Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G
Covers APS-C only (2019‑)
Sample Images Introduction Compatibility
Specifications Performance Recommendations
Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G (67mm filters, 17.4 oz./493g, 1.1'/0.33m close focus, $1,298). bigger. I'd get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually 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. 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, non-USA, 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.
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Sample Images top
Sample Images Introduction Compatibility
Specifications Performance Recommendations
These are just snapshots and there are many more throughout the review; my real work is in my Gallery.
Porsche Panamera Turbo Hood Badge, 10:31 AM, 15 April 2021. Square crop from Sony A6100, Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G at 55mm at f/6.3 at 1/640 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © JPG file.
This tiny crest is only 2⅔" (68mm) tall. Even in the reduced-resolution screen image above you can count every fleck of pure 0.999 silver in the GT Silver paint. You can see even more in the full-resolution image.
Sofie and Zoey sleeping, 2:54 PM, 15 April 2021. Sony A6100, Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G at 33mm at f/2.8 at 1/50 at Auto ISO 400 (LV 6.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © JPG file.
You can count every hair, even with a slow hand-held shutter speed, absolutely no image stabilization and with the super-shallow depth of field that comes from shooting wide-open at f/2.8. Bravo!
Introduction top
Sample Images Introduction Compatibility
Specifications Performance Recommendations
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This Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G is an expensive half-plastic Chinese-made lens with absolutely superb optics. It has no internal stabilization and has no distortion as shot.
If you value optics and speed over size, weight and price, this is a fantastic lens. Otherwise I prefer the tiny all-plastic 16-50mm PZ kit lens as it takes the same pictures and matches the whole point of APS-C: small size and weight.
I'd get my 16-55mm f/2.8 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
New intro top
Sony's first f/2.8 zoom for APS-C.
Good intro top
Ultrasharp, especially wide-open at f/2.8.
Fast f/2.8.
Programmable function button.
Good Sunstars.
Very good Macro performance.
No visible Distortion or Falloff.
Bad intro top
Offshored to China; not made domestically in Japan.
Missing intro top
No Image Stabilization. While in-camera stabilization is better than nothing, optical stabilization would work much better.
No IS switch for in-camera Image Stabilization.
Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G. bigger.
Compatibility top
Sample Images Introduction Compatibility
Specifications Performance Recommendations
I'd get my 16-55mm f/2.8 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This works on all Sony E-mount cameras, full-frame and crop-sensor. This includes all the variations of NEX, A9-, A7-, A6xxx and A5xxx series cameras.
It will not attach to 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 1986.
This is an APS-C lens and ideally should only be used on APS-C cameras, which are the A5xxx and A6xxx series.
While it works fine on full-frame cameras (the A9x and A7x series), since this lens only covers a small APS-C portion of those camera's larger sensors, more than half the sensor pixels are simply thrown away! Use a full-frame lens for the best results on full frame cameras, or use this lens on an APS-C camera for the best results.
Specifications top
Sample Images Introduction Compatibility
Specifications Performance Recommendations
I'd get my 16-55mm f/2.8 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Name specifications top
Sony calls this the E 16-55mm f/2.8 G:
E: E-mount, APS-C coverage.
G: One of Sony's "Good" lenses.
Sony's model number: SEL1655G.
Optics specifications top
Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G internal optical construction. Advanced Aspherical, Aspherical and ED elements.
17 elements in 12 groups.
Two advanced aspherical elements.
Two aspherical elements.
Three ED elements.
Nano AR coating.
Fluorine front coating to resist dirt and crud.
The front group moves in and out as zoomed.
Autofocus specifications top
No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.
Filters specifications top
Plastic 67mm filter thread.
Diaphragm specifications top
Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G. bigger.
9 rounded blades.
Electronically actuated.
Stops down to f/22.
Focal Length specifications top
16-55mm.
It sees the same angles of view on an APS-C camera as a 24-85mm lens sees when used on a full-frame or 35mm camera.
See also Crop Factor.
Angles of View on APS-C specifications top
83º ～ 29º diagonal.
Focus Scale specifications top
No.
Infinity Focus Stop specifications top
No.
Depth of Field Scale specifications top
No.
Infrared Focus Index specifications top
No.
Close Focus specifications top
1.1 feet.
0.33 meters.
Maximum Reproduction Ratio specifications top
1:5 (0.2 ×).
Reproduction Ratio Scale specifications top
No.
Image Stabilizer specifications top
NONE.
Front Cap specifications top
Plastic 67mm cap.
Hood specifications top
ALC-SH161 Hood. bigger.
The ALC-SH161 hood is included.
Case specifications top
Included.
Size specifications top
2.87" ø maximum diameter × 3.94" extension from flange.
73 mm ø maximum diameter × 100 mm extension from flange at 16mm. Gets longer set to 55mm.
Weight specifications top
17.390 oz. (493.0 g) actual measured weight.
Rated 17.5 oz. (494 g).
Announced specifications top
28 August 2019, 11AM NYC time.
Included specifications top
Lens, hood, caps and sack.
Sony's Model Number specifications top
SEL1655G.
Quality specifications top
Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G. bigger.
Offshored to China.
Price, U. S. A. specifications top
April 2021
$1,298 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.
About $1,000 used if you know How to Win at eBay.
Performance top
Sample Images Introduction Compatibility
Specifications Performance Recommendations
Overall Autofocus Manual Focus Breathing Bokeh
Distortion Ergonomics Falloff Filters, use with
Flare & Ghosts Lateral Color Fringes
Mechanics Sharpness Spherochromatism
I'd get my 16-55mm f/2.8 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Overall performance top
The 16-55/2.8 performs extremely well. You pay a premium price, and it performs as expected.
Autofocus performance top
Autofocus is immediate. Your camera and conditions will be more of a limitation than this lens.
Manual Focus performance top
Manual focusing is entirely electronic; the manual focus ring isn't connected to anything other than a digital encoder.
It works well.
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.
This 16-55mmmm has almost no breathing. The image from this 16-55 gets only very slightly smaller as focussed more closely at 16mm, and there is no visible change in image size at middle and long zoom settings.
This is excellent performance.
Bokeh performance top
Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is very good. Better than most aspherical lenses, Sony's Advanced Aspherical manufacturing process makes very smooth elements that free images from harshness often seen with other aspherical lenses.
Here are photos from headshot distance wide-open:
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6250 weather station, 15 April 2021. Sony A6100, Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G at 16mm at f/2.8 at 1/4,000 at Auto ISO 100 with +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 14.9), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file.
Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6250 weather station, 15 April 2021. Sony A6100, Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G at 55mm at f/2.8 at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 100 with +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file.
As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at 55mm at f/2.8 and get as close as possible.
Distortion performance top
The Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G has no visible distortion, shot as JPG with distortion correction at its default of ON. At least on my A6100, I can't turn off the automatic correction. It's always ON.
For more critical scientific use, use these corrections in Photoshop's lens correction filter to correct the slight barrel distortion with JPG images. No, I have no idea why my A6100 doesn't correct the distortion completely.
If you shoot raw and use non-manufacturer software to process the raw data into images, that software is unlikely to be able to correct the distortion as is done in-camera as JPGs, so you may be on your own.
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 APS-C at 30' (10m) |
Correction factor to use with images made with correction ON in A6100 |
16mm |
+0.80* |
24mm |
+0.50 |
35mm |
+0.40 |
45mm |
+0.40 |
55mm |
+0.10 |
© 2021 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
* Some slight waviness remains after this correction.
Ergonomics performance top
|
|
At 16mm. bigger. |
At 55mm. bigger. |
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|
At 16mm. bigger. |
At 55mm. bigger. |
The front ring is an electronic focus ring.
The rear ring is a traditional mechanical zoom control.
The lens-mounting index is a microscopic white ball which is just about invisible and hard to feel. Poo!
Falloff performance top
Falloff isn't visible, so long as you leave the default automatic correction ON.
I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background; it will not look even this bad in actual photos of real things:
Sony 16-55mm falloff on A6100 (APS-C) at infinity, correction at default of ON:
© 2021 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
If you go out of your way to turn off falloff correction and then go looking for it, you can see some at the long and short ends wide-open:
Sony 16-55mm falloff on A6100 (APS-C) at infinity, correction turned OFF:
© 2021 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. |
Filters, use with performance top
There's no need for thin 67mm filters, however at the wide end there isn't enough extra space to stack filters. Stick with one regular or rotating filter and you'll be fine.
Be careful with polarizers at the 16mm end of any lens; the sky's natural polarization can appear as a dark band in the sky.
Flare & Ghosts performance top
Flare and ghosts are well controlled.
See examples at Sunstars.
Lateral Color Fringes performance top
There are no color fringes when shot as JPG with the default Chromatic Aberration Correction left ON, although spherochromatism can cause red-blue fringes if not in perfect focus at larger apertures.
if you go out of your way to turn this correction OFF (or shoot raw and then use non-manufacturer software to process that data into images) then there is just the tiniest bit of blue-green/red-magenta fringing at 16mm, none at 30mm and a little red-magenta/blue-green fringing at 55mm.
Lens Corrections performance top
My Sony A6100 corrects for any or all of Falloff ("Shading Comp."), Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") and Distortion (Distortion Comp.).
By default, they are all ON ("Auto").
On my Sony A6100, I can turn the Falloff ("Shading") and Lateral Color ("Chromatic Aberratio…") corrections ON (Auto) or OFF, but the Distortion (Distortion Comp.) correction is always ON (Auto). In other words, My A6100 won't let me turn off distortion correction.
These corrections apply to images shot as JPG, as I always shoot. If you shoot raw data, the software you use to turn the raw data into an image may or may not apply any of these corrections in the process. Sony's software might, but non-Sony software probably won't. I never shoot raw.
Macro Performance performance top
Macro gets closer than most lenses, and it's pretty sharp. Great!
At f/2.8
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance at 55mm, 15 April 2021. bigger or camera-original © file.
It has some residual spherical aberration and spherochromatism that makes it a bit less sharp wide-open here at f/2.8:
1,200 × 900 pixel (5×) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
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 20 × 30" (50 × 75cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 40 × 60" (1 × 1.5 meters).
At f/8
It's super sharp at f/8, which makes the spherochromatism and spherical aberration go away:
Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 15 April 2021. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5×) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
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 20 × 30" (50 × 75cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insanely high magnification would be about 40 × 60" (1 × 1.5 meters).
Mechanical Quality performance top
Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G. bigger.
This lens has superb optics, but mechanically it's a mostly plastic lens offshored to China. It's an ephemeral item made to create immortal images and then be thrown away, not passed down from generation to generation as an heirloom itself.
Front Bumper
None.
Filter Threads
Plastic.
Hood Bayonet Mount
Plastic.
Front Barrel
Metal.
Focus Ring
Rubber-covered plastic.
Mid Barrel
Plastic.
Big Button
Plastic.
Zoom Ring
Rubber-covered plastic.
Rear Barrel
Plastic.
Slide Switches
Plastic.
Identity
Printed around front lens element.
Metallic plate on top of barrel.
Internals
Seems like all plastic, except for the glass elements.
Dust Gasket at Mount
Yes.
Mount
Chromed brass.
Markings
Painted.
Serial Number
Serial Number, Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G. bigger.
Printed on a sticker glued to the bottom of the barrel. Why bother?
This isn't acceptable for a serious lens. The problem is that the serial number should wear off from usage, and good luck getting service or selling this eventually without a serial number. Good luck!
Date Code
None found.
Noises When Shaken
Moderately loud clunking from the uncaged focussing group flopping all around inside the lens. These don't cage or lock-down when the power is off.
Made in
Offshored to 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, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/22 at ISO 1,600 in daylight of moving subjects at differing distances in the same image.
This lens is super-sharp used properly, especially at f/2.8 where it's super-sharp out to the far corners at every focal length. It doesn't get any better than this. Bravo!
Here's a sharp shot of nothing:
Wall of Shame, 10:25 AM, Thursday, 15 April 2021. Sony A6100, Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G at 33mm at f/8 at 1/400 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.
Here are Sony's MTF charts at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm, radial (solid) and tangential (dotted). I don't believe them; they look like calculated (not measured) curves and appear to be ignoring diffraction:
 |
 |
MTF at 16mm at f/2.8. |
MTF at 16mm at f/8. |
 |
 |
MTF at 55mm at f/2.8. |
MTF at 55mm at f/8. |
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.
This lens has a moderate amount of spherochromatism, which is its biggest, if not only, optical defect. The spherochromatism is a bit complex, showing both red and blue fringes in the same place sometimes:
Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at 55mm at f/2.8, 15 April 2021. bigger or camera-original © file.
1,200 × 900 pixel (5×) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © file.
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same large magnification would be about 10 × 15" (25 × 38cm).
If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same high magnification would be about 20 × 30" (50 × 75cm).
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 40 × 60" (1 × 1.5 meters).
Image Stabilization performance top
This lens has no Optical Image Stabilization (OIS, IS or VR (Vibration Reduction)), hoping instead you have a camera with sensor-shift stabilization.
Good luck.
Sunstars performance top
I get great 18-pointed sunstars on brilliant points of light, but only at smaller apertures because of the rounded blades.
Likewise ignore the crazy rainbow effects 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.
Recommendations top
Sample Images Introduction Compatibility
Specifications Performance Recommendations
I'd get my 16-55mm f/2.8 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield, or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
This is a fantastic lens optically, but if you really cared about technical quality, you'd be shooting full-frame. Putting this big lens on an APS-C camera seems a bit silly; personally I prefer the weightless all-plastic 16-50mm PZ kit lens because it's so tiny — which to me is the whole point of APS-C cameras.
I love built-in flash, however Sony's built-ins are so close to the body that they'll be partially blocked by this big lens, so you'll have to use a shoe-mounted flash to clear it.
Thank goodness Sony gives all of us all these different lens choices so we all can be happy. This is a great lens, but why not save $1,100 for when you go full-frame and just get your camera as a kit with the 16-50mm PZ and save all the weight?
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 Hoya multicoated HD3 67mm UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints.
For less money, the B+W 67mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated version and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best.
If I was working in nasty, dirty areas, I'd forget the cap, and use an uncoated 67mm Tiffen UV filter instead. Uncoated filters are much easier to clean, but more prone to ghosting.
Filters last a lifetime, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt.
All these filters are just as sharp and take the same pictures, the difference is how much abuse they'll take and stay clean and stay in one piece. Since filters last a lifetime or more, there's no reason not to buy the best as it will last you for the next 40 years. 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!
This 100% all-content website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Sony does not seal its boxes in any way, so especially with an exotic lens like this 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, non-USA, store demo or used lens. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
Thanks for helping me help you!
Ken Rockwell.
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