Review of Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS T* (Sony SEL1670Z)

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Navigation

1. In short
2. Main Specifications
3. Assembly
4. Stabilizer
5. Focusing
6. Image quality
7. Sample photos (RAW+)
8. My personal experience with the lens
9. Conclusion
10. User Comments
11. Add your review or question on the lens

In this review, I will abbreviate the Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS T* lens (model Sony SEL1670Z) as Sony 16-70/4 ZA.

Important : This lens also exists with a different name written near the front element – ​​Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS T* . There is no difference between the 'Zeiss' and 'Carl Zeiss' versions.

In short

The Sony 16-70/4 ZA is a moderately fast, versatile zoom lens for mirrorless cropped-sensor cameras with the Sony E -mount . It's unique, boasting high-quality build quality, compact dimensions, fast focusing, and a built-in image stabilizer. Optically, it's decent, but has some obvious drawbacks.

Until the release of the Sony E 2.8/16-55G (August 2019), the Sony 16-70/4 ZA was the best such all-round solution in its class for Sony E APS-C cameras.

There are only two lenses jointly produced by Carl Zeiss and Sony (the so-called Sony ZA ) for mirrorless cropped cameras Sony E series NEX and Alpha/ILCE : this is the hero of this review and Carl Zeiss Sonnar E 1.8/24 ZA T* (Sony SEL24F18Z).

The Sony 16-70/4 ZA is very user-friendly and makes a good everyday kit zoom lens. It's also a great replacement for kit lenses like the Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ OSS , Sony 18-50mm f/4-5.6, and Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS.

• healthy: all Sony / Carl Zeiss / Zeiss ZA series lenses
• healthy: all Sony E-mount cameras with APS-C sensors, as well as all Sony E-mount lenses for cameras with APS-C sensors

Main technical characteristics of Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS T*:

Review Instance Name	Near the front lens Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS T* Ø55′ + serial number On body '4/16-70 Sony E-mount Zeiss 0,35m/1,15ft' On the identification plate 'SEL1670Z Made in Thailand'
Basic properties	E (E-mount) – the lens is designed for mirrorless cameras/Sony cameras with an APS-C sensor and E-mount SEL – Sony lens for 'E' mount mirrorless cameras. This lens has a short identifier name 'Sony SEL1670Z' Internal Linear Motor - internal focus motor T* - special coating for optics Carl Zeiss T * ZA (ZEISS Aalpha) – the lens has been tested by Zeiss to all the highest quality standards. The lens was developed by Sony in collaboration with Zeiss. DMF (DDirectly MAnnual Pass Focus) - direct manual focus Health Care (Optical Steady Shot) - built-in optical image stabilization Internal focus Electronic focus ring Aspherical elements in the optical circuit Low dispersion elements in the optical circuit Included hood
Front Filter Diameter	55 mm, plastic thread for filters
Focal length	16-70 mm EGF for cameras Sony with APS-C sensor is 24-105 mm
Zoom ratio	4.375 x
Designed by	for digital mirrorless cameras Sony NEX / Sony Alpha ILCE and Sony E APS-C film/video cameras/camcorders
Number of aperture blades	7 rounded petals
Tags	bayonet mount mark (white dot) two marks for attaching the hood (red dots on the trunk and body) focal length values: 16, 24, 35, 50, 70 mm
Diaphragm	F / 4 to F / 22 over the entire range of focal lengths
MDF (minimum focusing distance)	0.35 meters, maximum magnification ratio is 1:4.4 (0.23X)
The weight	307 grams, only the lens itself (measured)
Optical design	16 elements in 12 groups, including aspherical and low dispersion elements The scheme is clickable
Lens hood	Bayonet, plastic, supplied, marked Sony ALC-SH127
Manufacturer country	Made In THAILAND (made in Thailand)
Period	Announced August 27, 2013
Price	AMAZON

The focal length range of the Sony 16-70/4 ZA, when converted, gives an equivalent focal length of 24-105 mm, which is even slightly longer than that of a similar full-frame lens , the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar FE 4/24-70 ZA OSS T* (Sony SEL2470Z).

Assembly

Sony 16-70/4 ZA is made in Thailand. The lens feels pleasant and reliable to the touch.

Sony 16-70/4 ZA has a metal mount. There is no rubber seal on the bayonet side, the lens is poorly protected from the external environment.

The focusing ring is not very wide, not rubberized, metal, but pleasant to use.

Changing the focal length occurs smoothly, without jerks (although some specimens have micro-jerks and a tight ring movement). The zoom ring is wide, not rubberized, metal. The trunk of the Sony 16-70/4 ZA does not spontaneously change its size under its own weight.

When changing the focal length, the rear lens moves in the middle of the lens body like a pump - it draws in and pushes out air. This can increase the amount of dust that accumulates in the inside of the camera.

The case has a bayonet mount mark and marks for quick installation of the lens hood. The lens uses a plastic hood, which is fixed in special grooves located near the front lens of the lens.

Interesting: the grooves for the lens hood are located between the filter and the barrel. The lens hood is inserted into this groove, twisted, and clicked into place. I rarely encounter this design; it eliminates the need to expose the lens hood's bayonet blades to the outside of the barrel, thus preventing the overall smooth design from being ruined. The lens barrel is completely hidden within the lens barrel. A small detail, but a nice touch.

The hood can be installed in the opposite direction for transportation. In this position, access to the focus ring becomes unavailable.

The front filter diameter is 55mm. The lens itself is small, just slightly longer than the standard Sony E 3.5-5.6/18-55 OSS (SEL1855) [ lenses side by side ].

The diaphragm consists of 7 rounded blades that form a hole in the shape of a regular heptagon, the resulting hole is well rounded.

Stabilizer

The Sony 16-70/4 ZA uses Sony's built-in OSS ( Optical Stabilizer Shot ) image stabilizer . The stabilizer can compensate for shutter speeds up to 4 stops . This translates to shutter speeds up to 16 times slower than what a lens without the stabilizer would require. For example, when shooting still subjects at a focal length of 70mm without the stabilizer, it's recommended to shoot at shutter speeds of 1/80 sec or faster. With the stabilizer enabled, you can theoretically shoot at 1/5 sec.

In practice, I was able to make sharp shots of stationary objects with hands at 70 mm only at shutter speeds no longer than 1/10 of a second.

There is no switch on the lens responsible for stabilizer operation. The stabilization function is turned on in the camera menu.

There is practically no noise from the operation of the stabilizer.

In general, the stabilizer confidently holds two to three shutter speed steps.

Focusing

The lens uses a built-in linear focus motor . During autofocus, there's a very faint noise from the focus motor, similar to a "transformer hum."

Autofocus speed is average, approaching fast . Focusing speed will vary slightly depending on the camera used. The first Sony NEX cameras for which this lens was developed used contrast-based autofocus, which is sometimes slower than the hybrid focusing methods used in later generations of Sony Alpha cameras.

When using the Sony α3500 (Sony ILCE-3500), focusing accuracy was excellent. In good lighting, there were virtually no issues with precision, tracking, or repeated refocusing. However, in low light, especially at telephoto ranges, the lens can spend a long time searching for focus. It's also very difficult to get the lens to focus at close focusing distances for pseudo-macro photography, especially at 70mm focal length. The Sony α3500 has a primitive autofocus system; modern Sony cameras should be much better.

To focus manually, select MF (Manual Focus) or DMF (Direct Manual Focus) in the camera menu. The focus ring will then respond to rotation. When rotated very smoothly, the focus ring rotates approximately 90 degrees (from MDF to infinity). The electronic focus ring responds more to the speed of its rotation than to the specific angle of rotation, which can sometimes create a tactile discomfort. During automatic focusing, the focus ring remains stationary.

The front element remains stationary during focusing, as the lens uses internal focusing . This allows for seamless use of any type of filter, such as polarizing or graduated filters.

The minimum focusing distance is 35 centimeters, while you can get a maximum magnification for macro photography of 1: 4.4, which is a good indicator for such a lens.

Other focusing features:

• Focusing speed is practically independent of the selected focal length.
• After the lens has lost accurate focusing, refocusing is fast enough.
• The lens does not have a depth of field scale, focusing distance, and tags for working in the infrared spectrum.
• Focus shift (shift-focus) was not noticed during operation and testing.
• The focusing speed depends heavily on the illumination, the selected focusing mode in the camera menu, and the focusing logic of each individual camera.
• There is no focus mode switch on the case.
• During manual focusing, the focus distance bar appears on the display of some cameras.
• When changing the focal length, focusing is lost.
• Sony 16-70/4 ZA has almost no effect 'Focus Breathing' (changes in viewing angle during focusing) at 16 mm and very small at 70 mm.

Image quality

In general, the Sony 16-70/4 ZA is not bad, but the image angles at 16 mm spoil the impression of the lens a little. The remaining optical characteristics are at a fairly comfortable level.

Sharpness

• good resolution in the center in the range of 16-50 mm frame already at F/4
• slight drop in resolution by 70 mm in the center of the frame at F/4
• significant drop in resolution at image corners by 16 mm and F/4
• sharpness in the corners of the frame becomes acceptable around F/10

Distortion

• there is a small barrel distortion at 16 mm, which turns into a small pincushion distortion at 70 mm
• the nature of distortion is unified, easily corrected in the editor
• Sony cameras automatically correct distortion

Vignetting

• strong vignetting at 16mm and F/4
• vignetting almost disappears at values ​​after f / 8
• Vignetting decreases slightly with increasing focal length
• vignetting is easily fixable in the editor

Aberration

• the strongest chromatic aberration visible at the edges and corners of the image
• the amount of chromatic aberration is at the level of other similar lenses
• chromatic aberration poorly controlled by aperture
• Sony's native EDIT utility is very good at eliminating chromatic aberrations from source RAW files automatically (function 'Lens Correction' -> 'Chromatic Aberration Correction')

Other

• lens weak/poorly tolerates strong backlight (example)
  
• aperture blades form a regular heptagon on virtually any hidden aperture value
• in the bokeh you can sometimes find concentric “onion” circles and “wormholes” due to the use of aspherical elements in the optical design (example)
• on closed apertures very difficult get a pronounced effect of a 14-pointed star

The Sony 16-70/4 ZA has a profile in most popular RAW converters, such as ACR and Lightroom.

Sample Photos

The camera used was Sony α3500 (Sony ILCE-3500) based on the EXMOR APS-C CMOS 20 MP sensor.

The original RAW files (Sony '.ARW') can be downloaded or viewed at this link (39 photos, 900 MB, Google Drive gallery ). The images were shot in RAW+JPEG mode.

My experience

Sony 16-70/4 ZA does not quite live up to the big name “Zeiss Vario-Tessar / Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar”.

I like the Sony 16-70/4 ZA more than the "professional" Sony 16-55/2.8 . The Sony 16-70/4 ZA is longer, smaller, lighter, cheaper, and even has image stabilization. It's a shame, though, that the new Sony 16-55/2.8 has significantly better optical performance. For more demanding tasks, you'll still want to consider the Sony 16-55/2.8.

And for the price of the Sony 16-70/4 ZA, you can buy a more powerful Tamron 17-70mm F/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD Model B070.

The high price of the Sony 16-70/4 ZA was justified from 2013 to 2019, until there was no worthy replacement for this lens.

Conclusion

The Sony 16-70/4 ZA is a very convenient lens for everyday use, but the high price and some gaps in optical properties make you look towards other similar solutions, for example, the Sony 16-55/2.8 , Sigma C 18-50/2.8 or Tamron 17-70/2.8 VC.

10 main advantages:

1. very convenient set of focal lengths
2. 1: 4 constant relative aperture over the entire range of focal lengths
3. light weight, compact size, hood included
4. Internal type focusing, focusing is very quiet and fast, optimized for photos and videos
5. the lens trunk remains motionless under its own weight
6. aspherical and low dispersion elements in the optical scheme
7. Zeiss quality control
8. T * coating, which makes the lens high contrast and good color rendering
9. small MDF, neural bokeh
10. high sharpness in the center even at wide open aperture

10 main disadvantages:

1. a strange combination of “Carl Zeiss” and “MADE IN THAILAND”
2. predecessor for cropped SLR cameras Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar DT 3.5-4.5/16-80 ZA T*(Sony SAL1680Z) had the opportunity to use 80 mm focal length
3. high price tag of about $800 (for example, a faster-aperture one costs about the same Tamron 17-70mm F / 2.8 Di III-A VC RXD Model B070)
4. no all-weather protection (not even a rubber bayonet seal)
5. there is no focus mode switch (for example, Sony 16-55 / 2.8), there is no stabilizer operating mode switch (for example, there is Sony E 4.5-6.3 / 70-350G OSS)
6. only 7 aperture blades (for example, Sony 16-55 / 2.8 9 petals are used)
7. no useful tags
8. chromatic aberration
9. a large amount of glare when working in strong backlight
10. subsidence of sharpness in the corners and edges of the image at 16 mm and open aperture

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