Review on 📷 Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera Lens: Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T DT Zoom Lens 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 by Kayla Walton

Let's be honest, if you're a professional photographer you're probably using high quality Zeiss, Nikon or Canon lenses which cost four times as much as this lens and at least three - weigh up to five times more. But if you're an alpha amateur/semi-pro photographer like me and need a versatile lens that ticks all the basic boxes, you'll probably find it hard to beat this Sony/Carl Zeiss lens. about this lens? Here's my list of highlights: 1. Rich, deep color images that can be stunning (as you would expect from any Zeiss lens) - the colors differ significantly from comparable lenses from other manufacturers2. Good build quality for its price range (no, not like the Zeiss 24-70 which costs twice as much and weighs twice as much)3. Good weight to size ratio (perfect for all day use) 4. Good zoom quality from a relatively wide 24mm all the way up to 120mm (5x magnification)5. Reasonable price for a Zeiss6 lens. Comes with a very high quality leather case7. Each item is deemed to have been individually inspected and approved by a quality control specialist. The lens is easy to use. The zoom ring is smooth and fast. The workmanship seems to be very good for the price range and is evident in daily use. (I haven't seen my camera zoom yet.) The images the lens can produce can be simply stunning: rich depth of color with great depth of field. (If you've had experience with the venerable Sony DSC-R1, a camera I've been using for the past five years, you'll be familiar with the types of images you can create.) The T* Zeiss coating probably has something to do with it to do with it, but also the design of the lens assembly itself gives such results. When you look at the package, this is just a great system for a beginner photographer or even an experienced photographer who just wants to work with a cheap Zeiss lens. Of course there are some downsides. For less money you can get a very well received Sony 18-250mm lens, so it's not always easy to spend more money and get a shorter range. The lens does not use the high-end SSM focusing mechanism (but the truth is that in most cases it is not used; usually only high-end lenses use this advanced system). The aperture only opens to 3.5 at the wide end, no doubt a disappointment, but consider the cost and weight required to open this type of lens to 2.8. All in all a great lens that I can recommend without hesitation. . This could easily be your one lens solution for general photography. Pair it with any of the cheap macro lenses Sony currently makes and you'll have a great start to your Alpha system. --- Update from late 2012: I have just purchased a second copy of this lens and this copy seems to work perfectly. The build feels solid (still made in Japan) and the zoom feels smooth and neat. The photos look great. They can be surprisingly sharp for a zoom lens, but might not give in to the very strong lens specs. I have to say that this lens is about more than just color. The words "juicy", "shiny", "saturated", "rich" come to mind. That's the world of Zeiss, at least when you're shooting with this lens. You can post-process digital images from any lens to simulate almost any color cast and curve, but this lens simply punches out the most colorful "Zeiss" images, perhaps even better than the venerable DSC-R1. Yes, the price has gone up a lot over the past year (it's up to $1,000 now when not on sale), but there may be some sales for the device at various spots, and yet it's by far the cheapest Zeiss lens to buy .alpha system available today. It doesn't have the same construction as the more expensive Zeiss lenses, which cost around $2,000, but the construction feels very solid, and as I said, the lens is still one of those increasingly rare models that continue to be made. . in Japan (and comes with a self-signed factory quality control form). The pictures that come out are sometimes frighteningly good. Let's not brag too much, but I have to admit that pictures can look amazing with this lens. A little post-processing is probably always necessary for any digital image, but the clarity and "presence" of images can be outstanding. The range is 16-80mm and nothing with an aperture larger than F3.5 is needed. Finally, something that can get confusing at times when comparing lens specs, this one opens up to 16mm, which is really really wide, perfect for landscapes and the like. Most zoom lenses only open up to 18mm, which doesn't seem like a huge difference, but the extra 2mm is really noticeable. Except in special cases, you may not need a wide-angle lens at all.