Sony - FE 16-25mm F2.8 G Wide Zoom Lens for E-mount Cameras - Black

Excellent lens. I use this for real estate with my 14MM and the quality is on point in comparison to that lens. The 14 is heavier than this lens and it feels better built but this lens is great. The weight is perfect for gimbal use which I use all day. If you’re going from a 16-35 GM you’re going to be super happy with the weight. Also you won’t need as large of a gimbal to use it. I have both the small and large ronin and I can now use the smaller ronin all day with this lens. The heavier set up use to make my back hurt and with this set up that issue has stop.

I love this lens it is extremely versatile and budget-friendly for my first lens. I use it in almost every setting

I love this lens and I’ve added a photo that I’ve take with it. I have it on the Sony a7RV

Great Compact Lightweight Fast Quiet autofocus Low distortion Good for macro shots Great for low light Great sun stars if you are a fan Not So Great External zoom Limited zoom range AF/MF switch hard to use by feel This review comes from a standpoint of a prosumer that uses the lens for content for work. I mostly do landscape and macro photography. I am not as well versed on full usage compared to a full-time professional photographer and so this lens is a perfect fit having the key features without being as high and as their G Master line. Out of the box the lens is surprisingly light and compact. You could be forgiven for mistaking it for the kit lens. It is that compact. The weight isn’t much different either, but that f/2.8 aperture is a dead giveaway. While I mostly do landscape photography, the weight feels far more manageable for vloggers. Also, with such a wide angle you could keep the camera closer and minimize shaking without relying on electronic stabilization as well as reduce arm strain. It does have an external focus, but it doesn’t move very far and likely won’t affect balance if you use a gimble. For my main usage, it handles low light easily and can pull detail out of landscapes at night with limited noise even without a tripod. It creates nice bokeh balls that are slightly oblong at f/2.8 and become round starbursts as you step up. Daytime macro shots are sharp with limited distortion mainly evident in the corners at f/2.8. It quickly resolves as you step up. It also does a respectable job at portrait photography with a nice bokeh. If you like sun stars, they are very clean and crisp at f/22. It does exhibit minor issues with flare in certain scenarios and in some cases the included hood helps. The hood can store reversed on the lens, but it does block access to the AF/MF switch and lock button. Autofocus is smooth, fast, and silent with little to no focus breathing. It is fast enough to keep up with my dog. Unfortunately, I’m not always fast enough. The manual focus ring feels smooth and tight. While zoom doesn’t do much it is also smooth and tight. Adjusting f-stops is easy with satisfying clicks between stops and a firm click to lock out manual controls. So far, the only issues I have found are minor. On my Alpha a7iii lens correction is grayed out. In checking, I am on version 4.0 firmware and the latest is 4.01 but there is no mention of support. That said, distortion is minimal and primarily when used wide open. It is rarely visible in landscapes and can be easily corrected in post if needed. If you prefer to have distortion corrected in body, you may want to verify your camera body supports this lens directly. Another issue is the AF/MF switch. It isn’t very pronounced and doesn’t move easily. While this is good to prevent accidental changes it does make it harder for you to turn it on and off without turning the camera around to find the switch. Overall, the Sony FE 16-25mm f/2.8 lens is a versatile lens to have in your bag. While others are better in certain areas, this lens makes you question if you want to add the extra weight. The only area it falls short in is zoom which could be fixed by pairing it with its companion zoom lens.

Since I started shooting way way back, I’ve been a Sony user. I fell in love with their bodies but way back then, the lenses weren’t always the best. Those days are way behind us now. There are so many E-Mount options out there now from Sony that you can start to get picky. That said, I’m still picking this as my go to wide angle from now on. It’s so light, like a lot of people mentioned, but seriously, you’ll understand when you hold it. I have an 85mm from another manufacturer and I love it, but it’s like attaching a VW bug to my camera body. This lens is so much lighter and that means hiking and street photography will have less weight to lug around and can easily travel with you. But none of that matters if it’s not also a good piece of glass. And no, that’s not an Orange G on the side, it’s just a G but you might be fooled if you saw images they took side by side. The new GM’s are still gonna blow this out of the water, but stack it up against some older models and you might be needing a pixel peep to spot the difference. So obviously I love this lens, let’s talk about why. DESIGN: Like I said, it’s lightweight and small, which is great for obvious reasons. It also has only a small amount of barrel extension when using the zoom. This is going to be especially important for gimbal users. I did not test this, but I think you’d be pretty safe to use this zoom without much if any changes to your balance. Obviously depending on your gimbal but it really only moves out a tiny bit. There’s a focus, zoom, and aperture ring. All are exactly how you want them to feel and the aperture ring will even change depending on how you want it to feel. If you want clicks, flip a switch. If you want a smooth dial, flip it back. The zoom ring is tight but smooth but not too tight….it’s just right. Lastly, the lens has a MF/AF switch just below the custom button switch. These buttons sit perfectly where your thumb will probably rest and are easy to feel with your finger without needing to take your eye out of the viewfinder. The focus switch is stiff enough you won’t accidently hit it and the C button has a satisfying “click” press. IMAGE QUALITY: So what about the photos? I haven’t had this lens super long yet so I have not tested it on the job, but doing some test shots around the area I am liking the potential here. The biggest standout to me is the focal length. With such a wide angle but short focal length, you can really do some creative looks and get right up close if needed. Attached are two photos showing this. The image of the Marigold flower was taken from the distance shown in the next photo. That’s crazy how close you can get. I even took some photos focused on my wife’s eye and pushed in as close as I could while still keeping focus and I almost bumped her nose! I’d upload those photos, but they look creepy that close up on an eye to be honest. BUT it was very impressive to see the quality was so good I could see myself in the reflection in her eye. Like some CSI stuff, ENHANCE. So suffice to say, this lens is very sharp and produces great images. At wide open, there may be more softness in the corners, but like any lens, move a few stops and that quickly becomes sharp. The bokeh is smooth and the sunbursts and higher F stops are really great in my opinion. I uploaded a few other photos of examples in shadows, into the sun, and dynamic light, etc. They’re all shot around golden hour, (so no, that’s not an orange glow from the lens or body) and I didn’t edit them other than some light balance and maybe saturation. I did not do any lens corrections other than what PS/camera RAW may have done automatically. I shot the images on a sony A7iii. I also took a few pictures, not seen here, of the trees directly into the sun and, besides not being the most pleasing composition, they handled the light pretty well. I didn’t see any major purple edges or anything around the leaves and branches and I only got a few light flare issues from certain angles. OVERALL: So yeah, I think it’s safe to say I really like this lens. It’s still a lot of money, but it’s not anywhere near the price of a GM series and obviously not going to perform the same, but you will still get amazing performance from this lens. It’s just the right amount of zoom, and at 16mm you can frame large buildings or scenes in tight quarters and still fit it all into your composition. Vloggers will love the wide angle for many reasons, including more room to crop in for shake compensation. I can’t wait to do more landscape and astrophotography with this lens and even some environmental portrait work. This lens is definitely going in my “always pack it” pile and just became my new favorite for video and photo! I would highly recommend it for any shooters (vid or photo) that needs a better midrange wide angle option that works amazingly with their sony camera body. The images are fantastic, the build and design is well thought out and light weight and G on the side tells you its quality. Buy it.