16mm f/2.8 Wide-Angle Lens

Great multi-use lens

Pros: size, detail, good looking

Cons: Sometimes makes ugly distortion

Good day to day lens because its small so it fits in your pocket, but if you are taking a group shot, someone on the edge might get distorted.

Great travel lens

Pros: Light, compact

Cons: Minor corner sharpness issues

Overall a bargain and my default lens while traveling. Fine for exterior architecture, and good for interiors when paired with the Ultra Wide Converter (VCL-ECU1). This is the lens I used the most during a three week tour in England this summer.

Good for landscapes

Pros: Landscape & other wide-agle photos

Cons: People & everyday use

This is a decent and inexpensive lens for landscapes and other wide-angle photos, but it's not a particularly good compact lens for everyday use. I'd really appreciate a quality compact lens for my 5N, but this is not a good general purpose lens. I hope Sony comes out with a lens similar to the "pancake" Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7. My decision about which camera to purchase was a close call between a micro four thirds camera and the NEX, but I opted for the 5N because it offers better image quality, but the other offered more lenses and choice. If / when Sony comes out with a good general purpose, compact lens it will have a very respectable lens selection.

Love This Lens

Pros: Small, great pictures & video

Cons: None

I love my new NEX7 camera - it is the best I have ever had. I like the zoom lens that comes with the camera but it is big and often I just don't need the zoom. So I got this smaller lens and really like it. I think it takes great pictures. I also love the fact that the camera has a viewfinder and that it automatically switches around to macro, regular, backlit, etc., etc. - my other latest Sony camera has such features but you have to manually switch them around. So far I have not had any distortion that others have mentioned with this smaller lens.

Excellent Purchase SEL16f28

Pros: Sharp, no CA, no noticeable distortion, good build quality, fast auto focus

Cons: None so far

I use this lens on my FS100 Super 35mm. It is very sharp, with no CA and no noticeable distortion. The auto-focus is super quick, and low-light performance is excellent. I have also used this lens with macro diopter converter lenses with excellent results using manual focus. Works absolutely brillinantly with the VCL-ECU1 wide angle conversion lens as well.

Can't Recommend the 16mm

Pros: small size and weight

Cons: poor focus, purple fringing

I can't recommend this lens. I couldn't achieve proper focus with either auto or manual focus modes. Also some of the worst purple fringing I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I had to return it. Will wait to see what others say before trying it again.

Good lens for the price

Pros: price, wide angle shots, small, looks good

Cons: can not take macro, some unwanted distortion, some shots come out not so sharp

This is a good lens for scenery and landscape, and for the price, its a good bargain, but as for macro, its a no go obviously because its a wide angle.

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Great compliment to NEX camera

Pros: Unbelievably small, lightweight, wide angle, cheap

Cons: Not very sharp in the corners, distortion

The best things about this lens are that it's small and light. The NEX cameras basically feel the same whether this lens is on the camera or there's no lens on the camera - which is great, because it's no secret that size and weight are pretty important with a system like this. That being said, this lens has some (noticeable) distortion that is unlike other wide angle lenses. It seems that this is in the RAW format as well, so it might be that some software correction is being applied in the camera, or the lens construction is a bit different than other wide-angle lenses. However, given the size and price, you really can't expect top shelf quality. The center is acceptably sharp - corners are not terribly sharp. Once I figured out the limitations of the lens, I found that I could get great results when working within its constraints. Overall, I'd recommend this lens, but I'm hoping that a comparably sized fast (f/2 or better) lens in the 24mm to 32mm range (36 to 48mm eq) comes out soon.

Reviewer Images: (click to see full-size image)

DARK PANORAMAS! WARNING!

Pros: Light, small.. good for night shots

Cons: DARK DARK PANORAMIC SHOTS!

I have no idea why this lens is very dark on indoor panaramic shots, thought this would be good for real estate photography, even when i adjust the f stop, its totally dark, others have complained online, but i dont see answers or dont know why.. its totally not useable in panarama mode unless its brightly lit.. a shame..

Can it be sharper?

Pros: Lightweight / nice construction

Cons: Not as sharp; could improve in contrast and color

I excitedly moved to the NEX from micro four thirds and ordered the 5N with this pancake lens. I thought this lens would be like the Lumix pancake lens but it does not compare well in sharpness and color definition. Sony, please make this a better lens!

Great pancake lens.

Pros: small, smoothest focus ring ever! Lightweight

Cons: no image stabilization

Great wide fast lens. I attach this to my NEX-5 and slide it in my pants pocket and go. I can always have it with me. The focus ring is by far the smoothest I have ever felt, I wish all my lenses had it. Sony has done a fantastic job with the A mount lenses. It's a very wide lens and ALL lenses have some distortion and fringing, the wider the more apparent it is, it is not a problem on this lens unless you are some nerdy pixel peeper. 99.999% of photographers will have no problem with this lens, the 0.001% who have a problem with this lens just have problems in general.

Awesome lens

Pros: light build quality Vibrant colours

Cons: None

Very happy with the images i captured with this lens attached to my Nex 5 .Tack sharp images Beautiful colours Highly recommended

Reviewer Images: (click to see full-size image)