Sony Refreshes 24-70mm F/2.8 GM Lens

2022.04.27

Sony launched the second generation wide-to-normal G Master lens, following the refresh of the telephoto a few months ago. These are part of what is known as the holy trinity of professional lenses. The original of the G Master series were already excellent lenses with fantastic image-quality and a durable build, so Sony did not need to refresh them but doing so further improves the system.

Looking remarkably similar to its predecessor, the new Sony FE 24-70mm F/2.8 GM II takes advantage of new technology to become smaller and significantly lighter without compromise on image-quality. This lens covers an ultra-wide to normal focal-range, covering an angle-of-view between 34° and 84° while maintaining a bright F/2.8 aperture throughout, just like the original.

A new optical formulation designed for highest image-quality also manages to focus closer than before. With a mimimum focus-distance of 21cm at wide-angle and 30cm at telephoto, the Sony FE 24-70mm F/2.8 GM II gets a 0.32X magnification, compared to 0.24X for the first GM lens. A more complex 11-blade iris was introduced so that bokeh becomes even smoother.

Sony improved optics with its latest nano-crystal coating to minimze flare and maintain very high contrast even with specular highlights right in the frame, as we can above in the sample image Sony provided. It also shows that there is minimal distortion for such a wide lens.

The headline feature is all about bulk. The new GM II version is 22% lighter than the original. It also about 1.5cm shorter. The lens diameter remains exactly the same and so the new lens accepts the same 82mm filters. A new windowed lens hood is included, something which is seen rarely on lenses not made by Pentax. This allows the use of a circular polarizer simultaneously with the lens hood.

Availability for the new Sony FE 24-70mm F/2.8 GM II is planned for June. Its launch price is $2300 USD or $3000 CAD. Both Adorama and B&H Photo are already accepting pre-orders. The reputable affiliates of ours will only charge you when the lens ships to you, while also helping support Neocamera.

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