Sony SAL1635Z 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12 x 5.4 x 5.2 inches ; 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001FORHOW
• Item model number: SAL1635Z
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

Sony System 16-35mmF2.8 ZA SSM

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Wide Angle Zoom Lens, April 6, 2009

By 

Photo/Video Gearhead - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony SAL1635Z 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens (Electronics)

With the 16-35mm f2.8 lens, Sony/Zeiss have introduced yet another high quality lens to complement their professional grade 85mm f/1.4 Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera, 135mm f/1.8 Sony SAL-135F18Z 135mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera and 24-70mm f/2.8 Sony 24 -70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Cameras lenses.

The only alternative to this lens is the rare and coveted Minolta 17-35mm f3.5 G lens. I have tested both lenses using the Imatest lens test software. At an aperture of f3.5, the Sony/Zeiss 16-35 lens at 16mm exhibits better corner sharpness and less chromatic aberration than does the Minolta 17-35 G lens at 17mm. The only advantage of the Minolta 17-35 lens is that it is smaller and lighter than the Sony/Zeiss 16-35 lens.

A review of the Sony/Zeiss 16-35 lens may be found at the lemondedelaphoto web site. It is written in French but it can be translated via Google.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Favorite Lens, June 10, 2011

By 

Andrew - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony SAL1635Z 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens (Electronics)

This lens is my favorite so far for the A900, despite it being the most expensive. Before I purchased this lens I already had the 24-70 so I doubted if it was worth the extremely high price tag for basically an extra 8mm focal length. Needless to say, I use this lens more than any other due to the ultra wide 16mm which is super sharp all around when stopped down to f8-f13 making it perfect as a landscape lens. Also it is very useful at 24mm or so, even if you do have the 24-70 since it has less distortion and is slightly sharper since it is in the middle its zoom where the 24-70 is at its widest. Build quality is outstanding, including the lens hood and SSM focusing which works great. If there are any faults with this lens it would be the high level of barrel distortion and vignetting at 16mm, but this is a problem with all ultra wide lenses and this one rates better than the equivalent offerings from nikon and canon (DxOmark tests as my source). I would recommend this lens to any landscape photographer using full frame who wants to take very sharp daytime shots stopped down and low light shots at f2.8 which still produces good images. If using APS-C sonys (which are all but 2) this lens is not worth it since you would be paying a lot of money for a lens that is not very wide and very heavy on the smaller framed APS-C cameras. The CZ16-80 is by far the best choice, along with one of the aps-c ultra wide zooms, even though they would be a few stops slower.