Sony SEL1670Z E Mount – APS-C Vario T 16-70 mm F4, Expensive but worth it

This is my second purchase of this lens. I didn’t notice right away but realised that in some situations the right hand side was a bit blurred – even though everything else was acceptable. At first i thought it was just depth of field. But i noticed blurring in photos where depth of focus should not have been an issue. I then searched google and discovered this lens has dubious quality control – a lot of decentered lenses out there with the same issue i had. Thing is its the perfect size, weight and zoom range for my standard everyday zoom. And often it takes very good, sharp images. The issue seemed to mostly be 50mm and above – all apertures. Wide angle was much less effected.

Superb lens and looks good too.

A corner-to-corner sharp lens of surprisingly good quality. I have no problems at all with this lens which is far superior to the lens supplied as a kit, rendering images much sharper than i expected.

Feels quality in spite of some plastic elements. Beautiful iq and colour reproduction. Arguably the only lens you’ll need if you’re in the market for a high-end alternative to sony’s kit lens.

Overall this is the best e-mount zoom lens that i have tried – and i have tried quite a few. As well as the 50mm and 35mm sony primes i have owned the 16-50 kit lens, the original 18-200mm sony lens, the 18-200 power zoom lens and the 18-105 g lens. After buying the excellent sony a6000 camera i was so taken with it that wanted to find the ideal lens for me to use with it. I went on a lens buying spree and ended up trying out most of the sony e-mount zoom line up. Compared to the other sony zooms that i tried, this lens has the following positive points:(1) handling – the size of this lens is perfect for my a6000 and balances well. Like most of the sony zooms that i tried it feels sturdy and well built and is easy to use. This is one area where it really excels compared to the 16-50 kit lens. The kit lens is very compact but is a bit awkward to actually use. I personally found the 18-105g lens to be physically too big (though not that heavy) for a nex camera. I actually preferred the 18-200mm for how it felt on the a6000 although it is probably heavier.

I begin by saying, this is now my primary lens. I have always dislike the kit lens on my a6000 because of the powerzoom feature. I have used prime lens because they are sharper (sel20f28). I got this second hand (£380) so i’m quite happy with my purchase. Previously, i was contemplating getting sel18105g but saw one review that convince me otherwise (most of his shot fall under 16-18 than 70-105). This lens may not be as sharp as sel35f18 but for a zoom lens, its just beautiful. The size is a bit long and bulky but it’s not too bad. The only downside of this lens is the price. At £500-700, it just seems like a scam. My advise is if you are on a budget, sel18105g might be a better option but if you have that extra money to spend, you will not be dissapointed.

Good results so far, and nice to handle and use. An admittedly quick comparison with the standard sony selp 16-50 didn’t show a significant difference – to be frank. However, a good price from amazon bettered by a short-lived amazon amazingly good price (and difference refund) means that it gets 4 stars because it may be a good lens, but it’s (normally) a very expensive good lens.

Key specs for Sony SEL1670Z E Mount – APS-C Vario T 16-70 mm F4.0 Zeiss Zoom Lens – Black:

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• 16-70 mm Carl Zeiss lens, with AA technology, maximum F4 aperture across the focal range. Steadyshot helps keep images sharp
• Mid-range standard zoom lens
• Steadyshot image stabilisation
• APS-C format, E-mount

Comments from buyers

“Good(ish) optically (with reservations) but with slightly “sticky” zoom action – annoying in such an expensive lens
, The best lens by far is the sony 50mm but obviously
, Pleasing results
“

The must-have lens for the 6300.

I bought this lens a couple of months ago primarily for a trip to australia & new zealand. I have a canon 5d mk3 and a bag full of lenses, but did not want to carry too much stuff around. I already had the sony nex 7 and a couple of lenses to go with that including the zeiss 24mm. I thought that this lens would be a good compliment to go with tis kit, and despite a couple of not very favourable reviews and a general lack of information on the internet i decided to take a ( quite expensive . Well i’m glad i did, it was on the camera for almost the whole trip and i’ve been delighted with the results. The images as sharp, with that zeiss ‘pop’ – the lens itself is very well made and covers a useful 24-105mm equivalent focal length and a reasonable fast – but constant f4. Ok it cost’s way more than standard kit lens but in my opinion is well worth it – buy it and enjoy .

I am still not sure about this. I decided to upgrade from the 16-50 that is going to fail at some point from a hard life. I decided on this over the 18-105 after seeing better results on some review sites. First off, this is expensive. I bought it for £480 from china. It is about 4 times the price of the 16-50. Ok, it has a constant f4 aperture, a tiny bit more reach to 70mm and the zeiss badge. It also has a nice build quality and a hood. But it is a lot bigger and frankly, not that much better than the 16-50. Both are pretty good in the centre, both are a bit soft on the edge.

Being a nex user our top end interchangeable lens cost the earth, however this is a really excellent lens if about £100 overpriced. I had the 16-50 kit previously as my only zoom and this destroys it in every way, it is also nearly 7 times more expensive, so destroy is the least i expect. Very nice feel to the lens, solid as a rock however it is pretty heavy compared to other lens, to the point it made me invest in a better shoulder strap than the one that comes with the camera (the kit strap is pretty naff anyway). Focus ring has a much nicer feel than my other lens, and fine tuning and full manual focus is a more enjoyable experience. For me this covers a decent zoom range without crossing the size barrier which makes having a csc seem almost pointless. It’s as sharp, if not sharper at times, than the sony 35mm 1. 8 prime i own and colour and contrast need very little post tweaking compared to my other lens. Wish it were cheaper, it would get 5 stars otherwise. Seems it is, literally, the price we must pay for being e-mount users, temporary i hope.

An excellent optic for my nex-7 – sharp, focuses quickly, ideal carry-anytime lens. However it is expensive but i will get good use from it.

Very sharp lens, good balance when attached to the sony a6000.

Lovely build quality but the internet is awash with stories if this ken’s being software one edge. I got one from amazon warehouse in a deal and it was promptly delivered. I wasn’t totally happy do started a return but then realised i’d made a mistake in testing it. By then i’d bought a new one off amazon. I cancelled the return of the discounted lens and tried to cancel the new one. I ended up with 2 an i was unable to cancel the new one. I decided to test them and simply keep the best. It was ever so slightly softer than the amazon warehouse deals obe, which looked like it was a return before i got it.

I bought this for around £430 through amazon and it is a real bargain at that price. I have fancied one for a while to use as a cheap travel zoom on my a7r ii, where it’s 24-105 ff equivalent range can be had with this camera’s aps-c cropping facility and still get 18mp files. I can’t speak for corner performance because so far i’ve only used it in studio portraiture but it’s certainly excellent for that. Build quality is very good too. Would i pay the asking price of over £700?. No, but it was irresistible at 60% of that.

I own quite a few lenses for the a6000. 8 50mm sony, 30mm sigma, 19 sigma, 55-210mm sony and i tried the 18-200 but sent it back. The best lens by far is the sony 50mm but obviously has limitations given it is a prime. This is the next best, it is almost as good as this one which is a big deal given it can zoom of course. I wasn’t sure if i should get this because it is quite expensive but now i know why. If i had known it would be this good i would have bought it a long time ago. If you are thinking it won’t be much better than the kit then you would be wrong, it is amazing.

I got this lens for my a6000, i was a little bit hesitant about buying this lens after reading many mixed reviews but seeing it drop to £400, i took the risk and ordered it, after using the lens extensively for awhile i can say that the 16-70mm zeiss is a really great lens, well worth the money especially if you can get it for around the £400 mark, it looks and feels like quality glass, very well balanced with the a6000, for me 16mm to 70mm is the perfect focal range, the images it gets are great, sharp in the centre, i can easily compared the 16-70mm zeiss to the sigma 30mm prime i have which is also very sharp, the copy i have the corners are also really good, nice zeiss colours that pop and fast af, i’m very pleased with this lens and so far it’s been permanently attached to my a6000, i would highly recommend the 16-70mm zeiss to anyone.

Attention: this review is based on a sample for 400gbp. I would have only given 1 star if i had to pay 700gbp. Pros+ build quality (feels quite tightly assembled)+ smooth zoom ring (noticeably better than pentax da 17-70mm f4 and sigma ex 17-70 f2. 8-4 though not as buttery and easy to grip as canon ef 17-40mm f4 or sony e 50mm f1. 8)+ optical image stabilisation (but more like 2 stops advantage than advertised 4)+ af ring does not rotate (this is a critical feature as many people who do not understand lenses or photography in general will hold the lens in a way that will prevent cheaper af rings from rotating, and sometimes this can damage the motor)+ 55mm filter size results in decent value filters and lens hoods+ quiet af operation+ relatively light but makes sony nex-3n and smiliar budget bodies front heavy+ single tube extension which helps to reduce dust entering the lens after shooting for a few monthscons- very poor value for money (even for £400 this is a disappointment and especially because it is not that much better than the 16-50mm f3. 6 pancake which sells at around £90 as split from body bundle)suggested price in the uk: max. £350 (because i can get the pentax/sigma 17-70mm f4 for £250-300 in good as new condition)- almost identical image quality as much cheaper sony e 18-105mm f4- very soft images compared to rivals (image looked sharpest on nex-3n even when other models were downsized to match resolution of budget body)- hefty barrel distortion at 16mm- vignetting is visible almoth throughout the entire range at f4 and only goes away at f5. 3 (many people who buy this lebs want to use it at f4 most of the time)- 70mm f4 results in very soft images with low contrast and saturation- af speed is low (tested on nex-3n, 6 and 5100)it is in fact as slow as my sony e 50mm f1.

Absolutely amazing lens on the a6000. For over a year i’d being using the sony 35mm f/1. It was a good lens but was never as sharp wide open as i would have liked and also not surprisingly lacked the flexibility of a zoom. Firstly, this lens is sharp at all apertures, even wide open and i’m very fussy in this department. People talk about the zeiss pop and it’s no myth, using an image profile that doesn’t hype the colours the zeiss gives amazing contrast and pop to all of my images. I intend to add the zeiss touit 32mm f/1. 8 just for extra bokeh and low light duties but if you need one do it all lens for the e-mount, let this be it.

Quick delivery and well packaged. Not as sharp as prime’s, as to be expected, but a good general purpose zoom that’s not too large.

This is a difficult lens to characterise, at least in part as a result of it’s price. I’ve previously used sony full frame slr cameras, and other mirror-less crop format cameras, so i have an idea what to expect from zoom lenses. At every focal length, the centre performance of this lens is excellent, though the edges of the image on the ‘long’ side tend to trail it a little at full aperture. Focal lengths at the side end of it’s range are probably stronger than at the long end of it’s range. Stopped down, the resolution is more even across the frame, though the edges never quite reach the same level as the centre (which is generally excellent). The corners are generally ok, again better when shopped down, but always a little softness is present. Focusing is generally swift in good light, but can slow down a lot in very low interior light, and seems slower at the longer end than the wider. To put it’s optical performance into perspective, i compared it to a sony/minolta 24-105 f3. The e mount lens is generally always sharper in the centre and the edges than the slr lens, though the slr lens may be slightly more consistent across the frame when stopped down. So in reality, the za 16-70mm is very good, but ironically the generally strong performance in the image centre acts to let it down since the edges of the frame rarely hit the same level – but compared to a similar lens from 10 years ago, it is generally excellent. I must say that i had 2 of these lenses – the first one appeared to have an alignment issue that caused one side of the image to look quite soft at some focal lengths, particularly when used at maximum aperture (f4), but also present when stopped down. The second copy, purchased from amazon, appears much more consistent, and i am happy with it’s performance. I have noticed that this lens, and other e mount zooms, can throw up strange edge performance issues in the occasional shot, which i think is caused by the oss system, since it is intermittent.

I had reservations about this lens having read many mixed opinions and reviews both here and elsewhere and chose to buy from amazon mainly because of the straightforward return procedures should the worst come to the worst. As it turned out i’m actually pretty happy with it, although it does have its little annoyances that might be considered trivial with a cheap lens – but this is anything but cheap. All the essentials are good, if not excellent: optically it produces really nice images with a certain ‘look’ that’s hard to pin down but is lacking in virtually all ‘kit’ zoom lenses and generally only seen in high-end optics – a sort of ‘sharp-smooth’ look that i like a lot. It also has excellent and quick focusing down to a foot or so, not exactly macro but very handy nonetheless. The only let-down for me is the zoom action which feels smooth enough if you zoom continuously from end to end, but if you need to make a small adjustment it’s fine between 16 and about 35mm, but from 35mm onwards it has ‘stction’ – it resists initial movement then suddenly gives way, making small adjustments annoyingly jerky. I don’t do video so this is just a minor irritation (if inexcusable in an expensive lens), but to a videographer this would probably render the lens useless. Perhaps mine is just an example of sony’s infamous qa (or lack of) and another sample would be fine, but for the exact same reason i decided to live with it – a replacement might have worse optics and only possibly smoother zoom. Update: i’ve downrated from 4 to three stars. It’s ok, but not at this price point – with use i realised that at many common focal lengths around 35-50mm it was unacceptable at f/4, needing to be stopped down at least one stop to get rid of the dull, lifeless rendering. The point came home clearly when i compared with the ‘cheap and cheerful’ 16-50 hit lens at around 40mm – and the cheap kit lens beat it hands down.

I was slightly reticent adding this to my collection of lenses given the mixed reviews, but i am pleased i did so. I am using it with a sony a6400 and found that it produces great images, combining fast, accurate focus with a good finished image. I have not had any problems with the images whatsoever, so problems reported by many have been fixed or are a matter of luck of the draw. For me, the only downside has been the fact it needs manual extension when i have become used to motorised lenses; it takes a bit of getting used to and renders it unsuitable for most movie use, unless you shoot at a fixed zoom. I like the lens and am glad i purchased despite the previous mixed reviews.

Painfully expensive, but most lenses of this quality are. Gives me an excellent range and a great first lens. A must buy if you have a sony alpha 5000/6000 series camera.

I decided to move from a canon 450d over to the sony mirrorless system. Getting an a6000 for less than £400 with kit lens. One of my gripes with the canon had been the image quality as i only ever got the kit lens. So i decided to treat myself to the zeiss 16-70mm f4 oss. But it in xavc-s mode with the a6000 and its jaw droppingly clear. The background blur is soft and nice, and the autofocus is fast. In fact, i thought it was faulty as i couldnt get it to focus properly, but this was due to using centre spot single shot focussing with moving targets. Stick it on 1/1000 and burst shot on some cyclists and most of the shots come out clear.So the lesson learnt was that it was the photographer at fault, not the equipmentsome people have questioned the price?. Is it worth paying more for this over the kit lens?. I find the 70mm is just the right length for me before i start thinking telephoto. Its light and perfect size for the a6000 to carry round.

This lens is way better than the standard kit lens. The only problem is the size and the weight.

The handling & spec of this lens is very good, however the quality control needs improved. The first lens received was ‘decentered’, i. Sharp in centre & one side, but not sharp at other side. I returned for a replacement, – quickly received with no fuss. The second lens was balanced with respect to sharpness, i would have hoped for slightly better overall sharpness for the price but it is the best standard zoom i can get for the sony 6000, so i have kept it.

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