I love this lens and use it in the right settings. I will say that your comparison with the 70-200 f/2.8 was not at all fair. Comparing the DOF and then adjusting the aperture is not a true realistic comparison. If you compare exposure then you can see the advantage of the 100mm. Set the 70-200 at f/2.8 and show the difference between STF and the 70-200 without, not with the exposure at f5.6. The 100mm STF is not an f/5.6 lens. It’s a f/2.8 with a T 5.6. It’s like having a teleconverter on a lens. It changes the amount of (T) throughput light but doesn’t affect the DOF.
Yeah, I agree, that’s why I mentioned that in the video. Truth of the matter is you can basically just toss out the “comparison” between the 100 and the 70-200. It’s not fair at all. I actually regret using it at all against the 100, but I didn’t have another 100 on hand to use.
Great vid, great explanation! Maybe next time show pics from the 70-200 at 2.8 and compare all three. I understand why you picked 5.6 but shooting outside in all that sunlight I would have shot at 2.8(70-200) and just raised my shutter speed to avoid blowing out the highlights.
I was going to say the same. 70-200 is fine, but using it at 5.6 is an unfair comparison. Both lenses at 2.8, with shutter to compensate for exposure, would have been a more like-for-like comparison. I’ve always been curious about this lens, thanks for the video 🙏
@@SteveHasACamera Thanks for the comment! Yes, I agree, after the fact I thought about it and felt I should have shot the 70-200 at 2.8. More knowledge for next time. The 100 really is a great lens though, I hope that came through on the video. I'm definitely glad I have it. If you like, check out the BTS Negan Video, I used the 100 in that for quite a few shots and they all came out very nicely. I also used the 50mm 1.2 for a few in that video, so there's that too. Never stop learning!!
@@EvolutionImagesProductions Awesome! The 100mm is defo an interesting lens. I currently have the 85mm 1.8… desperately holding out for Sony to release the 1.2 version 😐 My problems is, the 85mm/100mm/135mm all gorgeous lenses, but who would be mad enough to own all three!!! 🤪
@@SteveHasACamera I've had the 135 on my most desired list for a while now. Going to have to bite the bullet at some point and get that soon. And the 85mm 1.2 would be absolutely amazing! I think I need another job!!
Thanks Kevin, Iove to see this. I bought this lens but rarely used it although I really love the pics I took with it. I am wondering how it would perform for video. Will try this out soon. Low light is not that much an issue with my FX3 and dual native ISO at 800 and 12800. Greets from Berlin!
Thanks for the comment! I have not had a chance to test it out with video yet, but that's on my agenda. I would imagine it would perform splendidly. If I get a chance I'll give it a go and would love to see anything you produce with it.
I have this lens for a couple of years and always used it for a photo only, because 100mm is not that convenient for a video. But recently i started to use this lens for a video and it's just a beauty! I don't know why but it's even more pleasing in video then in a photo. First of all the t5.6 aperture is not a problem for a FX3. Sometimes i even appreciate that this lens is so dark so i don't have to put heavy ND filter to get right exposure. I even shot the videos of the night city with this lens! The ISO 12800 is enough for capturing night city. The second advantages for a video is the fact that this lens have a bokeh that looks like 2.8, actual light transition like a 5,6, but the infocus area is like F4. So you have a wider area in focus, while the image looks like F2.8. It's very comfortable for a video. And also because of a character of how this lens is rendered transition from infocus to out-of-focus areas it's making this transition very soft and pleasing, and even if you missed the focus a bit it's not as visible as with classic lenses. Overall the video from this lens looks very pleasing, soft and sharp at the same time. I don't know how to describe it, but it has some satin or velvet feel. And it's very beautiful for a closeups. The limitation for me is that it has 10mm focal length. Not that usable. I dream about the same STF lens but based on 50mm
@@MagnetiqLabs Thanks Vlad, very nice use case description. I tried the STF 100mm on video and did something wrong, I had focussing issues. Will have to try again!
@@vonwolfersdorff Maybe this is because you forgot to switch the focusing distance mode from closeup to the regular? When this ring switched to closeup mode you cannot focus from meter to infinity. I often forget to switch between this modes and have a issues with focusing. Overall I think this lens is underrated because this lens takes time to understand. Usually I see the situation when people spend a bit of time with this lens, use it like a regular lens and usually upset after first use. It’s too dark, the bokeh looks like gaussian blur etc. Unfortunately they are missing the point of this lens. To be honest I also almost sold it, but then decided to try it more, and I’m happy I did
It needs to be pointed out how terrible the "macro" function is. 100 STF GM Reproduction Ratio is .25 Not even close to 1:1 macro at all. Laughable. 90 G Macro F2.8...... obviously a true macro lens at 1:1 ratio. 70-200 G F4 II Macro is .50 and more with teleconverters. 100-400 Gm is .35 24-105 G is .31 70-200 GM II is .30 Other cheap Sony lenses are higher than .25 The 135 GM is .25 and they don't call it a macro lens. Just good for "close up photography". Somehow the marketing department won on the STF lens by putting "macro" in there. The other thing that a lot of people don't bring up... the chromatic aberrations. Shoot it in bright light like it's meant to be, and look at the color fringing. Purple and green edges. And that you basically have to shoot it at T5.6 (F5.6 on your camera) to get the APO effect, because as it shows you on the lens barrel, the APO effect diminishes as you stop it down. And is basically gone at F8. That's a real limitation for a one trick pony. So this is why this GM lens was never regarded as a good buy. It's a 100mm F5.6 (exposure) that I basically have to shoot at F5.6 to get the maximum APO effect, which made them have to put OSS in the lens because it's going to make your shutter speed drop, it has some bad chromatic aberrations in harsh lighting, the "macro" function isn't even as good as many other lenses and I have to manually switch it on........... for $1,500.00???! It was not received well, especially due to the GM branding, people expected a lot more by it being a GM lens. I think most people would have rated this a G lens.... and simply too expensive for what you get. I think you really have to know and understand what this lens really is before purchasing it. Definitely rent it before buying.
