In part IV of my series examining Sony APS-C standard “walk-around” zooms we look at the performance at 70mm, the longest length available on the Zeiss badged 16-70.
Center Sharpness
One of my primary objectives in this exercise was to see if the Zeiss 16-70 is really as bad at the long end as photozone (who I put a good share of faith in normally) has found. In the center at 70mm I don’t find it far out of line with the performance at wider lengths: it could be sharper but it’s not horrid. Not much improvement beyond f5.6.
The original 18-200 probably has a bit of an edge over the Zeiss at this length.
The 18-105G and 18-200LE are both noticeably softer.
Corner Sharpness
In the corner the Zeiss again certainly leaves room for improvement, and there’s little to be gained from stopping down out here.
The original 18-200 has no problem keeping up with the Zeiss out in the corner.
The 18-105G, however, suffers.
Along with another weak showing from the 18-200LE.
Summary at 70mm
The Zeiss 16-70 certainly doesn’t blow away the original Sony 18-200 here in terms of peak sharpness (and ignoring max aperture). The 18-105G and 18-200LE, however, are quite weak in this range.
