The Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 is really a pleasure to travel with. Reasonable weight (1.46 pounds), fast auto-focus, sharp throughout it's range (of course depending on the individual lens one receives, mine was excellent) , 77mm filter size.
Aside from a "nifty 50" (Sony f/1.8), this was the first variable I bought when I bought my Sony A7RIII. I rented the Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3. That lens seemed to do a fair bit of focus hunting and while producing good images, it was a bit too slow for my needs. It just wasn't a lens I wanted to buy.
I borrowed the Sony 24-105mm f/4 from a friend and over the course of the weekend, I was highly impressed, to the point I purchased one from my local two story, dedicated camera store (and a large, local, dedicated camera store is a great thing to have access to).
As a 55% landscape/wildlife photographer, 35% astrophotographer, 10% family/friends photographer, the fact that it is not f/2.8 means little to me and my needs. In that 15% of imaging family/friends, in nearly all cases, the f/4 works very well. In those rare cases, indoors, in relatively dim light, f/4 still works nicely as the A7RIII allows a significant push in ISO.
Perfect lens? Of course not. That unicorn still doesn't exist and likely never will.
Bottom Line: The 24-105mm f/4 is a wonderful lens to travel with, and use on a day-to-day basis. My version is sharp from corner to corner. It does possess moderate vignetting and distortion, as should be expected from this lens, or any other lens of this focal length. Every professional photographer, and most dedicated amateurs, process their images post capture... and Lightroom handles these issues easily.
The 24-105 is a lens to be considered. If you rent this lens, I predict you will buy one.
(Had to throw this in here. When traveling, I use a LowePro Tahoe camera backpack and I really like it. In it I have my battery grip equipped A7RIII with 24-105mm attached, rainsuit, lens and sensor cleaning kits, spare batteries, my Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 OSS, a Sony 1.4X teleconverter, i-Pad w/SD card adapter dongle, and a lot of other items. Pockets everywhere! This backpack is small, but allows a photographer to carry an amazing amount of equipment. At $70, it is a great product. Check it out at this Best Buy link but I suspect could be purchased from other vendors at even less. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lowepro-tahoe-camera-backpack-gray/6333169.p?skuId=6333169)
Aside from a "nifty 50" (Sony f/1.8), this was the first variable I bought when I bought my Sony A7RIII. I rented the Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3. That lens seemed to do a fair bit of focus hunting and while producing good images, it was a bit too slow for my needs. It just wasn't a lens I wanted to buy.
I borrowed the Sony 24-105mm f/4 from a friend and over the course of the weekend, I was highly impressed, to the point I purchased one from my local two story, dedicated camera store (and a large, local, dedicated camera store is a great thing to have access to).
As a 55% landscape/wildlife photographer, 35% astrophotographer, 10% family/friends photographer, the fact that it is not f/2.8 means little to me and my needs. In that 15% of imaging family/friends, in nearly all cases, the f/4 works very well. In those rare cases, indoors, in relatively dim light, f/4 still works nicely as the A7RIII allows a significant push in ISO.
Perfect lens? Of course not. That unicorn still doesn't exist and likely never will.
Bottom Line: The 24-105mm f/4 is a wonderful lens to travel with, and use on a day-to-day basis. My version is sharp from corner to corner. It does possess moderate vignetting and distortion, as should be expected from this lens, or any other lens of this focal length. Every professional photographer, and most dedicated amateurs, process their images post capture... and Lightroom handles these issues easily.
The 24-105 is a lens to be considered. If you rent this lens, I predict you will buy one.
(Had to throw this in here. When traveling, I use a LowePro Tahoe camera backpack and I really like it. In it I have my battery grip equipped A7RIII with 24-105mm attached, rainsuit, lens and sensor cleaning kits, spare batteries, my Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 OSS, a Sony 1.4X teleconverter, i-Pad w/SD card adapter dongle, and a lot of other items. Pockets everywhere! This backpack is small, but allows a photographer to carry an amazing amount of equipment. At $70, it is a great product. Check it out at this Best Buy link but I suspect could be purchased from other vendors at even less. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lowepro-tahoe-camera-backpack-gray/6333169.p?skuId=6333169)
very curious of the results. he seemed to say the cheap tracker sometimes doesnt work depending on temperature
