JIM DECKER
CEO

The Sony 100mm is Sony’s newly updated macro lens. It’s now a G Master lens, which is Sony’s designation for their top of the line lenses with the image quality to back it up.

A big practical upgrade is magnification: it goes to 1.4:1 instead of 1:1 on the 90mm. That added reach is useful for situations where you previously might have added a diopter for a little extra magnification. Now you can often skip the diopter and keep the full focusing range of the lens. A diopter can still be added for even greater magnification.

I didn’t use it heavily on this trip, but it’s replacing the 90mm for me because of the added versatility from 1.4:1 and the improved image quality.

One familiar behavior carries over from the 90mm. Stopping down past f/16 starts to show diffraction. At f/22 things can look noticeably soft, so in practice I’m not shooting it above f/16 most.

It’s a solid upgrade over the 90mm if you want more than 1:1 magnification without relying on a diopter, but for most people who have the 90mm it’s more of a discretionary upgrade than a must have, but if you don’t have either yet the 100mm is the way to go.