Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS ( SEL100F28GM ) - Review / Test - Sample Images & Verdict
Lens Reviews - Sony Alpha (Full Format)
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Sample Images & Verdict

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Sample Images & Verdict

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Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/800s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1250s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/250s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1250s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/11.0
Exposure 1/500s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1600s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/640s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1600s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure 1/640s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/2000s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/800s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1000s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1250s
Make SONY
Model ILCE-7RM2
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 100.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1600s

Competition

The Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS is a unique lens in the Sony lineup thus it's difficult to compare it to other offerings. However, despite its superb bokeh some users may still prefer lenses that provide a shallower depth-of-field. On the high-end of that scale, there is the Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM (2nd to the left below). Honestly speaking the 85mm f/1.4 is probably the better choice for portraits and such. If you prefer something smaller and more light weight, then there are two further options - the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 (3rd) and the Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 (4th) which are both still substantially faster than the STF lens.

Visual comparison courtesy of camerasize.com.

Verdict

The Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS is certainly a controversial lens. In terms of sheer depth-of-field power and speed, it is a mediocre lens. However, the quality of the bokeh is second to none (also compared to STF offerings from other manufacturers). The decision should surely be made based on the target application. Some may argue that this is the perfect wedding or portrait lens. That's, of course, feasible but honestly I, for one, would prefer a faster lens in such scenarios. I'd rather state that the lens is aligned to still life and nature photography where you are often facing very busy and contrasty fore- and backgrounds and this STF lens can kill hard edges like no other. I'd even state that it can substitute a macro lens down to a magnification of 1:4 although that may not be sufficient for critters at least. Other than the superb bokeh, the Sony lens is very sharp at T/5.6 and even more so at T/8. If you look hard you may find some lateral CAs and image distortions aren't perfect either. However, image auto-correction can help here, of course. Strangely vignetting is not an issue even at f/2.8 - something that we haven't seen so far in any other lens (which may raise the question whether Sony applied some trickery under the hood).

The build quality is superb and despite the use of high quality plastics (rather than metal) it certainly deserves Sony's GM designation here. The weather sealing is also aligned to professional use. Interestingly Sony implemented a dedicated aperture ring. Some users may still prefer this but it feels a little bit like a gimmick these days.
It's certainly not a lens you'd choose for sports/action - the AF speed is moderate but still good enough for most other applications.
The APD element is eating 2 f-stops of light so in order to avoid high ISOs, Sony did the right thing and implemented an OSS (optical image stabilizer) which can also work in conjunction with Sony's 5-axis in-body (camera) IS. The efficiency of the IS system is pretty high (3-4 f-stops).

Coming to a final conclusion isn't really easy because you can be very opinionated about the pros and cons of the Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS. However, in my book it can produce stunning results and it alone is a reason to jump on the Sony bandwagon if you can afford it and if a truly outstanding bokeh is just your thing. Therefore ... highly recommended!

Optical Quality:
Mechanical Quality:
Price/Performance:
      
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