Review by Klaus Schroiff, published June 2022

Introduction

The most obvious difference is the size and weight of the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II. Compared to the mark I as well as most non-E-mount competitors, it is a very small and lightweight lens. Coming in at just 695g, it is 20% lighter. In fact, this is comparable to the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS which is one stop slower. The weight reduction didn't have any negative impacts on the build quality. While Sony may have replaced some metal parts with compound materials (aka plastics), the body feels very sturdy and there's no wobbling even when extending the lens to its 70mm setting. The lens hosts a number of small goodies like focus stop buttons, a dedicated aperture ring with a clickless option ("Iris lock/unlock") and a switch for controlling the stiffness of the zoom mechanism. Being a professional-grade lens, it is, of course, sealed against dust and moisture. A fluorine coating on the front element also helps in this respect. A petal-shaped hood with a filter window is also part of the package.

The lens features no less than 4 XD linear motors (Extreme Dynamic) for focusing. The result is a blazingly fast and noiseless AF. Smooth manual focusing works "by-wire" thus you are driving the AF motors when turning the focus ring. Some may regret that the lens doesn't offer a dedicated image stabilizer but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Lenses with IS tend to have a worse centering quality and fast standard zoom lenses are complex beings to start with. Namely, the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II has no less than 20 elements so it's probably a good idea to be a little conservative here.

Below is a comparison between the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 II (left) and its predecessor.