(SR5) 300mm tele prime lens coming late August
Not a real leak, a cake version of the 500mm G lens at Ecpz.net 
TOP sources are slowly sending me info about the Late August Sony announcement. We can now be 99% sure that a new SAL 300mm G lens is going to be released. It’s an updated version of the SAL300-2.8G (here at Amazon).
This also is an ulterior confirmation that the Sony Service leak from two weeks ago is real. The website listed a new SAL55-300 and SAL 300mm G lens along a long list of updated “UC” (Ultra clean) lenses. That I still don’t know what it means…
(Click on name to see the current lens at Amazon):
SAL-50F14 UC
SAL-85F14Z UC
SAL-100M28 UC
SAL-135F28 UC
SAL-1870 UC
SAL-18200 UC
SAL-70200G UC
SAL-75300 UC
decato
11 months ago |Maybe it is the camera that took this picture but I notice a huge drop in material quality. I hope this is a pre-production version of the lens.
pnoij
11 months ago |Actually, my camera, not even a year old, degredated to the level of only this kind of pictures. Especially with the 8mm lens.
documensony
11 months ago |I like the ‘ultra clean’ golden plate that lens is served on!
Carl
11 months ago |It’s just another sad indictment on the modern camera industry where build quality comes a distant second to a delicious chocolate filling.
w1th0utnam3
11 months ago |This were exactly my thoughts, too. I expect Sony G lenses to be made of high quality durable materials instead of bent and cheap almond paste.
sabunyuma
11 months ago |BOOO! All I wanted was a zucchini bunt cake with a demi glaze. Is that too much to ask? When will Sony finally get it right!? Waaaaaaaah!!
zstan
11 months ago |HAHAHAHA. hilarious
Raph
11 months ago |Matt
11 months ago |Is that really what it turned out for the UC designation to mean – ‘Ultra Clean’?
Mattias
11 months ago |Is UC really “ultra clean” and not “ultra coating” or something to do with the coating in general? I’m hoping that an updated SSM will be added to more lenses, the cheap SAM-motor is not good enough.
Peter
11 months ago |That list is fine and dandy. I wonder, however, how could they leave a 35mm out. In my opinion (and for things I like) a 35mm is as needed as a 50mm in any line up. Canon has 50-35-24 in 1.4 versions (photojournalists use them a lot if they like primes) and the same goes for Nikon. Sony has a stellar 24mm (yes, f2 but faster than the staple f2.8 often seen so it is a special lens) and it has a great 50mm…so why not a 35mm 1.4 or 35mm f2 that is as special? When I bought my a850 as a first attempt to sell my Canon gear (because I never fell in love with it and I was using manual zeiss lenses with it and I wondered about AF zeiss in sony) I bought the 50mm and the 35mm first.
The 50 was as good as Canon’s 50 1.4. Great. The 35mm was…not good enough. Very soft wide open (I think people call this dreamy if they fancy it) and stopped down didnt get very competitive. Disappointment. I bought the 24mm to see whether a CZ lens in Sony was really worth the system. It is, if you shoot tons of 24mm. I had the first version of the 24L and it wasnt anywhere near as good as the Sony. I made great photos with that 24L but I often used the 35L more. This is a choice of angle of view more than anything. So, Sony matches the 50 for any brand you name, has the best 24mm (photozone thinks so too) maybe beat only by the new 25mm distagon MF lens for EF and F mounts. The problem is, they have a non competitive 35mm (yes, tons of people like the lens but I think they have a disproportionate relation of what they pay with what they have that blinds them from the perspective of comparing other lenses)
I am happy with the 24mm CZ and he NEX combo. No, it isnt like my ex 5D2 and the 35mm f2 CZ. The SLR combo had better edge and corner sharpness. That being said, I don’t shoot brick walls and I know I can do my work nicely with the NEX which is a massive reduction of weight on my shoulders. Trust me on this one, Sony needs a shit hot 35mm to complete a nice series of lenses that, although many dont believe it, many photojournalists can be attracted to. Think about it, 5D2 sold shit loads because of its video attached to 21mp. It didnt sell because of lenses. Sony has better video (man, 5n is as good as 5D2 to any viewer except the most discerning ones) so imagine full frame a99 with shit hot sony codec. I can imagine tons of photogs considering Sony just for that.
Saber
11 months ago |Nice write-up Peter. I agree with most of what you wrote although I haven’t been all that happy with the ZA-24. I had it for about a week and sent it back. It’s a bit soft for my taste but for some interiors and landscape it’s great. I also agree that Sony and CZ need to produce a quality 35mm prime. Sony appears to be targeting the pro-sumer and the high-end wildlife folks (tele’s) while the middle is left to the NEX.
Dan
Peter
11 months ago |Hi Saber. Interesting you found the 24mm to be soft because I had the experience this guys had at photozone http://www.photozone.de/sonyalphaff/568-zeiss24f2ff?start=1
Basically, at the same apertures, all around better than Canon and Nikon. Obviously, it was not as good at f1.4 because it doesn’t go 1.4.
Sony could make its cake, eat it and eat a slice from others too (remember they came in after Panasonic and Olympus into mirrorless and are putting up a brilliant fight) but they seem to think of volume in consumer terms and not volume in professional terms which in turn convert into volume to wanabe professional consumers.
It does my head in but must not loose faith! Admin! tell it how it is…what are we seeing this year at photokina?
Steve
11 months ago |I’ve never tested it as I have the FL covered with the 16-35/f2.8 and the 24-70/2.8, but some reviewers have found it to be soft in the corners on full-frame alpha bodies, but not on crops.
If Sony comes out with a fast 35mm Zeiss I would be looking to buy that
Peter
11 months ago |Not too sound too obnoxious or anything but I did have the experience PZ guys had with the 24mm (better than the other ones) and that includes the edges too. I dont use zooms because I want f2 or faster (low light work most of the time even with ISO in 1600 and 3200 to keep 1/30-1/60) so 2.8 is a compromise I dont like to make.
Anyways, the Sony 24mm performs better at the same apertures as the other ones. When stopped down, its better than the other 24mms.
http://www.photozone.de/sonyalphaff/568-zeiss24f2ff?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/514-canon24f14mk2ff?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/549-nikkorafs2414ff?start=1
It’s all about the comparison to its near competitors.
Saber
11 months ago |Hi Peter …again,
Actually, despite my returning of the ZA-24 I now wish I had kept it! I already knew of the linked references from PZ and my first-hand experience was a bit subjective. I had just given up my Leica-M with a 28-cron’ so I was making an unfair comparison. Its a great lens and with all things considered I may end up buying it again. Of course, at the markedly higher 2012 price! It was on sale from BH in December $1199 so I’m still licking that wounds.
Tristan
11 months ago |no 50/1.2 ZA?
but 50 prime & new 70-200/2.8 G are what im waiting for…
Steve
11 months ago |+1
Saber
11 months ago |+2
JB
11 months ago |+3
WhiteDesertSun
11 months ago |+4
Carl
11 months ago |Well, colour me interested in the updated 300. I have no idea if I’ll be able to find the funds for it though.
Sony really needs a slower and more affordable, but still optically excellent 300-400 range prime. Most of us can’t really justify dropping seven big ones on a lens, no matter how good it is.
Walter Knapp
11 months ago |I’d kind of expect UC to be a indicator of a nano-crystal coating.
No really new focal lengths there, however. Sony stagnating on their focal length list?
Frank
11 months ago |Where are all those people who said Sony isn’t committed to Alpha? The silence is deafening…
Steve
11 months ago |Every new or redesigned lens that moves from the “rumor” list to the “shipping” list will help rid that fear many have expressed recently that Sony knows that it can’t make money in the product category and plans to slowing cut its losses and eventually leave the market of pro cameras and optics to others.
Dulaney Ward
11 months ago |That’s a strange rumor at this point in the game, when Sony is investing in multiple quality new FF lenses and cameras. A 500 f4, a 300 f2.8, & a new FF camera with 102 cross points the sames year? That’s a huge commitment.
Btw, just because a lens in not on the list of “UC” lenses above doesn’t mean it isn’t under development.
Steve
11 months ago |I agree…………
But I do wish to hear more rumors about lenses I’m in the market for Like fast Zeiss primes like a 35mm and the rumored 50/f1.2 and I would like to replace my old Minolta zooms with a new 70-200/f2.8.
It’s just that a 300/f2.8 is not on my short list of new or replacement lenses this year
Dulaney Ward
11 months ago |It’s not on my shopping list either, and never will be I expect. And I agree with you re the other needs in the system. I believe that at least two of those three lenses are on the way, maybe all three.
CTPhotographX.com
11 months ago |Well any improvement is welcome. And as Frank suggests, reaffirms FF commitment.
Will there be any new optical formulas though… with demonstrable improvements upon already spectacular designs? Or is this just weather sealing and coating upgrades? New icing on old cake?
______
More importantly, is there any effort put towards bringing NEX with LAEA-2 adapter up to snuff with Alpha usability? I get AF with 1.4x converter + 200/2.8 APO… But the 2x converter will NOT AF at all… Works on a900 no problem and very accurate. Both converters series 1 before APO II’s.
Z-man
11 months ago |Bokehlicious!
Sahaja
11 months ago |Why can’t Sony get Zeiss to make their ZF/ZE lenses in A-mount? – That would fill a lot of gaps until they can get it together to make ZA autofocus versions of those lenses.
CTPhotographX.com
11 months ago |Just a thought, but creating a ZA version might hurt current ZF/ZE sales. They may think enough togs would abandon CaNikon just to get the Alpha AF version. I wouldn’t be surprised if CaNikon licensing agreements prohibited AF versions. Pure speculation from me, the cynic.
GunnarK
11 months ago |Zeiss has answered that question. They say that they woun’t compete with their customer Sony, who pays Zeiss for their Sony/Zeiss AF lenses.
So it is in fact the Zeiss-people who doesn’t want to sell their manual lenses with A-mount.
Of course Sony could ask Zeiss to produce these Sony/Zeiss manual focus lenses to the Alpha system, but I doubt that Sony is interested in anything else than AF lenses…
Steve
11 months ago |Can you forward a link with someone from Zeiss saying that?
I’m sure your correct, it’s just that the question comes up so often it would be nice to have the answer.
GunnarK
11 months ago |I have read it somewhere on the Internet, around half a year ago. But the curse of Internet is the huge piles of sh-t you have to wade trough to find the “Hidden Gold”…
I’ll try, but perhaps someone else may find it quicker. It may have been at en interview with a Zeiss guy, or perhaps something Zeiss answered in one of the Sony threads at Flickr.
CTPhotographX.com
11 months ago |I think the desire is to have the ZE/ZF converted to full AF ZA configuration… not to leave them as manual lenses.
jerome
11 months ago |UC = Updated Coating.
fotowolf61
11 months ago |+1 (translation makes more sense); maybe “nano coating” ?
soulfly
11 months ago |could ‘UC’ mean ‘un-continued’ aka ‘discontinued’? lol.
###
11 months ago |UndisContinued.
Gil
11 months ago |or perhaps UC just means, “UnChanged”.
JB
11 months ago |What is wrong with old one? Sharp, very AF and even better than 70-200.
A new 35mm or 50mm or 70-200mm is have higher priority.
Do the 300mm sell like hotcakes?
Dulaney Ward
11 months ago |The 500 f4 & the 300 f2.8 have been brought out this year because of the imminent introduction of what I believe will be Sony’s first camera body that is competitive professionally with the various Canon & Nikon cameras used by pros for sports & wildlife. I believe that Sony sees the new camera as a game-changer.
Steve
11 months ago |Sony must have got a special deal on white paint as it’s looking like the whole tele group is getting a makeover including the zooms.
butch
11 months ago |55-300 might that be a mis print of the 55-200 or 70-300G
while i like the thought of a 55-300 in G class i would be jsut fine with an upgraded 70-300G i almost got one last year when i lucked into a 70-2002.8 tamron for a little bit of nothing i do miss the 200-300mm range
Matthias
11 months ago |Folks, could we please stop this fruitless speculation in regard to “UC” lenses? Whatever it stands for, there simply is no new “UC” lens series in the pipeline at Sony.
Anyone, who ever cared to have a look at the original thread at Minolta-Forum (which, without my involvement, happened to trigger this series of SAR rumors), would have read the explanation I gave there close to four weeks ago now: Sony uses the “UC” designation at least since 2008. So, there is nothing new to “UC” at all. These are not new lens models. What’s new are the SAL-55300 und SAL-300F28G-2 article codes.
It’s a bit sad to see how easy it is for information to get totally distorted in the net – and nobody even seems to care. My intention to publish my findings at Minolta-Forum was to provide reliable (although incomplete) information for people to base decisions on, not to create rumors or fuel speculation. Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened…
http://www.mi-fo.de/forum/index.php?showtopic=32114&view=findpost&p=288173
Matthias
CTPhotographX.com
11 months ago |oh
Mike
5 months ago |I can’t wait to see a new SAL-70200G II available!
I’m tempted constantly to buy another covering that range and aperture…
But wasn’t there some rumor about a successor to the SAL-70200G?