Sony FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G Lens Officially Announced
Sony has recently unveiled its latest addition to its lens lineup with the announcement of the FE 16-25mm F2.8 G, an ultra-wide full-frame lens designed to complement the recent FE 24-50mm F2.8 lens. This new offering is tailored for photographers capturing architecture, interiors, landscapes, and street scenes, boasting a sleek design and a versatile range that caters to everyday shooting needs. With a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture, it excels in low-light conditions, ensuring consistent performance across various lighting scenarios.
Pre-order Links: Sony FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G Lens at Amazon, B&H, Adorama.
Designed to be a companion to the FE 24-50mm f/2.8 G, the FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G shares similar attributes in terms of compactness and lightweight design. Measuring 74.8mm in diameter and 91.4mm in length, it offers portability without compromising on performance. Weighing just 409g, it is noticeably lighter than its 24-50mm counterpart, making it an ideal choice for photographers on the move.
What sets the FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G apart from other wide-angle zooms is its unique focal length range, sitting between 16mm and 25mm. This positioning caters to photographers who prefer to work within the middle wide-angle range, foregoing the extreme focal lengths of other zooms while prioritizing compactness and lightness. Despite being part of the G-series rather than the GM-series, known for its premium quality, this lens maintains an impressive f/2.8 aperture, distinguishing it from other G-series lenses which typically feature a more modest f/4 aperture.
In terms of specifications, the FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G shares similarities with the FE 24-50mm lens, boasting exceptional sharpness and clarity. Advanced optical elements such as aspherical and extra-low dispersion glass contribute to an impressive MTF chart, while an 11-blade diaphragm ensures smooth and rounded bokeh for shallow depth of field shots. The lens offers a minimum focusing distance of 7.1” at the wide end and 9.5” at the long end, allowing for a maximum magnification of 0.2x.
Autofocus is powered by a pair of linear motors, enabling fast and accurate focusing, essential for capturing fleeting moments. The internal focusing system ensures swift focusing speeds, compatible with high-speed burst shooting modes. Additionally, the lens supports Focus Breathing Compensation, catering to the needs of video shooters and vloggers.
Constructed to withstand challenging shooting conditions, the lens features dust and moisture resistance, making it suitable for outdoor use. A front fluorine coating facilitates easy cleaning and resists smudging, ensuring clear and pristine images. Furthermore, the inclusion of a dedicated focus ring, tactile focus hold button, and a manual aperture ring adds versatility and control to the shooting experience.
In conclusion, the Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G lens offers a compelling combination of performance, portability, and versatility. Priced at around $1199, it presents a solid option for photographers seeking ultra-wide coverage without compromising on speed and convenience. Whether used for vlogging, landscape photography, or travel adventures, this lens is poised to become an indispensable tool for capturing stunning imagery.
Press Release:
Sony Electronics Announces a Compact Wide-Angle FE 16-25mm F2.8 G Zoom Lens
A constant F2.8 full-frame E-mount lens that offers high-resolution image quality, a wide-angle zoom range and excellent portability
SAN DIEGO. April 16, 2024 – Sony Electronics is pleased to announce the FE 16-25mm F2.8 G (SEL1625G), a large-aperture wide-angle zoom lens compatible with Sony’s α™ (Alpha™) E-mount cameras. This latest addition delivers sharp imagery from 16 mm through 25 mm while maintaining a maximum aperture of F2.8 over the entire zoom range. The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is the smallest and lightest constant F2.8 zoom lens that Sony has produced to date. The compact design is a signature feature of Sony’s G lens series and makes it a highly portable lens option.
The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G’s wide-angle lens offers photographers and videographers an expanded range of creative expression, allowing them to capture a variety of subjects including landscapes, architecture, portraits, and selfie-shooting. This new addition follows the FE 24-50mm F2.8 G standard zoom lens announced February 2024, both offering many of the same characteristics including filter diameter, aperture, and compact size and weight.
“The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G was designed to offer creators a wide-angle lens option that perfectly balances large-aperture, compact form factor, and high-image quality. This is the 73rd addition to our E-mount lens line-up, and just another step in our commitment to providing photographers and videographers with the perfect lens solutions for their specific needs,” says Yang Cheng, Vice President, Imaging Solutions, Sony Electronics Inc. “The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is a fantastic lens with high-resolution performance, beautiful bokeh, and high precision autofocus. It is a perfect companion to the Alpha 7C R and Alpha 7C II compact full-frame camera bodies, and together they offer an unbeatable lightweight set-up.”
Key Features of FE 16-25mm F2.8 G
The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G features an impressively compact and lightweight design with a width of 74.8mm (about 2.94 in), length of 91.4mm (about 3.58 in), filter diameter of φ67 mm, and weight of approximately 409g.
This lens incorporates advanced optical technology to deliver exceptional image quality across the entire frame. By incorporating three Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) elements and four aspherical lenses (including one ED aspherical lens), the lens design effectively minimizes various optical aberrations, including chromatic aberration.
The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G combines an 11-blade circular aperture and the optimization of spherical aberration to produce the signature smooth bokeh known to the G lens series. Moreover, it offers functional close-up shooting capabilities with a minimum shooting distance of 0.18m and a maximum magnification of 0.20x when using autofocus (AF)i.
The lens is equipped with two linear motors that enable exceptional autofocus performance, delivering high-speed, high-precision, and quiet focusing capabilities, even when capturing fast-moving subjects. These linear motors ensure swift and accurate focusing, allowing photographers and videographers to maintain sharpness and clarity in their images and videos, even in challenging shooting situations. Furthermore, it supports high-speed continuous shooting with AF/AE tracking of up to 120 frames per second, a feature capable of being used when paired with the Alpha 9 III full-frame mirrorless cameraii.
The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G excels in video performance, ensuring smooth and precise focusing even when shooting high-frame-rate videos such as 4K120p or FHD240piii. The lens is equipped with linear response manual focus (MF), allowing videographers to make precise focus adjustments with ease. Additionally, it supports in-body Active Mode Image Stabilizationiv and Focus Breathing to optimize video capture.
The lens is equipped with practical and user-friendly functionality including a customizable focus hold button, aperture ring, aperture click ON/OFF switch, and a focus mode switch. The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G’s design is dust and moisture resistantv, and includes a fluorine coating to further prevent dirt from sticking to the front surface of the lens.
Pricing and Availability
The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G will be available for pre-sale April 17, 2024, and purchase May 10, 2024. It will retail for approximately $1,199.99 USD and $1,599.99 CAN, at a variety of Sony’s authorized dealers throughout North America.
i Maximum magnification is 0.2x (AF)/0.23x (MF) with a minimum focus distance of 0.18 m (0.59ft) (AF) / 0.17 m (0.56ft) (MF) at the 16 mm end of the range and 0.24 m (AF) (0.79ft) / 0.22 m (0.73ft) (MF) at the 25 mm end of the range for superb wide-angle close-up performance.
ii Sony test conditions. Maximum continuous frame rate may be lower in some shooting conditions. Continuous shooting speed may vary depending on the lens used in AF-C focus modes. Visit Sony’s support web page for lens compatibility information.
iii Depends on the camera used.
iv Compatible models only.
v Not guaranteed to be 100% dust and moisture proof.