Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM Review - Review 2022

Sony is expanding its premium G Principal lens line with an f/2.8 zoom that covers an ultra-wide angle field of view. The Fe sixteen-35mm F2.8 GM ($ii,199.99) is smaller and lighter than competing lenses for SLR systems—a do good of a mirrorless system design—while maintaining the dust- and wet-resistant build that is a key feature of the FE lens system. It matches a premium design with top-end optics, delivering strong results both in the field and in the lab. Information technology's an expensive lens, but backs up its price with excellent peformance, and earns our Editors' Choice.

Blueprint

The 16-35mm measures 4.8 past iii.5 inches (Hd), weighs 1.5 pounds, and supports 82mm front filters. It'south bigger all around than Sony's own f/4 take on the design, the Vario-Tessar T* Fe 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS, which measures three.9 by 3.one inches, weighs 1.ane pounds, and supports 72mm forepart filters.

The F2.8 zoom is part of the K Master series. It's Sony'due south designation for its most premium lenses, which are designed to deliver the sharpest possible images, and pleasingly blurred backgrounds. You don't think of a 16mm equally a lens to shoot with a shallow depth of field, but the GM has a solid close focus capability, and can certainly deliver some bokeh when zoomed in.

The butt is polycarbonate and finished in black. Focus and zoom rings are knurled, then you can turn them comfortably, and the lens extends a bit from the barrel as you lot accommodate the focal length. The front end chemical element is coated with fluorine, which resists grease and h2o, making it easy to clean inadvertent fingerprints and drops of h2o with ease. A reversible hood is included, along with a soft case and front end and back caps.

There are two controls on the lens itself. The Focus Hold push sits on the left side of the barrel and is used to suspension autofocus operation. It can exist reconfigured if desired. For example, y'all can prepare it to activate the Eye AF part, which prioritizes focus for eyes and faces. The other control is the switch to change between AF and MF operation.

Manual focus is electronic, an engineering necessity to deliver the speedy autofocus driven by dual motors, only the focus ring actually has a decent corporeality of dampening. It turns smoothly, and the focus motors immediately get to work, adjusting deliberately with a irksome plough or rapidly to match a fast rack. The lens doesn't take optical stabilization, which is included in the FE 16-35mm F4. It'due south not a large deal, as the latest full-frame Sony mirrorless cameras include in-body stabilization as a rule.

The lens focuses to eleven inches (0.28-meter) throughout its zoom range. Information technology'southward not going to deliver the same intense magnification as a macro, but it does let yous get right upwards to a bailiwick and lock focus. When shooting at a wider bending it can net images with a vast background visible behind your field of study, and when zoomed in you tin mistiness backgrounds with ataraxy. The aperture features an 11-blade design, endmost down to a circle, for smooth out-of-focus highlights at narrower f-stops.

Image Quality

I tested the xvi-35mm along with Sony's highest resolution camera, the a7R III. At 16mm f/2.viii it resolves enough of item, notching three,872 lines on our Imatest sharpness exam. That's significantly better than the 2,750 lines we want to come across at a minimum, putting functioning in the very skillful to excellent range. More chiefly for such a wide lens, edge quality is only every bit good every bit the eye, an indication that the field of focus is flat and the optics are well designed.

Resolution improves at f/4, hitting 4,259 lines, an outstanding event—yous won't get too much more detail out of the a7R Three'due south sensor. It shows 4,256 lines at f/five.half dozen, 4,264 lines at f/viii, and 4,039 lines at f/xi. You should avoid stopping down further, as diffraction harms image quality, dropping resolution to iii,391 lines at f/16 and 2,477 lines at f/22.

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At 24mm f/2.8 the lens performs in line with what nosotros saw at 16mm, three,708 lines with potent performance right up to the border of the frame. Resolution jumps to 4,472 lines at f/4, and plateaus for the side by side few stops—it resolves 4,445 lines at f/5.half-dozen, 4,474 lines at f/eight, and 4,157 lines at f/eleven. We see the expected drib at f/sixteen (iii,559 lines) and f/22 (2,650 lines).

It'south at 35mm that the lens shows its only real weakness in resolution. At f/2.8 the average score drops a little bit, 3,321 lines, which it maintains through most of the frame. But the edges are soft, 2,065 lines. They get better at f/4 (2,910 lines), but aren't outstanding; the average score at f/4 is an splendid 4,146 lines, notwithstanding.

At f/5.6 the lens hits outstanding numbers from middle to edge, showing iv,568 lines on average with edges that fall just shy of 4,000 lines. It's ameliorate at f/8 (4,511 lines), with edges that are only a couple hundred lines behind the boilerplate. We come across a slight driblet at f/11 (4,180 lines), and a more noticeable i at f/16 (three,678 lines) and f/22 (two,689 lines).

The lens does show some baloney, visible if you shoot in Raw or in JPG format without in-camera corrections enabled. We see 2.6 butt baloney at 16mm, which gives straight lines an outward curved appearance. There's not visible distortion at the 24mm position, but nosotros come across about 2.1 percent pincushion at 35mm, which gives directly lines an inward bend. Thankfully it'due south modest overall, and easily removed using a Lightroom lens contour when shooting in Raw format.

The lens does testify a strong vignette when shot without in-camera illumination correction enabled. At 16mm f/2.eight the corners lag behind the eye in brightness by iii.5 stops (-3.5EV). They amend at f/iv (-ii.3EV) and f/5.6 (-i.7EV), simply there'south all the same some visible dimming at f/8 and across. It remains an issue at 24mm f/ii.8 (-two.5EV), but drops to a visible, but less distracting, -1.5EV at f/4 and narrower. At 35mm f/2.8 we run across -1.9EV, and -i.2EV at narrower f-stops. I recommend enabling the in-camera corrections when shooting JPGs. Raw photographers tin brighten corners and edges using Lightroom's lens profile.

Flare is very well controlled. I shot several images with the sunday in frame, or slightly out of frame, including shots with it peaking in from backside tree leaves. The sunbursts are there, and I managed to induce a slight bit of circular ghosting in one instance, but for the well-nigh function you won't have to worry about flare and ghosts detracting from your shots.

Conclusions

Wide-angle zoom lenses aren't the easiest things to get right, but Sony has done it with the Atomic number 26 sixteen-35mm F2.viii GM. Information technology delivers stiff resolution wide open up, and outstanding image quality when shot at f/4 and narrower. Outcome photographers will appreciate its broad, brilliant design, as it tin can exist used to work in tight spaces, similar the rooms where the bridal party gets ready before wedding, as well as in cathedrals where dim light is a challenge and flash photography is verboten.

Mural shooters will likewise appreciate its zoom range and resolution, peculiarly when paired with an a7R II or III. There is some distortion and a noticeable vignette, two mutual issues with wide zooms, but those are easily remedied using in-camera correction or software tools. The Sony Iron 16-35mm F2.8 GM earns our Editors' Choice award, and should be the first wide zoom on your list if yous're afterwards image quality with as few compromises as possible. Merely it'due south not your only choice. The Zeiss 16-35mm F4 ($1,249.99 at Dell) is a strong alternative for photographers who don't mind a narrower discontinuity or are on a stricter upkeep, and you shouldn't forget nigh the FE 12-24mm F4 G if you crave an even wider field of view.

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Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/cameras/15691/sony-fe-16-35mm-f28-gm-review

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