Sony FE 100-400mm f/5.6-8 OSS Lens

The Sony FE 100-400mm F5.6-8 OSS Lens is a compact and lightweight full-frame super-telephoto zoom lens designed for photographers who want impressive reach without the weight and bulk traditionally associated with long telephoto lenses. Covering a versatile 100-400mm focal length range, this Sony E-mount lens is ideal for wildlife, bird photography, sports, aviation, motorsports, travel and outdoor photography, while its built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation helps produce sharper handheld images at longer focal lengths.

Compact 100-400mm Super-Telephoto Zoom

The 100-400mm focal length range provides excellent flexibility for photographing distant subjects, allowing you to fill the frame with birds, wildlife, sports competitors, aircraft and other subjects that are difficult to approach. The long end of the zoom also creates a pleasing telephoto compression effect, bringing distant backgrounds visually closer to your subject.

Despite its impressive reach, the lens weighs approximately 654g and measures around 164.5mm in length, making it considerably easier to carry and handle than many larger super-telephoto lenses.

Excellent Optical Performance

Sony has designed the FE 100-400mm F5.6-8 OSS with two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements and two aspherical elements to help reduce chromatic aberration, colour bleeding and other optical aberrations. This provides clear, detailed rendering throughout the zoom range.

A 9-blade circular aperture also contributes to smooth and natural-looking background blur, helping subjects stand out against distracting backgrounds when shooting at longer focal lengths.

Fast and Precise Autofocus

The lens uses dual linear motors to provide fast, precise and quiet autofocus, making it particularly well suited to active subjects such as birds in flight, wildlife, sports and aircraft. Quiet AF operation also makes the lens suitable for video recording where minimising focusing noise is important.

When paired with compatible Sony cameras, the lens can take advantage of advanced high-speed continuous shooting and autofocus capabilities, including up to approximately 120fps AF/AE tracking with the Sony α9 III under Sony's specified conditions.

Optical Image Stabilisation

Built-in Optical SteadyShot (OSS) image stabilisation helps compensate for camera shake when shooting handheld, which is particularly valuable when using the lens at 300-400mm. Compatible camera bodies can also provide coordinated stabilisation for further improvements in handheld shooting.

Impressive Close-Up Capability

Although designed as a super-telephoto lens, the Sony FE 100-400mm F5.6-8 OSS can also be used for detailed close-up photography. Minimum focusing distance ranges from approximately 1.13m at 100mm to 0.86m at 400mm, with a maximum magnification of 0.41x.

This makes the lens surprisingly useful for photographing flowers, insects and other smaller subjects while retaining the working distance associated with a telephoto lens.

Optional Teleconverter Support

For photographers who need even greater reach, the lens supports Sony's optional SEL14TC 1.4x and SEL20TC 2.0x teleconverters. With the 2x teleconverter, the lens can reach 800mm, while use on an APS-C camera provides an equivalent field of view of up to approximately 1200mm.

Designed for Outdoor Photography

The lens features a dust and moisture resistant design, with sealing around critical joints and seams to provide additional reliability when shooting outdoors. Sony specifies that the lens is designed with dust and moisture resistance in mind but is not completely sealed against dust or water droplets.

Practical Telephoto Controls

The lens includes a customisable Focus Hold button, allowing photographers to temporarily lock focus or assign other supported camera functions. A combined focus mode and focus range limiter switch provides AF FULL, AF ∞-3m and MF settings for faster operation.

A zoom lock switch prevents unwanted lens extension when carrying the camera or pointing the lens downwards, while the dedicated SteadyShot switch provides quick access to optical stabilisation control.

Key Features

• Sony FE 100-400mm F5.6-8 OSS Lens
• Full-frame Sony E-mount
• 100-400mm super-telephoto zoom range
• f/5.6-8 maximum aperture
• Built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation
• Dual linear motors for fast, precise AF
• Quiet autofocus operation
• Two ED glass elements
• Two aspherical elements
• 9-blade circular aperture
• Up to 0.41x maximum magnification
• 0.86m minimum focus distance at 400mm
• Focus Hold button
• Focus mode and focus range limiter switch
• Zoom lock switch
• Dust and moisture resistant design
• Compatible with Sony 1.4x and 2x teleconverters
• Up to 800mm with optional 2x teleconverter
• Lightweight 654g construction
• 67mm filter thread

Ideal For

The Sony FE 100-400mm F5.6-8 OSS is ideal for wildlife photography, bird photography, sports, motorsports, aviation, nature, travel and outdoor photography. Its combination of 100-400mm reach, fast autofocus, Optical SteadyShot and compact 654g design makes it particularly appealing to photographers looking for a portable super-telephoto lens for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras.

Compatibility

Designed for Sony E-mount full-frame cameras, the FE 100-400mm F5.6-8 OSS is part of Sony's FE lens system. It can also be used on compatible Sony APS-C E-mount cameras, where the field of view becomes narrower and provides greater effective telephoto reach. The lens is also compatible with selected Sony teleconverters, including the SEL14TC and SEL20TC, subject to camera and lens compatibility.

Specifications

• Mount: Sony E
• Format: Full Frame
• Focal Length: 100-400mm
• Maximum Aperture: f/5.6-8
• Minimum Focus Distance: 1.13m at 100mm / 0.86m at 400mm
• Maximum Magnification: 0.41x
• Optical Stabilisation: Yes, Optical SteadyShot
• Focus Drive: Dual linear motors
• Optical Construction: 2 ED elements, 2 aspherical elements
• Aperture Blades: 9, circular
• Filter Diameter: 67mm
• Maximum Diameter: Approx. 78.2mm
• Length: Approx. 164.5mm
• Weight: Approx. 654g
• Model: SEL100400 / SEL100400B
• Teleconverter Compatible: Sony SEL14TC and SEL20TC

What's Included

• Sony FE 100-400mm F5.6-8 OSS Lens
• ALC-SH188 Lens Hood
• Front Lens Cap
• Rear Lens Cap

Sony specifies the dedicated ALC-SH188 lens hood is supplied with the lens and designed to help prevent unwanted flare and ghosting.