Sony Zeiss 16-80mm <-- any one used this in the past?

[UHDR]

Hi all. I have the new E-mount 16-70mm F4 which my wife used 99% of the time on her A6000. i really like the results i have been seeing, but I don't think I can justify getting another one for my own use.

As such, i have been eyeing up the older A-mount 16-80mm F3.5-4.5. Has anyone used it before, or still uses it? im most interested in the optical performance on 24MP sensors (A77, A77mk2, nex7, A6000, A6300 etc), since most reviews out there are based on older/lower resolution body.

Better still, if you have experience with both 16-70 and 16-80 on 24MP, i will very interested in your comments. I'm not too bothered by AF performance/reliability.

Apologies for being rude in advanced, im not interested in the alternatives like 16-50mm F2.8 or 16-105mm. im after the zeiss look. :grin:

Thanks!

 

[iiiNelson]

Hi all. I have the new E-mount 16-70mm F4 which my wife used 99% of the time on her A6000. i really like the results i have been seeing, but I don't think I can justify getting another one for my own use.

As such, i have been eyeing up the older A-mount 16-80mm F3.5-4.5. Has anyone used it before, or still uses it? im most interested in the optical performance on 24MP sensors (A77, A77mk2, nex7, A6000, A6300 etc), since most reviews out there are based on older/lower resolution body.

Better still, if you have experience with both 16-70 and 16-80 on 24MP, i will very interested in your comments. I'm not too bothered by AF performance/reliability.

Apologies for being rude in advanced, im not interested in the alternatives like 16-50mm F2.8 or 16-105mm. im after the zeiss look. :grin:

Thanks!

A few were using them a few years back on the A77. Really the main drawback that I remember was the construction quality at the time. I think they changed the construction on the newer lenses so it's worth buying new in case you need to replace/return. Optically it was pretty good as far as zooms go if the aperture size meets your needs.

I personally had the 16-50 which was a great kit lens for what it was. Similar in price but different in range.

 

[UHDR]

A few were using them a few years back on the A77. Really the main drawback that I remember was the construction quality at the time. I think they changed the construction on the newer lenses so it's worth buying new in case you need to replace/return. Optically it was pretty good as far as zooms go if the aperture size meets your needs.

I personally had the 16-50 which was a great kit lens for what it was. Similar in price but different in range.

Thanks for your reply. Indeed, i have read about the plastic gear and coating issues with earlier samples. I will look out for new-ish model. Any idea if it was ever discontinued? Thanks.

 

[SamSS]

I had it while owning the 16-50 f2.8 at the same time. IMO, the 16-80z beats it handily in term of sharpness. Extra reach, smaller in grid diameter. Only draw back was screw drive motor a little noisy.

 

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I have used my 16-80/3.5-4.5 on a A77 as my "street shooting" lens. I like that combo very much. It can deliver very good image quality. Center is good fully open but corners need stopping down.

Best regards
Erik

Hi all. I have the new E-mount 16-70mm F4 which my wife used 99% of the time on her A6000. i really like the results i have been seeing, but I don't think I can justify getting another one for my own use.

As such, i have been eyeing up the older A-mount 16-80mm F3.5-4.5. Has anyone used it before, or still uses it? im most interested in the optical performance on 24MP sensors (A77, A77mk2, nex7, A6000, A6300 etc), since most reviews out there are based on older/lower resolution body.

Better still, if you have experience with both 16-70 and 16-80 on 24MP, i will very interested in your comments. I'm not too bothered by AF performance/reliability.

Apologies for being rude in advanced, im not interested in the alternatives like 16-50mm F2.8 or 16-105mm. im after the zeiss look. :grin:

Thanks!

 

[UHDR]

I had it while owning the 16-50 f2.8 at the same time. IMO, the 16-80z beats it handily in term of sharpness. Extra reach, smaller in grid diameter. Only draw back was screw drive motor a little noisy.

Thanks Sam. Giving now your gear has probably been upgraded, now looking back, would you say even by today's zoom standard, it is still a very decent lens (e.g. using it on 24MP sensor/body)?

Hi,

I have used my 16-80/3.5-4.5 on a A77 as my "street shooting" lens. I like that combo very much. It can deliver very good image quality. Center is good fully open but corners need stopping down.

Best regards
Erik

Thanks Erik. I believe you also have the A99? apart from DR, will you say tone/sharpness will match the A99 + 24-70mm? or I'm having too much high hope for a 5x zoom? :grin:

i guess ultimately, i just want to see if the lens is too much of a bottleneck for 24MP sensor, but your reply seems to suggest that is not the case.

on a side note, i did a side by side comparison using the a6000 + 16-70mm F4 with a canon 750D + 24-105mmL. even with lower resolution, the canon resolved tiny bit more details with the 24-105L comparing to the sony. Unfortunately, at the time i did have the canon-E mount adapter, otherwise i can eliminate the possibility of A6000 strong-ish AA filter may be the cause.

 

[SamSS]

@ UHDR
I've used it with the original a77, and found myself using it more than the 16-50 SSM for outdoor with plentiful lighting.
I can live with the screw drive and would keep if it was a FF lens.

 

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

To begin with, I would say that it is a myth that modern sensors are bottlenecked by decent quality lenses. I would say it is the other way around.

That said, most zoom lenses are not uniformly sharp, they are often very sharp at the center and less sharp at the corners. As far as I recall the 16-80/3.5-4.5 has a very large sweet spot, but corners are useless wide open. Stopped down to f/8 (or so) the image is very good across.

In the sweet spot my 16-80/3.5-4.5 outperformed the Minolta 100/2.8 macro at f/8.

I did not make a lot of comparisons between the A99 and the A77. The A99 sensor is much better than the A77 sensor in my view. I have made a lot of A2 printing from the 16-80/4.5-5.6, with cameras ranging from A700 to A77.

I am probably selling of my 16-80/3.5-4.5 as I now work with A7rII and Canon lenses.

Here are some samples: http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/Shoots/samples_16-80/

These samples were selected quick and dirty from the 2950 images I have with the A77/16-80 combo.

Best regards
Erik

Thanks Erik. I believe you also have the A99? apart from DR, will you say tone/sharpness will match the A99 + 24-70mm? or I'm having too much high hope for a 5x zoom? :grin:

i guess ultimately, i just want to see if the lens is too much of a bottleneck for 24MP sensor, but your reply seems to suggest that is not the case.

on a side note, i did a side by side comparison using the a6000 + 16-70mm F4 with a canon 750D + 24-105mmL. even with lower resolution, the canon resolved tiny bit more details with the 24-105L comparing to the sony. Unfortunately, at the time i did have the canon-E mount adapter, otherwise i can eliminate the possibility of A6000 strong-ish AA filter may be the cause.