Some units of this lens failed to focus when autofocusing at a closed aperture, or drifted out of focus when the aperture was changed after focusing manually. Sony repaired affected units free of charge under a time-limited programme. The conditional nature of the fault is instructive: an owner who never stopped down while focusing might have used an affected lens for years without noticing, which is precisely why structured reports capture the circumstances of a failure rather than only its existence.
Sony ran a free repair programme for this product, but it ended on March 31, 2020. Repairs are no longer free under that programme. See the advisory below.
- Lens type
- Zoom
- Focal length
- 24mm–105mm
- Image circle
- Full Frame
- Maximum aperture
- f/4
- Filter thread
- 77 mm
Overview
Manufacturer advisories1
Official notices affecting this product. These are the most authoritative records in the archive, and each links to the manufacturer's own page.
Free repair programmeFree repair endedFebruary 12, 2018
Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS: out of focus under specific aperture conditions
Sony repaired affected FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS lenses free of charge until 31 March 2020, after some units failed to focus when autofocusing at a closed aperture, or drifted out of focus when the aperture was changed after manual focusing.
- Serial range
- Identified by serial number on the model plate at the side of the lens
- Programme ended
- March 31, 2020
Source: Sony support
Reliability
Derived from approved ownership reports. Rates describe what owners told this archive, not manufacturer failure statistics.
What “Moderate confidence” means here
Based on a reasonable sample, though not yet enough to be precise about small differences.
Problems and repairs
What owners said went wrong, how severe it was, and whether it ever got fixed.
Any problem reported
33.3%
Share of owners reporting at least one issue
Adjusted for sample size
20.4%
Shrunk toward the category baseline so a handful of reports can't swing it
Stopped it working
27.3%
Major or critical severity
Never resolved
0%
Of reported problems, left with no fix
Average repair cost
—
Across problems that needed a paid repair
Typically starts
1.4 yr
Median ownership length before the first reported problem
Covered under warranty
100%
Of problems where an owner said whether warranty applied
Recurred after repair
0%
Of repaired problems, the share that came back
Owner experience
How owners felt about living with it day to day, independent of whether anything broke.
Owner satisfaction
3.5/5
Average self-rating, 1 to 5
Would buy it again
73%
Owners who said yes when asked
Typical ownership so far
2.7 yr
Average length reporting owners have held it
Problems reported by year of ownership
Yr 1Yr 2Yr 3Yr 4
Share of owners who had reported a problem by the end of each year. Each point counts only owners who have owned the product at least that long.
Where problems occur
- Autofocus27%
- Zoom mechanism6.1%
Share of owners whose reported problem involved each subsystem. A single owner can appear in more than one row if they reported faults in different parts of the equipment.
Known issues1
Recurring problems reported by owners and published sources, each with its own record.
Specifications
Recorded from manufacturer documentation. Fields with no recorded value are omitted rather than guessed.
Optics
| Lens type | Zoom |
|---|---|
| Focal length | 24mm–105mm |
| Image circle | Full Frame |
| Special elements | Aspherical, ED |
| Coatings | Nano AR, Fluorine |
Aperture
| Maximum aperture | f/4 |
|---|---|
| Minimum aperture | f/22 |
| Aperture blades | 9 |
| Aperture ring | No |
| Variable maximum aperture | No |
Focus
| Focus motorMotor type is one of the strongest predictors of long-term autofocus failure. | Ddssm |
|---|---|
| Focus mechanismExternal focus mechanisms draw air, and with it dust, into the barrel. | Internal |
| Manual focus | Focus BY Wire |
| Minimum focus distance | 0.38 m |
| Maximum magnification | 0.31 x |
Stabilisation
| Optical stabilisation | Yes |
|---|
Build
| Filter thread | 77 mm |
|---|---|
| Zoom mechanismInternal zoom keeps overall length fixed and reduces dust ingress. | External |
| Fluorine front coating | Yes |
| Custom controls | Focus Hold Button, AF MF Switch, OS Switch |
Compatibility
The mount this body or lens uses, the image circle it covers, and how its physical size compares to the rest of the category.
Sony ENative mount
Covers Full frame and APS-C
Physical size
Width83.4 mm
Depth113.3 mm
Scaled against the largest lens with recorded dimensions in the archive.
References
- 1.Notice to Owners of the FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS Lens — Sony support
