An Old Man's Take on the Sony 100-400mm f/4.5 GM Lens

In the Last Blog Post

Thanks to the few who commented at the Lessons from the ILE Freshwater Pier Avian Studio here. Because of time constraints, I will respond to each comment individually and post my favorites there as well (when I get back from the lake!)

What’s Up?

With the big nor’easter well up the coast, there was a strong north wind here every morning for the past week (until Sunday when it was dead calm). In addition, the torrential rains have let up. Now, this is a very fine point: since we are days past the fall equinox and the sun is rising in the east and then quickly moving south, a north wind is more of a negative than it was two months ago when the sun was rising well north of east. Anyhoo, my chances have been limited over the past few mornings. Especially and as expected because the many fisherman kept the birds off the pier railings 🙁

On Saturday, older daughter Jennifer, the BAA accountant, came by and worked hard for six hours getting together the stuff I needed to complete my 2025 taxes. I will be sending the whole Megillah to my accountant on Tuesday.

Today is Monday 28 September 2026. I will be headed down to the lake just after sunrise. The forecast early on is calling for clear and sunny with no wind, just like yesterday. I am hoping that nobody will be fishing! Whatever you opt to do, I hope that you choose to have fun and enjoy life. Please remember that happiness is a choice — Byron Katie – The Work.Com

If an item — a Delkin flash card or reader, a Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro, or a Wimberley lens plate or low foot — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match or beat any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedford by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Note: capitalizing the “M” in “the whole Megillah” is correct because Megillah comes directly from the Hebrew word for “scroll” and specifically refers to the Book of Esther read during Purim — thus, it functions as a proper noun in its original context. When used in the popular Yiddish-derived idiom meaning “the entire long, complicated story” or “everything down to the last detail,” keeping the M capitalized remains the standard dictionary and style guide convention. (Gemini AI)

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BirdPhotographer’s.Net, are — out of ignorance — using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

An Old Man’s Take on the Sony 100-400mm f/4.5 GM Lens

Weighing half a pound less than the vaunted 200–600mm f/6.3 G lens, Sony’s new fixed-aperture 100–400mm f/4.5 GM features internal zooming — the length of the lens remains constant as you zoom in or out.

Without a teleconverter, it is fast and bright at f/4.5 across the entire focal range. That said, competent shooters of any age can regularly produce tack-sharp images using either the Sony 1.4X or 2.0X teleconverter. Its overall versatility is unmatched; paired with the 1.4X TC, it is my absolute go-to flight and action lens.

Learn to use APS-C Crop Mode and this Swiss-Army-knife of a super-telephoto becomes even more powerful — imagine a 1200mm f/9 equivalent setup (using the 2.0X TC in crop mode) that is small and light enough to handhold all day long! And because most of its weight sits toward the rear, it is easily hand-holdable for almost anyone — including two of my fellow octogenarian student/friends.

Please note: all photos featured here, including those by Red Stevens and Caroline Johnson, were created using the Sony Alpha-1 II body.

If you plan to purchase this lens, be sure use one of my affiliate links to earn a free copy of the BIRDS AS ART Sony 100–400mm f/4.5 GM Lens Guide. If you are new here, please shoot me an e-mail and ask for the details.

Addition

In the video, I mention that the new 1-4 obsoletes the 200-600. I should have gone on to expand upon that thought:

As I said clearly, the lens alone gives you 100-400mms (at f/4.5). But, with the 1.4X TC in place, you have a 140-560mm f/6.3 lens that is smaller, lighter, and better balanced than the 200-600.

Correction

At about the 6:00 minute mark in the video, I misspoke when I said that the super-tight face portrait of the adult Sandhill Crane was created with the 1.4X TC in place and that I had stopped down one full stop. The image was actually made at 400mm and I had in fact stopped down two full stops.

Question

If the new 100-400 f/4.5 is so great, and with the 1.4X TC it obsoletes the 200-600, why would anyone buy Anthony Arditio’s 200-600 immediately below? The answers:

#1- Save $2700.00! The new 100-400 costs $4298.00 while Anthony is asking $1598.00 for his pretty much new 200-600. It would make a perfect starter lens for folks new to Sony.

#2: The Sony 200-600 is a fabulous and versatile super-telephoto zoom lens that can be handheld by most bird photographers.

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens

Blog regular and BAA friend Anthony Ardito is offering a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens in like-new condition for a very low $1598.00. The sale includes the product box, the front and rear lens caps, the tough fabric carrying case, the lens hood, the lens strap, a Realtree Max-5 LensCoat (an added $115.25 value), and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact by Anthony by e-mail or by phone at 610-248-6876.

Five extra-low dispersion elements are featured in the lens design and help to control chromatic aberration and reduce color fringing for increased clarity and color fidelity. One aspherical element is placed at the rear of the optical design and reduces distortion and spherical aberrations in order to produce a high degree of sharpness and accurate rendering. A Nano AR Coating has been applied to minimize surface reflections, flare, and ghosting for increased contrast and color rendering in strong lighting conditions and a rounded 11-blade diaphragm contributes to a pleasing bokeh quality when employing selective focus techniques. The Direct Drive Super Sonic wave Motor (DDSSM) AF system provides quick, quiet, and precise autofocus performance that suits both stills and video applications. Sony and B&H

I owned and used this amazingly versatile and relatively light, hand-holdable lens ever since it was released. It is the only lens that Bob Eastman owns and he makes consistently fabulous photos that leave me envious. It sells new right now for $2098.00. If you are looking for a bargain super-telephoto lens, grab Anthony’s pretty much new copy and save a handsome $500.00. artie

The title says it all. Purchase your copy here. The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight by Arash Hazeghi, Ph.D., and Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight: $99.00

I had long dreamed of becoming a great flight photographer. When using dSLR gear, making sharp images was a huge problem. Most of the time, the camera bodies simply were not up to snuff. Things have changed dramatically with mirrorless technology. The high-end mirrorless camera bodies now feature science fiction-like autofocus systems and frame rates of 30, 40, and even 125 fps. Nowadays, getting the eye sharp is no longer a problem. The problem more often involves selecting the strongest image from a long series of sharp images.

The truth, however, is that there is a lot more than owning a Canon EOS R1, a Nikon Z9, or a Sony a-1 ii to consistently creating great photographs of birds in flight. Some of the biggest factors to success include gear choice, shooting strategies, and understanding the importance of sky conditions and wind speed and direction. Once you have the techniques and technical aspects down pat and can routinely create sharp images, learning the importance of flight poses, wing positions, backgrounds, and subject placement and image design enable you to create and then select superb flight images. And you guessed it, each of those topics and tons more are covered in detail in The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight.

The guide consists of 267 pages and 21,013 words. There are 82 illustrative photos scattered throughout the text, two screen captures, and a 112-image gallery that includes examples created by Canon, Nikon, and mostly Sony gear. As seen above, each of the 194 inspirational photos is labeled with an educational caption.

You can purchase your copy here for $99.00.

Arash Hazeghi

Arash Hazeghi, Ph.D. is a principal electron device engineer. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 2011, from Stanford University, Stanford, California. His pioneering research on Carbon Nanotubes has been cited many times. In the past decade, Arash Hazeghi has been a major contributor to the research and the development of some of the most cutting-edge technologies introduced by Silicon Valley’s most reputable names including SanDisk, Intel and Apple.

More relevant here is that he is widely recognized as one of the world’s best birds in flight photographers. He specializes in raptors and the technical aspects of bird photography.

Flight photography is a skill that can be studied, practiced, and learned. Learn to get better in The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight

The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight
By Arash Hazeghi Ph.D., and Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What you will learn (about):

1- Weight and handholding super-telephoto lenses.
2- Weight and handholding intermediate telephoto and telephotos zoom lenses.
3- Choosing the right flight photography lens or lenses for you.
4- The importance of focal length for flight photography.
5- The importance of lens speed (the maximum aperture for flight photography.
6- Choosing between fixed focal lengths and zoom lenses for flight photography.
7- The importance of AF speed and performance for flight photography.
8- Handholding tips and techniques.
9- Shooting flight off a tripod with the Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro.
10- Flight poses and wing positions.
11- Why artie changed his mind about the 400mm f/2.8 lenses for flight and more.
12- The advantages and disadvantages of using teleconverters for flight photography.
13- Why to stay away from off-brand lenses.
14- Understanding the importance of wind direction and speed for flight photography.
15- The relationship between sky conditions and wind direction and how it affects flight photography.
16- Creating flight silhouettes in wind-against-sun conditions.
17- The importance of being on sun angle for flight photography (and avoiding harsh shadows).
18- Tips on doing flight photography in cloudy, foggy, or overcast conditions.
19- About the direction of light in cloudy, foggy, or overcast conditions and how it affects flight photography.
20- How your understanding of bird behavior can dramatically improve your flight photography.
21- Tips on attracting birds for flight photography.
22- What to do when your camera’s AF system is temporarily blind.
23- The vital importance of pre-focusing.
24- How Direct Manual Focus can help you with flight photography.
25- The importance of shooting aggressively when doing flight photography.
26- Everything that you need to know with regards to rest positions for flight photography.
27- The importance of getting low when doing flight in many situations.
28- Getting the right exposure when doing flight photography.
29_ Why to use Manual mode 95% of the time for flight.
30- Tips on finding the bird in the frame, acquiring focus, and tracking the bird in flight.
31- How to set and best utilize your lens’s image stabilization feature (and why).
32- Setting the focus range limiter switch on your flight lens or lenses.
33- To choose the best shutter speed for photographing birds in flight.
34- The vital importance of pre-focusing. And yes, this is so important that it is on the list twice.

You can purchase your copy here.

Sample Page #1. Image copyright 2024: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, the senior author. Page 254 of The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight

Sample Page #1

Birds in flight that are flying away from you may at times provide spectacular views of the dorsal wing surfaces.

Image copyright 2024: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, the senior author. Sample pages #2 & 3. Pages 106 & 107 of The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight

Sample pages #2 & 3

It is — for many reasons, imperative that you shoot aggressively when doing flight photography. If you wait for it to be perfect, you will usually wind up with nothing. That said, most of my flight sequences rarely consist or more than seven or eight frames; I do not blast away at specks and once the bird is past the light and flying away from me I quit shooting.

Image copyright 2024: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, the senior author. Sample page #4 Page 108 of The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight

Sample page #4

Sometimes you need to press the shutter button and hold it down just in case the bird or birds turn back to look at you. The Great Egret above was flying directly away from me but turned abruptly when the gull grabbed the fish. Having learned from two lady photographer friends, I was right on this one!

Shooting flight aggressively can enable you to make images that on the surface, would seem impossible.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.