Sony FE 28-70mm F2 GM Review: A Constant F2 Zoom About 500 Grams Lighter Than Canon's

The Sony FE 28-70mm F2 GM is a standard zoom that’s a full stop faster than the usual f/2.8. Sony announced it in November 2024 at $2,899. It weighs 918 grams, a lot for a standard zoom, but about 500 grams less than Canon’s RF 28-70mm f/2, its only real rival.

That extra stop matters most in the light that events actually happen in: dim halls, evening parades, crowds where you can’t step back and can’t wait. f/2 lets you keep the shutter fast and the ISO down.

Woman with long red curly hair laughing with a white fan raised overhead in a crowded parade

Photo: Media Gallery

Dustin Abbott pointed out that nothing else on E-mount does what this lens does. The closest alternatives are the Sigma 28-45mm F1.8, with much less range, and the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II, a stop slower.

Video review: Dustin Abbott

Optics and handling

Sharpness at f/2 is exceptional across the whole range, according to Dustin Abbott, TechRadar and Amateur Photographer. Four XD linear motors make autofocus fast, quiet and precise, and focus breathing is low.

It has every pro control: an aperture ring with a declick switch and an iris lock, two focus-hold buttons, an AF/MF switch and a zoom torque switch to choose a smooth or tight zoom ring. It’s weather sealed with a fluorine-coated front element, and it focuses down to 38 centimeters across the range.

The costs

The price is the obvious one. TechRadar’s later review listed it at $3,298 after Sony’s tariff increases, which makes it more expensive still.

There’s no optical stabilization, which matters on older Sony bodies without strong in-body stabilization. It’s large, with an 86mm filter thread, and PetaPixel was blunt that it’s not light. Abbott found noticeable flare and ghosting with strong light in the frame. And it starts at 28mm, not 24mm, which landscape and interior shooters will miss.

Who should buy it

Wedding, event and portrait photographers who want f/2 in a zoom, and who’d otherwise carry a 35mm and an 85mm prime. On an A1 II, A9 III or A7 V, it’s a formidable low-light event kit.

If 24mm and a lighter lens matter more than f/2, buy the 24-70mm GM II. If you want f/2 at the long end and don’t need wide, the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 costs much less. Our guide to Sony event photography combos shows where it fits.