Got mine today, right on schedule, but won’t be able to test it until next week. Not sure I will have any “dramatic” images to share from it very soon.
I received my 16-35 f/2.8 GM ii today. Raining here non-stop all day, so no pictures other than some quick test shoots indoors today. Very impressive sharpness at f/2.8, especially in the center of the frame at all focal lengths even at 35mm which is much improved over my old version 1 of this lens. First impressions are very good. Size and weight feel very good in the hand mounted on my A7RV. Slightly larger than the 20-70 f/4 G but feels about the same weight-wise. Autofocus is very snappy and there appears to be little to no focus breathing. I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs when I get a chance to give a really good testing in the field.
Anybody got this 16 35 GM II and can compare against the PZ or how the 16 35 GM II compares at same focal lengths vs 24 70 GM II? How is the sample variation? I came across just one other thread for some tests on this lens. Hoping more folks have got this lens now and can share their experiences
"Never in my 15 years of experience testing all manner of gear have I ever seen a zoom lens perform this poorly. It takes the “bad sample of the century” prize. That Sony can ship this dumpster material to customers suggests a complete and total lack of a quality control process. It’s so deliciously godawful that I’ve elected to show its results as a “reference lens” of another kind!"
"Never in my 15 years of experience testing all manner of gear have I ever seen a zoom lens perform this poorly. It takes the “bad sample of the century” prize. That Sony can ship this dumpster material to customers suggests a complete and total lack of a quality control process. It’s so deliciously godawful that I’ve elected to show its results as a “reference lens” of another kind!"
I once subscribed to Digilloyd, but dropped my subscription when he posted some really quirky evaluations on Sony lenses that did not correlate with my results or those from other testers.
The test results published by Marc Aldeheff at SonyAlpha.blog correlate with my preliminary experience with this lens.
From my preliminary tests, the Sony 16-35mm f2.8 II is really outstanding!
First, here are a few from a recent trip to the Netherlands (below that, shots from another shoot). I looked at Digilloyd's results. My first copy of the lens was a dud at 35mm and there could be copies that are soft at wider FLs. However, my second copy looks significantly better than his. It's pretty strong throughout the range and great at all focal lengths, even at fairly wide apertures.
moby59 wrote:
"Never in my 15 years of experience testing all manner of gear have I ever seen a zoom lens perform this poorly. It takes the “bad sample of the century” prize. That Sony can ship this dumpster material to customers suggests a complete and total lack of a quality control process. It’s so deliciously godawful that I’ve elected to show its results as a “reference lens” of another kind!"
Based on that review, I would buy one of these lenses without hesitation. That particular reviewer is notorious for his clickbait negativity, which usually turn out to be nothing more than user error. I used to subscribe to his reviews, but got tired of the phoney hysteria and the aggressive begging for money whenever he wanted a new Porsche.
molson wrote:
Based on that review, I would buy one of these lenses without hesitation. That particular reviewer is notorious for his clickbait negativity, which usually turn out to be nothing more than user error. I used to subscribe to his reviews, but got tired of the phoney hysteria and the aggressive begging for money whenever he wanted a new Porsche.
Here are a few photos from Cyprus and Northern Cyprus. I guess hard to check details from 1600 px width but I can say that at 100% I really like what I see.
View from St Hilarion castle
ILCE-7RM5FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens16mmf/10.01/250s100 ISO-0.3 EV
Shipwreck at dawn
ILCE-7RM5FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens17mmf/13.025s100 ISO0.0 EV
Bellapais Abbey
ILCE-7RM5FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens21mmf/8.01/100s100 ISO+0.3 EV
Casino in Kyrenia
ILCE-7RM5FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens21mmf/4.01/5s100 ISO-0.3 EV
I bought this lens a few weeks ago and took it on my trip to Kyoto along with a 50mm. It was spectacular and stayed on my camera the whole time. The size and weight reduction is substantial. I’m working on the images and hope to post some soon. No sharpness or centering issues that I can see so far and it’s razor sharp. I will be picking up the mk II of the 85mm whenever Sony decides to release it and complete my travel kit.
These are some great images. The minimal focus breathing is quiet good for focus stacking which I don't really do often. Definitely seeing some great corner performance. I am quiet curious about flare shooting with the sun in the frame which I do often. Looking forward to upgrading from the GMI I have now.
sismailian wrote:
These are some great images. The minimal focus breathing is quiet good for focus stacking which I don't really do often. Definitely seeing some great corner performance. I am quiet curious about flare shooting with the sun in the frame which I do often. Looking forward to upgrading from the GMI I have now.
Forgot to mention earlier, the flaring is horrific. I also had significant loss of contrast when shooting into the sun in Japan. Some images were downright unusable.
I compared the original (which I own for many years already) and version II side by side recently.
The new design is nice. It's noticeable smaller and lighter, really has almost no focus breathing (I do quite a lot of focus stacking), the AF is super snappy and it only extends a littlebit when zooming.
I wasn't able to compare the IQ (my copy of the original is already great), but it's all these things that tempt me to switch to the new one.
smlhtr wrote:
Forgot to mention earlier, the flaring is horrific. I also had significant loss of contrast when shooting into the sun in Japan. Some images were downright unusable.
That's rather a bit disapponting. I would think the new AR-2 coatings would've helped but I dunno.
I know the 12-24 gm has the best flare resistance I've seen in a zoom so far. I guess I'll wait for now. Would it be too much to ask if you could provide maybe 1 or 2 samples of the bad flare? Thank you.
sismailian wrote:
That's rather a bit disapponting. I would think the new AR-2 coatings would've helped but I dunno.
I know the 12-24 gm has the best flare resistance I've seen in a zoom so far. I guess I'll wait for now. Would it be too much to ask if you could provide maybe 1 or 2 samples of the bad flare? Thank you.
I’m currently travelling but I’ll get back to you!
sismailian wrote:
That's rather a bit disapponting. I would think the new AR-2 coatings would've helped but I dunno.
I know the 12-24 gm has the best flare resistance I've seen in a zoom so far. I guess I'll wait for now. Would it be too much to ask if you could provide maybe 1 or 2 samples of the bad flare? Thank you.
The 16-35 GM II has been tested side by side the original 16-35 GM and shown to have improved flare resistance, and especially better contrast with direct light sources in the frame.
However, literally every lens on the market has specific angles at which worst case scenarios play out regarding sensor reflections and internal reflections. If you end up in this worst case scenario you’ll need to be clever and reorient the camera slightly.
I would not worry about the flare resistance on this lens.
