There are plenty of truly small prime lenses available for Sony's full-frame camera system, but a shortage of lightweight zooms for travel. To fill the gap, and to match the size of the ultra-small a7C camera, Sony is adding a new kit lens option, the FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 ($499.99). At press time it's only available when bought with the a7C, but will be available to purchase on its own in 2021.

Retractable Full-Frame Zoom

A retracting design goes a long way to sizing down the FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 for storage and transport. An inner barrel hides inside the lens when it's not in use, just requiring a twist to extend.

At its shortest, it measures 1.8 by 2.6 inches (HD), but just about doubles in height to 3.6 inches when extended and ready to make images. It doesn't add a lot of weight to your kit, tipping scales at just 5.9 ounces. The front element accepts 40.5mm threaded filters.

Build quality is as expected. It's not top-tier, but you do get a metal lens mount, dust and splash protection, sturdy polycarbonate materials for the barrel, and a metal beauty ring at the front for a bit of extra protection. Fluorine protection is omitted, so take care to keep the front glass clean.

On its own, the lens is priced around $500, a $100 more than the long-running FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS, a lens that launched along with the Sony full-frame system in late 2013. The new lens offers a bit less zoom power, an absolutely negligible difference in f-stop, and omits stabilization.

The latter isn't as big a sticking point as you'd think. All but the first generation of Sony's full-frame lineup includes in-body image stabilization (IBIS). In tests, I was able to get crisp handheld exposures at 1/8-second, an excellent result.

There are two control rings. The zoom control is set farther back, toward the lens mount. It sports a soft locking mechanism, one that requires a vigorous twist to unlock, but no button or toggle switch.

Autofocus is a strong point. The lens focuses quickly, smoothly, and quietly. There's no visible focus breathing at 28mm as you rack from close-up to distant subjects, a plus for video, though we do see a bit of change in the frame size when doing the same at 60mm.

Focus is available as close as 11.8 inches. You may have to pull back, rather than lean in, when working at the 28mm lens. But the minimum focus distance is maintained through 60mm, so you can get better macro shots when zoomed in. It's still no substitute for a macro prime for really tiny subjects, but with 1:6.3 life-size reproduction at 60mm, it's effective for shots of fall leaves, spring flowers, and the like.

Compact Zoom, Expected Compromises

The FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 is positioned as an entry-level option, and at press time is only available when purchased along with Sony's most affordable full-frame camera, the a7C, a 24MP model. But it can be mounted to any Sony E-mount camera, including the 60MP a7R IV.

I tested it with both models and software from Imatest. As expected, results look a bit better on the 24MP a7C, but while the lens won't max out the potential of the a7R IV's image sensor, its performance is good or better with a 60MP camera.

At 28mm f/4, we see excellent resolution with the 24MP a7C (2,800 lines) via our Imatest evaluation. Detail is sharpest at the center, and softens as you look toward the edges, but they still show resolution just shy of the 2,000 lines we consider good for a 24MP sensor.

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Stopping down to f/5.6 doesn't do much to move the needle, but we see higher overall clarity at f/8 (3,000 lines), as well as some improvement at the frame edges (2,300 lines). For landscapes, f/11 and f/16 net the best results from center to edge.

Image quality ticks up at longer focal lengths. With the a7C we see 3,000 lines at 45mm and 60mm f/5.6, with very consistent results from center to edge. That's an outstanding result for a 24MP sensor—nearly as good as you can expect—and it holds up all the way through f/16.

There's some resolution loss at smaller apertures, but you can still get good results at f/22—at smaller settings, there's noticeable resolution loss, even with a 24MP camera body. That's good to know, as the lens nets better-looking, more clearly defined sunstars at f/22 than it does at f/16.

The numbers scale differently on the a7R IV, a camera that demands higher-quality optics to shine. At 28mm f/4, it nets about 3,600 lines across the frame, centered in the good performance range for a 60MP camera. Edges don't hold up as well, though, so expect blurry results.

Narrowing the f-stop helps—resolution is very good on average at f/8 and f/11 (4,000 lines), and edges show acceptable (3,000 lines) detail at f/11. There's a dip at f/16 (3,600 lines), and you should avoid using smaller f-stops with the a7R IV as optical diffraction seriously limits image quality there.

At 45mm and 60mm, resolution ticks up, but not to the same level as with a 24MP sensor camera. We see very good resolution (4,100 lines) wide open, and narrowing the f-stop bumps the lens into excellent territory (4,600 lines).

Resolution is sensor dependent, but other aspects of lens performance aren't. If you use JPG modes, you won't see the barrel distortion visible at 28mm, but you will if you work in Raw format. Distortion at 45mm and 60mm is negligible, regardless of format or corrections. Adobe Lightroom doesn't yet have a profile to remove distortion automatically, but we expect it sooner rather than later.

Likewise, there's a vignette visible if you work in Raw format, or disable illumination correction for in-camera JPGs. It's noticeable at 28mm when working at f/4 or f/5.6, but not much of an issue at smaller f-stops, or when zoomed in a bit.

If You Love Small...

Sony is rethinking just how compact a full-frame zoom lens can be with the FE 28-60mm F4-5.6. It's one of the smallest we've seen for any system, and while it makes compromises to get there, they're sensible ones.

The lack of stabilization is less of an issue with today's Sony mirrorless cameras, which include in-body stabilization systems as a rule. Likewise, the narrow F4-5.6 aperture limits use in low light, especially when compared with an F2.8 zoom lens, but full-frame cameras net excellent images, even when pushing the ISO higher for work in dim conditions.

It's the lens to get for your Sony camera if you value a compact build over all else. It's only available as a bundled option with the slim a7C at launch, but you'll be able to buy it on its own eventually. It's a more appealing option for 24MP models like the a7 III, but nets very usable results on models with denser sensors, even the 60MP a7R IV.

If your main goal is a small, light lens, the FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 absolutely fits the bill. It's not the only standard zoom available for Sony cameras, though. If you don't mind a bigger zoom, the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 is an Editors' Choice winner, and a higher-quality lens overall—but it's also costlier, at $879. Sony also offers a 24-105mm F4 for $1,300—it's one of the best zooms of its type, but not as incredibly lightweight as the FE 28-60mm.