Meet the Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G
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It’s been a long time since Sony released new lenses for its APS-C bodies, and the new 16-55 F2.8 G is a pleasant surprise. The lens’ zoom range is equivalent to 24-82mm on a full-frame body and fills in a gap in Sony’s lineup which, up until now, has been mostly comprised of slow kit zooms. The one exception is the Sony/Zeiss 16-70mm F4, which has a more versatile range, but is a stop slower than the new 16-55.
Given its spec, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that the 16-55mm F2.8 is on the pricey side, with an MSRP of $ 1399 US. The lenses most similar to this one are the Canon EF-S 17-55mm F2.8 ($ 829 US, but not as wide) and Fujifilm 16-55mm F2.8 ($ 1199 US).
Meet the Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G
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The 16-55mm F2.8 G has a total of 17 elements, including two aspherical, two advanced aspherical and three ED (extra-low dispersion) lenses. It has 9 rounded aperture blades, which Sony (naturally) says produces beautiful bokeh. Sony uses a Nano AR coating to reduce ghosting and flare, and the front element has a fluorine coating to repel oil and water. Speaking of water, the 16-55 F2.8 is dust and moisture resistant.
Sony uses an ‘XD’ linear motor to drive the focusing group, which is the same type of motor found its more expensive G Master lenses. The lens can focus down to 0.33m (1.1ft), with a maximum magnification of 0.66x. The manual focus ring has a linear response, which videographers will appreciate.
Meet the Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G
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As you can see from the above photo, the 16-55mm is remarkably compact for a fast zoom, even one for crop-sensor cameras. At wide-angle, the lens is 10cm (3.9″) long and it does’t extend that much farther at full telephoto (Sony does not publish the actual length). It weighs in at 494g (1.1lbs), which is more than 100 grams lighter than the Canon EF-S 17-55mm F2.8.
Just under the ‘G’ is the focus hold button – its function can be customized on the camera. Over to the right is the AF/MF switch.
Going long: the Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS
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Sony also announced a lens for the wildlife photographers out there, in the form of the 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS. The lens has an equivalent focal length of 105-525mm when mounted on an APS-C body, which is an incredibly versatile range, though its slow maximum aperture range makes this lens best suited for shooting outdoors. For those wondering if they can stretch the focal length out even further using a teleconverter, the answer is ‘no’.
The 70-350 has a total of 19 elements, which include 1 aspherical and 3 ED lenses. As with the 16-55, the 70-350 uses an XD linear motor to quietly drive the focusing group. There are 7 circular aperture blades on the 70-350.
Image stabilization is a must on lenses like these, and the 70-350 has it, though Sony doesn’t publish any estimates on how many stops of shake reduction the lens offers.
Going long: the Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS
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Despite its focal length, the 70-350 is remarkably compact. When collapsed it’s 142mm (5.6″) long, and is of reasonable length even at full telephoto. It weighs in at just 625g (1.4lbs). The lens is resistant to dust and moisture.
As with the 16-55, the 70-350 has a customizable focus hold button and an AF/MF switch. There’s also a switch for turning OSS (Sony-speak for image stabilization) on and off, and a zoom lock switch that’s not visible in this photo.
The 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS will set you back $ 1000, which isn’t a bad deal considering that the FE 70-300 F4.5-5.6 G OSS lens sells for just under $ 1200.
Wrap up
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After a long drought, it’s nice to see Sony releasing APS-C lenses again, especially given the rate at which they still release a6000-series bodies. While everyone likes a relatively compact superzoom lens, it’s great that Sony finally released a fast lens that can serve as a nice replacement to the slow, plasticky kit lenses that often come bundled.
You can view photos from both of these lenses in our a6100 and a6600 galleries (filter by lens to find them on the desktop version of our site). We’ll have dedicated lens galleries when the 16-55 and 70-350 are in our hands in the not-too-distant future.
In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts about these new lenses in the comments below.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)