We’re used to seeing incredibly long camera zoom lenses from Canon and Nikon but Sony’s come out swinging with something that would do serious damage if you swung it. Both to the impacted point and to your wallet, because the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS isn’t going to be cheap.

Local pricing wasn’t immediately available for South Africa but it should turn up before the lens launches locally in May this year. Based on American pricing, expect to pay more than R55,000 to stick one of these in your ca–… this won’t fit in your camera bag, will it?

Sony’s glass cannon

At nearly three kilograms in weight and adding almost 35cm onto the front of your Sony Alpha camera, the new 800mm lens isn’t exactly primed for street photography. That’s… sort of the entire point. Six extra-low dispersion (ED) glass elements live inside, as does an eleven-blade aperture for bokeh effects that don’t have to be facilitated by an onboard AI.

What is on board is Sony’s Optical SteadyShot stabilisation tech, which the company reckons allows for handheld shooting as well as tripod mounting. Even better is that the tech is further assisted if your Alpha-family Sony camera also includes in-body stabilisation.

Despite looking like you’ve stuck a piece of field artillery to your face, the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS is also packed with autofocus features. It’ll maintain object tracking at up to 120fps bursts (provided you pair it with a supporting camera), autofocus locks on via two linear motors inside the body, and the barrel includes three focus hold buttons spaced around its perimeter so you’ll always be in control of the shot without experiencing… sagging.

Sony’s new lens covers the 400mm to 800mm range but this can be further expanded by adding a 1.4x or 2.0x teleconverter, both of which are launching alongside the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS. That takes range up to 1,600mm, “making this lens ideal for shooting birds, wildlife, sports, aircraft, and landscapes.” And you were going to stuff it into a camera bag.