Customer Ratings & Reviews

I know this lens is more on the pricier side but it’s worth it.

One of the best lenses from Sony very versatile I recommend this lens.

I opened this lens and it would not go onto the mount. I tried 3 times using the pressure I normally use with my other lens. I then tried my old lens, no problem. Tried again with a little more pressure thinking it was just tight since new. Would only turn 1/2 the normal distance and not lock in. I took it off and looking more closely noted the black part inside the metal mount ring was elevated where my other lenses are not. This was not allowing it to turn in and lock. I called Sony and they told my to send it in for repair and then I would have to wait for it to be returned. I do not want a repaired lens at this price right out of the box. They were totally unhelpful. I also have concern if this could have caused damage to my camera body trying to get it turned on. Luckily I bought it at best buy and they are great! I returned it and they are sending me another by tomorrow. They also discussed how to check the camera body for damage and were very helpful. Love my A6500 but after this poor customer service by them and terrible quality control on an expensive lens bad feeling about sony and future purchases of their products. They don't care. Best Buy on the other hand was great, helpful, and understood my concerns of possible damage to my camera.

I bought this lens in order to have a true pro level normal zoom for my a6000, hoping for the equivalent of my 24-70mm 2.8 on my A7II. I use my a600 for general purposes and save the A7II for more “serious” work due to the larger size and weight. OVERALL Overall this lens is quite good- It’s very sharp, it focuses fast, and the size and weight are quite manageable on the a6000 body; however, the lack of image stabilization makes it challenging to use in some situations, although one could argue both that it’s intended for use on the newer a6500 & a6600 bodies (both have in-body stabilization) and that the lack of image stabilization forces you to adopt good habits, such as practicing steady camera holding and proper breathing techniques. The 2.8 maximum aperture allows for good bokeh as well as enhanced low-light functionality, although you do need to increase ISO in order to minimize image blur in many situations. THE GOOD Pro-level standard midrange zoom for the Sony a6xxx/a5xxx bodies. Excellent sharpness and bright colors across all focal lengths. Manageable size and weight compared to the 24-70mm F2.8 G Master for the Sony full-frame lines. Lens feels well-built and is marketed as being weather sealed. THE BAD Very pricey! For the same amount of money (or less) you can buy primes, such as the excellent Sigma 16 and 30mm 1.4 lenses which are just as sharp and much faster, with money left over for a basic zoom lens. You could even buy a full-frame A7II with a 28-70mm zoom lens for the same price. It’s a great lens if you are invested in the Sony APS-C line, but if you are just starting out you might be better off going in a different direction. No G Master designation. It’s a G designation, but this lens would have been perfect as the first G Master for the Sony APS-C line. The specifications seem to indicate that this lens could be a G Master but Sony chose to go with the G designation instead. THE UGLY The lack of image stabilization makes this lens difficult to use in many situations if you have an older a6xxx body. It seems to be aimed at the newer a6500/a6600 bodies, which makes sense as those cameras are aimed at the more experienced photographer than the other Sony APS-C bodies. If you don’t have one of those stabilized bodies you may find that this lens is not as useful as expected, although one can argue that that it forces you to adopt some better habits, such as proper holding techniques. Stabilization would have made the lens heavier and possibly more expensive, although several lower quality zoom lenses have this feature at much lower price points (such as the 18-105 F4 and the kit 16-50mm lenses). The lack of stabilization makes this lens even more difficult to use on the a5xxx bodies since they have no EVF and so you have to hold the camera at arm’s length, which makes it even harder to hold the camera steady.

I used to travel with the Sigma Trio for Sony APS-C: 16mm, 30mm, 56mm F/1.4 and the quality was amazing. However, being the heavy traveler that I am (up to 6 continents this year, yes, I said continents, not countries!) I need something more travel friendly. Switching between 3 primes was just soooo annoying. At one point I think I swapped lenses 20-30 times in one hour. This 16-55mm G lens gives me just as good as image quality and now the extra convenience. Also for travel, I found myself shooting a lot of environmental portraits at F/2.8 - F/5.6. For example if the background is too blurred (i.e. Eiffel Tower or the Egyptian pyramids) then it doesn't show the beautiful scenery. Therefore I am not missing out much on the Sigma's F/1.4 at all. Now all I need is for Sony to make a APSC super wide angle zoom version 2 (update the Sony E 10-18mm f/4 to a GM or G series!)