Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G review: small and mighty?

Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G: two-minute review

Cameras are getting smaller, but lenses – especially zoom lenses – appear to be getting bigger. It’s normal now to be shooting with a mirrorless camera with a compact body but a big, hefty standard zoom that makes it feel front-heavy and unbalanced. 

Sony, however, has started turning its attention to more compact lens designs, refusing to compromise on performance but instead sacrificing a little focal length or zoom range in exchange for smaller, lighter and perhaps cheaper optics.

The Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is smaller than most ultra-wide zooms, especially those with a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is an excellent example. It has the same constant f/2.8 maximum aperture as Sony’s flagship FE 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master II lens, but in a smaller, lighter design that’s also little more than half the price. It doesn’t have that premium G Master label, but Sony’s regular ‘G’ lenses are now so advanced, both optically, physically and in AF technology, that it’s getting increasingly hard to see a difference.

The one compromise in the FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is its focal range. Most lenses in this category are 16-35mm zooms, but this lens stops at a maximum focal length of 25mm. It covers the same ultra-wide angles of view, but is less versatile if you need a more general semi-wide angle of view.

The Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G does have a limited zoom range, but does its size make up for that? (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

Does this matter? On paper it gives the FE 16-25mm F2.8 G an almost laughably limited 1.6x zoom range, but in practice that may be all you need in an ultra-wide zoom. Whether it's landscapes, architecture or interiors, you're very often going to be shooting in this narrow focal range. If you’re also carrying a regular 24-70mm, 24-105mm or Sony’s new FE 24-50mm f/2.8 G lens, it just means you’ll swap to your standard zoom sooner. You’ll get the same overall focal range from a wide/standard lens combination, just with less overlap in focal lengths.

So is the size saving worth losing that extra focal range. Sort of. The FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is certainly smaller and lighter than a regular 16-35mm f/2.8 lens, but it’s still not exactly small. I tested it on a Sony A7C II, and it still felt pretty big on that. It would balance nicely on a regular A7 body, though.

Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G: price and release date

(Image credit: Rod Lawton)

At the time of writing, the Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is on pre-order, but with supplies expected around May 10th – so by the time you’re reading this, it’s probably available amongst the major resellers. The US price is around $1,198, in the UK it’s £1,249, while in Australia it's AU$2,189. You wouldn’t call it a cheap lens, but it’s way cheaper than Sony’s other constant f/2.8 ultra-wide G Master zooms. 

It looks very good value for an own-brand lens with a sophisticated optical construction, fast and silent dual linear AF motors and excellent external controls. It’s also weather-sealed with a fluorine-coated front element to repel oil, grease and water.

Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G: design

Sony certainly hasn’t stinted on build quality and controls. This lens uses ‘engineering plastics’ to keep the weight down, but there’s no harm in that and the finish is excellent. The aperture control ring is first rate too, with firm and positive clicks between each 1/3 aperture setting and an extra firm detent at f/22 to switch it to auto aperture control. 

If you’re shooting video and changing aperture/iris settings while filming, you can use a Click On/Off switch on the underside to enable stepless silent aperture adjustment.

The aperture ring has firm 1/3-stop clicks and can be 'declicked' for silent, stepless iris control while filming. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

Focusing is so fast as to be practically instantaneous, and silent too. This is where you’re likely to notice most difference between Sony’s newer own-brand lenses and cheaper third-party alternatives. There’s a slightly stiff AF/MF switch on the barrel, and in manual focus mode the focus ring at the front of the lens feels a fraction light but offers progressive and accurate focus control.

This lens is compatible with Sony’s focus breathing compensation mode, depending on the camera you’re using. The focus breathing doesn’t seem particularly strong, though objects do appear to grow somewhat smaller as they go out of focus. 

There’s one other external feature worth highlighting – the FE 16-25mm F2.8 G has a very compact front element that doesn’t protrude, so it’s perfectly possible to attach regular filters and it has a pretty common 67mm filter thread, so you may not have to buy any outsize filters just for this lens.

The compact design includes a modestly-sized front element and takes 67mm filters. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

Focusing is full internal, and while there is a change in the length as you zoom from one end of the range to the other, it’s only a few millimeters, so if you’re balancing a gimbal you probably only need to do it once and not keep changing it for different zoom settings.

The limitations of this lens's focal range are obvious, but its build quality, handling, features and performance are a pleasant surprise, and it certainly feels as if you're getting your money's worth.

Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G: sample images

As a walkaround lens, the Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G is pretty good, especially in tight spaces or for subjects crowded closely together. At 25mm, it has the same perspective and angle of view of a smartphone's main camera. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

At the 16mm minimum focal length, this lens's short minimum focus distance means you can get in really close for some strong perspective effects. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The longest focal length is 25mm, which is still fairly wide, but you can get more natural looking perspectives as well as good close-up shots. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The advantage of an ultra-wide zoom like this is that you can get in front of obstacles and spectators that would otherwise be in the way, and still get the whole of your subject in the frame. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

(Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The difference between 16mm (top) and 25mm (above) is not great, but enough to give you some shooting flexibility and perspective control indoors. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The background bokeh is not bad, but highlights are distinctly polygonal rather round – but then you don't get a lens like this for the bokeh. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The close-focusing capability of this lens is pretty remarkable, right across the zoom range. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

Distortion correction is applied automatically in camera to JPEGs, and there's not a hint of corner shading either. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

At 16mm, the FE 16-25mm F2.8 G delivers really good center and edge sharpness even at f/2.8. The extreme corners are softer, though, right through the aperture range. Bear in mind that a close-up test like this is extra tough on wide-angle lenses because they are very close to a flat surface. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

This is what the previous test shot looks like without digital corrections. You can see there's strong barrel distortion at the 16mm end of the zoom range. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

Here's a test shot taken at 25mm. The performance is even better, with sharp details right to the edges and quite good corner definition too, especially at f/8 and smaller apertures. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

Here's an uncorrected version of our 25mm test shot. There is some barrel distortion but much less than at 16mm.  (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

Should I buy the Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G?

(Image credit: Rod Lawton)

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G

(Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The weather was not kind during testing, so I mixed indoor and outdoor shots. The indoor shots were good for checking angles, of view, distortion and close focusing capability, while the outdoor shots were at a motorcycle meet that tested the practicality of this 16-25mm zoom range for this kind of walkaround shooting. I also did a brick wall test at both ends of the zoom range to check for optical quality across the aperture range.

I also paid attention to the autofocus performance, both for speed and silence, to see how effective Sony’s dual linear motor setup actually is, and I paid particular attention to the feel and operation of the external controls, as these are a significant selling point for this lens.

I also wanted to find out how the Sony FE 16-25mm F2.8 G handled on the smaller A7C series body (OK, as it happens), whether it was especially nose-heavy on a tripod and how easy it was to balance on a gimbal. My Ronin SC had a long enough camera plate and fore-aft adjustment to cope easily, and the very small lens extension when zooming meant no rebalancing was necessary.

• First reviewed May 2024