In summary
For the average snapshooter or vlogger, the compact size, powered zoom and stabilisation provided by this lens will be very attractive. And its performance is certainly good enough.
The majority of people who acquire this lens will do so when they purchase a ZV-E10 II camera. As part of that bundle, the lens represents reasonably good value for money.
Full review
12 August 2024
Released concurrently with the ZV-E10 II camera, the E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II provides a welcome update to an almost twelve-year-old lens. The new lens is slightly lighter than its predecessor, which we reviewed in July, 2014 although it’s marginally longer when retracted. The dual-function ring that controls both power zoom and manual focus also carries over into the new lens. Improvements have been made to the linear AF micromotor drive to reduce focus breathing but the minimum focus is unchanged at 25 cm at the 16mm focal length. The new lens accepts the same 40.5 mm screw-in filters as the previous model and, as before, comes without a lens hood.
Angled view of the second-generation E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II without its end caps. (Source: Sony.)
The optical design is unchanged since the original lens, and still consists of nine elements in eight groups, among them four aspherical elements plus one made from ED (extra-low dispersion) glass. The lens also comes with built-in stabilisation, although Sony (wisely) makes no claims about the extent of its shake correction potential.
Who’s it For?
Most people will acquire this lens with one of Sony’s cropped-sensor (APS-C) E-mount cameras, most likely the recently-released ZV-E10 Mark II. It’s a good partner for this camera, being both compact and very light.
Mounted on a small camera body it provides a relatively inconspicuous kit for street shooting and is jacket-pocketable for when you’re on-the-move. Vloggers (the main target market) and general social media posters should find it meets most of their requirements since it covers a versatile range of focal lengths and the AF motor is quiet enough to produce minimal interference in movie mode.
As with the previous model, the potential for inherent distortion and vignetting in this lens are high so it’s best used with cameras that provide up-to-date in-camera corrections for these common aberrations. Lens speed also declines as focal length is increased, which will probably cause problems with depth of field control plus other issues when working in low-light situations.
Build and Ergonomics
The new lens has largely eliminated the metal components in its predecessor and now has a plastic mounting plate. While this has reduced the weight of the new lens by nine grams (which is barely significant) it confirms the lens is essentially built to a price.
Fortunately, the finish on the inner barrel is slightly better than the previous unit. No changes have been made to the either the plastic slider that controls the power zoom or the combined focus/zoom ring, which controls manual focusing or zooming depending on the focus mode selected.
Located at the front of the outer barrel, it’s approximately 12 mm wide and almost entirely clad in fine ridging. This ring turns freely when the camera is switched off and provides little in the way of tactile feedback when power is on. Manual focusing is electronically controlled.
Powering up the camera extends the inner barrel by roughly 20 mm. Although it moves a little when the lens is zoomed in and out, its overall length doesn’t change significantly.
The maximum and minimum apertures change quite quickly with focal length adjustments, as shown in the table below.
| Focal Length | Max. aperture | Min. aperture |
| 16mm | f/3.5 | f/22 |
| 35mm | f/5.6 | f/32 |
| 50mm | f/5.6 | f/36 |
The new lens boasts an updated control chip which allows the lens to focus while zooming so it can keep pace with the 1080/120p video recording mode on the ZV-E10 II camera. The new version is now able to communicate gyro information from its stabilisation system to the camera body for better coordination between them.
Performance
Imatest showed the performance of this lens to be somewhat mixed. At the optimal focal length and aperture settings (24mm at f/5.6) it was just able to meet expectations for the 26-megapixel sensor on the ZV-E10 II camera we used for our tests – but only in the centre of the frame.
Resolution declined quite rapidly towards the periphery of the frame and edge softening was substantial at wider aperture settings, particularly at shorter focal lengths. Diffraction kicked in from about f/8 causing further deterioration, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results, below.
Lateral chromatic aberration is corrected automatically in the ZV-E10 II so we had to take our measurements from uncorrected raw files. The graph below shows they fell within the negligible zone but approached the ‘low’ zone at all focal lengths for many aperture settings. In the graph of our Imatest results below, the red line separates negligible and low CA.
In-camera corrections are also applied to counteract vignetting and distortion in JPEGs and there are no options for switching them off. Slight vignetting was found in uncorrected raw files at 16mm but very little at other focal lengths. Similarly, rectilinear distortion was obvious at 16mm but close to negligible at other focal lengths, although at 50mm slight pincushion distortion could be seen.
The lens is also susceptible to slight veiling flare and lens hood is supplied, although third-party hoods are available online for around $20. It also accepts 40.5 mm diameter filters, which may not be readily available as this isn’t a popular size.
Autofocusing speed is largely dictated by the camera and the selected focusing mode. We’ve covered these aspects of performance in our review of the ZV-E10 II camera. In the full auto shooting mode, focusing could be haphazard with low-contrast scenes and in low light levels, particularly with close-ups. (The slow speed of the lens at longer focal lengths, coupled with the smaller image sensor could make this a borderline issue some of the time.)
The minimum focusing distance of 25 cm at 16mm and 30 cm at 50mm make this lens largely unsuitable for close-ups – although it’s usable at the 50mm position for close-ups of larger flowers. Bokeh in these shots was variable, with some stretching of brighter areas towards the corners at 16mm but relatively smooth blurring at 50mm.
The seven-bladed iris diaphragm produces 14-pointed sunstars when stopped down to its minimum aperture. We found them to be slightly sharper at 16mm than at 50mm, possibly a result of higher levels of diffraction at the very small f/36 minimum aperture there.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Picture angle: 83 to 32 degrees
Minimum aperture: f/22-f/36
Lens construction: 9 elements in 8 groups (including 4 aspherical elements and one ED element)
Lens mounts: Sony E-mount (APS-C)
Diaphragm Blades: 7 (circular aperture)
Weather resistance: No
Focus drive: Linear micromotor
Stabilisation: Optical SteadyShot with Active mode
Minimum focus: 25 cm at 16mm; 30 cm at 50mm
Maximum magnification: 0.215x
Filter size: 40.5 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 66 x 31.3 mm
Weight: 107 grams
Standard Accessories: Front and rear caps
Distributor: Sony Australia
TESTS
Based on JPEG files recorded with the Sony ZV-E10 II camera.
Based on ARW.RAW files converted into TIFF format with Sony Imaging Edge.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at 16mm f/3.5.
Vignetting at 24mm f/4.5.
Vignetting at 35mm f/5.
Vignetting at 50mm f/5.6.
Rectilinear distortion at 16mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 24mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 35mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 50mm.
16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/6.3.
50mm focal length, ISO 250, 1/80 second at f/5.6.
16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/250 second at f/8.
50mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/40 second at f/5.6.
Close-up with the Macro preset; 16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/4.
Close-up with the Macro preset; 50mm focal length, ISO 250, 1/80 second at f/5.6.
Bokeh in evenly-lit close-up; 48mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/160 second at f/5.6.
Bokeh in brightly-lit close-up; 50mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/250 second at f/5.6.
Bokeh in brightly-lit close-up; 34mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/640 second at f/5.
Backlighting: 50mm focal length, ISO 125, 1/250 second at f/8.
Backlighting: 50mm focal length, ISO 1000, 1/40 second at f/9.
Sunstar at f/22 with 16mm focal length; ISO 200, 1/50 second.
Sunstar at f/36 with 50mm focal length; ISO 100, 1/125 second.
25mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/15 second at f/7.1.
50mm focal length, ISO 125, 1/250 second at f/8.
45mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/80 second at f/11.
Additional image samples can be found with our review of the Sony ZV-E10 II camera.
Rating
RRP: AU$525
- Build: 8.3
- Handling: 8.5
- Image quality: 8.7
- Autofocusing: 8.7
- Versatility: 8.8
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