Sony SAL-1680Z 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T DT Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 3.2 x 3.5 inches ; 1.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000JE5CKA
• Item model number: SAL-1680Z
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 4, 2006

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

Enjoy using the professional-grade, compact, easy-to-carry Sony Carl Zeiss SAL-1680Z lens for your next photography session. Its precise optical design will make it one of your favorites. The ultimate all-in-one zoom lens designed specifically for DSLR imaging. It's the first professional-grade 5X zoom lens specifically designed for APS-size CCD image sensors--providing incredible precision in a single compact, easy-to-carry lens that carries you from 24mm wide-angle to 120mm telephoto (35mm equivalent). Advanced Carl Zeiss optical design and anti-flare T* Coating make this one of the most valued lenses in the world of digital photography.

Features:

• 5x Zoom Range: Smaller and lighter, it's the only 5x zoom lens designed specifically for the APS-size CCD imager used in the Sony α (Alpha) DSLR-A100 camera.
• Glass-Molded Aspherical Lens Elements: Two glass-molded aspherical lens elements correct visual aberrations and improve picture quality across the entire zoom range.
• Circular Aperture: Because aperture blades form a near circle at the wide openings used for low-light shots, spot-light sources have a pleasing circular defocused effect.
• Auto Clutch: In auto-focus mode, the manual focus ring does not rotate--and in manual focusing, a wider focus ring provides a solid, hands-on feel.

Compatible Models
Sony DSLR-A100, DSLR-A100K.

What's in the Box:
Lens, front and rear lens cap, SH0005 lens hood.

Product Description

The ultimate all-in-one zoom lens designed specifically for DSLR imaging. It's the first professional-grade 5X zoom lens specifically designed for APS-size CCD image sensors - providing incredible precision in a single compact, easy-to-carry lens that carries you from 24mm wide-angle to 120mm telephoto (35mm equivalent). Advanced Carl Zeiss optical design and anti-flare T Coating make this one of the most valued lenses in the world of digital photography.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great all-purpose zoom lens, November 2, 2007

By	D. H. Kim - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I recently purchased SONY A700K, which is a A700 plus SONY 18-70 zoom lens bundle. The bundled lens turned out to be a nightmare. So I purchased this SAL-1680Z. Do I like it? Let me tell you.
If you really really care about sharpness, resolution, MTF, then get multiple prime lenses. No zoom lenses match any Minolta/Sony prime lenses in this category.
But if you can compromise a little bit (just a little bit) and want some 5x zoom convenience, look no further. This lens gives you all. Yes it is not cheap for a digital-format (1.5x FOV) lens, but in addition you get the "Zeiss" color: deep and classy.
Is it perfect? No, it shows some vignetting when wide open.

Bottom line: If you have Sony Alpha 700 (or 100) and if you want a zoom lens which you can use on almost any situation, save some money and get this.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sony SAL-1680Z Lens Review, September 14, 2007

By	Roger A. Krupski (Kenmore, NY, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been an amateur photographer for years, shooting with film cameras. When I purchased my old film camera, it came with an inexpensive "kit" lens that did not perform to my expectations. I ended up having to buy a new (and better) lens for it.

I recently purchased a Sony Alpha A100 digital camera with the 18-70 mm DT "kit" lens.

Although the camera itself performs admirably, the included lens was not as sharp and crisp as I wanted or expected.

So, as before with the film cameras, I purchased a better lens for the Sony Alpha - the SAL-1680Z 16-80 mm Carl Zeiss Zoom Lens.

The lens is obviously much better quality. It feels "tighter", and it's made in Japan rather than China. The lens is also heavier than typical "cheap" plastic lenses. Not "too heavy", but the kind of weight that says "quality".

However, the big difference came when I TRIED the lens and zoomed way into the resulting digital images.

This lens is razor sharp, with absolutely no chromatic abberation at any zoom length.

The only optical "problem" with this lens is a VERY slight vignetting in the extreme corners of the image when the lens is at full wide angle (16 mm). The field of view of this lens is so wide that lens attachments such as a protective UV filter ring must be chosen carefully so that they do not intrude into the image.

The zoom is smooth... the focus is super fast and scary precise.

The lens has an internal clutch which disengages the focus ring in auto focus mode. Cheap kit lenses do not have this feature.

This lens is amazingly good - it perfectly complements the Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera.

If you buy the Sony Alpha camera, you absolutely must get this Carl Zeiss lens or another lens of similar high quality, in order to take full advantage of what the camera can do.

Edit to add: I recently purchased an A-700 camera body. Of course, this lens also works with the A-700... and the resulting pictures are even better!

This lens rates 5 stars plus!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Zeiss Zoom Lens For Sony Alpha System, November 3, 2007

By	John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is an exceptional zoom lens which owners of Konica Minolta Maxxum SLR cameras as well as Sony Alpha SLR cameras should strongly consider adding to their kits. I recently had the opportunity to use it at this year's Photo Plus East and was quite impressed with the extremely high color saturation and resolution of this lens, trying it with the brand new flagship Sony Alpha 700 SLR camera. This lens is one of the reasons why I might consider adding the Sony Alpha system to my current camera kits; the others are the Zeiss 85mm f1.4 Planar and 135mm f1.8 Sonnar lenses. Quality-wise, I think these lenses compare favorably with the late, lamented autofocus Contax N-mount Zeiss lenses (Like those lenses the new Sony Alpha Zeiss lenses are built in Japan under strict Zeiss quality control, using designs made by Zeiss at its Oberkochen, Germany headquarters, where some Zeiss lenses are still being made for the Zeiss Ikon ZM rangefinder camera system and the Hasselblad "V" series medium format cameras. I am emphasizing this point only because one Sony representative at the show claimed that Zeiss doesn't build its lenses anywhere.). Without question, this lens is more expensive than its equivalent Sony/Konica Minolta peers, but serious amateurs and professionals using either Sony Alpha or Konica Minolta Maxxum cameras will soon realize that it is well worth its price.