Sony FE 24-240 mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS | Full-Frame, Wide, Telephoto Lens (SEL24240)

First off any product has to be based against the cost and my review is based on this premise. Although the list price of this at time of purchase was over £920 I paid £445 which, by any consideration is a bargain. I was on a lightning deal for £515 and then when I looked there was another £70 off when it was put in my basket. Honestly, it was too good to ignore.Bottom line is that this is a high(ish) end lens for a bargain bin price when I bought it.That being said, for the thick end of a thousand quid today there are probably better options around. If you can get it around the five hundred quid mark then you have nailed a winner.Quality of manufacture. Superb. This has heft and smoothness that only comes with a well made product. In your hand you genuinely feel you have a product where some care has been put into it's materials, design and quality in order to justify the price.To use it is smooth acting and all of the functions are slick and naturally well integrated into your Sony camera. I - well my wife who is a better photographer than I am - have used thin on an A7 and A6100 and on both it works beautifully.Because it's a Sony lens designed for the FE mount lenses it has the all important anti-shake function available. It's important because the zoom is good and thus holding the camera free hand inevitably means any movement is highly exaggerated.Actually, one of the only downsides of this lens is that thanks to it's size and weight, when used on the A6100 the balance does not feel right. On the A7 it's perfect as the slightly larger dimensions allow a better grip and more comfortable hold.Clearly, being a 24-240 lens, at the extreme ends of it's range there are inevitable compromises. At full zoom you are limited in aperture so you loose some speed. In most situations that's not a huge issue but perhaps in lower light conditions or in a forest then this is not ideal. At the other end there is a little more distortion at the edges than a dedicated wide angle lens. Correctable in Lightroom/Photoshop of course.From the so far limited use I have had, in good light my images are pin sharp. I mean really sharp. This lens is a huge step up from the cheaper 3rd party lenses in my opinion.Weight. Yep, it's heavier than some lenses but not massively so. To be honest it just lifts it out of the range of very light lenses that seem a bit 'low rent' without falling into the category of lenses that need a mobile crane to use. In other words, it's a nice balance of sensation and I personally find that a bit of heft helps me hold a steadier picture if not used on a tripod.Which, is the reason for having this lens. Given the focal range and not too ridiculous size this really is a perfect 'go to' lens. It coves a huge range and means that if you are just nipping out and don't want to think too much about what you need, then this will mean you are covered for most photography opportunities.So, bottom line is that for the money I paid for it, I don't think I could possibly complain. This is a great general purpose lens that may not excel in all areas but does mean that you will have at your hands a capable tool for most photography trips without thinking too much about it.

This is an excellent lens for the full frame Sony A7/R/S cameras.I had the FE 16-35 and 24-70 Zeiss lenses, but the range of the 24-70 was so limited I found I was just using the 35mm end of the 16-35mm and cropping, so I sold it. My interest is landscape photography, so most images are wide angle, but there are times when one needs a greater reach. I also do occassional photo walks with the wife, and miss the range and ease of the Sony RX10 which the wife has inherited.So after much dithering, reading reviews, and hoping it would come further down in price, I finally made the decision to get this 24-240mm.And it was a good decision.On the A7R the detail I am seeing is on a par with the Zeiss Sony lenses. Centre sharpness is superb, edge sharpness less so, but manageable and not that bad. But its just so versatile. And one can put it into crop frame mode on the A7 and have a real 360mm telephoto. Thats incredible. I took a photo of the Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower from 10.5 kilometres and it looked fine, half filling the frame.Worst downside is the minimum aperture of 6.3 when using it as a telephoto. Even with the image stabilisation, one usually needs it on a tripod to eliminate camera shake. I guess thats a compromise one makes when getting that sort of range in a smallish, compact full frame lens.The many internet reviews seem fixated on its weight. Yes, compared to other Sony FE lenses it is a bit heavier, but still quite manageable, and doesnt feel overtly out of synch with the size and weight of the A7 body.It really is a single lens you could use for pretty much everything, turning your A7 into a sort of Bridge Camera on steroids.For the cost, build quality, range and image quality, its probably close to 5 stars, even without the Zeiss badge on it. I found it every bit as good as the Zeiss 24-70 for almost the same cost but with the huge extra focal length. However I am reluctantly forced to dock it a star for the poor F6.3 telephoto aperture and the softish edges.I seriously doubt the vast majority of A7 uses would be dissapointed with this lens.UPDATE: I have now been using this lens for several weeks and am constantly impressed with its range and quality. I have already pointed out its short-comings, but to be fair they are quite small. Put this lens on an A7 and you will probably have the best walk-around camera there is.

I was warned it would be heavy and to be fair this lens is fairly chunky, pushing the Sony A7iii up to 1460g with lens hood. It's also never going to be particularly discrete and I felt a little happier once I got a wrist strap to avoid someone snatching the camera out my hand (or me dropping it).Having got that out of the way, however, what a great range. At 24-240 (equivalent to 36-360 in a full frame) there's little need to carry anything else. I found the picture quality consistent right through the range - the wide angle shots are particularly pleasing. Auto-focus rarely missed a beat, though in lower light it sometimes fails to latch on at the very longest focal length. This is easily corrected by zooming out a little. I haven't yet felt the need of a tripod in most conditions - with the A7iii's flexibility hand-held is almost always an option.For wondering round a city this really is the complete lens.

great every day lenstruly id a lens for every day useis sharp when stopped down and very good outdoorsis practical and robustas a telephoto gets passable bokeh

Very good all round lens works well . Not as fast as i would like but very good on my A7mk3. With a tottal 240mm focal lentt that can be extended if you togle to APC crop x1.5. Also clear image zoom double them and pictures are ok.

Bought this from Amazon, who sold it as new. It shows clear signs of use on the zoom ring, as shown in image. The focus ring rotates without any signs of movement in the rear lens element, which make me suspect it may be faulty too.If this is the case, and I can't check until the camera it was purchased with arrives later, both will be getting returned.