Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS T* Review

Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS Handling and Features

Build and design is typical of Sony's premium E-Mount lenses, with a robust aluminium outer lens barrel protecting an inner barrel made from high quality black plastics and a metal lens mount. Despite the light weight of only 308g, the lens feels very solidly put together. The low weight and compact size makes sure the lens will match up perfectly with even the most compact NEX series camera bodies, and it handles very well on the Sony NEX-7 used for testing.

Auto focus is very fast and accurate locking onto subjects quickly and accurately. Applying manual focus adjustments is a pleasure, thanks to the smooth action of the focusing ring, which is nicely damped. Minimum focus is 35cm from the sensor plane, which is fairly typical for a lens of this type.



As focusing is performed internally, the 55mm filter ring does not rotate, which makes the lens ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. A deep petal-shaped lens hood is supplied as standard, which attaches to the lens via a bayonet fitting.

For those times when slow shutter speeds are necessary, this lens comes equipped with optical image stabilisation. With care, sharp hand-held images can be taken at shutter speeds as slow as 1/13sec, which is roughly three stops slower than the usual rule of thumb for hand-held photography would allow.

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