Guest post: Landscape Photographer Review of Sony 16-35 F2.8 GM II by Andrew Luu

SNOWY BEACH LAST GLOW (Hừng Sáng Cuối Ngày) 120s f/14 ISO 50 WB 7500K Sony a7c II + Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II @ 19mm, Lofoten Norway 2-2024<

The following is a guest post from Andrew Luu (https://andreluu.com/)

INTRODUCTION

Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II (SEL1635GM2) is a new full-frame ultra-wide-angle zoom lens from the second generation GM line. There are many improvements to its predecessor, notably the second generation nanocoatings which help remove flares, resulting in a gorgeous sunstar. The new lens is now more compact, 1 cm shorter in length, and 130 grams lighter in weight. When paired with the A7C II (or A7C R) and other GM II lenses, you’ll get a combination that is compact and lightweight, perfect for moving around and traveling.

Instead of charts and measurements, I will be showing you actual photographs that reveal the lens qualities and the final artistic creations produced by this Sony combination (Sony A7C II and Sony 16-35mm f2.8 GM II). The photo-taking conditions during my trips to Lofoten, Norway, and Hokkaido, Japan, were challenging. Despite enduring freezing temperatures as low as -15°C and high winds reaching up to 30 km/h at different times, the camera performed faultlessly.

The lens has a versatile focal range from 16 to 35 mm, which is suitable for landscapes with a foreground, specifically seascapes and lakes. Moreover, its maximum aperture of f/2.8 covers not only low-light indoor situations but also astrophotography, such as capturing the Milky Way and star trails. Along with its superior optical qualities and compact design, the Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM II has become one of my favorite lenses.

WHAT’S NOT EDITED

All photos in this review were taken in RAW format using the Sony A7C II and were processed through RAW decoding in Adobe Lightroom. Sharpening was set to standard for 33MP (Amount=70, Radius = 0.8, Detail=70, Masking = 0). Then, I edited them in Photoshop using Luminosity Masks to achieve the final artistic effect. However the following were left untouched:

• Distortion
• Vignetting
• Flare
• Chromatic Aberration (CA)

CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING A LENS

Technologies have advanced significantly since the 1990s, raising the bar in lens selection. For instance, flagship lenses from major manufacturers have significantly reduced chromatic aberration and improved sharpness towards the corners. Therefore, my current criteria for choosing a lens for landscape photography have since changed. Here they are in order of priority:

• Sunstar and Flare: Sunstar makes a landscape photo unique and special. Lenses that can create beautiful and unblemished sunstars are rare.
• Distortion: Wide zoom lenses almost always exhibit distortion. The less distortion there is, the more natural an image appears. We can correct distortion in post-processing, but this may result in expanding or compressing the image, ultimately reducing its original sharpness./li>
• Sharpness to the corners: Achieving uniform sharpness from the center to the corners of an image is very challenging.
• Vignetting: refers to the darker shading in the four corners compared to the central area.
• Chromatic Aberration: also known as color fringing, is most visible at high-contrast edges.
• Autofocus: I manually focus for landscape photography and use AF only occasionally when shooting wildlife in Hokkaido. Therefore, AF is the lowest in priority.

BEAUTIFUL SUNSTAR WITH A LITTLE FLARE

Among all the lens characteristics, achieving a sunstar effect is probably the most challenging because it depends on a combination of factors, including optical design, the number of aperture blades used, and the quality of nanocoatings. A sunstar is considered beautiful when its entire body is clearly defined, with long and balanced bursting light rays featuring sharp points.

The number of bursting light rays usually relates to the number of aperture blades. An even number of blades results in the same number of points. For example, lenses with 6 aperture blades produce a 6-pointed star. On the other hand, an odd number of blades results in twice the number of points. For instance, the Sony 16-35 f2.8 GM II lens with 11 aperture blades produces a 22-pointed star. For landscape photography, I love capturing the effect of 22 bursting light rays. When the bright sun is partially obscured by a mountain, 11 bursting light rays (half of 22) become visible, creating a stunning visual display. On the contrary, if you have a 6-pointed star in the same half-covered situation as mentioned above, only 3 light rays would be visible, which would look undesirable.

Quality of nanocoatings helps to suppress the reflection on the surface of each lens element which reduces the lens flare and ghosting. Sony 2nd generation nanocoating technology was first used on the Sony 12-24 f2.8 GM in 2020 with great success. The high-end lens that produces the most beautiful and clean sunstar I have ever seen. This Sony 16-35 GM II lens is also benefited from the same nanocoating technology to a less degree since it is a lower price lens compare to its bigger brother. There are still few small flare spots in the photos that I took. However they are easy to remove in post procesing.

Note: When shooting directly at the sun, avoid using any filters to prevent introducing additional flare into the lens.

Here is my ranking of the quality of sunstars produced by the Sony lenses that I have used.

1. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 GM: Simply the best sunstar effect with virtually no flare
2. 16-35mm f2.8 GM II (under review): excellent sunstar effect with a few spots of flare.
3. Sony 12-24mm f/4 G: good sunstar effect with bursting light rays that are not sharp. At apertures larger than f/11, it creates a fan-shaped star.
4. 16-35mm f2.8 GM: good sunstar effect with flares
5. 24-70mm GM II: good sunstar effect with some flares
6. 24-70mm GM: good sunstar effect with flares
7. 16-35mm f4: sunstar effect with kinny and excessively long bursting light rays with flares

DISTORTION

Distortion is an optical error in which straight lines appear curved, either inward like a barrel, outward like a pincushion, or with complex geometry like a mustache. This is different from perspective distortion, which is the effect of near objects appearing larger and far objects appearing smaller. For example, when looking up at a tall building, we can see that the top appears smaller in comparison to the bottom. This occurs because the base of the building is closer to the camera. This converging effect is more pronounced at wider focal lengths and is not a lens error.

Zoom lenses are much more optically complex than prime lenses. Therefore, they are more challenging to produce low-distortion zoom lenses. Although seascapes and lakes require good distortion control to maintain a straight horizon line, in practical use, I rarely capture visually compelling photos with an unobstructed horizon. Most of my photos include background subjects, such as mountain ranges, which add interest to the composition.

DISTORTION OF II IS BETTER THAN GM

When taking photos at various focal lengths, I have observed that the distortion of the new Sony 16-35 f2.8 GM II lens is slightly better than that of the previous GM. The lens has an average distortion, which is most noticeable at 16mm. Focal lengths ranging from 20mm to 35mm exhibit minimal distortion. Consequently, when capturing real-life photos, I did not observe any distortion and thus did not need to correct it during post-processing for any of the images in this review.

Below is a test shot I took with the horizon before and after applying distortion correction in Adobe Photoshop.

SHARPNESS

A lens must be sharp enough to fully reveal the camera sensor resolution expressed in megapixels (MP). As camera sensor resolution increases, camera lenses need to be sharper to match it. As a leading manufacturer of camera sensors, Sony set out to create the sharpest lenses to satisfy even 100MP or higher cameras. They spent 20 years developing the XA (extreme aspherical) lens elements, which are key to taking lens sharpness to a new level. Subsequently, the GM lenses were born, combining superb sharpness with buttery smooth bokeh. The GM II line of lenses has been further improved, making them even smaller and lighter.

Sony 16-35 f2.8 GM II lens uses 3 XA elements (the previous GM version used 2), enabling the new lens to achieve improved uniform sharpness while maintaining a more compact design. Lens sharpness is one of the most desirable features for most photographers, and this new GM II lens is one of the sharpest ultra-wide-angle lenses available, delivering exceptional sharpness from the center to the corners that money can buy from any other brand.

DETAILS AT 100% PIXEL

Click on each area of the photo below to view it at 100% pixel. Ensure that your browser is in 100% view mode. Hold the Control/Command button and click the + or – button to reset the view mode to 100%.

VIGNETTING

Vignetting is a gradual shading from the periphery of a lens to its brighter center. This effect is most visible at the largest aperture, which is f/2.8 for this Sony 16-55mm f/2.8 GM II lens. For astrophotography, a maximum aperture of f/2.8 would be used to keep the ISO setting low, thus reducing noise. In such a case, the night sky would be completely dark, making it hard to discern any vignetting. For daylight landscape photography, I primarily use apertures between f/11 and f/16, at which vignetting is least visible. Therefore, in practical use, vignetting is unnoticeable with this lens unless you shoot a uniformly white frame.

In the photo below, you can see that the cloud areas at the top left and top right are quite uniform, as are the snow areas at the bottom left and bottom right, in comparison to the middle area.

CHROMATIC ABERRATION – CA

Chromatic aberration is a type of lens error where all colors are not focused precisely to the same point, resulting in color fringing that is most noticeable at contrasting edges. Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM II features an advanced optical design with 1 Super ED and 2 ED elements to suppress chromatic aberrations. As a result, both contrast and color quality have improved, leading to perceived sharpness, as fine edge details remain clear and sharp.

SUPERFAST AF FOR THE FUTURE

The Sony 16-35mm f2.8 GM II lens employs four new-generation XD drives to provide precise autofocus, which is twice as fast as the previous GM version. On a high-performance camera like the Sony A1, continuous shooting can reach up to 30 fps. This newfound autofocus performance is tremendously useful for close-up sports photography or videography.

CONCLUSION

For most photographers, deciding which lens to bring on their important trip is a serious consideration. An inferior quality lens may lead to long-lasting regret after the trip. This incident occurred many years ago when I thought I had taken some great shots, only to later discover that they were technically unacceptable. There were photos with good lighting, but the sharpness was too soft; some had a sunstar effect but were ruined by serious flare. This is a nightmare for photographers who have invested a lot of money in their trips.

After spending 2 months with the Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM II, I took more than 800 photos, including shots from Lofoten, Norway, and Hokkaido, Japan. This lens has grown on me. Teamed with the Sony A7C II body, the combo has endured some of the harshest weather conditions while confidently producing vibrant and sharp photos. This lens is undoubtedly one of the best ultra-wide-angle lenses available today. In addition, tt is compatible with the 100mm rectangle filter system, making it ideal for landscape photography. Below are the pros and cons:

PROS

• Significantly smaller and lighter than the previous Sony 16-35 f,2.8 GM version
• Excellent fare control performance, ranked second only to the Sony 12-24 f/2.8 GM.
• Beautiful 22-pointed sunstar that is well-defined with only a few spots of flare, which can be easily removed in post-processing.
• Distortion is below average and lower than in its previous GM version, which, in most cases, does not need to be corrected for landscape photography.
• No visible chromatic aberration or purple fringing.
• Excellent sharpness is maintained from the center to the corners, although the corners do not exhibit the same level of excellence as the center of the image.
• The f/2.8 large aperture is convenient for capturing star trails, while the 16mm wide angle is useful when the Milky Way is in an upright position.
• You can use the standard 100mm rectangle filter system.
• Super fast autofocus supports up to 30 fps.

CONS

There are still a few spots of flares when shooting in the sun. If this issue can be completely eliminated, similar to the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 GM, it would be great. However, a few small flare spots can be easily removed in post-processing.