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Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM E-Mount Lens | Sample Images

A collection of high-resolution sample photos taken with the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM E-Mount Lens designed for Sony full-frame cameras.

Sony FE 16 35mm f2.8 GM Lens Sample Images Collage 1068x500 - Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM E-Mount Lens | Sample Images

Categories: Lenses, Sample Images
Tags: Sony, Sony 16-35mm Wide-Angle Zoom Lens
Last updated about 3 years ago // Originally published about 3 years ago

Here’s a collection of sample images I’ve shot with the Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM E-mount lens to give a sense of how it performs in real-world shooting conditions. All of these were shot on the Sony a7iii 24MP full-frame camera.

This collection of sample images from the 16-35mm goes along with a more detailed review of the lens that I’ll be posting separately. But, briefly, the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM lens is an E-mount lens designed for Sony’s full-frame cameras. It has an aperture range of ƒ/2.8 to ƒ/22 (with apertures constant throughout the zoom range), an 11-blade circular diaphragm, three aspherical and two XA elements, and is ruggedized with dust- and moisture-resistant construction.

I’ve included a range of shots at different spots on the zoom range and at different apertures. I’ve also included a range of focusing distances, shots to show up any barrel distortion or chromatic aberration, and some that show general sharpness.

All of them were only lightly processed in Lightroom. Because the whole point is to see how the lens performs, I’ve deliberately done very little to them. And I haven’t done any extra correction for the usual lens issues like chromatic aberration, distortion, or lens vignetting. I also haven’t applied any extra sharpening beyond the Lightroom default (amount: 40; radius: 1.0; detail: 25). They were all shot in RAW, so they haven’t had any of the in-camera processing magic applied.

I should also note that some of these were deliberately shot at very high ISOs because I was also testing the a7iii’s low-light performance at the same time (you can see those tests here).

Sample Photos Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens

If you’d like a closer look at a high-resolution version, you can click on each image to open the full-size photo.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 27 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 8.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

The focus point was on the far end of the tunnel. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 4.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Wide aperture with the focus on the close tulip in the center. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 19 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 5.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 8.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 5.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Testing for both corner sharpness and chromatic aberration. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 5.6. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

This was shot an exceptionally high ISO (160000), so the image quality is degraded. But I’ve included it here as an example of the starburst effect on the lights when using ƒ/22. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 22. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Even at this wide aperture and with the high-contrast lines near the edges, there’s very little chromatic aberration. You can see a little blue fringing along the highlight edges of both windows, but it’s certainly well within normal amounts and is easily fixed in something like Lightroom or another app that has chromatic aberration correction tools. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 7.1. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 7.1. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 24 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 5.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 17 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 4.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

I took this shot mostly to push hard on chromatic aberration in the sharp edges in the skylight. I’m impressed with how well it’s handled it–most lenses don’t fare nearly so well. This version hasn’t had any chromatic aberration correction applied to it. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 8.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 7.1. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

I shot this one mostly for the skylight lines to test for chromatic aberration. Most lenses struggle with this, but this lens handled it just fine. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

What looks like blurriness are reflections off the glass. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 34 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 19 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 22. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 19 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 11. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 19 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 19 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 8.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Again, there’s very little in the way of chromatic aberration in the windows to the right of the frame. And lots of straight verticals. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

You can see a reasonably about of barrel distortion in this shot. It was taken head on from around 20 feet away. The lens profile in Lightroom CC Classic does a nice job of correcting for it (this version is uncorrected). Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 8.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 7.1. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 19 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 5.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 22 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 24 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Even wide open, you can get an idea of the sharpness with the detail through the depth, including on the signs on the display cases in the distance. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

This is a good example of how sharp this lens is even wide open. The focus is on the statue, so the trees and buildings in the background are out of focus, but the detail in the monument is very sharp. There’s also no real lens vignetting to speak of. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 30 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 31 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 8.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Again, there’s quite a bit of barrel distortion, this time at 16mm. But Lightroom’s lens profile correction does a good job of fixing it (this version is uncorrected). Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 18 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

I was testing the high ISO settings on the Sony a7iii with this shot, so the image quality is quite poor in terms of grain, detail, and color rendition, but I’m including it here because it’s still useful for giving a sense of the wide-angle perspective and how it handles straight lines angled away from the camera. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 6.3. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 19 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 35 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 24 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 9.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 18 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 5.0. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

The grain and washed-out colors in this are due to the ridiculously high ISO (204800) on the Sony a7iii. Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 16 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 2.8. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Lens Sample Image

Taken with a Sony FE 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 GM lens zoomed to 31 mm and with an aperture of ƒ / 22. Shot with Sony a7iii.

Where to Get It

The Sony 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 retails for around $2200, and you can find them at B&H Photo.

By David Coleman
Instagram: @havecamerawilltraveldc

Last updated on June 4, 2018

Categories: Lenses, Sample Images
Tags: Sony, Sony 16-35mm Wide-Angle Zoom Lens

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News & Deals

With the holidays fast approaching, there’s some great deals on photography gear and services available. I’ve put together a roundup of Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 Photography Deals. It’s a running list as new deals are announced, so be sure to check back.

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New Manfrotto Pro Rugged Memory Cards. Manfrotto, an Italian probably best known for their tripods and studio accessories, has launched a new Pro Rugged range of high-end SD, microSD, and CompactFlash cards. While they don’t have a huge selection of sizes and speeds, the cards are aiming for very fast cards that can put up with rugged demands. For instance, they claim that their V90 rated SD cards can withstand three times the force (20kg / 45 lbs) of a regular SD card. I’ve ordered some to run through my speed tests.

New Sony Alpha a7 firmware released. A firmware update for the Sony a7R IV now lets you control external Sony flashes from the camera’s own menu system. Up to 15 flashes in five groups can be controlled via the camera. It also applies to the a7R III and a7 III.

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