Sony - 16-50mm F/35-56 Retractable Zoom Lens Review

April 19, 2022 Post a Comment

In summary

Well-nigh people volition acquire this lens with i of Sony'due south Due east-mount cameras and, equally a kit lens it covers a useful range of focal lengths and performs reasonably well. The power zoom and image stabilisation are handy for video shooting and the AF motor is quiet enough to produce minimal interference in film manner.

One of the best features of this lens is its compact size, which will suit family snapshooters, travellers and street photographers. Mounted on a minor camera body it provides a relatively inconspicuous kit.

Potential purchasers should exist aware that the inherent baloney and vignetting in this lens are loftier. Consequently, it is best used with a modern body that includes auto-correction for these aberrations.

Total review

Since its launch in September 2012, the SELP1650 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 Power Zoom lens has been a popular pick as a kit lens for Sony'due south Due east-mount cameras. Weighing only 116 grams, information technology'due south a suitable partner for the α5000 camera nosotros used for this review. It covers a zoom range equivalent to 24-75mm with the APS-C sized sensor, which many photographers will prefer to the xviii-55mm kit zoom that is traditionally offered with these cameras.

Side view of the SELP1650 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 Power Zoom lens, showing its meaty size. (Source: Sony.)

Similar many recent lenses for compact system cameras (CSCs), this lens includes a power zoom setting that provides motorised control over its focal length via a slider on the side of the barrel or the zoom collar on the α5000's shutter release. If the camera is in AF fashion, the ring on the barrel can too exist used to suit the zoom; in manual focus way, this band controls focusing.

The optical design features nine elements in eight groups and includes 4 aspherical elements and one fabricated from ED (extra-low dispersion) drinking glass. Autofocusing is driven by a micro-motor. Both ability zoom and AF drive are well suited to shooting video as they are repose and operate smoothly.

Who's it for?
Virtually people will learn this lens with one of Sony'due south Due east-mount cameras and, as a kit lens it covers a useful range of focal lengths and performs reasonably well. The power zoom and image stabilisation are handy for video shooting and the AF motor is repose plenty to produce minimal interference in movie mode.

One of the best features of this lens is its compact size, which volition conform family snapshooters, travellers and street photographers. Mounted on a small camera body information technology provides a relatively inconspicuous kit.

Potential purchasers should be enlightened that the inherent distortion and vignetting in this lens are high. Consequently, it is best used with a modern body that includes auto-correction for these aberrations.

Build and Ergonomics
The metal outer shell and mounting plate create an impression of quality but, overall, this lens is congenital to a price. The finish on the inner barrel is a piddling rough equally is the plastic slider that controls the power zoom.

The only adjustment band "" which controls manual focusing or zooming, depending on the focus made setting "" is located right at the forepart of the lens. Information technology'south approximately 12 mm broad and carries a double row of fine ridges near its trailing edge.

This band turns freely when the camera is switched off and provides picayune in the way of tactile feedback when power is on. Manual focusing is electronically controlled.

Powering upwardly the camera extends the inner barrel to roughly 52 mm, compared with the 30 mm overall length of the lens when the camera is switched off. Although the inner barrel moves a little when the lens is zoomed in and out, its overall length doesn't change significantly.

As the lens is zoomed, the maximum reduces rapidly. Maximum and minimum apertures changes with focal length are shown in the table below.

Focal Length	Max. aperture	Min. aperture
16mm	f/3.5	f/22
35mm	f/v.6	f/32
50mm	f/5.6	f/36

Both focusing and zooming are electronically controlled from the camera, which as well controls the image stabilisation. The optical stabiliser can provide up to three f-stops of shutter speed advantage with reasonable reliability.

Performance
Imatest showed the operation of this lens to exist somewhat mixed. At the optimal focal length and aperture settings (24mm at f/v) information technology was just able to meet expectations for the xx-megapixel sensor on the α5000 photographic camera we used for our tests.

But that was in the middle of the frame. Edge softening was substantial at wider aperture settings for all focal lengths, every bit shown in the graph of our Imatest results, below.

Lateral chromatic abnormality was simply as variable, beingness mainly negligible at shorter focal lengths but reaching into the 'depression' zone from the centre of the zoom range onwards. In the graph of our Imatest results below, the red line separates negligible and low CA while the green line marks the border of the moderate CA zone.

Some degree of auto-correction for chromatic aberration is applied by the α5000's BIONZ processor. In-camera corrections are also practical to counteract baloney and vignetting in JPEGs and there are no options for switching them off. However, both flaws are quite severe when you examine uncorrected raw files, particularly those shot with shorter focal length settings. Examples are provided in the Samples section below.

Fortunately, by about the 35mm focal length, rectilinear distortion is finer negligible in uncorrected files and at 50mm the slight pincushion distortion is largely irrelevant.

The lens is as well somewhat flare-prone and no compatible lens hood is available. It likewise accepts 40.5 mm bore filters, which may not exist readily available as this isn't a popular size.

With a minimum focusing distance of 25 cm, this lens isn't platonic for close-ups. The Macro setting in the α5000's Scene selections sub-menu provided a pocket-sized extension of the photographic camera's shut focusing capabilities, making information technology possible to shoot close-ups of larger flowers. Bokeh in these shots was surprisingly attractive, although the camera selected a relatively small lens aperture by default.

Autofocusing speed is largely dictated by the camera and the selected focusing mode. We've covered these aspects of performance in our review of the α5000 photographic camera.

Determination
There aren't many lenses in Sony'southward E-mountain range and then anyone wanting a compact zoom that spans these focal lengths has no culling to the SELP1650. For the average snapshooter, the compact size, powered zoom and stabilisation provided by this lens will be very attractive. And its performance is certainly skillful plenty.

Serious photographers with deeper pockets and larger camera numberless should probably opt for a set of East-mountain prime number lenses, made up from the current offerings past Sony, Sigma and Carl Zeiss. But they would too select a higher-featured camera in Sony'southward range and be prepared to pay the penalty of a hefty price tag and much more gear to carry.

SPECS

Picture angle: 83 to 32 degrees
Minimum aperture: f/22-36
Lens structure: 9 elements in 8 groups (including iv aspherical elements and one ED chemical element)
Lens mountain: Sony E-mount
Diaphragm Blades: seven (circular aperture)
Focus drive: Micro motor
Stabilisation: Optical SteadyShot
Minimum focus: 25-thirty cm
Maximum magnification: 0.215x
Filter size: 40.5 mm
Dimensions (Diameter 10 L): 64.7 x 29.9 mm
Weight: 116 grams
Standard Accessories: front and terminate caps