SONY 16-50MM 2.8 LENS SAMPLE PHOTOS

ABOUT THE LENS

10-19-11 our 2nd SONY SLT-A77 and SONY 16-50MM 2.8 lens came in!

It was my original intention to put our well liked MINOLTA 17-35 2.8-4 LENS up against the SONY 16-50MM 2.8 LENS in a head to head TEST and keep the winner. By the time I took the 2nd shot with the SONY 16-50 I knew I had to tell my wife to start saying goodbye to her favorite LENS. No contest was needed as it was obvious that the SONY 16-50 was the clear winner. After shooting 60 some test shots I brought the card in and loaded it into the computer. My wife already knew when the slideshow started that the SONY 16-50 was the winner by default and is about to become her new favorite LENS!

SONY has created a fantastic pair in the SONY A77 and SONY 16-50 LENS! The LENS is lightning fast, with very crisp colors and superb sharpness. The bokeh is amazing and even the tiny crops are some of the best I have seen. (I cropped a single brick out of the house down the street and it was crystal clear with no CR) With the 2x zoom feature on the SONY A77 we will have the equivalent of a 16-100 so I don't think the LENS will ever leave the CAMERA

I am not a big SONY LENS fan, we shoot our weddings with legendary MINOLTA LENSES. I find most of the common SONY LENSES to be just OK other than the "G" LENSES and now the SONY 16-50 2.8! I think this LENS is good enough to be a "G" LENS as originally announced. Although I was very skeptical before it arrived I feel very justified in the money I spent for the new SONY 16-50. I highly recommend the SONY 16-50 as a great walk around LENS or primary lens for a WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER!
Here's a link to the test shots

Update 11-26-11- After having this LENS for 6 weeks and shooting over 10,000 PHOTOS now I must say that this is one of the best LENSES we have ever shot with! For a WEDDING professional this LENS is a must have! The PHOTOS are consistently sharp, bright, and have fabulous colors. The AF is blazing fast and it fits the SONY SLT-A77 like a hand in a glove.

One of my PHOTOGRAPHERS was visiting last week so I had the opportunity to put it head to head against a MINOLTA 50MM 2.8 macro. We took the same PHOTOS with the same CAMERAS and we were both blown away at the difference in the results. Chris always thought his 50MM was a great LENS... and it is, but it does not even come close to the SONY 16-50MM for color, sharpness, or focus speed.
Test shots are posted at the bottom of the page here

Update 4-27-12
As much as we loved this lens our Minolta 28-135MM lens continuously outperformed it. We have since sold this lens and replaced it with another Minolta 28-135 and a Minolta 20MM 2.8 to cover our wide angle and extreme close-up shots. Nothing against the 16-50... it is a wonderful lens and well worth the investment. The photos continued to be sharp with excellent color and fast AF. We just decided for our particular applications the 28-135 & 20MM combo was better for our needs. We will miss the silent zooming of the 16-50 for shooting video but since we shoot video mostly at concerts the music drowns out the lens noise anyway. This was a tough decision for us but add in the mostly metal construction and the extra 85MM of zoom and it just made sense for us to be a better main lens.

Update 4-30-12

We shot our 1st wedding since our lens change and it went very well. The MRS used the Minolta 20MM 2.8 from getting ready photos until the end of the wedding and then switched to her new Minolta 28-135 for the after ceremony formal and fun shots then throughout the reception. IMO the 20MM is sharper than the Sony 16-50 was for both the (cramped quarters) before shots and the crops on 30-40 feet from the subjects. The indoor lighting was a difficult yellow orange and it was an African American wedding. The color from the Minolta 20MM definitely beat out the color from the Sony 16-50 under similar conditions. The Minolta 28-135MM was much better than the Sony 16-50 for the outdoor shots. The 16-50 was excellent for us but the 28-135 photos she just took can't even be sharpened!

I am still recommending this Sony lens to people that want or need a great lens in the 16-50MM range. This lens sells for $600 with the Sony A77 and $7-900 individually and IMO is the best kit lens ever made. If you can do without the 16-19MM and the 21-17MM ranges I highly recommend instead getting the Minolta 28-135MM ($250-400)and the Minolta 20MM 2.8 lenses ($300-350) (we got or pair for the same $600 we got for our 16-50). You get a lot more coverage and with the Sony A77's 2X button this pair covers you up to 270MM (at 12MP).