A Traveler's Review: Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II Lens

What to Look For In An All-Around Travel Lens?

Versatile Range: A good all-around travel lens should have a focal range that covers the majority of the focal lengths you find yourself using the most. The lens has to be able to go from wide to portrait with a twist of your wrist without having to switch to another lens.

From my experience, I have found that an all-around travel lens with a focal length of 24-28mm on its widest end and around 70-75mm on its furthest end should be good enough for most travel subjects. This focal range will allow you to shoot both landscapes and portraits all in one, while also allowing you to frame your shots better for videos.

At the end of the day, the whole point of an all-around lens is to allow you to capture spontaneous moments when you travel and reduce the number of times you have to switch lenses to get the image you want while you are out and about.

A good all-around travel lens should be seen mounted on your camera at least 80% of the time, and if you find yourself rarely ever using it when you travel, then it is not a good all-around lens for you.

Compact and Lightweight: One of the most important factors for a travel lens is its size and weight, especially for an all-around travel lens where you will probably have it mounted on your camera most of the time and carry it around your neck when you are out and about.

Basically, the lighter the lens, the better it is, as you will find yourself more likely to use it when you travel. And trust me, you will feel it around your neck at the end of the day if your all-around lens is too heavy for you.

Fast Aperture: Since an all-around travel lens is a lens that you will likely be using the most, having a fast aperture lens is extremely useful because it will allow you to shoot in poor lighting conditions and still be able to produce sharp images.

Having a fixed aperture of F2.8, rather than a variable aperture, is also extremely important, especially if you are a video shooter. The fixed focal length will allow you to capture videos at all focal lengths without introducing the undesirable light shift effect in your footage, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

Image Quality: And, of course, you would want a lens that can produce sharp images in whatever situation you might find yourself in when you travel, especially for an all-around lens that you will likely be shooting with the most.

In an ideal world, a good all-around lens should be able to produce sharp images edge-to-edge at all focal lengths, wide open at F2.8. A lens that gets as close to perfection as possible earns a point.

Again, it is all about striking a balance between these four important factors when it comes to picking up an all-around travel lens. Find what you want and what you need from an all-around travel lens, and then compromise between the two until you find the perfect lens for your travel.

Wondering what lenses I am currently using? Check out:What's In My Camera Bag - A Travel Photography Camera Gear Guide

What I Love Most About the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II Lens

Compactness & Lightweight

One of the complaints I had with the previous version of this lens is how heavy and bulky it was to carry around all day. Coming in at over 900g, it was a total deal-breaker for me as it makes me not want to pick it up and shoot with it when I am traveling.

With the new Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens, Sony has finally addressed the issue and made a lens that is 20% lighter and 11% less bulky than its predecessor without sacrificing anything. It is truly a travel lens with no compromises that I have been looking for for a long time.

The light weight of the lens was able to keep my camera bag lighter and much more comfortable to travel with and have around my neck all day. It actually makes me fall in love with the 24-70mm focal lengths again.

If you are looking for a lightweight yet excellent quality and fast all-purpose lens with no compromises, the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens is the best lens to get right now.

Great Handling

Sony has also improved the handling of this lens. Whereas, with the previous version, the lens was too front-heavy, making it very uncomfortable to use with a compact-sized full-frame camera like the Sony a7C that I have.

When I have the GM II version mounted on my camera, it feels natural and easy to hold because the weight is equally distributed across the body, unlike its predecessor.

The lens also comes with more dials and buttons that will adapt to your needs, such as an aperture ring with the option to make it smooth or click when turned, 2 customizable buttons, a zoom ring with adjustable smooth-tightness, and a lens hood with an access door for adjusting a filter when shooting videos.

Sony really thought it through with their design, giving all the controls back to the users and allowing their lens to adapt and enhance our workflow. They really went above and beyond with the handling of this lens, and I like it.

Excellent Image Quality Throughout the Zoom Range

Despite its smaller size and lighter weight, the Sony 24-70 F2.8 GM II lens, somehow, was able to improve its glass compared to its predecessor, with incredible sharpness and consistent performance throughout its range.

The previous version was a little soft, especially on the 70mm end, but that is not the case for this lens. The lens can produce some of the sharpest images that almost rival prime lenses, both at 24mm and 70mm wide open.

If you are looking for a reliable all-purpose lens with consistent performance throughout its range, this lens is definitely worth investing in. Trust me, you won't regret the image quality you can get out of this lens.

Versatile Range and close-up capability

Of course, having a versatile range is the main selling point of lenses with a focal range of 24 to 70mm, and the new Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II provides you just that, with the ability to go wide for landscape shots or zoom in for excellent portraiture.

What makes this lens so much better than the previous version is its ability to get up close to the subject and shoot with its minimum focusing distance of 0.21m (0.68 ft), a drastic improvement from the previous version, which has a minimum focusing distance of 0.38m (1.24ft).

Best-in-class autofocus

The Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM lens also improves upon its predecessor with new powerful 4 XD linear focusing motors that allow for fast and precise autofocus, while improving the tracking performance by more than twice that of its predecessor.

With such fast autofocusing motors, you will be able to take advantage of some of the most advanced autofocus technologies that Sony has been implementing in their new cameras, such as focus tracking with greater speed and precision.

The Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens is clearly designed to take advantage of new Sony cameras, as well as future-proofing itself from the forever increasing sensor size and improving image quality. If you are looking to buy a travel lens that will last you a decade or more, this is the one to get.

The Drawbacks of the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II Lens

Expensive

One of the few complaints I have with the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II is the price tag. It is wildly expensive with a release price of 2,200 USD, around a 200 USD increase from the previous version's initial release price. Although the improvements they made with the lens justify its high price point, it is still hard to stomach spending that much money on a lens, especially if you do not make money from photography like I do.

You might be able to wait a while to get one used, but I doubt the price will drop that much. As with almost all the Sony GM lenses, the price depreciation is pretty minimal.

Not everyone needs a $2,200 lens to travel with, so if you find the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens a little out of your budget, I highly recommend you check out some of these alternatives like the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8, Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 G2, or Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 lenses instead.

Distortion

One weakness of the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II, which may have been the result of the dramatic size and weight reduction, is the slight distortion you get when taking photos of scenes that contain straight lines around the edges, like a wall or a pattern, as you can see above.

It's not really a deal-breaker as Sony cameras will compensate for the distortion right in the camera itself when shooting JPEG, and you won't even notice it. When shooting RAW, the distortion can be seen, but programs like Adobe Lightroom can automatically apply lens correction to RAW photos pretty quickly, so there is nothing to worry about if you are a RAW shooter, as I am.

Sample Photos From the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II Lens

A photo is worth a thousand words, so here are some of my favorite shots I took with the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II Lens attached to my Sony a7C.

The Verdict: The travel lens to rule them all... if you can afford it

After using it for the past 2 weeks, I am extremely impressed with what Sony was able to achieve with the new Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM Lens. All the issues of the previous version have been addressed, from the weight to the handling, and the image quality. Moreover, they have somehow managed to pack even more features into it.

It is a feat of engineering that they were able to reduce the size and weight of the lens by more than 11% and 20%, respectively, without sacrificing the quality of the image it produces.

In fact, they were able to improve upon it with a more consistent performance throughout the range, shooting wide open, despite having a smaller footprint. I do not know how Sony was able to pull it off, but they did it.

To put this into perspective, the size and weight of the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens are actually lighter and slightly smaller than those of the Sony 24-105mm F4 G lens. Although the latter can zoom in a little more, it is still an F4 lens, not an F2.8. This makes the new GM II lens a better lens in every way, of course, if you can actually afford it.

With a hefty price tag of $2,200 USD retail, it is one of the most expensive lenses you can get for your Sony cameras. However, if you want the very best all-purpose travel lens out there that you will see yourself using for the next 5-10 years, there is no better lens to get than the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM II lens.

For the latest price on this lens, be sure to check out and browse through some of the discounts and offerings with the link below:

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Want to take your photography game to the next level? Here are some resources to help you upgrade your work and photography gear:

Lightroom Presets: If you are looking for a quick way to make your travel photos look like mine, you should check out my newly released Lightroom Preset Collections.

Camera: Sony a7R V, the highest resolution full-frame camera out there, is my go-to camera when I travel. All of my recent photos and videos are all from this beast.

All-Around Travel Lens: Sony 24-70mm f2.8 GM II lens is the lens I mounted on my camera the most. The lens covers most of the ranges I need for travel from wide to telephoto. If I have to take only one lens with me on my travel, it would be this lens.

Ultra-Wide Lens: Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM II Lnes: An ultra-wide lens I often use to shoot expansive landscapes and capture massive architecture I stumble upon while traveling.

Telephoto Lens: Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM II lens is one of the most versatile lenses to have. It is great for picking out details in landscapes and capturing wildlife when combined with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter.

Portrait Lens: Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Lens is the most compact and lightweight 85mm F1.4 lens out there. It's sharp and produces stunning bokeh for subject separation, perfect for portraits and street photography.

Drone: DJI Mavic Mini 2, a perfect drone for those who travel light. It weighs less than 250g and smaller than an iPhone when folded and can capture 4K video as well as 12 megapixels RAW photos. More than enough for its size.

Bag: Langly Alpha Globetrotter is a camera bag I use to carry all these lenses as well as other essentials when I'm traveling.

Further Reading for Photography

Looking for more photography articles like this? Here are a collection of articles you might like:

• For a complete list of travel lenses to buy for Sony Full-Frame cameras, check out: The Best Travel Lenses For Sony Full-Frame Cameras.
• Looking for the very best travel full-frame camera to buy for your next trip? How about the Sony a7C, the smallest full-frame camera with an EVF in the world? Check out my review: A Traveler's Review: The Sony a7C Camera
• The new king of landscape/architecture lens is here. Here is A Traveler's Review of the Sony 16-35mm F2.8 Lens.
• For the best landscape/architecture travel lens, you just can't beat the Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM lens. Here is A Traveler's Review of the Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM Lens.
• Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM II OSS lens is, hands down, the best telephoto lens to get for your Sony cameras but with an extremely high price tag. Here is a complete traveler's review of the lens: A Traveler's Review: Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM II OSS Lens.
• Looking for a lightweight and affordable landscape/architecture travel lens that is also extremely capable? Here is A Traveler's Review of the Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN Lens.
• Looking for the best travel portrait lens to buy for your next trip? You can't beat the Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN lens. Here is A Traveler's Review of the Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art Lens.
• Looking for a compact and lightweight travel telephoto lens for wildlife and landscapes? You are going to love this lens. Here is A Traveler's Review of the Tamron 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 lens.
• Wondering which Sony mirrorless camera is right for you? The Best Sony Travel Cameras to Buy in 2025.
• For more photography resources like this, visit my Photography page.