Wildlife Photography with the Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II

One of the best things when it comes to wildlife photography is the enormous amount and diversity of camera gear that’s available now these days. There’s something for everyone regarding the brand of choice. The technology has come a long way in terms of making lenses and camera bodies just better and better. Choosing between cameras that have a lot of megapixels or a high frame-rate are very important choices of obvious reasons. However, picking the right lense for the job is just as equally important as this simply can make or break the shots you’re after. We all love the big, fixed prime-lenses with the fast F-stops of F2.8 or F4, be it the 400MM or 600MM. Animals are often far away, and these will get you up close with them for beautiful portraits and action-shots. But there’s also another lense that comes to my mind that deserves to be right next to the big boys, and that is the 70-200MM F2.8. In this blog post I’ll highlight why I love this lense, why it’s such an obvious choice and why it’s a lense you should bring with you when you’re out in the field.

Diversity

For diversity it’s just such an obvious choice. This lense starts at a focal length of 70MM and ends at 200MM. This means that you’re covering a lot of different scenarios, all in one single lens. Having this one with you means that you’re prepared for a lot of different shots as can chose between wide-angels, but also to get in a little closer to your subject should it require it. Something I love about the construction of the lense is that it has this internal zooming mechanism. Zooming through the focal length it doesn’t extend out or in. What does this mean? It removes the risk of elements like sand, dust or wind to enter into the gear, which is fantastic. And going from 70 to 200MM is really fast, just in a single twist. By twisting the zoom ring you’re through the entire zoom range in a quick motion. Already by now you should get an idea of why this is one of the most obvious lens choices in wildlife photography.

Earlier in 2025 I went on a game drive in South Luangwa national park in Zambia. I had a beautiful leopard sighting all to myself. In this moment I reached for this fantastic lense as I saw the potential of getting a whole sequence of the leopard potentially walking past the vehicle, which it did. Have a look below where this turned out to be the best lense for the job.

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/320 , F4, ISO 800

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 139MM, 1/320, F4, ISO 800

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 100MM, 1/320, F4, ISO 800

As you can see the lense was perfect and made sure that I got the whole sequence without being too tight onto the leopard. I started by zooming all the way out at 200, but as the cat decided to get up and walk past the vehicle I could adjust as my subject moved closer. Had I used my fixed 400MM I would have lost the leopard walking past as I would have been too close and the cat crossed the minimum focus distance too soon.

On the topic of leopards, have a look at different shot I took using the Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II in South Luangwa.

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/500, F4, ISO 200

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 135MM, 1/800, F10, ISO 400

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 118MM 1/800, F10, ISO 320

Story-telling

Something that automatically improves your portfolio is showing animals in their natural habitat. Through photography we should be able to tell a story. A great way to do that is to focus on what’s around your subject, making it part of the scene. This lense does a fantastic job. The great features that I highlighted above puts this lense in your favor of achieving just that. Often you find animals within beautiful landscapes and picturesque scenes. When it comes down to these moments you want a lense that allow you to grab those opportunities. Have a look below of some examples where getting close not necessary makes for the better result.

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 70MM, 1/320, F10, ISO 320

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/400, F4, ISO 250

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 123MM, 1/250, F4, ISO 100

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/320, F5.6, ISO 100

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 129MM, 1/250, F3.5, ISO 100

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/200, F4, ISO 250

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 119MM, 1/800, F5.6, ISO 250

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/640, F4, ISO 160

Sharpness

When buying a lens it ultimately comes down to one thing: images quality. This lense will give you stunning images with corner to corner-sharpness throughout the entire focal range. Being part of Sony’s GM-serie it’s a lense that’s made to last. It’s designed with the best glasses and equipped with a super-quick autofocus. It uses for high-trust XD Linear Motors which makes it rapid and precise when you’re switching between different focus points. It waist no time with where you decide to put your focus. This lense, when paired with one of Sony’s professional camera bodies, will leave you jaw dropped. The amount of richness, details and contrasts that this lens produces is just incredible. Pictures don’t lie, so Im gone let the results do the talking.

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 70MM, 1/640, F5.6, ISO 400

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/500, F9, ISO 2000

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/500, F4, ISO 800

Sony A1 + Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/640, F4, ISO 1250

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 70MM, 1/1000, F7.1, ISO 10000

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/500, F8, ISO 1600

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/800, F6.3, ISO 250

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 191MM, 1/1000, F13, ISO 640

Speaking of sharpness, this lense maintains an aperture of F2.8 throughout the whole zoom range. This is what you want, specially in low-light situations when the light fades and your ISO tends to fast run high. A lot of wildlife are active after nightfall, so with this super fast F-stop you’re ready for those moments when your favorite animals are at their most active. In today’s post-production you’re able to get rid of unwanted grain, but it’s always best to do as much as possible out in the field. This lense will get the job done. Also you want to be out during the sought out-after golden light to capture your subject in the most beautiful light possible. An aperture of F2.8 will allow as much light as possible through your camera’s sensor.

Here’s a tip when you’re out in the field: don’t shoot on an aperture of F2.8 the whole time as you’ll only have a narrow part of your frame in focus. You tend to lose much of the details in the animals fur and the bird’s feathers. Because of this I find myself most of the time to shoot between F5.6-8. I find this to be a great area since I have a lot of the subject in focus while still separating it from the background in most cases. It’s in those situations when the light starts to fade that I tend to move towards the area between F4 and F2.8.

I would like to add to the fact that this lense is incredible light to hand-hold, but at the same it feels solid when you have it in your hand. This is the upgraded version of the first 70-200MM F2.8 from Sony’s premium GM line-up, and they’ve trimmed off almost 500g. From 1480g down to 1045g, this lense is light. It makes it beautiful to carry around and don’t add too much weight to your camera bag for traveling. The lense comes at a length of little over 20cm, which makes it easy to pack in your bag as well.

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/400, F2.8 ISO 25600

Sony A1 & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 78MM, 1/1000, F2.8, ISO 12800

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM SS II / 70MM, 1/160, F2.8, ISO 1250

Sony A9II & Sony FE 70-200MM F2.8 GM OSS II / 200MM, 1/250, F2.8, ISO 100

Are you impressed? As the owner of these photos I can tell you that I love the lense. When you’re out in the field you want gear that you can rely on, equipment that allow you to captured that special moment you find yourself in. This lens will be a great companion when you travel on your adventures and will bring you many keepers.

I thank you so much for your time. If you’ve been reading all the way to the end then I hope that you enjoyed these great moments captured on this very special lense. Buying a lense is not something we do all the time, so when you decide to get one you wanna be sure that it’s well spent money. If you don’t already have the 70-200MM F2.8 then maybe this has helped you in the decision of getting one.

Until next time, all the best!

Kind regards Lars Martin Holta.