Sony E 16mm ƒ/2.8 Lens Sample Images

The Sony E 16mm ƒ/2.8 prime lens is fast and tiny, making it a very attractive option for travel photography if you’re using a Sony interchangeable lens camera that uses Sony E-mount. This lens is designed specifically for Sony cameras with APS-C cropped sensors (so not the full-frame Alpha cameras, for example).

The lens’s pancake design means that it projects less than an inch from the camera’s body. Mounted on an APS-C format body such as the Sony a6500, the lens’s 16mm focal length becomes the equivalent of what a 24mm lens would be on a full-frame camera. And that happens to be the sweet spot for my personal tastes when it comes to fast primes.

In the hope that it might be useful to see how it performs and what kind of perspective it gives in real-world shooting, here’s a selection of photos I’ve taken with this lens. They were all taken on a Sony a6500 body. I’ve included a range of apertures, although they’re heavily weighted towards large apertures—after all, if I’m using a fast lens, there’s a good chance I want to be using it wide open or close to that much of the time to take advantage of it. Otherwise, I might as well be using a slower (and often less expensive) lens.

These images were all shot in RAW and processed in Lightroom. I haven’t applied any of Lightroom’s corrections to them, such as the lens profile corrections for chromatic aberration or vignetting—but I did have the a6500’s automatic lens compensation feature enabled. So I’m not focusing as much on optical flaws as I normally would. So these are designed much less as a clinical lab test than to give a sense of what you can realistically expect to get out of the camera under real-world shooting conditions.

Sample Images Taken with a Sony E 16mm ƒ/2.8 Prime Lens

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

Optical Correction Tools

I deliberately haven’t applied extensive corrections to these images. And the general rule of thumb in photography is that it’s better to get the shot right at the time of capture rather than trying to fix it after. That’s a great aspiration, but it’s not always possible to do if you’re bumping up against limitations or flaws in gear, conditions, or technique.

But it’s worth mentioning that there are some excellent tools available to help address common issues with lenses, such as distortion, chromatic aberration, and lens vignetting when editing the images. All-round image processing apps like Lightroom Classic and Capture One have solid tools built in already that often cater to specific lens profiles (or you can make your own).

Some more specialized tools can take it even further. DxO, in particular, sets the gold standard. Their software is built on the foundation of their incredibly deep archive of data from their extensive lab testing of the optical performance of lenses and cameras. But there are some other excellent specialized tools available. These are well worth a look (and have free trials):

• DxO Pure RAW (for a suite of automatic RAW file corrections enhancement)
• DxO ViewPoint (correcting for distortion and geometry)
• Topaz Labs Sharpen AI (in addition to standard unsharp tools, includes focus correction and shake reduction)

Key Specs of the Sony E 16mm ƒ/2.8 Prime Lens

• Focal Length: 16mm (35mm Equivalent Focal Length: 24mm)
• Maximum Aperture: f/2.8
• Minimum Aperture: f/22
• Lens Mount Type: Sony E
• Sensor Format Compatibility: APS-C
• Angle of View: 83°
• Minimum Focus Distance: 9.45 inches / 24 cm
• Maximum Magnification: 0.08x
• Optical Design: 5 Elements in 5 Groups
• Diaphragm Blades: 7, Rounded
• Focus Type: Autofocus
• Image Stabilization: No
• Filter Size: 49 mm (Front, threaded)
• Dimensions: (ø x L) 2.44 x 0.89″ / 62 x 22.5 mm
• Weight: 2.4 oz / 68 g

Price & Availability of the Sony E 16mm ƒ/2.8 Lens

Check the price and availability of the Sony E 16mm ƒ/2.8 prime lens at:

• B&H Photo
• Adorama
• Amazon

Images and product information from Amazon PA-API were last updated on 2023-06-03 at 04:28. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon Site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.