{"id":6,"date":"2013-11-15T23:20:41","date_gmt":"2013-11-15T21:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/wordpress\/?p=6"},"modified":"2024-04-21T15:08:23","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T14:08:23","slug":"carl-zeiss-e-416-70-za-oss-for-sony-nex-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/carl-zeiss-e-416-70-za-oss-for-sony-nex-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Carl Zeiss E 4\/16-70 ZA OSS for Sony Nex Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9922599423\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5460\/9922599423_77816c68ee_o.jpg\" alt=\"9922599423_77816c68ee_o.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Carl Zeiss 16-70mm 1:4 made by Sony is an expensive standard lens for the Nex \/ APS-C E-mount line of cameras. It combines a very useful focal range with a decent moderate speed and size.<\/p>\n<p>All in all I think it is an interesting lens but it has some weaknesses which will be a deal breaker for some photographers.<\/p>\n<p>You can buy the Zeiss 4\/16-70 at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00ENZRPG0\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B00ENZRPG0&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=phillipreeven-20&amp;linkId=NQ7GKN3F2AVXP47V\">Amazon.com<\/a>\u00a0for $998or for 799\u20ac at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.de\/gp\/product\/B00EUFTT62\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1638&amp;creative=19454&amp;creativeASIN=B00EUFTT62&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=phillipreeven-21&amp;linkId=B3Z2RPYYLMH2TM7T\">Amazon.de<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links)<\/p>\n<p><strong style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">About this review<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am a landscape and nature photographer and focus more on aspects which are important to me.<\/p>\n<p>All images are taken with a Nex-6, processed with Adobe Lightroom 4 and can be found in full resolution at flickr by clicking on the image.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Specifications<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Size (diameter x length): 66mm x 75mm<br \/>\n<\/span>Filter Thread: 55mm<br \/>\nWeight: 308g<br \/>\nCose Focusing Distance \/ max. Reproduction Ration: 0.35 m \/ 1:4.35<\/p>\n<p>Visit<a href=\"http:\/\/store.sony.com\/webapp\/wcs\/stores\/servlet\/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&amp;storeId=10151&amp;langId=-1&amp;productId=8198552921666594707#specifications\"> Sony<\/a> to get the full specififcations.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9922459396\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3783\/9922459396_c68bd897ce_o.jpg\" alt=\"9922459396_c68bd897ce_o.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Size &amp; Weight<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can see the images above, the lens it not much bigger than the average 18-55 Kit lens and therefore a perfect match for the Nex. It weights about 300g. Comparable DSLR lenses weight about 450gwhich is a very noticeable difference.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Build quality<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Is quite nice and the lens feels like a premium lens but it does not feel as robust as a professional lens to me (as for example the Sony 70-400G SSM does).<\/p>\n<p>The zoom-ring is made from metal and is perfectly damped and feels a little better than the SEL1855&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>It is the same for the focusing ring, manual focus works quite well with a nice transmission.<\/p>\n<p>The inner barrel and filter thread are made from plastic, play is minimal (which is less than with the SEL1855).<\/p>\n<p><strong>AF<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>AF is pretty snappy and noiseless. I don&#8217;t own many E-Mount AF lenses but it is much quicker that the 50\/1.8, hunting is rarely seen.<\/p>\n<p>The precision was pretty high, I got 3 or 4 misses while taking 1200 pictures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Image stabilizer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It works well and is noiseless.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">As I did not perform a test series I can not tell you about how effective it really is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I got sharp images @70mm with a shutter speed of 1\/25 sec, see the image below.<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"line-height: 1.5;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056503256\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7322\/10056503256_1d65c8287a_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056503256_1d65c8287a_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056503256\/\">70mm_f56_SEL1670F4Z_FullResolution<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><strong>Optical performance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I ran some initial tests I was quite disappointed by the lousy corner sharpness at 50mm and above.<\/p>\n<p>It turns out that Sony had sent me <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\">a severely decentered copy<\/span><\/span>. So while one corner turned in a lousy performance another one was \u00a0okay.<\/p>\n<p>For my testing I decided to use the best corner and assume that a correctly centered copy would perform as well or better in all 4 corners.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056892783\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2853\/10056892783_7367d0d7e3_o.jpg\" alt=\"10056892783_7367d0d7e3_o.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Flare resistance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If the full sun is in the frame the image won\u2019t be usable<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9965004754\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5529\/9965004754_8beaa335ee_c.jpg\" alt=\"9965004754_8beaa335ee_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9965004754\/\">SEL1670Z_FullResolution (5 von 12)<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p>But when it is partially shaded the lens performs quite nice<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9977892343\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7370\/9977892343_aef39cc033_c.jpg\" alt=\"9977892343_aef39cc033_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bokeh<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The bokeh is really nice with pretty smooth transitions an not defined highlight disks. Exceptional for a zoom.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes minor onion-rings can be seen.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9965108693\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7452\/9965108693_3265e7277c_c.jpg\" alt=\"9965108693_3265e7277c_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9965108693\/\">SEL1670Z_FullResolution (1 von 12)<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9818753014\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2884\/9818753014_0235d2c16f_c.jpg\" alt=\"9818753014_0235d2c16f_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9818753014\/\">ZEISSHD<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/birnenbaumgarten\/\">Phillip Reeve<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9965006374\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5493\/9965006374_41fbc422c0_c.jpg\" alt=\"9965006374_41fbc422c0_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9965006374\/\">SEL1670Z_FullResolution (3 von 12)<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056581903\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7371\/10056581903_7fcc15b210_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056581903_7fcc15b210_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056581903\/\">31mm f5.6 SEL1670F4Z FullResolution<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><strong>Colors and Contrast<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was really happy with the colors and contrast, but that is a subjective impression and not based on any methodical testing. I think this can be attributed to the Zeiss T* coatings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Distortion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As I mostly do landscapes so I didn\u2019t check it,\u00a0unlike with the 18-105 or 16-50PZ distortions are not so severe that you have to correct them.<\/p>\n<p>If it helps I took some photographs of a A4 sized sheet of paper.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10096367795\/\">16mm<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10096366825\/\">35mm<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10096330724\/\">70mm<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sharpness<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Please remember that my lens was decentered, a perfectly centered lens might perform better!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Please click on the images to see them in full resolution.<\/p>\n<p><strong style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">16mm<\/strong><br \/>\n<a title=\"16mm by reevedata, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10095383426\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5450\/10095383426_40a48d4689_o.jpg\" alt=\"16mm\" width=\"950\" height=\"1350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Analysis<br \/>\n<\/span>The outer corners are never really good.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">The rest of the frame is sharp from f\/4 with a slight improvement when stopping down once.<br \/>\nDiffraction results in a small drop in sharpness at f\/8 and a bigger drop at f\/11.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"line-height: 1.5;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9964981505\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7405\/9964981505_415a4618bb_c.jpg\" alt=\"9964981505_415a4618bb_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9964981505\/\">SEL1670Z_FullResolution (2 von 12)<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056556563\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7397\/10056556563_83371aafdd_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056556563_83371aafdd_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056556563\/\">16mm_f8_SEL1670F4Z_FullResolution<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9852650836\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5500\/9852650836_3e3e3884fd_c.jpg\" alt=\"9852650836_3e3e3884fd_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9852650836\/\">16mm_f11_SEL1670F4Z_FullResolution (2 von 8)<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9817810676\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2805\/9817810676_552d8f7448_c.jpg\" alt=\"9817810676_552d8f7448_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9817810676\/\">16mm_f9_SEL1670F4Z<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><strong>19mm<\/strong><br \/>\n<a title=\"19mmCenter by reevedata, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9800743583\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5458\/9800743583_b1f7f7cbe9_o.jpg\" alt=\"19mmCenter\" width=\"950\" height=\"1350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"19mmMidframe by reevedata, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9800658825\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2863\/9800658825_c62f13c640_o.jpg\" alt=\"19mmMidframe\" width=\"950\" height=\"1350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"19mmCornerR by reevedata, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9800659185\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2869\/9800659185_e0e1046991_o.jpg\" alt=\"19mmCornerR\" width=\"950\" height=\"1350\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Analysis<br \/>\n<\/span>The center of the image is great even at f\/4, diffraction sets in at f\/8 and becomes really obvious at f\/11.<\/p>\n<p>The midzone benefits from stopping down to f\/5.6 .<br \/>\nCorners are better than at 16mm but not perfect. They improve a little bit when one stops down 1 or 2 stops.<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"line-height: 1.5;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056575443\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5493\/10056575443_5d702828b1_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056575443_5d702828b1_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056575443\/\">mm_f_SEL1670F4Z__FullResolution (6 von 16)<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056559893\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3720\/10056559893_ffb07c2acb_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056559893_ffb07c2acb_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056559893\/\">21mm_f8_SEL1670F4Z_FullResolution<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><strong>28mm<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\n<a title=\"28mmCenter by reevedata, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9801574663\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3793\/9801574663_032e02c774_o.jpg\" alt=\"28mmCenter\" width=\"950\" height=\"1350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"28mmMidframe by reevedata, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9801494125\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2811\/9801494125_758ef17f89_o.jpg\" alt=\"28mmMidframe\" width=\"950\" height=\"1350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"28mmRightCorner by reevedata, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9801525936\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3727\/9801525936_5f87c4f2a9_o.jpg\" alt=\"28mmRightCorner\" width=\"950\" height=\"1350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Analysis<br \/>\n<\/span>Center: excellent from f\/4, small drop at f\/8. significant drop in sharpness at f\/11<br \/>\nMidframe: f\/5.6 is optimal here<br \/>\nCorner: stop down to f\/5.6 for best decent, f\/8 is about the same.<\/p>\n<p><strong>35mm<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056511346\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3828\/10056511346_00a59bcb93_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056511346_00a59bcb93_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>39<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056511346\/\">mm_f_SEL1670F4Z__FullResolution (7 von 16)<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056544283\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7346\/10056544283_9732e68c78_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056544283_9732e68c78_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056544283\/\">34mm_f8_SEL1670F4Z_FullResolution<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9817806976\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7422\/9817806976_30ebec5ae2_c.jpg\" alt=\"9817806976_30ebec5ae2_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9817806976\/\">34mm_f9_SEL1670F4Z34mm_f9_SEL1670F4Z<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><strong>50mm<\/strong><a style=\"line-height: 1.5;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056517176\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3680\/10056517176_0b58a9217f_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056517176_0b58a9217f_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>53<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056517176\/\">mm_f_SEL1670F4Z__FullResolution (5 von 16)<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Analysis<\/span><br \/>\nCenter: \u00a0the image is somewhat soft at f\/4. This softness is gone at f\/5.6 which is the optimal aperture.<br \/>\nMidframe: f\/4 is significantly worse than f\/5.6 \u00a0which is the opimal value<br \/>\nCorner: the corners never become really shar, performance is best at f\/8 and f\/11<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">70mm<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>please remember that the lens is decentered! It is most obvious at the long end.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Analysis<\/span><br \/>\nCenter: \u00a0the image is somewhat soft at f\/4. This softness is gone at f\/5.6 which is the optimal aperture.<br \/>\nMidframe: f\/4 is significantly worse than f\/5.6 \u00a0which is the opimal value<br \/>\nCorner: soft at f\/4 they reach acceptable sharpness once stopped down.<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"line-height: 1.5;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056541563\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3774\/10056541563_1f40540d01_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056541563_1f40540d01_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056541563\/\">70mm_f8_SEL1670F4Z_FullResolution<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056479855\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3761\/10056479855_28cb6719c7_c.jpg\" alt=\"10056479855_28cb6719c7_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/10056479855\/\">70mm f8 SEL1670F4Z FullResolution<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9965099143\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5477\/9965099143_f3138dd015_c.jpg\" alt=\"9965099143_f3138dd015_c.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/9965099143\/\">70mm f\/5.6 SEL1670Z FullResolution<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/96189377@N08\/\">reevedata<\/a>, on Flickr<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If we look at the sharpness of the images we get mixed results: The center sharpness is excellent at all focal lenghts, only above 50mm I would stop down to f\/5.6 for best results.<br \/>\nThe corners are not very good at\u00a0the wide end\u00a0of the focal range, demanding landscape photographers won&#8217;t be happy with this performance.<\/p>\n<p>Photographers who do not print big\u00a0will like the lens a lot as a great one lens solution: It is fast, small, versatile and the images are very punchy. And the OSS is a handy feature.<\/p>\n<p>I have since reviewed the Zeiss 4\/24-70 on my Alpha 7 and I had much more fun with the SEL1670z which is probably the reason why I got better results out of it.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest weaknesses of the lens I see is the really steep price, if it was priced at 600$\/\u20ac\u00a0<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">I would recommend it to every one.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">At the current price one has to consider whether it&#8217;s worth it. After all the kit lenses are not that much worse optically.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Affiliate Links<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It took me many hours to\u00a0complete this review, if you would like to support my blog please consider using one of my affiliate links:<\/p>\n<p>Zeiss 4\/16-70 at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00ENZRPG0\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B00ENZRPG0&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=phillipreeven-20&amp;linkId=NQ7GKN3F2AVXP47V\">Amazon.com<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.de\/gp\/product\/B00EUFTT62\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1638&amp;creative=19454&amp;creativeASIN=B00EUFTT62&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=phillipreeven-21&amp;linkId=B3Z2RPYYLMH2TM7T\">Amazon.de<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Some more samples<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can find more samples by visiting <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/96189377@N08\/sets\/72157636122833225\/\">my flickr account<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Even more samples <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These are optimized for web-display and can\u2019t be enlarged.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9970961184\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5549\/9970961184_d332e21489_o.jpg\" alt=\"9970961184_d332e21489_o.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9977752715\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3774\/9977752715_1cd4358222_o.jpg\" alt=\"9977752715_1cd4358222_o.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9977892343\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7370\/9977892343_ea487dbe7d_o.jpg\" alt=\"9977892343_ea487dbe7d_o.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/9977892843\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2823\/9977892843_dc895122e2_o.jpg\" alt=\"9977892843_dc895122e2_o.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/birnenbaumgarten\/10001611294\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3770\/10001611294_a046177aa3_o.jpg\" alt=\"10001611294_a046177aa3_o.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1>Other interesting articles<\/h1>\n<p><a title=\"Rolling Review: Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4\/24-70 ZA\" href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/rolling-review-carl-zeiss-vario-tessar-t-fe-424-70-za\/\">Sony 4\/24-70 Review<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Minolta Lenses on the Sony a7 \u2013 ratings, impressions and sample images\" href=\"http:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/manual-minolta-lens-ratings\/\">Manual lenses on the Sony Alpha 7 &#8211; A beginners guide<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This site contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using any of the links marked as affiliate links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support the creation of future content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Introduction The Carl Zeiss 16-70mm 1:4 made by Sony is an expensive standard lens for the Nex \/ APS-C E-mount line of cameras. It combines a very useful focal range with a decent moderate speed and size. All in all I think it is an interesting lens but it has some weaknesses which will &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/carl-zeiss-e-416-70-za-oss-for-sony-nex-review\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Carl Zeiss E 4\/16-70 ZA OSS for Sony Nex Review<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lenses"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Carl Zeiss E 4\/16-70 ZA OSS for Sony Nex Review - phillipreeve.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For this review I used the very handy Zeiss 4\/16-70 a lot and compared it to several other popular e-mount lenses.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/carl-zeiss-e-416-70-za-oss-for-sony-nex-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Carl Zeiss E 4\/16-70 ZA OSS for Sony Nex Review - 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