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Earlier this week, Sony announced the FE 600mm F6.3 GM OSS, a super-telephoto prime that, along with its FE 400mm F4.5 GM sibling, aims to put G Master optics into a lens you can comfortably handhold for hours. At 995g (2.2 lb) without its tripod foot, Sony claims it’s the lightest lens in its class, and at $3,700, it costs a fraction of what the company’s 600mm F4 GM does.

Shooting experience

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks with both lenses ahead of launch, taking the 600mm F6.3 to photograph wildlife in Montana at Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge and the CSKT Bison Range, where, frustratingly, I didn’t see a single bison.

The first thing I noticed is how little the lens feels like a super-telephoto. Sony’s 995g figure doesn’t include the hood, which you’ll almost certainly have attached and which adds roughly 130g, but you’re unlikely to notice much difference. More importantly, the lens’s weight is concentrated close to the camera, so it doesn’t feel front-heavy the way many telephotos do.

Dale Baskin

I shot entirely handheld on a Sony a7 V, which is really the point of this lens: it’s built for walking, not for sitting on a tripod. I wandered the refuge’s primitive dirt roads and marshy areas with nothing but the camera slung over my shoulder and a small pack. My tripod stayed in the car the entire trip.

That’s why I can (mostly) forgive the one design choice I’d change: the tripod foot isn’t Arca-Swiss compatible. It’s not the end of the world for a lens meant to be handheld, but when you do need a tripod – for video, for example – a built-in Arca-Swiss foot would be very useful.

Dale Baskin

The hood has a locking button and a rubber bumper on the front, which is a welcome touch, since a lens this long inevitably bumps into things as you carry it. It also reverses for storage. Reversed, it partially blocks the focus hold buttons, but the function and focus rings remain easy to reach, so if an opportunity appears suddenly, you can still raise the camera and shoot.

The focus ring is nice and deep, and full-time DMF lets you take over focusing without flipping a switch. When subject detection couldn’t pick out an animal partially hidden by grass or plants, a quick twist of the ring to bring it into focus was often the fastest way to get the camera to recognize the animal and begin tracking.

Dale Baskin

The trade-off for its compact size is the F6.3 maximum aperture. For sample galleries, we keep ISO as low as practical so noise doesn’t affect perceived sharpness; I generally aim for ISO 1600 or below, though it’s not a hard rule. With this lens, that target had to move. In early-morning light at Ninepipe, or in overcast or misty conditions, I often shot at ISO 2000–3200 to get shutter speeds fast enough to freeze wildlife in action.

When not shooting sample galleries, I might push to ISO 6400 or higher, and with modern full-frame sensors and AI Raw noise-reduction tools, that makes F6.3 less of a compromise than it once was. Still, if you regularly shoot in low light, you might be the target audience for Sony’s 600mm F4, which is 1.3 stops faster.

Dale Baskin

Even at F6.3, I generally had plenty of subject separation and found out-of-focus areas pleasing both in front of and behind the plane of focus. The one exception was when something busy, like tall grass, sat in an awkward middle zone – not sharp, but not blurred enough to disappear – where the bokeh could look slightly distracting, though that kind of transitional distance is a tough test for any lens.

For a closer look at the design and controls, and how both lenses fit into the market, check out our hands-on with the 400mm F4.5 and 600mm F6.3 GM.

Sample gallery

Sony

Sony FE 600mm F6.3 GM OSS

• $3,698 at B&H

We received the PEN just in time to shoot the studio scene before I headed off to the UK for a short break. This meant I got to spend a chunk of time using it the way it’s intended: for everyday and travel photography.

Below are the results from that time: photos of the places and friends I visited, photos from Seattle, London, Northampton and Gloucestershire. What should come across is the degree to which I was able to carry the camera with me, much of the time, so I have a couple of late-night photos, I was able to grab a shot of a friend, mid-laugh: something I might not have got if I had to dig into a camera rucksack to use a larger camera.

I tried to make use of a selection of lenses (something made easier by having a choice of compact Micro Four Thirds options), and made sure to include a hand-held high-resolution mode sample and some side-by-sides in a selection of the camera’s color modes. As usual, you can download the Raws to run through your converter of choice, once support arrives.

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page ). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.

Earlier this week, Sigma announced the 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG Contemporary, a surprisingly small full-frame lens that offers better range and a faster aperture than most full-frame kit lenses, in a package that’s smaller than any of its immediate rivals.

It arrived just before a planned trip to the UK, so I got to test my theory that it’d be an excellent replacement for most kit zooms, with the size and flexibility that would work well for travel.

This is my initial response, as I unboxed it:

And below are the samples Mitchell and I shot in both Seattle and London.

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it. 

Thanks to Panasonic for the loan of an S1RII to shoot this gallery. All images were processed using our standard lens workflow in Capture One, with the manufacturer’s distortion correction applied but no correction of vignetting. The profile corrects a large amount of barrel distortion at the wide end and a minor amount of pincushion distortion at the long end. We’d consider it an essential part of the lens’ optical design.

Earlier this week, Sigma fully unveiled the 85mm F1.2 Art, a lens it announced would be coming earlier this year. We had the chance to shoot with it, and mainly focused on testing out its capabilities for portraiture, as that’s the traditional use for fast 85mm primes.

You can check out the sample gallery below to judge its performance for yourself. 

We found that shooting with it was the characteristically refined experience that we’ve come to expect from Sigma’s Art-series lenses. While a quality F1.2 lens will never be the smallest or lightest option, we appreciated that this particular lens is light for what it is; Sigma actually claims it’s the smallest and lightest full-frame 85mm F1.2 with autofocus for mirrorless cameras. It feels like something you could conceivably carry around all day without having to worry about waking up the next morning to an unusably sore arm (though I had it paired with an original Panasonic S1R, so it still made for a relatively hefty setup). 

The controls on the lens are also well-judged. I always appreciate a clicked aperture ring, though Sigma also lets you de-click it if you prefer. It’s also nice that you can lock it either into or out of the ‘A’ mode that hands over control of the aperture to the camera body.

While we haven’t put the lens through a full battery of tests to determine every aspect of its image quality, it’s hard to find much fault with the samples we’ve taken. It’s quite sharp across the frame, even at F1.2 (though obviously you’ll be working with razor-thin depth of field), though there’s definitely some chromatic aberration present. There’s also relatively strong vignetting at F1.2, which isn’t necessarily a surprise given the lens’s size, though it largely clears up by F2.8.

Whether you think the trade-offs of an F1.2 lens are worth it over an F1.4 or F1.8 will largely depend on your thirst for light and background blur. But before now, your options for this kind of lens on E and L-mount were limited to non-existent, so it’s nice that we’re getting a genuinely good option, especially one that comes in at just over half of what Nikon and Canon will charge you for a similarly-speced lens.

Earlier this week, Fujifilm announced the XF 400mm F4.5 R LM OIS R, a super telephoto prime lens for its APS-C X-mount system. We had the chance to test it out ahead of its launch, putting the compact, 609mm-equivalent lens to work photographing birds and other distant subjects.

Bird photography is not a genre I have spent any time with, but the lens made the process feel approachable (and I’m not determined to get the perfect bird photo). Its autofocus moved quickly from the 2.7m (8.9′) close-focusing distance out to infinity, which was helpful when I wanted to switch from a near subject to one in the distance. It isn’t entirely silent, but the autofocus is quiet enough that I didn’t worry about its sound disturbing the wildlife I was trying to photograph, especially at the distances I was shooting from with this focal length.

Abby Ferguson

The XF 400mm F4.5’s manual focus ring has a relatively long throw distance, so I wasn’t able to react quickly with subject changes while on manual focus. But that proved useful for fine adjustments. It has enough resistance to make precise changes easy, and its texture feels especially good under a fingertip. The clicked aperture ring has a deliberate, satisfying action, and it can be locked into place for operation through the camera’s dial.

The XF 400mm features a maximum aperture of F4.5, which gives it a slight advantage over the company’s XF 500mm F5.6 when light is limited. It gave me some flexibility when photographing birds, but I still had to rely on fairly high ISO settings while shooting in the woods at dawn or trying to freeze fast-moving subjects. Photographers who regularly work in very dim conditions may want more light-gathering ability, but F4.5 should be plenty practical for wildlife and action in brighter conditions. It also keeps the price and size much more reasonable than they otherwise would be.

Abby Ferguson

At 1245g (2.7 lb), this is still a substantial lens (as all super telephoto lenses are), but it is impressively manageable for its reach. I wouldn’t shoot one-handed with it, though I was comfortable carrying the camera and lens that way while walking around. Fujifilm says the lens is weighted toward the rear for better maneuverability when panning, and it felt well matched to the X-H2 I was using.

I didn’t have enough time with the XF 400mm F4.5 for a full technical evaluation, but I came away happy with the images it produced. More importantly, it made my first more deliberate attempt at bird photography mostly enjoyable (minus the biting flies I had to deal with on one trail).

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it. 

Earlier this week, Xiaomi announced the Poco F9 Ultra, the latest entry in its lineup of phones that started as “flagship killers”; devices with specs similar to top-of-the-line models, but with substantially lower price tags. It’s the first in its series to include a 200MP main camera and let you shoot at that resolution, but it also starts at €1099, which is less flagship killer and more just… regular flagship. While it might’ve been easy to forgive lackluster cameras on the 2020 F2 Pro given its €499 price tag, and perhaps even with its predecessor, the €830 F8 Ultra, the F9 Ultra is now in the realms of phones like the Pixel 11 Pro and the standard iPhone 17.

So how does it stack up? Well, what you want out of your phone’s photos will depend a lot on your preferences; what kind of colors you like, what lens options you want, etc. The Poco F9 Ultra offers three: a 0.7x ultra-wide, a standard wide that’s around 24mm equiv. (though you can configure it to add a little digital crop by default if you prefer 28 or 35mm equiv.), and a 5x telephoto zoom. It also has center crop modes for the main and telephoto cameras to provide “2x” and “10x” options, though these only use a quarter of the sensor, so you’re giving up quite a bit when it comes to image quality.

We’ll let you take a look through our sample gallery to see if the pictures the phone produces match your tastes and expectations for a phone at this price point.. We’ve made sure to use all three of its cameras, both in their standard 12.5MP outputs, as well as their 50MP modes (and 200MP mode for the main 24mm equiv. module), and to shoot in a variety of conditions, from sunny days to low light situations. Once you’re done looking, I’ll suggest comparing it against our recent Pixel 11 Pro gallery as a benchmark.

Of course, if you want my opinion, I’m happy to give it. Overall, I think it’s fine, but it’s probably not the phone I’d choose if its performance as a camera were important to me. Foundationally, I find its mix of cameras to be a bit… odd. A 24mm equiv. is perfect for a main camera, but the ultrawide option only going out to 17mm equiv. leaves it still feeling a bit cramped; I think there’s a reason most phones go with 0.5x rather than 0.7x.

Likewise, while a “5x” 120mm equiv. has become relatively standard – it’s close to what Apple and Google use for their telephoto options – I’ve always found it a bit of an unhappy medium; too tight for most casual shooting situations, while not providing as much reach as the “10x,” ~220mm equiv. options included on some other Android phones. I’d probably prefer something closer to 80mm equiv., or, if I’m dreaming, 50mm equiv. with a fourth camera for longer zoom (though even at €1100, that’s probably asking for too much).

Mitchell Clark

As for the software side of things, I’ve found it tends to overexpose things a bit much for my tastes. And while I find the colors to be more saturated than I like, I’m more annoyed by the fact that they change quite noticeably when you switch between cameras. The 200MP mode definitely provides more detail than the default 12.5MP mode when there’s plenty of light, but I think it also highlights that the lens isn’t the sharpest once you start getting to the edges.

I have fewer complaints from a usability standpoint. My personal phone is an iPhone 15 Pro and Xiaomi has clearly taken… inspiration from Apple when designing its camera app, so I found it very easy to navigate. The Poco offers several more options, though, including a Pro mode that gives you manual exposure and focus control, which can be useful in those situations where you just can’t get the phone to do what you want (though I thankfully found that I could typically get something I was happy with just using exposure compensation). It also has a frankly ludicrous number of face-tuning options for selfies, if you’re into that kind of thing; I tried taking one with all the sliders, which include options like “slender,” “head size”, “big eyes,” “hairline” and “teeth” set all the way to max and the results were, well… See for yourself.

Ultimately, though, if you’re looking to purchase this phone, it’s up to you whether you’re happy with the photos for the price Xiaomi is asking. Hopefully the sample gallery below will help you decide.

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it. 

Earlier this summer, LK Samyang announced the AF 60-180mm F2.8, its latest lens that it says was developed in collaboration with German optics company Schneider-Kreuznach. We’ve had the chance to test it out the version for E-mount (though the company has recently announced it’ll be available for L-mount next week), shooting with it in a variety of conditions to produce a sample gallery, and forming some impressions along the way.

In use

The thing I immediately noticed about this lens was its weight, as it comes in at just 730g (1.6lbs). According to LK Samyang, it’s the lightest option in this class, and I found that difference noticeable. It was very easy to carry around, even for extended shooting sessions. While the lens extends as you zoom in, this doesn’t result in a substantial shift in its center of gravity, which is always nice when changing focal lengths.

Speaking of, though, the zoom ring might be the lens’s weakest point. It has a nice textured rubber coating, but can be a bit difficult to turn with any amount of precision, as it’s quite stiff, but inconsistently so; I sometimes had to work to turn it from 60mm, before finding myself in an easy patch sailing right through the focal length I wanted. It’s not end of the world, and I got used to it with practice, but it is a reminder that you’re using a budget lens. 

Mitchell Clark

The lens is also made out of a plastic that isn’t the most premium-feeling. Nor does the customizable control button, though it’s a nice inclusion. Finally, LK Samyang has added a lock switch to keep the lens at 60mm while you’re walking around with it, though I found the mechanism’s stiffness was enough to keep it from accidentally extending. However, it does hold it incredibly well; I once accidentally locked the lens, and was completely unable to turn the zoom ring until I discovered what had happened.

It focuses quite quickly, though it’s not the absolute fastest I’ve ever experienced. That’s not surprising given that it uses stepping motors rather than linear ones, but it should be more than acceptable for everything but the fastest of action. I also appreciated its close focusing abilities, as it has a minimum focusing distance of just 0.35m (1.2′) at the wide end, letting me get quite close to my subject, which suits my style of shooting. Unlike the zoom ring, the manual focus ring is perfectly pleasant to use.

While this lens is in some ways competing with the venerable 70-200mm F2.8 options available from Sony, Panasonic and Sigma, its closest competitor is the Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2, a lens I tested out earlier this year. In my mind, there’s no clear winner between the two; the Tamron weighs a bit more, but its body and controls feel a bit nicer (or, in the case of the zoom ring, a fair bit nicer). It also has optical image stabilization, snappy autofocus motors and access to the special features Tamron’s been adding to its lineup via its app. But then I also found myself appreciating the ability to go that bit wider with the Samyang. And both have image quality that would’ve been unthinkable at this price range just a few years ago, though the vignetting at F2.8 is perhaps a touch less noticeable on the Samyang.

It’s nice that there’s another budget option for a fast tele-zoom for E-mount, and one that’s quite capable for its price. It’s perhaps more exciting that it’s coming for L-mount, where there aren’t that many lightweight, budget tele options. It’s also nice to see that Samyang doesn’t seem to be waiting a long time between releasing lenses for the system after announcing them for E-mount.

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it. 

Thanks to Sony for the loan of an a7R V to shoot this gallery. All images were processed using our standard lens workflow in Capture One, with the manufacturer’s distortion correction applied but no correction of vignetting. The profile corrects a fair amount of barrel distortion at the wide and some pincushion distortion at the long end. It’s enough that we’d recommend using the corrections if you can, though we don’t consider them an essential part of the lens’s design.

Our Pixel 11 Pro XL sample gallery is now live and covers the newest camera modes on Google’s flagship smartphone, including Magic Capture and Camera Looks. We shot photos using all three rear cameras on the Pixel 11 Pro at their maximum 50MP resolution. 

If you’re considering a Pixel 11 Pro or Pro XL for its camera upgrades, this gallery offers real-world output files you can evaluate before you buy.

We’ve been shooting a Pixel 11 Pro XL production unit since launch day and have done our best to capture photos that reflect real-world scenarios across a range of lighting conditions and scenes. Since the Pixel 11 Pro XL and the smaller Pixel 11 Pro share the same triple-camera system, the results here are representative of what you would get from either model.

Dale Baskin

In addition to JPEG files, we have included downloadable Raw files for every mode that supports them. That means you can pull the files into Lightroom, Capture One or any other Raw-capable editor and draw your own conclusions rather than relying solely on the out-of-camera samples. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that on any modern smartphone, the manufacturer’s computational and AI technology is an important part of the image processing pipeline.

The gallery includes several examples captured using Google’s new Magic Capture mode and Camera Looks.  Magic Capture lets you capture video while AI analyzes the footage to select what it considers the best frames, converting them into 12MP stills. Since Magic Capture works from video frames, it doesn’t produce Raw files, so those samples appear in the gallery as JPEGs only.

Camera Looks lets you dial in a visual style before you shoot rather than applying a filter after the fact.  We photographed two distinct scenes, one rural and one urban, using every available Camera Look, so you can see how each style performs across different types of subject matter. For more information on how both features work, see our hands-on look at Magic Capture and Camera Looks.

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.