A Day in the Wilderness with the Sony A7R V and 400–800mm G – Testing a Monster Telephoto

Magnus Borg
May 2
2 min read

This weekend, I took a trip to the Björsjöås wilderness, the kind of place I love returning to when I want to get close to nature—both literally and figuratively. With its deep forests, open marshlands, a beautiful little lake, and wheelchair-accessible trails, it’s a paradise for landscape and nature photography.

This time I brought along the Sony A7R V, packed with megapixels and smart AI-powered autofocus. But the main event was the lens I mounted on it: the Sony FE 400–800mm f/6.3–8 G OSS, a newly released super-telephoto zoom lens weighing in at over 2.5 kilograms. This isn’t a lens you casually toss into your bag—it demands commitment. But wow, what a piece of glass!

First Impressions – Heavy, Stable, and Insanely Long

The first thing you notice, of course, is the weight. But once mounted on a solid tripod with a gimbal head and my own custom-designed tripod collar, the magic begins. Autofocus is fast and responsive, even at the longer focal lengths. I managed to capture swimming geese, invisible to the naked eye, around 250 meters away, in perfect focus. The optical image stabilization made a huge difference—especially at 800mm, where even the tiniest shake can ruin a shot.

The Backup – A99II with Tamron 24–70mm f/2.8

To cover the full range of subjects, I also brought my trusty Sony A99II, a camera I still love using despite its age. Mounted on it was the Tamron 24–70mm f/2.8, a versatile and bright lens that was perfect for wider scenes, forest landscapes, and dramatic skies. There’s something special about switching between ultra-zoom and wide-angle—it’s like shifting between a microscopic and a macroscopic world.

The Result?

I came home with both intimate portraits of my assistant and sweeping landscape shots. The new 400–800mm zoom performed beyond expectations, even though I could definitely feel it in my lap after a couple of hours of carrying it. But as any nature photographer knows, great images sometimes require a bit of physical effort—and it was well worth it.

Björsjöås delivered. And so did the gear.