Review on Sony 16 35Mm Vario Tessar Mount Lens by Bryan Reed

I was given a choice between this lens and an alternative Sony f2.8 GM with the same zoom range. I ultimately chose this one because I was looking for a lens that was small and light (because I planned to carry it around for many hours at a time) and because it has optical image stabilization (which helps as I rarely use a tripod ). It also helps that this lens is 40% cheaper than the f2.8 GM, but that seems to come with some trade-offs. The main reason is that not only is this lens slower in design than f2.8, but it also needs to be zoomed out a bit to get maximum sharpness. So it works well in daylight, which is my main use case, but it's a little tricky indoors. Other than that, I found the sharpness to be perfectly adequate, the autofocus reliable, and the range, size, and weight perfect. I think I'd miss the end of the 35mm zoom if I opted for the cheaper Tamron 17-28 f2.8, for example, although the Tamron might be a better choice for those who shoot more indoors and Don't want the weight and price of Sony GM lens and don't miss out on the extra zoom range or OSS that this lens has.