Disappointed with a77 and 16-50 2.8

arj wrote: Do I see right that your RAW was shot at 1/160? Was it handheld? Steadyshot on/off? Also, I dont think the Sony 16-50 is a lens which can be compared to a 24-105 f/4L glass. Still I would expect it to be a bit better in the corners. Try the A77 with a different lens and see if this improoves.

Yes, all handheld, all with IS or Steadyshot on.

I've been spending some more time with the camera, tried out the Sony 55-300 that was "bundled" by B&H for $200 - I was expecting to be junk and it's actually quite impressive. Old Minolta 50 f/1.4 looks great, Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 looks great.

I'm thinking the (my?) 16-50 is just a turd.

Really liking the camera though, some amazing features. Viewfinder is fantastic.
Need to actually print something as soon as I can take a decent picture.


Thanks again.

My 2 cents worth:

1. The 16-50 is a good lens. But it is not in the same league as your L series lens in terms of sharpness. Canon is the market leader for this. The Sony equivalent would be a Zeiss lens. Even then, I doubt Zeiss would even be as sharp as Canon, however you should get better IQ.
2. I actually prefer the colours of the a77 compared to my Canon 5d, which is what you have.
3. Noise at iso above 1600 has always been an issue with the a77.
4. I have taken plenty of sharp photos with the 16-50. As another user mentioned, f4 will give you this result. Sharper, in fact, than my business partner's Nikon lenses.
5. Update your firmware to fix the slow f stop issue.

I'm starting to think that you may have a dud lens. I have a Sony 50mm lens that was taking terrible shots, producing dull colours. It was only later that I realised that it was a dud with fine dust on the inside of the lens.

I really like the Sony 16-50mm. Great color, good sharpness, fast focus, useful focal range. My only complaint was the distortion at 16mm, which was pretty noticeable. I wish they had kept it as a 17-50mm in an attempt to minimize the distortion, but oh well.

A77 works great in low level light. Noisy yes but very acceptable.
A77 70-200 f2.8 Sony I was riding pontoon boat camera set on the rail.
Raw file.

Boat Parade 2012

Holy CRAP, the new lens is amazing!!!!

Just got my replacement. The new lens is in an entirely different league. I'm now convinced the first one was a serious dud. I can't tell you how excited and pleased I am. Can't wait to get out and shoot.
Will post some new pics soon.

Glad you've got it sorted.

I have the A77 & 16-50, when I read your first post I though "I don't recognise this at all". I'm really surprised that a lens this poor passed the QA tests. Maybe it was given a hefty knock during transit?

Anyway enjoy the new (now working) system - it really is an impressive beastie.


The one thing I have that improves it still further is DxO, you can get as good results with ACR, but it takes a lot more work. DxO has the best profiles for both the lens and the sensor, it simply makes the most of the data available.

If you then want to adjust the conversion for artistic effects this is done by taking the standard profiled conversion and then 'biasing' it in specific ways you choose.

H

Thanks for the DxO tip. I downloaded the demo.