The Sony E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS ($299.99) is the standard kit lens for the company's APS-C mirrorless camera line, which includes the popular a6000 series. The zoom is one of the smallest and lightest you'll find for any system, and while it's not as stunning a performer as pricier glass, it serves its purpose as a starter zoom for budding photographers. You should absolutely buy it bundled with a camera, though, as it typically slashes the actual cost to about $100.

Compact, but Not Silent

The E PZ 16-50mm is the smallest zoom in Sony's library, adding only 1.2 inches of depth to the camera body when in its powered-down, collapsed position. The throat is as narrow as the lens mount, a 2.6-inch diameter, and the lens just about doubles in length when it's powered on and ready to use. Despite its small size, Sony has managed to include optical stabilization in the lens.

Sony doesn't include, or market, a lens hood. I wouldn't worry about it—the lens can show some flare when shot straight into the sun, but a hood won't do anything to remedy it. It will stop flare coming in at very steep, close angles to the lens, but you can usually avoid that by slightly moving your camera. Still, if you're worried, you can spend $10 on a hood from Fotodiox; it screws into the 40.5mm filter thread.

The outer barrel is fabricated from lightweight metal—the lens weighs just 4.1 ounces. Sony doesn't include any sort of dust or splash protection, which is offered in its midrange and upper-echelon cameras, including the a6400 and a6600. As of 2020 the lens is only sold in black, but has been sold in a silver finish in years past.

The lens does have to extend when powering on your camera, which takes about a second. The motor that handles this, and the zoom operation, is a little loud, though. For video, you'll want to avoid zooming during shots if you plan on keeping the in-camera audio. Autofocus is nearly silent, though, a plus for video. Breathing, the effect where the angle of view changes along with focus, is minimal—another plus for video use.

There's a single control ring on the lens, along with a zoom rocker switch. If your camera is set to autofocus, the ring adjusts focus as well. The zoom speed isn't adjustable, though, and tends to move rather quickly. This is fine for stills, but will make it difficult to get a slow, smooth zoom in a video shot.

Focus is available to 9.8 inches, good enough for 1:4.8 life-size reproduction. It's not an extreme macro, but it does let you bring smaller subjects into view when zoomed in and focused close. The image above, shot at 50mm f/8 with the NEX-3N, is uncropped.

Pretty Good Image Quality

I've used the 16-50mm with various cameras over the years. For this review, I used the a6400 and Imatest software for our lab tests, and also used the lens with the a6100. These models use Sony's current-generation 24MP APS-C image sensor, also in the a6600.

At 16mm f/3.5, the lens resolves about 2,270 lines on a center-weighted evaluation. Details in the central area of the frame are very sharp, but give way to slight softness as you look toward the area between center and edge. The periphery is blurry, and it doesn't get any better at narrower f-stops.

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Stopping down just a little bit to f/4 ups contrast in the mid parts of the frame, bringing them in line with the 2,380-line average score—a result we consider to be very good. It manages excellent results at f/5.6 and f/8, a little better than 2,500 lines, and falls back to very good quality at f/11 and f/16.

Optical diffraction, the effect that scatters light as it passes through a small opening, is significant at f/22, and makes the entire image a bit soft (1,465 lines). This isn't just an issue with the 16-50mm, though, it's something you get with any lens.

At the midpoint of the zoom, 33mm, the widest available aperture if f/5. It's also the pinnacle of optical performance, netting images with excellent clarity through much of the frame and a strong 2,775-line average. Edges are pretty good too (2,135 lines), and get better at f/8 (2,661 lines). Diffraction starts to show its effects at f/11, but it doesn't kill image quality until you stop down to f/22 (1,599 lines) or the minimum f/32 (910 lines) setting.

Image quality at 50mm is similar to what you get at 16mm, but with a narrower maximum aperture. At 50mm f/5.6, the average resolution is very good (2,330 lines), but edges and corners are quite soft. It's a little bit better at f/8, but peak performance is at f/11 at this focal length—our lab tests report an excellent 2,720 lines, with sharp results from center to edge. Images hold up at f/16, but you'll lose a lot at f/22 (1,680 lines) and the minimum f/36 setting (762 lines).

Distortion isn't a concern when shooting in JPG format or processing Raw images—your camera or Raw processor will leverage a profile to remove it automatically. The story is the same with the vignette, it's well controlled.

Get It in a Kit

The Sony E 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 PZ OSS isn't a perfect performer, but it gets the job done within the parameters of its design. Sony's engineers clearly prioritized size and weight, and pairing the zoom with an a6000 series camera makes the kit something you can slide into a big coat pocket. No one will get excited about the narrow f-stop or noisy, slightly oversensitive zoom control, but it does what it needs to do.

There are better lenses available from Sony, but you'll need to spend more. The E 18-135mm is light and compact when you consider its bigger zoom power, and an excellent performer, but costs a little more than twice as much, $650. There's also the premium E 16-55mm F2.8 for $1,300—it's an outstanding zoom, but not an option if you're shopping on a budget.

You're most likely thinking about the 16-50mm as a starter lens for a new camera, and that's what it's for. I would never recommend that you spend $300 to buy it on its own, but at the $100 premium it adds to a6000 series camera kits, it remains a good starter option, and an entry point into Sony's overall excellent camera system.