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Product Description Compact and lightweight design for excellent portability thanks to retract-ability down to a mere 29.9 mm From the Manufacturer E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS Power Zoom LensThis 16-50mm retractable zoom lens is super compact and easy to carry and the ideal lens for traveling and other scenarios that require a lightweight, compact camera and lens combo.TechnologyCircular ApertureWhen changing your aperture to defocus the background, the light sources appear blurred. This ‘bokeh’ effect of the blurred background can be enhanced with circular aperture blades used in this lens. Conventional aperture blades have flat sides creating unappealing polygonal shaped defocussed points of light. α lenses overcome this problem through a unique design that keeps the aperture almost perfectly circular from its wide-open setting to when it is closed by 2 stops. Smoother, more natural defocusing can be obtained as a result.ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glassAs focal lengths get longer, lenses built with conventional optical glass have difficulties with chromatic aberration, and as a result images suffer from lower contrast, lower color quality, and lower resolution. ED glass dramatically reduces chromatic aberration at telephoto ranges, and provides superior contrast across the entire image, even at large aperture settings. Super ED glass provides enhanced compensation for chromatic aberration.Aspherical lens elementsAspherical lens design dramatically reduces spherical aberration while also reducing lens size and weight. Spherical aberration is a slight misalignment of the light rays projected on the image plane. This is caused by differences in refraction at different points on conventional spherical lenses which degrade image quality in large-aperture lenses. Specially shaped “aspherical” elements near the diaphragm restore alignment of light rays at the image plane, maintaining high sharpness and contrast even at maximum aperture and can also be used at other points in the optical path to reduce distortion. Well-designed aspherical elements can reduce the total number of elements required in the lens, thus reducing overall size and weight. Advanced Aspherical (AA) elements are an evolved variant, featuring an extremely high thickness ratio between the center and periphery. AA elements are exceedingly difficult to produce, relying on the most advanced molding technology to consistently and precisely achieve the required shape and surface accuracy, resulting in significantly improved image accuracy and quality.Distance encoderThe distance encoder plays an integral part in ADI flash metering, which delivers high precision flash metering that is unaffected by the reflectance of subjects or backgrounds. The distance encoder is a lens component that directly detects the position of the focusing mechanism, and sends a signal to the CPU in order to measure distance to the subject. During flash photography, this data is very useful in calculating how much flash output is appropriate to the scene.Lens-based optical image stabilizationGyro sensors built into the lens detect even the slightest movement, and the stabilization lens is precisely shifted to counteract any image blur that might occur. The use of precision, quiet linear motors and technology inherited from high-end Sony professional camcorders results in exceptionally quiet, effective image stabilization that contributes to high-quality movies as well as stills.Additional FeaturesInternal focusingOnly the middle groups of the optical system move to achieve focus, so the overall length of the lens does not change. Other important benefits include fast autofocusing and a short minimum focusing distance. Also, the filter thread at the front of the lens does not rotate, which is convenient if you’re using a polarizing filter.SELP1650 not recommended for use with NEX-3, NEX-5, NEX-C3 2012 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Sony is not responsible for typographical and photographic errors. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice.Sony, BIONZ, BRAVIA, Exmor, InfoLITHIUM, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, PlayMemories Home, Smile Shutter, Stamina, Theatre Sync, Sweep Panorama, and the Sony make.believe logo are trademarks of Sony. AVCHD is a trademark of Panasonic Corporation and Sony Corporation. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Vista are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Mac OS and iMovie are trademarks of Apple Computers, Inc. HDMI is a trademark of HDMI Licensing LLC. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners.
Unlike when you buy a brand-new retail product from the manufacturer or an authorized dealer, when you are considering this product you need to be concerned not only with how it ultimately performs but whether saving a few dollars is worth the gamble and risk.In this particular case though it’s more than just a few dollars, it’s substantially more than half price. Despite all of the warnings about not intended for sale in the U.S. and possible incompatibility issues, the reality is that this is the identical lens that’s sold in the retail box … there’s no value to anyone to make a special cheaper version. It all comes down to will you get a new unused one or will it be damaged and the fact that there is no warranty of any kind. Is that worth the risk and gamble? With some products, probably not, but with a lens if it works out of the box it’s probably going to continue working unless it gets physically damaged … and manufacturer warranties don’t cover that anyway.HOW DOES IT PERFORMThis lens has been reviewed in depth in hundreds of places including some very respected and detailed pro photo sites so it would be a waste of time to repeat all that here. If you are looking at this model you know that it is an excellent value for the price and is well suited as a walkabout lens for the NEX series of cameras. It has a lot of potential if used properly and it certainly compliments the NEX series compact size by delivering a 24-75mm equivalent lens that folds into itself and only adds about an inch-and-a-half to the depth of the camera (not even really that since it doesn’t stick out much further than the handgrip). To get a lens with decent optical performance, a motorized zoom with that goes wider than average, and optical stabilization for the price and that has the Sony name on it is quite the bargain. I tried it side-by-side with the official retail boxed version and they were identical in look, feel and performance.WHAT DOES BULK-PACKAGING MEANThe term may be unfamiliar to you, most things you buy are in colorful retail containers complete with instructions, warranty info and accessories. In this case what you get is just the lens wrapped in bubblepak. That’s all. You can and should expect it to be clean, new and with both protective lens caps and of course you should expect it to work. All that was true with mine. You have no idea what the region of origin is but Sony has factories all over the world. In my case the country was Thailand. Also important to note is that various different sellers rotate on this page depending on who offers it for less that particular day, some may be better than others but you are the one who chooses which one so it has nothing to do with rating the actual lens.BOTTOM LINEI didn’t get this for pro studio work, which should be obvious because the lens is intended for a middle-of-the-line consumer point-and-shoot camera. You can’t expect Leica quality for the price. As a general-purpose lens for vacation trips the compactness, zoom range and image quality is highly acceptable and I like it.