Sony Carl Zeiss 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 DT Vario-Sonnar T* A-mount lens review by QuietOC
 QuietOC#29663 date: Aug-20-2016 | |
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| sharpness: 3.5 color: 5 build: 3 distortion: 4 flare control: 5 overall: 4.1 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony DT 16-50 F2.8 SSM Sony E 16-50 F3.5-5.6 PZ OSS Sony DT 16-105 F3.5-5.6 Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM Tamron SP 17-50 F2.8 Sony E 18-55 F3.5-5.6 OSS Sony DT 18-55 F3.5-5.6 SAM I/II Sony DT 18-70 F3.5-5.6 Sony DT 18-135 F3.5-5.6 SAM Sony DT 18-200 F3.5-6.3 Tamron 18-250 F3.5-6.3 Canon EF 22-55 F4-5.6 USM |
| price paid: | 240 USD (refurb) |
| positive: | Zeiss logos & T* Useful range IQ at 35 mm f/4.5 at 80 mm Non-rotating filter/hood Non-rotating focus ring in AF Sharp wide-open in center Good contrast Close focusing In-body lens compensation |
| negative: | Build issues with early copies View shifts erratically during operation Very short focus throw Very mushy corners around 20 mm Noisy mechanical focus Zoom creep f/4.5 from 35 mm Lateral CA |
| comment: | The original retail price was $700 when released in 2007 and is now $1000. My first used copy looked very nice and came with the hood and both caps purchased on eBay. After selling this copy I purchased a second older copy that had a locked focus ring and wouldn't auto focus to the minimum distance. I then bought a factory refurbished copy from Secondipity. "JAPAN" It is slightly faster optically than the other variable aperture DT normal zooms but slower than the full-frame normal zooms. It reports f/3.5 at 18 mm unlike the 16-105. A maximum aperture of f/4 at the long end would have been nice. This lens performs similarly to the other APS-C normal zooms with good center sharpness wide-open and variable corner performance with a good deal of distortion at both ends. It's best image quality is at 35 mm which is good for an APS-C lens. It is a bit better at 35 mm than the 35 F1.8. However, the corners are quite soft at most other focal lengths. The 18-55 kit has much less focus plane curvature at the wide end. The 16-105 is also slightly better on the wide end. Overall decent performance for a cheap kit zoom, but quite poor for its cost. Test chart comparison with Tamron 17-50 F2.8 and Sony DT 18-135 SAM. |
; 24MPrating summary
- total reviews: 215
- sharpness: 4.67
- color: 4.80
- build: 3.83
- distortion: 4.20
- flare control: 4.55
- overall: 4.41