Sony DT 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 SAM lens

Sony unveils today a new telephoto lens aimed at APS-C DSLRs. This Sony-A mount lens will not be compatible with Full Frame Digital SLRs. It offers to Sony cameras owners an affordable and lightweight alternative to the 70-300mm G lens.

The Sony DT 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 SAM only weights 460 grams, the advantage of an image circle designed for APS-C sensors. It gets the latest silent and smooth autofocus motorization, the Sony SAM AF engine, that works fine for stills but also for movies, among the SLT-A57 and SLT-A77 specialities which record movies ion Full HD at 60p. If the lens is not optically stabilized, almost all Sony DSLRs gets a CCD-shift image stabilization which allows the engineers to optimize image quality and price of the lens, through a simpler design. The lens gets, of course, the traditional ADI encoder which sends the subject’s distance to the camera which will adapt the flash power accordingly.

Its optical built is rather simple with only 12 elements in 9 groups and no aspherical lens but the DT 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 SAM gets one ED glass lens, a low dispersion glass that ius usually placed in Sony G lenses.  It has 7 circular aperture blades and its nearest focusing distance of 1.4m allows it to offer a 0?27x magnification ratio.

The Sony DT 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 SAM will be available in September, right for the Photokina 2012. It will be sold under the SAL55300 reference at a rather affordable price of $349 / €349, much cheaper than the G series 70-300mm F4.5-5.6G SSM lens.

Sony DT 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 lens

Sony DT 55-300mm F4,5-5,6 SAM   main technical specifications

• Focal length : 55-300mm
• 35mm equivalent : 82.5-450mm
• Max. aperture : f/4.5-5.6
• Min. aperture : f/22-29
• Mount : Sony A (Alpha DSLR) for APS-C sensors, non compatible with Full Frame cameras
• Optical built : 12 elements in 9 groups
• 1 ED lens lens
• Min. focusing distance : 1.4m
• Max. magnification ratio: 0.27x
• AF drive : internal, SAM
• 7 circular aperture blades
• ADI distance transcoder
• Image stabilization : not on the lens (usually in-camera)
• Filter diameter : 62mm
• Length x diameter of the lens : 116,5 x 77mm
• Weight : 460 grams
• Price : 350 $/€