Sony E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS II

This Sony E-mount zoom is made for APS-C bodies, and it remains in production. Sony launched it in 2024 as the second version of the design. The 16–50mm range starts wide and ends at a short telephoto. It suits travel, street photography, tight interiors and casual portraits, all with one lens.

The design centres on size and weight rather than speed. It is very light and takes up little space, so it fits everyday carry on a compact body. The main trade-off is the aperture, which narrows from F3.5 at 16mm to F5.6 at 50mm. That affects low-light work and background blur at the long end.

The lens weighs 3.8 oz (107 g) and measures 1.23 in (31.3 mm) long and 2.6 in (66 mm) wide. That slim build keeps the camera low-profile for daily use and long trips. A screw-in filter attached directly to the lens must match the 40.5mm thread.

At 16mm the lens takes in tight indoor scenes and wide street views, and it keeps architecture manageable in confined spaces. At 50mm it reaches a short telephoto that flatters portraits and isolates details. The range lets a traveller move between interiors, people and buildings without swapping lenses.

The maximum aperture is not constant. It opens to F3.5 at the wide end and narrows to F5.6 by 50mm. In daylight the difference matters little. In dim rooms or evening streets, the wide end gives the brightest setting, so expect to raise ISO at 50mm.

The small opening also limits subject separation. At 50mm, portraits keep more of their surroundings sharp than a wider aperture would allow. Placing the subject well away from the background helps where that separation matters.

Closest focusing is 0.8 ft (25 cm), close enough to frame a plate of food or a market find tightly. The maximum magnification is 0.21x, so small subjects can fill a useful share of the frame. Both suit the travel and street work this lens is built for.

Optical SteadyShot is built in. Stabilisation steadies the camera, so handheld shots at slower shutter speeds stay sharp in fading light. That support helps most at the 50mm end, where small camera movements show more. Steadier framing also helps when recording handheld video.

Zooming is electric. A motor drives the zoom, so you can reframe without moving a hand to the barrel. That suits video, where hand zooming can shake a small camera body during a clip.

The lens has no weather sealing and no zoom lock. Rain and dust protection are not part of the design, so keep the setup sheltered in poor weather.

The optical formula uses nine elements in eight groups, including four aspherical elements. Their specially shaped surfaces help correct distortion, which can bend straight edges at wide settings. That matters for interiors and architecture shots at 16mm. One low-dispersion element helps reduce chromatic aberration, which shows as coloured fringes along high-contrast edges. Internal focusing keeps the barrel from extending while focus changes.