Sony FE 16-35/f4

[Guy Mancuso]

From all that I know from renting and/or owning both of them. At 24mm the 16-35 is better and at 35mm the 24-70 is better. Most zooms its either the wide end or the long end will be the worst performers and usually the wide is it but in this case the 16-35 is better in the 16-28 range and the 24-70 is better in the 28-60 range. It has issues on both ends. Which actually is pretty typical. Are they really bad , no but you will have to stop down. The 24-70 distorts pretty heavy on the 24 side. Overall as a zoom. I think most folks would say the stronger one is the 16-35, why i decided to buy it. I do need a good 35mm focal length and i am going to address that with a prime at some point. But I want to fully test my 16-35 coming before I make a call on that. I did rent it two weeks ago and liked the lens.

 

[Barry Haines]

From all that I know from renting and/or owning both of them. At 24mm the 16-35 is better and at 35mm the 24-70 is better. Most zooms its either the wide end or the long end will be the worst performers and usually the wide is it but in this case the 16-35 is better in the 16-28 range and the 24-70 is better in the 28-60 range. It has issues on both ends. Which actually is pretty typical. Are they really bad , no but you will have to stop down. The 24-70 distorts pretty heavy on the 24 side. Overall as a zoom. I think most folks would say the stronger one is the 16-35, why i decided to buy it. I do need a good 35mm focal length and i am going to address that with a prime at some point. But I want to fully test my 16-35 coming before I make a call on that. I did rent it two weeks ago and liked the lens.

That's pretty well my conclusion also Guy.
16-35mm = 16-28mm for me
Add a fast 35mm prime + the lightweight 55mm FE instead of the 24-70mm as that's only really good up to 60mm anyway....Cheers Barry

 

[Paratom]

I'm new to the Sony A7 series. Does anyone know how this lens compares to the FE 24-70 at 24mm and 35mm? Trying to decide which one to get first.

Well my findings with an A7 are a Little different than Guys and I can only talk about some few unscientific comparison shots between the 2 lenses and from using the 24-70 for 4 weeks now on the A7s and A7:

I found the 16-35 at 35mm clearly worse than the 24-70 - so much that I would say not really acceptable at that focal length and f-stop.
Could not see much difference at 28mm.
At 24mm the 16-35 seems better in the Corners than the 24-70, but the 24-70 seems still really usable for me. I say the 24-70 is clearly better at 24mm than the 16-35 at 35mm.

The 24-70 has more distotion (quite a bit) but LR can correct it and it seems not to have too much influence to IQ.

SO IMO ist about what range you Need. if 24mm is wide enough I would prefer the 24-70, if you shoot a lot 24mm and wider I would go for the 16-35.
For me I shoot a lot in the 28-70 range and the 24-70 works very well there, and at 24mm it is still acceptable. Thats why I will stay with the 24-70 for now. I want flexibility in this range, even though I also have the 35 and 55 primes for lower light or shallower DOF.
24-70 is my goto lens. Maybe I am lucky and have a very good sample of it.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Tom not sure we where different here. I think we pretty much said the same just said it differently. My point on the 24-70 was more at 24mm it does distort a lot but the setting is still pretty good as you say its just that the distortion is pretty heavy, why I kind of said the 28-60 range but I agree the both are not great at there long end. Which I was hoping the 16-35 was good at 35. I'll just get a prime there

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Also totally agree on sample variation on the 24-70. That issue has been all over the map since its intro. I'm still tempted to own it since the 28 and 35 settings are good and what I'm after. But I'm leaning more for the 35 prime

 

[mrmugman]

Well, I was all set to order the 16-35 but now B&H is out of stock! Maybe I'll go for the 55 1.8 in the meantime. Everyone seems to agree that is a fantastic lens.

 

[dandrewk]

Love that lens. You can't go wrong, and it's an absolute MUST for any Sony kit.

 

[chrisd]

A few more shots with the FE 16-35 taken from the Toronto waterfront. All handheld except last image.

f/8, 16mm, 1/15sec, ISO 100:

f/5.6, 19mm, 1/60sec, ISO 500:

f/5.6, 17mm, 1/60sec, ISO 500:

f/11, 19mm, 1/10sec, ISO 100, Tripod:

 

[Paratom]

Also totally agree on sample variation on the 24-70. That issue has been all over the map since its intro. I'm still tempted to own it since the 28 and 35 settings are good and what I'm after. But I'm leaning more for the 35 prime

Hi there...I own both the 35 prime and the 2470 and the zoom gets much more use. It might be different if the prime was f2.0.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Yes my issue would be the F4. Fastest lens starts at 50 1.4 so I don't have anything wider that is faster. What I may do is find something in 35f2 until Sonys 28f2 comes out. I would get more use out of the 28mm. Maybe even buy the Minolta 28mm F 2 for the time being as it is said to be very good and it would be cheaper than any other fast 35 F 2 right now. So that maybe a good option. I really need to get out and test my 16-35 and also my 24TSe although it looks great but I also have yet to test my 50 1.4 ZA lens either. Been too busy but I may sneak out when the sun comes up today. It's still early here

 

[TEAM KEN]

Good morning folks.
Question about this lens.
I am a total newb, when it comes to Sony7s.
I shoot lots of real estate images.using my D800e and 17-35
Is this the lens that I should consider or perhaps the 10-18..and I would love some input as to the specific 7 I should attach to it
Lots of bodies to chose from.

I dont do a lot of moving subjects..Mostly things standing still
Any input is appreciated.
KEN

 

[chrisd]

Good morning folks.
Question about this lens.
I am a total newb, when it comes to Sony7s.
I shoot lots of real estate images.using my D800e and 17-35
Is this the lens that I should consider or perhaps the 10-18..and I would love some input as to the specific 7 I should attach to it
Lots of bodies to chose from.

I dont do a lot of moving subjects..Mostly things standing still
Any input is appreciated.
KEN

10-18 is for aps-c cameras, not full frame. It can be used on FF but the edges are not good.

As for which A7 body? If you need 36MP, get the A7R- it has the same sensor as your D800e. If you shoot mostly handheld, consider the A7II, with IBIS. Take a look over at the DPReview forums and you will get all kinds of advice.

 

[dandrewk]

Good morning folks.
Question about this lens.
I am a total newb, when it comes to Sony7s.
I shoot lots of real estate images.using my D800e and 17-35
Is this the lens that I should consider or perhaps the 10-18..and I would love some input as to the specific 7 I should attach to it
Lots of bodies to chose from.

I dont do a lot of moving subjects..Mostly things standing still
Any input is appreciated.
KEN

In addition, if your real estate photography involves interiors, the A7s might be a good option. The mpx should be plenty enough if most/all of your images are posted online or for brochures/sales sheets. The awesome low light sensitivity of this camera means even the darkest rooms will look great with natural light.

 

[gurtch]

Well, I really do not need the 16~35 Zeiss for my A7R, as I have a beautiful 20mm f2.8 Minolta, and 28mm f2.8 Sony (same as the old Minolta 28mm), and the EA4 Adapter, plus the FE 35mm f2.8. Also have the wonderfully sharp 55 f1.8. But after re-reading this post (Darn you guys), I went to B&H site to see if it was in stock. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. When I clicked on the item, a note popped up: "Order before 4:00 PM, and you will have the lens tomorrow, free shipping" ! Darn them!! They MADE ME DO IT. I placed my order at 3:32 PM.
Seriously, The above combo is great, but carrying three lenses plus adapter is less convenient. Not only switch lenses in the field (sometimes blowing sand and rain/snow) and taking out the adapter, taking off the adapter caps exposing the tender looking inards, and juggling rear caps, lenses etc, was getting old. Also, I dislike tripods, so the Optical Stabilization will be welcome. I also use a D800E; that camera and the Tamron 24~70 f2.8 VC lens has been my most productive lens producing a high rate of saleable "keepers" because of the VC.
This is a great site...thanks all.
Dave in NJ

 

[dandrewk]

Dave - no worries. You are substituting three great lenses for one great lens. The only thing you are losing is bulk/weight and inconvenience.

I'm still debating if I want to sell my FE35. It has a lot of image quality in a real tiny package, but now it's a bit redundant.

 

[gurtch]

Thanks dandrewk. Bit of a dilemma, as I still have my complete Sony Alpha A900 DSLR system including camera body, Zeiss 16-35, Zeiss 24-70 and Sony G 70-300 lenses, and a bunch of Minolta legacy lenses. I have been holding on to them, as I had been patiently waiting for a higher Mp A mount DSLR from Sony. I am in the minority, but I still prefer optical finders to electronic finders. I got tired of waiting for Sony, so when the Nikon D800E was announced, I built another system. Makes no sense, but this is a hobby for me (I am 78 and retired), so I need not justify my vices.
Best regards
Dave in NJ

 

[gurtch]

The 16-35mm lens was delivered yesterday. It came with a notice saying I should update the A7R firmware to version 1.02 or later. I had 1.01. I went to Sony's site and downloaded to my PC version 1.10, but I somehow really fouled up the upgrade and the camera went completely dead. I guess at my age, I sometimes get impatient, and don't follow instructions to the letter. In near panic mode, I re-downloaded the upgrade, then started the installation, apparently from scratch, as it took forever to install. All is well, the camera now works properly.
Best regards from NJ seashore.
Dave

 

[mjm6]

Interesting... I didn't see a note about that with my new 16-35. I'm sure my FW is 1.01, because it hasn't been updated. Seems to be working fine, but I'll update the FW on the camera.

Thanks for the note on this.


---Michael

 

[GrahamWelland]

With respect to the A7r firmware upgrades, I doubt Dave that you had finger trouble as it also took me three attempts with one of A7r's for the firmware update to complete correctly. It seems very sensitive to battery levels, way the wind blows, phase of the moon etc it seems to me. Compounded by each failure also sucking down the battery leading to a repeat fail.

The 16-35 is definitely worth the trouble though.

 

[turtle]

I had problems updating firmware in both my A7 and A7R despite precisely following the instructions. I got the dreaded dead cam with the A7R, but kept trying and eventually it 'took'. A pretty awful process I have to say!