Sony FE 100mm F2.8 STF G Master OSS review

It’s not just about sharpness. The Sony FE 100mm F2.8 STF GM OSS aims for beautiful blur

Sony FE 100mm F2.8 STF G Master OSS
(Image: © Matthew Richards)

Digital Camera World Verdict

This Sony prime certainly isn’t lacking in sharpness, but that’s not really the point. As a ‘smooth transition focus’ lens, it features an apodization filter to enhance the quality of bokeh. And it does so very well, at the usual expense of a drop in light transmittance at wide to medium aperture settings. Handling is very refined and there’s a neat close-up option. All in all, the lens works wonderfully well for portraiture and still life photography.

Pros

  • +

    Beautiful bokeh

  • +

    Plenty of sharpness

  • +

    High-end handling

Cons

  • -

    Maximum T5.6 light transmittance

  • -

    Pretty pricey

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Think ‘100mm F2.8’ and you’re probably thinking of macro lenses. The Sony FE 100mm F2.8 STF G Master OSS is something different entirely. Sure, it does have a switchable close-up mode but its killer feature is its apodization filter, for smoothing the quality of bokeh. It’s certainly not unique in this, as similar internal filters which are like circular graduated density filters are used in other lenses including the Fujifilm 56mm F1.2 APD XF as a world-first and the more recent Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS.

Specifications

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 


His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 


In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.