Sony
Zeiss f/4
E-Mount zoom
shoot out
Sony
Zeiss 24-70mm f4 FE on the Sony A7 and the Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f4 on the
Sony A6000. As my third camera is infrared converted you can see deeper
into the lenses than normal.
It's apples to oranges,
but an
interesting taste test as both cameras are 24mp and the zooms cover
very similar focal ranges. When applicable also compared the Sony
10-18mm f4
and 16-50mm pz kit lens. All shot on a tripod, AF-S on the barn and
electronic front shutter curtan on. OSS off and no lens corrections on,
although
Sony applies some CA removal to the raw files. Processed in Adobe
Camera Raw with matching white balance. Shot in aperture priority mode
to see how the cameras deal with each lens in real world conditions.
The general internet feel for the 24-70mm f4 FE is that it's stunning
in the center but lacking in the corners at 24mm and doesn't improve by
stopping down. My real world use confirms this, it's a stunning lens
from 30-60mm, a rather narrow range. From all I've read the Sony
16-70mm f4 is more loved but suffers from quality control issues, often
having a soft corner.
The whole scene at 16mm f/4.
Interesting how the A7 sensor looks considerably different than the
A6000 with all of them set to Daylight WB in ACR.
Center crops from
each at f/4.
I find the Sony 10-18mm and Sony Zeiss 16-70mm remarkably similar, the
PZ 16-50 notably softer and the acuity on the 24-70 FE highest. It
appears Sony took the PZ strategy with the 24-70 FE, making it wider
than the marked focal length and then cropping to alleviate the heavy
vignetting.