Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless camera shooters have some good news coming their way. Sony has dropped a couple of new lenses today, including a nice and compact ultrawide prime with the new FE 16mm f/1.8 G.
Set to be an ideal choice for professional videography and all of the usual types of modern content creation like vlogging and travel videography, this new ultrawide should be a great option for landscape, architecture, and street photography and videography as well.
Let’s look at this new G-series lens and see how it might be worth adding to your camera bag for your video projects.
The Sony FE 16mm f/1.8 G
Set to establish itself as a “premium” choice for all manner of video and photo work, this highly versatile ultrawide prime should be quite popular with Sony full-frame shooters. The lens will feature dual XD linear motors and internal AF that will allow for speedy and efficient autofocusing performance—a common trait for all of the G Series lenses.
"At Sony, we are committed to providing creators of all levels with a diverse range of lens options to meet their artistic and technical needs. The 16mm F1.8 G is now the widest prime lens in our G lens lineup and pairs seamlessly with all our latest full-frame Alpha series cameras, as well as the FX3 and FX30 cinema cameras. With 79 E-Mount lenses now available, we are continuing our mission to ensure photographers, filmmakers, and creators have a breadth of high-performing lens options to bring their visions to life." — Yang Cheng, Vice President of Imaging Solutions, Sony Electronics Inc.
Along with the support of AF at 120fps, the lens’s low-focus breathing and compact design should really help it stand out with its video capture capabilities. The front lens element also doesn’t protrude like most wide-angle optics do these days, which will allow shooters to equip 67mm screw-in filters too, keeping its versatility high.
Ultra-Wide Performance with Nice Bokeh
Sony shares that the 16mm F1.8 G will feature an advanced optical construction that will include two AA (Advanced Aspherical) elements to help ensure razor-sharp resolution across all apertures. This combination of one Super ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass element and three ED elements will further suppress chromatic aberration to help deliver edge-to-edge clarity.
Additionally, Sony’s optimized coating will help minimize flare and ghosting, which should facilitate great image quality even in challenging lighting conditions. With its bright F1.8 maximum aperture and an 11-blade circular diaphragm, the 16mm F1.8 G will produce some nice and creamy bokeh that will help shooters enhance subject separation.
The lens will also feature impressive close-up performance that will allow for a minimum focus distance of just 0.5 ft with autofocus and a maximum magnification of 0.25x. (When using manual focus, Sony shares that these values improve up to 0.43 ft and 0.30x, enabling unique wide-angle compositions with extraordinary depth.)
Price and Availability
The Sony FE 16mm f/1.8 G is available for preorder starting on February 27th at 9:00 am ET. You can check out the full specs and purchase options below.
- Full-Frame | f/1.8
- Ultrawide Prime Lens
- Dual XD Linear AF Motors, Internal Focus
- Focus Hold Button, AF/MF Switch
- Physical Aperture Ring
- Compact & Lightweight Form Factor
Sony FE 16mm f/1.8 G Lens (Sony E)
An ultrawide prime lens for Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras, the FE 16mm f/1.8 G Lens from Sony establishes itself as a premium choice for vlogging as well as landscape, architecture, and street photography.
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