Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM Review

The Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM has very few weak points. It’s sharp, well-built, and optically strong in other ways – in particular, the impressive flare performance and low distortion are unusual for an ultra-wide zoom.

Sony evidently saw some places where they could still improve the 16-35mm f/2.8 GM, since they launched a GM II version of the lens in mid-2023. The newer lens shaves off some weight, adds an aperture ring, and improves the close focusing distance. Whether it’s sharper or not remains to be seen – we’ll test that next month. But given the price difference ($1900 vs $2300, and a greater difference on the used market), the original GM version of the 16-35mm f/2.8 will remain a good choice for a lot of Sony photographers.

Here’s how I’d sum up the pros and cons.

Pros:

• Best-in-class flare and distortion performance
• Strong sharpness throughout the zoom and aperture range
• Very fast autofocus with good low-light focusing capabilities
• Excellent build quality with good weather sealing
• Advanced handling features befitting a professional lens
• Less expensive than most professional f/2.8 zooms

Cons:

• Noticeable field curvature at the longer focal lengths
• An extending barrel when zooming is not ideal for working in harsh conditions

There are other potential cons if you’re being picky – the pedestrian vignetting and chromatic aberration levels, for example – but this is a very good lens overall. The current price of $1900 isn’t cheap, but it’s less expensive than Canon’s and Nikon’s similar lenses, and it’s $400 less than the cost of the GM II version of the lens.

That said, if you’re after maximum performance rather than “just” great performance, you may want to consider one of Sony’s prime lenses instead. The FE 20mm f/1.8 G and the FE 24mm f/1.4 GM both out-perform the 16-35mm f/2.8 GM in sharpness and (to a lesser extent) other aspects of image quality. If you don’t need the flexibility of a zoom or the ability to reach 16mm, those lenses could be better choices than this one – they’re lighter, less expensive, and better optically.

Still, most of us are willing to trade some niche image quality gains for the huge flexibility of a zoom. If that’s true of you, you can’t go wrong with the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM.

I hope that you found this review of the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM to be helpful in making your decision! If you want to purchase the lens, you can thank us for the work that went into this review by using the affiliate links below:

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