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This is definitely one of the best lenses for SONY Alpha APS-C cameras. It produces good pictures even at minimum aperture values for any focus lengths between 16-105mm. This is quite unusual for zoom lenses, especially with such zoom factor (about 6.56x). Most of them produce big aberrations and distortions - this statement is definitely not concern with SAL16105. It has fast-focus and good colors. Other manufacturers simply don't have lenses with similar characteristics. SAL16105 is the best choice within this price. It gives you super-wide creativity freedom with best picture quality, which most of zoom lenses can't.
This lens has a superb focal length and a very good build quality, it is pretty fast focusing and sharp at almost any length and aperture. One stop down and your pictures are really very crisp. The lens also controls CA pretty well, and ghosting. The bokeh is decent. I really like this lens, almost as much as the more expensive Carl Zeiss. You can usually find this lens for a great price used and with the build quality it's usually in great shape too. Highly recommended lens.
This lens is a very useful size and weight to carry about - and gives an effective 24 - 150mm focal length range on reduced sensor size. For most travel work, panorama, scenic, or people, this is all I would need most of the time. So you could leave it on the camera most of the time. It is fighting for survival against my 18 - 250mm which is effectively 27 - 375mm on reduced sensor size ; not quite wide enough for crowded spaces but what a great total reach ! And their weight (obviously different) feels similar. In dusty locations I would want to ideally leave one lens attached, to minimise dust getting onto the sensor when changing lenses. So time will tell which one keeps its place in my camera bag.
Positive: Decent range/wide (24 mm equivalent) Precise auto focus Internal focus Non-rotating filter/hood Good contrast Negative: Small aperture Very soft corners Heavy and inconsistent zoom action Loud manual focus Complex distortion at the wide end Focus distance window difficult to read Build is inferior to the 18-55 SAM II This lens looks and feels like an older design than the mid 1990's Minolta AF 24-85 f/3.5-4.5 and 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 lenses. It is very similar in size and weight and covers the entire range of the older 28-105 with the addition of the 16-28 wide range. Unfortunately it doesn't perform anywhere near the 28-105 as far as image quality and ease of operation. The zoom action reminds me of the 1980's Minolta AF 28-135--very inconsistent and heavy. It seems to be both a much cheaper and a much more compromised lens design. This is a slow lens even compared to the Sony DT 18-55 SAM II kit lens. The bulk of the lens seems to have used for attaining the wide 16 mm focal length. By 18 mm it is at a maximum aperture of f/4--slower than the cheaper kit lens, and at 24 mm it is already at f/4.5. At 35 mm it is at f/5--just like the 18-55 kit lens. It does have better image quality on the wide end than the 18-55 SAM II lens--less barrel distortion than the 18-55 but more complex distortion. Most of the frame is sharper on the wide end compared to the 18-55 except the extreme corners. The corners are always soft at all focal lengths. It has better contrast than the Minolta 24-85 but considerably softer corners. The auto focus of this lens is spot on in the center, while the Minolta 24-85 and the 18-55 SAM II back focus often. Similar image quality to the 28-105 at 105 mm, but considerably inferior to that lens in the rest of the range. Retracted it is just slightly larger than the Minolta 28-105. It extends quite a bit further with two smaller diameter barrel tubes. In general a decent entry-level kit zoom lens. Centered subjects will be sharp. It provides a decent quality 16 mm wide angle of view, but is never as good as the 18-55 is at 55 mm. The older Minolta 24-85 and 28-105 mid level lenses are consistently better options if you can give up the wide end of the range. Though those lenses do lack the built-in corrections on Sony cameras.Read full review
I got the SAL16105 used on ebay as an upgrade to the kit lens SAL1855 for the Sony Alpha a65. After a lot of research and comparison to the Zeiss SAL1680z, I decided to go for this lens. The primary reason was the cost and better range for travel use. Used prices for this lens are about half the price of the Zeiss. After a couple of days of shooting I am impressed by the image quality. Pictures are very sharp and show high contrast and color saturation in RAW, and require minimum PP. Build quality is good, the lens has a nice heft to it and balances well on the a65 body. I was also surpised by the quick AF with the in-body motor on the Sony Alpha a65. Focusing is a little noisy but quick and accurate. I shot a soccer game in Continuous AF mode with the central AF points active. Most of the pictures are sharp. Compared to the Tamron SP 70-300 that I normally use for sports, the Sony lens AF is much more accurate. Even though the Tammy has the in-lens USM motor, it seems to struggle with AF on fast moving objects. I have never been able to use AF-C mode with the Tammy.Read full review
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