SAL1650
4.9
5
7
7
Killer Lens
I have two G lenses and two Zeiss lenses, and, subjectively, this lens is sharper. It is a perfect match to the A77, which needs the large aperture and super-sharp optical performance. When I bought the A77, I worried that the detectors (pixels) were so tiny and that a lens would have a tough job being sharp enough to take advantage of the sensor resolution. The A77 performance with this lens wildly exceeds even my wildest hopes! I recently took a shot across a wide bay with this lens on the A77. Later I blew it up on a big monitor and zoomed in to see how much detail was there. There was a diagonal white line representing a roof. The line was a perfect stair-step series of white pixels on a dark background. This was a RAW file. There was no visible spillover: just white pixels. I was astonished.
I've seen no problems with chromatic aberration. Colors are strikingly vibrant. Contrast is superb. Also note that it is sealed and less vulnerable to internal dust than most lenses.
A lens like this with F/2.8 across the full zoom range is almost too good to be true. The only imperfection that I've been able to find is some geometric (barrel-like) distortion that is primarily near the center of the image. The A77 completely removes this automatically for jpeg output. You only see it when you shoot jpeg and RAW and compare them. I didn't list it as a con because the A77 cleans it up with no loss of resolution. My only complaint is that there is no way to output a corrected image in a lossless format, which is a complaint on the camera, not the lens. I get around this by running RAW images through DxO software.
Bottom line: if you're buying an A77, you have to buy this lens. If my only Sony camera were the A77, and I could only have one lens, this would be it, REGARDLESS OF PRICE. I'm about to sell my A77 to buy an A99. My one regret is that I can't keep this lens. I believe that for pure optical performance, the A77 with this lens is as good or better than a full-frame camera with the Zeiss f/2.8 24-70mm; and that is a state-of-the-art combination. If you're considering buying just the A77 body and a cheaper lens, take my advice and don't even think about it. This lens will be a sound investment if you take care of it. And money is among our few renewable resources.
September 18, 2012
Good , However...
One Month experience with this SAL1650 lens on both the a580 and a100
There are a lot of 5 star reviews on this page for the lens. I guess it is justified if you compare this lens to the other low to mid range zooms Sony produces. As a Zoom lens it is very very good especially at f/9 to f/11.
However from 16mm to 24mm at f/2.8 it is a soft, but then again, we have to remember it is not a wide angle prime but rather a zoom lens.
At 50mm f/10 the lens is very sharp, in fact i would say it is as sharp as my old Minolta 50mm prime.
May 22, 2012
So far great!
Got mine off Ebay right after price increase. Got lit for lees than the old full price. Works great and very quiet. No focus noise at all and works great on my a65.
April 8, 2012
Amazing sharpness for the price
Honestly, the quality of this glass is amazing. Because I always use cameras with crop sensors anyway, this is a perfect addition to anyone's collection. Constant 2.8 aperture is great for video. Couldn't ask for more.
February 8, 2012
