Sony SEL1670Z E Mount – APS-C Vario
Sony SEL1670Z E Mount – APS-C Vario
T 16-70 mm F4.0 Zeiss Zoom Lens – Black
About this item
16-70 mm Carl Zeiss lens, with AA technology, maximum F4 aperture across the focal range.
Steady shot helps keep images sharp.
Mid-range standard zoom lens
Steady shot image stabilization
APS-C format, E-mount
Product Description
This lightweight mid-range zoom combines renowned ZEISS optical performance with a constant F4 maximum aperture for consistently fine performance throughout the zoom range. Linear motor drive achieves smooth, quiet operation that, coupled with responsive AF, makes this lens ideal for movies and stills in a wide range of shooting situations. Optical Steady Shot image stabilization is built in there. The default setting for the Zoom Setting is Optical zoom only. The default setting for Image Image Size] is [L]. To use the smart zoom, change Image Image Size to [Medium] or [Small]. Zoom functions other than the optical zoom are not available when shooting in the following situations: Sweep Panorama, Smile/Face Detect. is set to Smile Shutter, image quality is set to RAW or RAW & Joint Photographic Experts Group, Image Record Setting is set to 120p 50M/100p 50M, You cannot use the Smart Zoom function with movies.
Top reviews
Overall, this is the best E-mount zoom lens I have tried – and I have tried quite a few. As well as the 50mm and 35mm Sony primes, I have owned the 16-50 kit lens, the original 18-200mm Sony lens, the 18-200 power zoom lens, and the 18-105 G lens.
After buying the excellent Sony A6000 camera, So took with me that I wanted to find the ideal lens for me to use with it.
I went on a lens buying spree and tried most of the Sony E-mount zoom line-up.
Compared to the other Sony zooms that I tried; this lens has the following positive points:
(1) Handling – the size of this lens is perfect for my A6000 and balances well. Like most Sony zooms I tried, it feels sturdy, well built, and easy to use. It is one area where it excels compared to the 16-50 kit lens. The kit lens is very compact but is a bit awkward to use. I found the 18-105G lens to be physically too big (though not that heavy) for a NEX camera. I preferred the 18-200mm for how it felt on the A6000, although it is probably richer. The 18-200 power zoom lens is suitable for video cameras, and I would not recommend it for an A6000.
(2) Centre Sharpness – this is the sharpest zoom lens I have used and compares pretty well to the Sony 50mm prime – which is probably the sharpest E-mount lens available. However, you won’t feel the same if you look at the corners – especially when using the broadest f4 aperture. Stopping down to f5.6 bits of help, but the corners still are not great. One point to note is that I bought two copies of this lens, which varied significantly in centre sharpness. Both had similar poor corner sharpness (although not the same corners at the same focal lengths), but one had much better centre sharpness.
(3) Range – I initially thought that 70mm would not be long enough for me as previously, the lens I had used most was my 18-200. However, in practice, the 70mm seems to be enough for the photos I like to take. I often hit the 50mm limit on the kit lens, but I don’t do this near as much on this lens even though it “only” has 20mm more.
Maybe it is because, for portraits, 50mm isn’t quite long enough, whereas 70mm seems to cover portrait photography well. One area where it beats all the other zoom lenses, other than the kit lens, is that it is 16mm at the wide end compared to 18mm. It may not sound much, but it makes a big difference for landscape shots. Corresponding to the 18-105G, I missed the 16mm more when using the 18-105G than the extra 35mm on the long end when using the 16-70z. Of course, if you are after zoom, you will be better off with one of the 18-200 lenses.