Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G is a Fixed aperture Auto Focus (AF)
Standard Zoom lens with 35mm FF max sensor coverage, and it is designed to be used with Sony E mount cameras.
What type of photography is the Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G lens good for?
The type of photography that you are planning to use the Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated its suitability to various photography scenarios:
| Photography Type |
Suitability |
| Bird/Wildlife | Fair |
| Sports | Average |
| Portrait | Very Good |
| Travel | Very Good |
| Street | Very Good |
| Wedding | Very Good |
| Walk Around | Very Good |
| Vlogging | Very Good |
| Landscape | Very Good |
| Macro | Fair |
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G is a member of Sony's G series of lenses. Below you can see the latest lenses in this series.
G Series Lenses in Sony E Mount
Reasons to Buy Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G Lens
Here we've included a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G lens in a list form to help you determine whether it offers the features you need.
| Weather Sealed |
| Autofocus |
| AF/MF Switch on Lens |
| Aperture Ring |
| Iris Lock |
| Breathing Correction with Supported Cameras |
| De-click Switch |
| Hood supplied |
| Fast Aperture at Tele end |
| Constant f4 aperture throughout the range |
| Covers Full-Frame Sensor |
| 9 Diaphragm Blades |
| Minimum focus distance of 0.25m / 9.8 inch |
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| Lens Extents while zooming |
| Pricey |
Lens Mount
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G is compatible with cameras that have Sony E lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Sony E lenses are Sony A7R V, Sony FX30 and Sony A7 IV.
Size, Weight and Filter Thread
Size and weight is a very important decision factor when searching for your next lens. Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G has a maximum diameter of 79mm and total length of 99mm when not extended . It weighs 488g / 17.2 oz.
For comparison purposes, below is a side by side image of Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G and Sony FE 24-70mm F4 OSS (Sony E mount) to get a better idea of how their size compare in real life. Check the detailed comparison of these two lenses here.
Comparison image of Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G and Sony FE 24-70mm F4 OSS Size and Weight
![https://cameradecision.com/lenses/img/other/Sony-FE-20-70mm-F4-G-inhand.jpg]()
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G Size
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G has a filter thread of 72mm. Below are links to the filters that we recommend you to consider for your Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G:
Focal Range
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G has a focal range of 20-70mm and 3.5X zoom ratio. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 30 - 105mm.
Weather Sealings
![https://cameradecision.com/lenses/img/other/Sony-FE-20-70mm-F4-G-sealing.jpg]()
Weather Sealings of the Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G is a weather sealed lens which provides an extra protection to prevent water and dust get inside the lens and camera body under light rain, snow and wind. In order to have an effective protection, you have to pair the Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G with a weather sealed camera body such as Sony A7R V, Sony FX30 and Sony A7 IV.
Lens Breathing Correction Compatibility
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G is compatible with Sony cameras that features Breathing Compensation/Correction. This feature adjusts the size of the frame dynamically in-camera during video recording by applying a certain percentage of crop in order to minimize change in framing.
Sony cameras that has the Breathing Compensation/Correction feature are:
Optical Image Stabilization
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G doesn't have an optical image stabilization system so the only option to stabilize the image taken with this lens is to mount on a camera body with IBIS (sensor based In-body image stabilization).
Alternatively, you can check the Sony FE 24-70mm F4 OSS in Sony E mount that have similar focal range but features Optical Image Stabilization.
Lenses Similar to Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G With Optical Image Stabilization
![https://cameradecision.com/lenses/img/other/Sony-FE-20-70mm-F4-G-focus-mechanism.jpg]()
Focusing Mechanism of the Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G
Zoom Method
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G features Rotary (extending) zoom method where the length of the lens changes as you zoom in or out. This makes it possible to design the lens with a smaller minimum length ( generally when it is zoomed out) compared to internal zoom lenses. The disadvantages of this design are being harder to seal against dust and moisture, weight balance shifting while zooming and zoom creep in certain lenses.
Maximum Magnification Ratio
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G has a Max Magnification Ratio of 0.39x and has a minimum focusing distance of 0.25m. For a non-macro lens, the 0.39x is considered a high magnification and will come handy for close-up shots.
Aperture
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G is a fixed aperture lens with a constant max aperture of f4 from 20mm all the way to the 70mm .
| Focal Length |
Max Aperture |
Min Aperture |
|
20mm
|
F4 |
F22 |
|
70mm
|
F4 |
F22 |
Optical Formula
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G's optical formula consists of 16 elements in 13 groups . Following special elements are used in this design:
- 2 advanced aspherical
- 3 ED
- 1 ED Aspherical
- 1 Aspherical
Lens Hood
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G comes with a removable petal shaped lens hood which is handy to reduce lens flare and glare in your photos. The model number of the hood is ALC-SH174.
![https://cameradecision.com/lenses/img/other/Sony-FE-20-70mm-F4-G-hood.jpg]()
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G Lens Hood
What's in the Box of Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G?
Here are the items that are included inside the box of Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G:
Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G Lens (Sony E) Front Lens Cap Rear Lens cap Lens Hood Limited 1-Year Warranty
Body Colour
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G is available in Black color.
![https://cameradecision.com/lenses/img/other/Sony-FE-20-70mm-F4-G-withcamera.jpg]()
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G Attached to a camera
Popular Comparisons of Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G
Here is the eight most popular comparisons of Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G amongst Camera Decision readers.
Top Alternatives of Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G Lens
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