Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS Lens

The Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS is a short-telephoto prime lens designed with an advanced optical system to provide exceptional sharpness alongside exceptionally smooth bokeh. Unlike typical portrait lenses, it incorporates Smooth Trans Focus (STF) technology with an apodization filter, delivering beautifully rounded and creamy out-of-focus highlights in both the foreground and background for a distinguished image quality.

Smooth Trans Focus

The optical design features an apodization (APD) element that enhances bokeh quality by creating more circular out-of-focus highlights. This component functions like a radially graduated ND filter, transitioning from clear at the center to denser toward the edges, enabling more aesthetically pleasing selective focus and shallow depth of field effects. Although the aperture range spans from f/2.8 to f/20, the apodization filter adjusts this to an effective T-stop range of T5.6 to T22. Additionally, an 11-blade rounded diaphragm further refines the bokeh's smoothness when using shallow depth of field.

G Master Optics

G Master lenses emphasize exceptional sharpness and bokeh through advanced optical engineering and specialized components. This lens incorporates one extra-low dispersion (ED) element to minimize color fringing and chromatic aberrations, alongside an aspherical element that corrects spherical aberrations, enhancing overall clarity and sharpness. The optical design also addresses peripheral highlight distortion caused by vignetting to produce smoother, rounder out-of-focus highlights in both foreground and background areas. Additionally, a Nano AR Coating reduces surface reflections, flare, and ghosting, boosting contrast and color accuracy in challenging lighting situations.

Autofocus and Macro Switching

The Direct Drive Super Sonic wave Motor (DDSSM) autofocus system delivers fast, silent, and accurate focusing, while also enhancing the feel of manual focus for smoother, more intuitive control. The internal focusing mechanism ensures quicker focus response and keeps the lens length constant throughout operation.

The macro switching ring enables selection between two focusing distances: 85cm to infinity or a closer range of 57cm to 1 meter. With a maximum magnification of 0.25x at the closest focus, the lens offers near-macro capabilities for detailed close-up photography. Additionally, a customizable focus hold button on the lens barrel can lock the focus position or be configured via the camera to perform various other lens functions.

Handling and Physical Design

• Optical SteadyShot image stabilization helps to minimize the appearance of camera shake for sharper imagery when shooting handheld with slower shutter speeds. This stabilization system can also be combined with select camera's sensor-shift type image stabilization for more effective control of camera blur.
• Manual aperture ring can be de-clicked for smooth, silent aperture switching to benefit video applications.
• A dust- and moisture-sealed design better permits working in inclement conditions and rubberized control rings benefit handling in colder temperatures.