Sharpness at 200mm

For this review, the sharpness test was carried out by photographing a real-world subject, rather than a test chart. The Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens was mounted on a Sony A9, which was in-turn mounted on a sturdy tripod. Exposure delay was activated to prevent camera-shake. Any changes in tone you might see across the crops are due to natural light changes during the shooting session.

The full frame at 200mm

At the centre, the lens is pleasingly sharp wide open (f/5.6 at this focal length). It is excellent between f/8 and f/16, becoming ever so slightly softer at f/22. At the narrowest aperture of f/32, centre sharpness is softer again due to diffraction.

Sharpness is also great at the edges, but is sharpest between f/8 and f/16, being ever so slightly softer from f/22 onwards.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22
f/32