Leading up to its official launch, a select group of Sony Artisans Of Imagery and Sony Alpha Imaging Collective members had a chance to try out the new Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. Photos by Matthew Hahnel (@matthewhahnel), Renee Hahnel (@reneeroaming), Matt Kloskowski (@mattkloskowski), Mike Meyers (@mmeyers76), Patrick Murphy-Racey (@murphyracey), Miguel Quiles (@miguelquilesjr) and Henry Tieu (@henrysdiary). You can preorder the new lens HERE.

In advance of its official launch, a select group had a chance to use the new Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II – see the photos!

Photo by Henry Tieu. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II.

"Elopement photography is quite different from traditional wedding photography. Besides the documentary and portrait aspect, I also have to make sure I can capture landscape photography as well as balancing between my couples and the environment they are in – and the 70-200mm is the perfect fit for that. It allows me to be far away from the clients so they can have moments where it's just them on top of the world and be themselves, allowing me to really get candid moments that way. I owned the first version of the 70-200mm GM so I get to truly compare the two. This new version is definitely faster in terms of focusing as well as lighter, which are the two most important aspects for elopement photography. I love the photos I captured on the Oregon coast of a couple. The two brides were on top of a cliff looking over the ocean and the waves were crashing like crazy due to the weather that day. The 70-200mm lens allowed me to capture the couple against these wild waves and make the whole overall vibe really dramatic, just like how we truly experienced it." – Henry Tieu

Photo by Mike Meyers. Sony Alpha 1. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/160-sec., f/2.8, ISO 1250

"My single favorite thing about the lens was probably how fast and accurate the focusing was. I don’t shoot a lot of moving subjects/sports, so there are a lot of photographers who are much more talented than I am at tracking fast-moving subjects. But I was able to nail focus on passing pedestrians, trains, cars, etc. I don’t think there’s a lens in my bag that’s on par with its focusing ability—it was that good." – Mike Meyers

Photo by Matt Kloskowski. Sony Alpha 1. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/2000-sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200

"I’ve been using the new 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II in my wildlife kit. Mainly it serves as a nice habitat lens. The one BIG thing that stuck out to me was the weight. Coming from someone who mostly handholds the 200-600mm and the 600mm prime, this was a welcomed change for a few weeks. And I feel like I got some photos with it that I may not normally have because it’s a little easier to play the waiting game with a lighter lens. You know… when you just stand there and wait… and wait…for something to happen. That’s hard to do with a heavier lens especially when you’re in a situation where you can’t just put it on a tripod." – Matt Kloskowski

Photo by Patrick Murphy-Racey. Sony Alpha 1. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/1250-sec., f/2.8, ISO 3200

"My favorite thing about this lens is the AF speed for sports photography and the ability to control both the speed and sensitivity for video. Sharpness is crucial and I usually feel like I get my best images from primes but with this new lens, I feel like I’m getting the same sharpness I get with my GM primes. I love that it’s not so heavy so I won’t worry about carrying it all day. The lens will absolutely find its way into my kit for both stills as well as video assignments. Nothing is as versatile as a zoom lens." – Patrick Murphy-Racey

Photo by Matthew Hahnel. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II.

"I tested the lens for a week and mainly photographed mountains in the Canadian Rockies. I absolutely LOVED the reduced weight, it really makes a world of difference on the long hikes I do to capture images. I really liked an image that I captured of some fleeting light on a snow-capped mountain with a frame of larch trees. It was so beautiful in person and it's always so great to capture these memories to look back on." – Matthew Hahnel

Photo by Miguel Quiles. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II.

“The 70-200mm focal range is great for a wide range of categories. Being primarily a portrait photographer, this could easily be my 'one and done' lens to do everything that I need to do. It’s also fantastic for shooting sports, weddings/events, landscapes and even video. Having the ability to shoot at f/2.8 is crucial in getting clean images, especially in low light situations. My style of photography is all about being clean and crisp, and having a telephoto lens that gets me amazing compression with a fast aperture of f/2.8 is a must." – Miguel Quiles

Photo by Patrick Murphy-Racey. Sony Alpha 1. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/16000-sec., f/2.8, ISO 1600

"The AF is instant and violent which is exactly what I need for sports capture. There is absolutely no hunting with this beast – you just press and watch the magic as it locks on and then tracks moving subjects with ease. I get the feeling the Alpha 1 is simply operating at idle with all of the linear AF focusing lenses attached. I can see real world efficiency increases in battery life too. The fact that they made all these improvements to AF, close focusing, optics, and then on top of all that made it 500 grams lighter than the original. That’s nuts, but it’s what I’ve come to expect from Sony." – Patrick Murphy-Racey

"There were several aspects of the lens that really stood out to me. Pairing it up with the Alpha 1, it was surprising to see how well it would keep up in terms of acquiring and tracking focus as I took photos. The weight was light, but more importantly, felt balanced in my hands. I typically avoid shooting with 70-200mm lenses over long periods of time due to how cumbersome they can be to handle, but this was the first one that I can imagine using for a day long shoot. Once you get the images taken with this lens off of your camera and onto a computer, it continues to amaze me how much detail I was able to capture and how 'pretty' the bokeh was." – Miguel Quiles

Photo by Matthew Hahnel. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II.

"I love to use my 70-200mm for shooting mountain portraits, mountain layers, and for lifestyle images where I want to compress the background to make it appear larger than I would get from something wider. I also use f/2.8 often when shooting more lifestyle or commercial work. It also comes in clutch when it's getting dark out and I need the extra light." – Matthew Hahnel

Photo by Mike Meyers. Sony Alpha 1. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/250-sec., f/4, ISO 200

"The f/2.8 maximum aperture is extremely important for me and my photography. It helps keep ISO down, although with the Alpha 1 and some of the newer Sony bodies that’s not as much of a factor. But at f/2.8, I’m able to keep shutter speeds higher if my subject is moving in low lighting. And especially being able to use those lower apertures to separate my subject more from the rest of the frame can really be the difference in how compelling my shot is. The bokeh I was able to get at f/2.8, especially at longer focal lengths, was impressive." – Mike Meyers

"F/2.8 is really essential. Photographers that are already Sony shooters are totally aware of how great the cameras are in low light. Many decide they can just shoot at f/4 and raise the ISO one stop, but this leaves the massive difference optically between f/4 and f/2.8 on the table. Being able to blow complicated and busy backgrounds out of focus at f/2.8 is an essential tool for any pro, no matter what you shoot. F/2.8 in a 'long zoom' is the perfect combination of letting a lot of light hit the sensor and still remaining lightweight and compact enough to easily carry it all day long." – Patrick Murphy-Racey

Photo by Miguel Quiles. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II.

"Practically every photo I took with this lens was noteworthy! It's one of the only telephoto zoom lenses that I’ve used that rivals the image quality that I would expect to see only out of prime lenses. I think that Sony has a true champion with this lens, one that will set the standard for what image quality can and should be." – Miguel Quiles

Photo by Matt Kloskowski. Sony Alpha 1. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/1000-sec., f/5.6, ISO 800

"Probably the most interesting thing I found about this lens (and something I never expected) was the new aperture ring. A very common situation for me is to be out photographing birds and often switch aperture based on multiple birds coming in the frame, or to try to get more front to back focus if I do get really close to the wildlife. So, since my shutter finger is busy on the shutter taking photos, if I want to change aperture I have to stop shooting and move my finger which can cause me to miss that split second action shot. But with the aperture ring, I can adjust aperture with my lens holding hand and still keep shooting. This was something I never knew I wanted, but found incredibly helpful." – Matt Kloskowski

Photo by Henry Tieu. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II.

"To make sure my clients truly pop against the landscape, an aperture of 2.8 allows me to ensure I get that crisp focus. I also use the wide aperture of 2.8 whenever I photograph details like the bride's hand with her ring against her dress or the soft touch of a hand to the other person's face. I particularly love the images I captured of a bride standing near a lake at Mt. Rainier. The water was so clear I had such a perfect reflection of the trees in the water. The 70-200mm lens and its compression allowed me to truly pull the reflection closer to the bride where it is now the main background of the photo." – Henry Tieu