Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ
Ultra-Light, Ultra-Wide, Full-Frame Power Zoom
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
Sony A1 A9 II A7R IV A7R III A7 IV A7S III A6600 A6400 A6100 ZV-E10 Lenses
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ (72mm filters, 12.5 oz./353g, 0.8'/0.25m close focus, 0.23× macro ratio, $1,198). bigger. I'd get mine at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
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June 2022 Better Pictures Sony Sony Lenses Canon Nikon Fuji LEICA Zeiss All Reviews
Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Full-Frame
Sample Images top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
More samples throughout this review at Bokeh, Macro, Spherochromatism and Sunstars.
These are just snapshots; my real work is in my Gallery.
These are all shot hand-held as STANDARD JPGs; no tripods, no FINE or EXTRA FINE JPGs or RAW files were used or needed.
Want sharp? Here's a cactus:
Cactus, 9:05 AM, Saturday, 18 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 24mm at f/11 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.9), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution 33MP file (13 MB).
Canary Palm, 10:35 AM, Friday, 17 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 24mm wide-open at f/4 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 11.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 33 MP © JPG file (7 MB).
Shot wide-open at f/4, it's super-sharp all over. Know that at f/4 there is very little depth of field and much of this image is simply out of focus rather than unsharp. I'm focused on the central ball.
Here it is stopped-down to f/11:
Canary Palm, 10:35 AM, Friday, 17 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 24mm at f/11 at 1/30 at Auto ISO 125 (LV 11.5), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 33 MP © JPG file (9 MB).
Mercedes Interior, 9:24 AM, Saturday, 18 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 35mm at f/11 at 1/40 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.2), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution 33 MP © JPG file (9 MB).
Pier, 2:47 PM, Saturday, 18 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 16mm at f/11 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 33 MP © JPG file (8 MB).
This isn't vignetting or falloff; it's the sun shining down on the middle of the pier!
Under the Pier, 2:41 PM, Saturday, 18 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 16mm at f/8 hand-held at 1/30 at Auto ISO 1,000 (LV 7.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 33 MP © JPG file (9 MB).
Shooting at ISO 1,000 isn't as sharp as using a tripod to let me shoot at ISO 100, so this isn't fair to the lens, but a cool enough shot as is.
Introduction top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
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This is a sharp little ultrawide lens for Sony's full-frame cameras. It's so small and weightless it's quite different from every other ultrawide zoom, ever. Suddenly ultrawide is now ultralight, as if I had just a small fixed lens on my camera rather than an advanced zoom.
I very much prefer this new lens over the older Sony Zeiss FE 16-35mm f/4 OSS (2014 introduction) and/or the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM (2017 introduction) because this new lens is just as good or better optically and is much, much smaller and lighter to do the same thing.
This lens weighs just 12.5 oz. (353 g) while the Sony Zeiss FE 16-35mm f/4 OSS weighs over a pound at 18.4 oz. (520 g) and the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM weighs a pound and a half at 24.0 oz. (679 g).
I'd get my Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
New intro top
World's lightest full-frame ultrawide zoom.
World's first power-zoom ultrawide.
Good intro top
Nearly weightless.
Small.
Sharp.
Superfast Autofocus, typical for ultrawides.
Almost no Focus Breathing.
Great Bokeh, but it rarely matters with ultrawide lenses.
Dedicated electronic aperture ring.
Dedicated electronic focus ring.
Multi-speed zoom slide control (T-W) is superb for smooth, cinematic zooms, in addition to an electronic zoom ring:
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger.
Programmable focus lock button.
AF/MF switch.
Aperture-ring click-defeat switch:
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger.
Switch to prevent the aperture from moving between A and the other apertures. It's erroneously labeled "Iris Lock."
Bad intro top
Electronic zoom ring and multi-speed slide switch is magnificent for smooth cinematic zooms, but slower to respond than a mechanical zoom ring.
Electronic focus ring is much less responsive than a direct mechanical zoom ring.
Production dumped to China, not made domestically in Japan.
Plastic filter threads and plastic exterior.
Missing intro top
No Stabilizer switch for in-camera stabilization.
No focus or depth-of-field scales.
No infra-red focus indices.
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger.
Compatibility top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
I'd get my Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This works on all Sony E-mount cameras, full-frame and crop-sensor APS-C. This includes all the variations of NEX, A1, A9-, A7-, A6xxx and A5xxx series cameras.
This is a full frame lens and I'm reviewing it as such.
While it works fine on APS-C cameras, you're paying a premium price for the privilege of covering full frame. Using it on an APS-C camera throws away more than half of the image from this lens. Ideally use this lens on full-frame cameras (the A1, A9x and A7x series) for the results you deserve, or use the APS-C E 10-20mm f/4 PZ or E 10-18mm f/4 OSS on an APS-C camera. See also Crop Factor.
It will not work on any Sony A-mount DSLR or any Minolta MAXXUM 35mm SLR of any kind. Those use the old A mount which was actually the Minolta MAXXUM mount from 1987.
Specifications top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
I'd get my Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Name specifications top
Sony calls this the Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ:
FE: Full-frame coverage, E-mount.
G: "Good," meaning Sony's nearly best, but not quite as physically tough and good as Sony's GM "Good Master" lenses.
PZ: Power Zoom. There is an electronic motor which zooms the lens, making smooth zooms easy for video.
Sony's model number: SELP1635G.
Optics specifications top
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G internal optical construction.
Advanced Aspherical, ED, Aspherical, Super ED and ED Aspherical elements.
13 elements in 12 groups.
2 Advanced Aspherical elements. These really are advanced and made with a secret process unique to Sony. These allow great bokeh usually not seen with other kinds of aspherical elements.
2 Aspherical elements, of which one is an ED Aspherical element.
3 ED extra-low dispersion elements, which help reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration. One is regular ED, one is Super ED and one is an ED Aspherical element.
Internal focussing and zoom.
Diaphragm specifications top
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger.
7 rounded blades.
Electronically actuated.
Stops down to f/22.
Filters specifications top
Plastic 72mm filter thread.
Focal Length specifications top
16-35mm.
When used on Sony's APS-C cameras, it sees the same angles of view as a 24-50mm lens sees when used on a full-frame camera.
See also Crop Factor.
Angle of View specifications top
107º ～ 63º diagonal on full frame.
83º ～ 44º diagonal on APS-C.
Autofocus specifications top
No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.
Focus Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Infinity Focus Stop specifications top
No.
You have to focus somehow to get precise focus at infinity, just like at every other distance.
Depth of Field Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Infrared Focus Index specifications top
No.
Close Focus (distance from subject to image plane) specifications top
16mm: 0.92 feet (11" or 0.28 meters).
35mm: 0.79 feet (9.4" or 0.24 meters).
Maximum Reproduction Ratio specifications top
1:4.3 (0.23×).
Reproduction Ratio Scale specifications top
No.
Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.
Image Stabilizer specifications top
NONE, but will work with in-camera sensor-shift stabilization.
Caps specifications top
ALC-F72S front and ALC-R1EM rear cap included.
Hood specifications top
Included ALC-SH172 Hood. bigger.
ALC-SH172 Hood included.
Case specifications top
Included Sack. bigger.
Size specifications top
3.17" ø maximum diameter × 3.5" extension from flange.
80.5 mm ø maximum diameter × 88.1 mm extension from flange.
Weight specifications top
Rated 12.5 oz. (353 g).
Quality specifications top
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger.
Made in China.
Announced specifications top
10 AM, Tuesday, 22 March 2022, NYC Time.
Promised for specifications top
July 2022 in U. S. A.
Included specifications top
Lens.
ALC-F72S front cap.
ALC-R1EM rear cap.
Sack.
Sony's Model Number specifications top
SELP1635G.
Price, U. S. A. specifications top
June 2022
$1,198 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.
Performance top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
Overall Autofocus Breathing Bokeh Distortion
Ergonomics Falloff Filters Flare & Ghosts
Lateral Color Fringes Lens Corrections Macro
Mechanics Sharpness Spherochromatism
I'd get my Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Overall performance top
The 16-35mm is a tiny little gem that works great. Bravo!
Autofocus performance top
Autofocus is just about instantaneous as we expect from an ultrawide. Good job, Sony!
Focus Breathing performance top
Focus breathing is the image changing size as focused in and out. It's important to cinematographers that the image not breathe because it looks funny if the image changes size as focus gets pulled back and forth between actors. If the lens does this, the image "breathes" by growing and contracting slightly as the dialog goes back and forth.
There is no breathing at all at 35mm.
As one zooms wider there is just a tiny bit of breathing. At 16mm and 24mm the image can get just a little bit smaller as focused more closely, but it's so minor I doubt anyone will notice.
Bravo!
Bokeh performance top
Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, doesn't really matter with a lens this wide and this slow because rarely is anything out of focus, but if you look really hard, bokeh is excellent.
Here are photos from headshot distance wide-open. I'm focused on the DAVIS logo. Click any for the © camera-original file:
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6250 weather station, 11:51 AM, Friday, 17 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ wide-open at f/4 at 1/1,600 and 1/1,000 at Auto ISO 100, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.6 and 14.0), Perfectly Clear. click either for the camera-original 33 MP © JPG file (about 2.3 MB each).
Click either for the camera-original © file.
As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at 35mm at f/4 and get as close as possible.
Distortion performance top
The Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ has no visible distortion, as shot on Sony cameras, which correct it automatically, and this correction can't be turned off.
If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct the distortion as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.
For more critical scientific use, use these corrections in Photoshop's lens correction filter to JPG images.
These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires hours of photography and calculations on the resulting data.
On Full Frame at 30' (10m) |
Correction factor to use with images made with correction ON in A7 IV. |
16mm |
+0.40* |
20mm |
+0.40 |
24mm |
+0.20 |
35mm |
+0.20 |
© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
* Slight waviness remains after this correction.
Ergonomics performance top
|
|
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger. |
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger. |
This is an easy-to-use lens once you get used to the delays and which ring does what. The zoom ring isn't marked, so it's easy to confuse focus and zoom. You can zoom either with the electronic ring or the W-T slider.
Sadly there is always a slight delay between moving the slide switch or zoom ring and the lens actually starting to zoom. It's as if the electronic zoom ring is connected to the lens with a Slinky.
It has defeatable third-stop clicks on its aperture ring. Thankfully there is a stiffer click to get to the A setting, which moves the aperture setting to the camera rather than the ring. This lens isn't made well enough to have the clicks align perfectly with the tick marks, but as these are electronic and not mechanical controls it works just as well.
It's great having a real AF/MF switch and not having to find it in the menus.
The zoom slider should be further up the lens where our thumb goes naturally; as it is I have to go out of my way to get my thumb down to the power zoom slider.
The programmable focus lock button and AF/MF switch are way too low; they're not where our thumb goes naturally. I have to reach down to hit these.
I suspect Sony reserved the top of the lens for the FE 4/PZ 16-35 G marking, rather than to have moved the zoom slider up there more where our fingers go.
Falloff performance top
The 16-35mm is remarkably free from falloff.
I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background; it will not look this bad in actual photos of real things:
Falloff on Full Frame at infinity, correction at its default of ON.
© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
If you go out of your way to turn off the automatic correction you can see some, but even then it's not all that bad, remembering that I'm exaggerating it here:
Falloff on Full Frame at infinity, correction turned OFF.
© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
Filters, use with performance top
You can use one standard 72mm filter at 16mm without vignetting on full frame.
It's tight. Don't stack filters at 16mm. Shooting at f/22 at 16mm on full-frame you may have some vignetting with thicker rotating grad filters.
Zoom-in a little bit and vignetting goes away, and again it's just fine with one regular screw-in filter as I always use.
Don't use a polarizer at the 16mm end; the sky's natural polarization will appear as a dark band in the sky with a lens this wide.
Flare & Ghosts performance top
This lens is reasonably free from flare and ghosts.
You will see some if you deliberately try to wake them as I show at Sunstars.
Lateral Color Fringes performance top
Sony's default automatic correction removes any that might be there.
If you go out of your way to turn it off and then go looking for it (or if you collect raw data rather than shoot actual images and then process that data into images using software that doesn't apply the same correction as the cameras do), then there is just a tiny bit of green/magenta lateral fringing at 16mm, which goes away at 35mm.
Even uncorrected it's usually invisible, which is superb performance
There is some minor spherochromatism, which can cause color fringes on things that aren't in perfect focus at large apertures. Spherochromatism is a completely different aberration in a different dimension than lateral color fringes. This can lead to some minor blue-halo fringing on contrasty background highlights as shown in some of the palm photos at the top.
Lens Corrections performance top
Sony cameras correct for any or all of Falloff ("Shading"), Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") and Distortion.
By default, Falloff ("Shading"), Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") and Distortion correction are all ON.
Falloff ("Shading") Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") can be turned OFF, while Distortion correction is always ON.
Macro Performance performance top
For an ultrawide lens, macro performance is very good. It focuses to within a few inches in front of the lens:
Wide-Open at f/4
It's not very sharp wide-open, but there's so little in focus with all lenses this close wide-open it doesn't matter much:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance wide-open at f/4 at 35mm, Friday, 17 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 1/1,250 at Auto ISO 100, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.3). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5.84× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (8cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 12 × 18" (30 × 45 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 23 × 35" (59 × 89 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 47 × 70" (119 × 178 cm).
At f/8
Like all lenses, it's super-sharp at f/8:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance at f/8 at 35mm, Friday, 17 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 1/400 at Auto ISO 100, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.6). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5.84× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (8cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 12 × 18" (30 × 45 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 23 × 35" (59 × 89 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 47 × 70" (119 × 178 cm).
Mechanical Quality performance top
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger.
It has glass glass and a metal mount, and most of the rest is just Chinese plastic.
The clicks are slightly off from the aperture index lines. I've seen this on other Sony lenses. Aperture ticks are very helpful on cine and classic rangefinder lenses that have no clicks, but if you have clicks you need Swiss-made precision to line up two lines as Sony is learning. The human vision system is extremely sensitive to lines being slightly misaligned, which is the basis of the Vernier system but also makes it very difficult to get clicks and ticks to line up. With the level of manufacturing precision Sony is willing to give these lenses, they really should pick either ticks or clicks but not both at the same time. Oh well, this is what we get from China these days:
Finish
Black plastic.
Hood
Plastic bayonet.
Front Bumper
None.
Filter Threads
Plastic.
Hood Bayonet Mount
Plastic.
Thin Trim Band just behind Hood Mount
Anodized aluminum.
Front Focus Ring
Rubber covered plastic.
Middle Zoom Ring
Rubber covered plastic.
Barrel Exterior
All plastic.
Switches and Buttons
Plastic.
Aperture Ring
Plastic.
Identity
Printed around front of lens, also printed on top of barrel
Internals
Seem like almost all plastic.
Dust Gasket at Mount
Yes.
Mount
Metal.
Markings
Paint.
Serial Number
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. bigger.
Laser engraved on bottom of barrel.
Date Code
None found.
Noises When Shaken
Moderate clunking presumably from the uncaged focus and zoom groups flopping around.
Made in
Made in China.
Sharpness performance top
Lens sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness; every lens made in the past 100 years is more than sharp enough to make super-sharp pictures if you know what you're doing. The only limitation to picture sharpness is your skill as a photographer. It's the least talented who spend the most time worrying about lens sharpness and blame crummy pictures on their equipment rather than themselves. Skilled photographers make great images with whatever camera is in their hands; I've made some of my best images of all time with an irreparably broken camera! Most pixels are thrown away before you see them, but camera makers don't want you to know that.
If you're not getting ultra-sharp pictures with this, be sure not to shoot at f/11 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot at ISO 100 or below because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, avoid shooting across long distances over land which can lead to atmospheric heat shimmer, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I set mine to the maximum) and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 or smaller at ISO 1,600 or above at default sharpening in daylight of subjects at differing distances in the same image.
People worry waaaaay too much about lens sharpness. It's not 1968 anymore when lenses often weren't that sharp and there could be significant differences among them; ever since about 2010 all new lenses are all pretty much equally fantastic.
This lens is very sharp corner-to corner at every aperture, limited of course by diffraction at the smallest apertures. While it's super-sharp even wide-open at f/4 in the full-frame far corners from 20 ~ 35mm , it's a tiny bit softer wide-open at f/4 in the corners at 16mm, getting a little sharper as stopped down. It's always brilliant throughout most of the image at every setting, barring diffraction common to all lenses at smaller apertures.
Sony's MTF charts are fairy-tale calculations from Sony's marketing department ignoring diffraction and flare, and certainly do not represent actual measured performance:
MTF at 35mm at f/4 and f/8 at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted).
MTF at 16mm at f/4 and f/8 at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted).
Spherochromatism performance top
Spherochromatism, also called secondary spherical chromatic aberration or "color bokeh," is an advanced form of spherical and chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral chromatic aberration. It happens mostly in fast normal and tele lenses when spherical aberration at the ends of the color spectrum are corrected differently than in the middle of the spectrum. Spherochromatism can cause colored fringes on out-of-focus highlights, usually seen as green fringes on backgrounds and magenta fringes on foregrounds. Spherochromatism is common in fast lenses of moderate focal length when shooting contrasty items at full aperture. It goes away as stopped down.
It has just a little spherochromatism, with out-of-focus backgrounds having slight yellow-green fringes and out-of-focus foregrounds having sight blue fringes wide-open at f/4:
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at 35mm wide-open at f/4, 17 June 2022. Sony A7 IV, Sony FE 16-35mm f/4G PZ at 1/2,000 at Auto ISO 100, +1.0 stops exposure compensation (LV 15.0). bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5.84× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (8cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 12 × 18" (30 × 45 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 23 × 35" (59 × 89 cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 47 × 70" (119 × 178 cm).
Image Stabilization (VR) performance top
This lens has NO Optical Image Stabilization (OIS, IS or VR (Vibration Reduction)), although it works well with in-camera stabilization
Be warned that these are center-of-image tests below. Sensor-shift stabilization becomes progressively less effective in the corners of ultrawide shots because geometry demands that the sensor corners would have to move more to stabilize the image than it does in the center with ultrawide lenses— and modern sensors clearly can't do that.
"Percent Perfectly Sharp Shots" are the percentage of frames with 100% perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness I get when I'm shooting hand-held while free-standing with no support or bracing. Hand tremor is a random occurrence, so at marginal speeds some frames will be perfectly sharp while others will be in various stages of blur — all at the same shutter speed. This rates what percentage of shots are perfectly sharp, not how sharp are all the frames:
At 16mm on Stabilized A7 IV (firmware 1.01)
| % Perfectly Sharp Shots | 1 |
1/2 |
1/4 |
1/8 |
1/15 |
1/30 |
1/60 |
1/125 |
1/250 |
| Stabilization ON | 0 |
0 |
50 |
0 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
| Stabilization OFF | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
50 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
I see a 2½ stop real-world improvement, in the center of the image.
At 35mm on Stabilized A7 IV (firmware 1.01)
| % Perfectly Sharp Shots | 1 |
1/2 |
1/4 |
1/8 |
1/15 |
1/30 |
1/60 |
1/125 |
1/250 |
| Stabilization ON | 0 |
0 |
17 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
| Stabilization OFF | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
0 |
50 |
83 |
100 |
I see a 4 stop real-world improvement, in the center of the image.
Sunstars performance top
With a 7-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get reasonable 14-pointed sunstars on brilliant points of light at the smaller apertures.
Ignore the crazy rainbow dots at small apertures; these are sensor artifacts caused by taking a picture directly of the sun and exposing for the dark underside of a huge palm tree, and using that same palm tree to hide the sky to accentuate the stars.
Click any to enlarge:
Click any to enlarge.
Compared top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
I'd get my Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ is a smaller and much lighter replacement for the Sony Zeiss FE 16-35mm f/4 OSS and/or Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM.
I'd much rather shoot with this new PZ lens rather than either of the others as it is so much smaller and easier to carry. I make my most creative images when I'm relaxed, not when I'm pooped after hauling heavy gear all day. I love light gear that lets me hike and ride long and hard and still be refreshed and relaxed and creative at the end of the trail or day.
I prefer the real mechanical zoom ring of the others rather than this PZ lens' video-optimized motorized zoom system, but I prefer its light weight even more.
Recommendations top
Sample Images Intro New Good Bad Missing
Compatibility Specifications Performance
I'd get my Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This is a brilliant little gem. Get one; for me it's the only lens I'd carry along with the FE 24-240mm for all my full-frame shooting. It's not 2001 anymore; we no longer need big, heavy lenses to get brilliantly sharp pictures.
Use this lens on a full-frame camera for the best ultrawide results. Don't use this full-frame lens on an APS-C camera which will throw away most of this lens' full-frame image; use the APS-C E 10-20mm f/4 PZ or E 10-18mm f/4 OSS instead on an APS-C camera.
I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap so I'm always ready to shoot instantly. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear without padding — which is never. The UV filter never gets in the way, and never gets lost, either.
The very best protective filter is the 72mm Hoya multicoated HD3 UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints.
For less money, the Canon 72mm PROTECT and B+W 72mm XS-Pro 010M MRC-nano are excellent filters, as is the B+W 72mm 010 MRC and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best.
Unlike this plastic Chinese lens, filters never wear out, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner longer and resists physical abuse. Filters aren't throwaways like digital cameras which we replace every few years, like it or not. I'm still using filters I bought back in the 1970s!
I'd get my Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 G PZ at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you get it elsewhere. Sony does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, dropped, incomplete, gray-market, store demo or used lens — and all of my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new lens. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new lens before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
Thanks for helping me help you!
Ken.
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Thanks for reading!
Ken.