Sony zeiss 16-70mm oss review

Ease of Use

Weighing in at 308g, the alloy-bodied Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS is quite a substantial E-Mount lens that rather dwarves the compact Sony NEX-7 body that we tested it with, as shown in the photos below.

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens mounted on a Sony NEX-7

Build quality is excellent, with both a metal lens barrel and a metal lens mount, but you’d expect that given the high price of the lens. The wide, ridged zoom ring takes about a quarter of a turn to zoom through the range, with the lens gradually extending out until it reaches 70mm.

The manual focus ring is a little on the slim side, and utilises the NEX series’s fly-by-wire operation, which means that there are no hard stops at either end of the zoom range.

There’s also no depth-of-field scale, distance scale or infrared index, a shame given the cost of the lens.

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens alongside the Sony NEX-7

Side of the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens at 16mm

Side of the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens at 70mm

Focusing is usefully internal and manual focusing is possible when set on the specific camera body. The lens also boasts Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, which offers up to four shutter spee steps of compensation — again this is enabled through the camera’s menu system, rather than a physical switch on the lens.

Front of the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens

Rear of the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens

Front of the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens

Rear of the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens in-hand

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS ships with a good quality case and a durable lens hood (ALC-SH127) which attaches inside the lens barrel rather than outside. It accepts 55mm filters via plastic threads.

Focal Range

At the 16mm focal length the angle of view is 83 degrees.

Field of view at 16mm

At the 70mm focal length the angle of view is 23 degrees.

Field of view at 70mm

Focusing

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens has quite a narrow focusing ring. There are no hard stops at both ends of the range, making it a little more difficult to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should be pleased that the 55mm filter thread doesn’t rotate on focus.

When it comes to auto-focusing, the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS zoom is a quick performer, taking about 0.2 seconds to lock onto the subject when mounted on the Sony NEX-7 that we tested it with, although it is noticeably a little slower to autofocus at the 70mm end.

We didn’t experience much «hunting», either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time, and it’s also a quiet performer thanks to its in-lens motor, ideal for HD movie shooting.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are only notable by their almost complete absence from our test shots.

Light Fall-off

With the lens set to its maximum aperture, there is some light fall-off in the extreme corners at both ends of the zoom range, but it won’t affect your real-world shots.

Light fall-off at 16mm

Light fall-off at 70mm

Macro

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS isn’t claimed to be a macro lens, but it delivers a pretty good performance nonetheless. It has a minimum focusing distance of 35cm/1.15ft and a maximum magnification of 0.23x. The following example demonstrates how close you can get to your subject, in this case a Compact Flash memory card.

Close-up performance

Bokeh

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. In the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens, Carl Zeiss employed an iris diaphragm with seven rounded blades, which has resulted in appealing bokeh in our view. We do realise, however, that bokeh evaluation is subjective, so we’ve included several 100% crops for your perusal.

Sharpness

In order to show you how sharp this lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following pages.

Ease of Use
Sharpness: 16mm
24mm
35mm
50mm
70mm
Sample Images
Lens Specs
Rating & Conclusion
Main Rivals
Review Roundup

Sample Images

Orange on Blue, 12 March 2016. Sony A7S II, Zeiss 16-70mm OSS at 29mm at f/4 at 1/15 at Auto ISO 160. bigger or camera-original file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely can display these at full resolution).

Kaleidoscope at the Kaleidoscope Mall, 12 March 2016. Sony A7S II, Zeiss 16-70mm OSS at 70mm at f/4 at 1/15 at Auto ISO 1,000. bigger or camera-original file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely can display these at full resolution).

The Planet Jupiter at Auto ISO 32,000, Zeiss 16-70mm at 23mm at f/4 for 1/15 handheld. bigger or camera-original file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely can display these at full resolution).

Introduction

The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS (SEL1670Z) is a premium standard zoom lens for Sony NEX compact system cameras. It offers the equivalent angle of view as a 24-105mm lens on a 35mm camera and features a near-circular 7 blade diaphragm which creates an attractive blur to the out of focus areas of the image. The optical formula comprises 16 lens elements in 12 groups. It has a minimum focusing distance of 35cm/1.15ft and a maximum magnification of 0.23x. Sony’s DMF technology allows for direct manual focusing after autofocus lock-on without having to switch modes, while the built-in Optical Stabilisation system offers up to 4 stops of compensation. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS lens is currently available for £849 / $999 in the UK and the US, respectively.

Recommendations

Sony’s Zeiss 16-70mm OSS offers optical and ergonomic near perfection. There is no better zoom made for Sony APS-C cameras.

The 16-70mm is ultra sharp at every aperture, has smooth bokeh that makes images look 3D, focuses fast and super close, and it has the perfect focal length range.

It could easily be the only lens you’d need.

It’s always better to get a great lens regardless of the price; economize on your camera, but never on your lenses.

The very best protective filter is the Hoya multicoated HD3 55mm UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints, and is also multicoated.

For less money, the B+W 55mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated version and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best.

Where to Get Yours

I got mine at Adorama. I’d also get it at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Don’t ever buy an exotic lens like this at a local, retail or chain store since it will have been played with by everyone before you pay full price for it as «new.» Sony and Zeiss do not seal their boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any source not on since you’ll have no way of knowing if you’re missing accessories, getting a defective, dropped, damaged, demo or otherwise used product, a customer return or if the warranty has already been registered to someone else online. The ship from secure, remote automated warehouses where salespeople or other customers never, ever get to touch your lens before you do, and they have the best prices, selection, service and return policies.

Thanks!

Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

Specifications

Name

Sony calls this the Zeiss Vario-Tessar T✻ E 4/16-70 ZA OSS.

Zeiss: Brand name of famous German lens company. The lens is made by Sony in Thailand under license; it’s not made by Zeiss.

Vario-Tessar: Zeiss’ trade names with no technical relation to this lens. They use «Vario» for «Zoom,» and «Tessar» is a trademark first used for a classic 4-element fixed lens design back in 1902. Zeiss uses these to sound cool.

E: APS-C lens for .

ZA: Solidarity with technical advances in South Africa (think Dr. Christian Barnard).

OSS: «Optical Steady Shot,» Sony’s phrase for image stabilization.

T✻: Zeiss’ trademark for its multicoating, standard on all camera lenses of all brands since the 1970s.

Sony Part Number: SEL1670Z.

Optics

Sony Zeiss 16-70mm internal construction. Aspherical, «Super Aspherical» and ED elements. bigger.

12 elements in 16 groups.

Four aspheric elements, one of which Sony calls «super aspheric.»

One ED glass element.

Internal focussing.

Pumper zoom; gets longer as zoomed.

It’s multicoated, which Zeiss calls T✻.

Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T✻ 16-70mm OSS. bigger.

7 rounded blades.

Stops down to f/22.

Focal Length

16~70mm.

When used on an APS-C camera, it sees angles of view similar to what a 26~110mm lens sees when used on a full-frame or 35mm camera.

No.

You have to let the AF system focus at infinity.

Depth-of-Field Scale

55mm.

Plastic.

Hood

ALC-SH127 Hood for Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T✻ 16-70mm OSS. bigger.

ALC-SH127 hybrid metal & plastic bayonet hood, included.

10.815 oz. (306.6 g) actual measured weight.

Rated 10.9 oz. (308 g).

Lens.

Caps.

ALC-SH127 hood.

Sack.

Paperwork.

Help Me Help You

I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.

The biggest help is when you use any of when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site’s, and thus my family’s, biggest source of support. eBay is always a gamble, but all the other places always have the best prices and service, which is why I’ve used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.

If you find this
page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may
have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

If you’ve gotten your gear through one of my or helped otherwise, you’re family. It’s great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!

If you haven’t helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.

As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!

Thanks for reading!

Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

Home
Donate
New
Search
Gallery
Reviews
How-To
Books
Links
Workshops
About
Contact

Sony E OSS APS-C Vario-Tessar T✻

Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T✻ 16-70mm f/4 OSS (fits , 55mm filters, 10.8 oz./307 g, 1’/0.35 meters close-focus, about $998). bigger. I got mine at Adorama. I’d also get it at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This all-content, junk-free website’s biggest source of support is when you use those or any of when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Sony and Zeiss do not seal any of their boxes, so never buy at retail or any source not on since you’ll have no way of knowing if you’re missing accessories, getting a defective, dropped, damaged or used lens, a customer return or if the warranty has already been registered to someone else online! The ship from secure, remote automated warehouses where salespeople or other customers never, ever get to touch your lens before you do, and they have the best prices, selection, service and return policies.

March 2016 SonyZeissCanonNikonFujiAll Reviews