South Korean Alpha Professional OlivePage puts the versatile FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II to the test.
Hailing from South Korea and based in Singapore, OlivePage is an Alpha Professional and lens reviewer who specialises in portrait, landscape and nature photography. He has published a book on flower photography and was the editor of a photography magazine.
Alpha 7R V | FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II | 70mm | F2.8 | 1/1000s | ISO 100
Five years after the launch of its predecessor, the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II was released.
The new FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II has prime lens-level resolution, a new AF system that satisfies both stills and video, an excellent close-up magnification of over 0.32x, G Master class bokeh, all while being smaller and lighter.
Key Specifications
Focal Length
- Focal Length: 24-70mm
- Angle of View: 84-34 degrees
- Minimum Focus Distance: 0.21(W) - 0.3(T)m
- Maximum Magnification: 0.32x
24-70mm is versatile, offering the most commonly-used focal range.
Thanks to its short minimum focus distance, the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lets you get more creative with 0.32x close-up shots, whether you're shooting an indoor cafe or beautiful flowers.
Aperture
- Aperture: F2.8~F22
- Blade: 11
- Circular Blade: Yes
The F2.8 aperture and 11-blade circular aperture produces beautiful background bokeh. This creates beautiful scenes when you want to separate your subject from the background, such as in portrait or flower photography.
AF Motor System
It features Sony's most advanced AF system, with four XD Linear Motors. This method produces excellent image quality both up close and from afar, and enables extremely fast, quiet and accurate AF. It also improves close-up performance and makes the lens smaller and lighter.
Size and Weight
- Size: 87.8 x 119.9mm
- Weight: 695g
- Filter size: 82mm
The FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II is about 20% lighter than before. This is the lightest and smallest design among the currently available 35mm full-frame 24-70mm F2.8 lenses.
Design and Build
The FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II is lighter than ever. The FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II has carefully controlled focus rings, zoom rings, and even aperture rings.
On the left side of the lens is a switch that toggles between AF and MF. Alongside this is the Focus Hold Button, which you can personalise with the features you want.
On the opposite side is a switch that controls the resistance of the zoom ring. Set it to Smooth for a very smooth rotation, and conversely, Tight for a tighter rotation.
The FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II can be attached with 82mm filters.
The back of the lens is designed to be dust and moisture resistant.
Samples and Tips
Close-ups
Alpha 7R V | FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II | 70mm | F2.8 | 1/250s | ISO 100
For this shot, I zoomed in at 70mm and shot the water droplets close up. With some zoom lenses, image quality falls dramatically at maximum telephoto focal length. However, this lens performs very well. The image is clean and free of chromatic aberration, it looks like it was shot with a prime lens.
Nightscapes and Cityscapes
Alpha 1 | FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II | 70mm | F11 | 5s | ISO 100
I heard about an interesting structure, grabbed my tripod, and found sports cars stacked inside a building. I waited for a time when there were no cars on the road to create a surreal atmosphere. When shooting long exposures like this, use a good tripod and a 2-second delayed shutter to eliminate unnecessary shake from handling the camera.
Alpha 1 | FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II | 70mm | F5 | 15s | ISO 100
The National Museum of Singapore is one of my favourite pieces of architecture. In a city filled with so many modern buildings, a classic building is a treasure.
Alpha 1 | FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II | 24mm | F2.8 | 1/3s | ISO 100
Alpha 1 | FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II | 70mm | F2.8 | 1/3s | ISO 100
The same moment can be captured completely differently with the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II. A green forest, a geometric building, a purple sky, a blue sky. Which would you choose?
Portraits
Alpha 7R V | FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II | 25mm | F2.8 | 1/250s | ISO 100
Sometimes it's nice to include details in the background for context of where a person is, such as at 24mm.
A lens that's anything but standard
While the 24-70mm focal range is considered a standard zoom, the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II is anything but standard. Besides being the smallest and lightest in its class, it enables high image quality throughout the focal range with fast AF and great close-up performance. If you can only choose one zoom lens, this is it.
