If we don’t like something or if we have issues with it, we’ll let our readers know.
  • Sony invited us to their launch event at Academy Mission in New York City. Light food and beverages were served. All other expenses were paid for by The Phoblographer and/or its staff.
  • The Phoblographer’s standards for reviewing products have become much stricter. After having the world’s largest database of real-world lens reviews, we choose not to review anything we don’t find innovative or unique, and in many cases, products that lack weather resistance. Unless something is very unique, we probably won’t touch it.
  • In recent years, brands have withheld NDA information from us or stopped working with us because they feel they cannot control our coverage. These days, many brands will not give products to the press unless they get favorable coverage. In other situations, we’ve stopped working with several brands for ethical issues. Either way, we report as honestly and rawly as humanity allows.
  • At the time of publishing, the Phoblographer is the only photography publication that is a member of Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative. We champion human-made art and are frank with our audience. We are also the only photography publication that labels when an image is edited or not.

More can be found on our Disclaimers page.

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