Small. Light. Affordable. This is Sony’s new 16mm f/1.8 G, and if you have been looking for a tiny full frame wide angle for gimbal and handheld work, I think this is a really great choice. That’s the spoiler, right up front, because I respect your time.

I’m reviewing this one from the perspective of a wedding filmmaker, so if you film weddings, or corporate, or commercial videos, or documentaries, basically if you get paid to make videos and you’re in the market for a compact wide angle lens, this review is for you.

And before we go on, for the sake of ethics, I want you to know this video is not paid or sponsored by Sony. They did loan me this lens so I’d be able to make the review, and it is sadly going back to them very soon.

One more thing before we get into it. If you want a list of all of the gear I recommend for wedding filmmaking, I’d highly recommend grabbing my Wedding Filmmaker Gear Guide. It’s completely free. You can also see my full list of filmmaking gear here.

How Small It Actually Is

Looking at this lens, the first thing you’re going to notice is just how small and light it is. For comparison, I usually think of my Sony 24mm f/1.4 as being a very compact and lightweight full frame lens, but this 16mm takes things to a whole other level, weighing only 304 grams.

Look at how small it is next to the 24. It’s a tiny little baby lens. It’s so cute!

The 14mm GM Problem

Whenever Sony first told me about this lens, my immediate comparison wasn’t to the 24mm. No, it was to another ultra wide angle they released a few years ago, their 14mm f/1.8 GM. That lens is still relatively lightweight, but it’s definitely larger than the 16mm, and spoiler, about double the price too.

And here was the big kicker for me. That 14mm was not capable of taking filters on the front of it, because it had such a bulbous front glass element. Instead, if you wanted to use a filter with that lens, it came with a rear filter holder where you would either cut gels yourself or buy precut gels to slot in. It was a big pain and I never once bothered to use that feature.

That’s a bummer, because as a filmmaker I’m a big fan of using neutral density filters and other cool filters like that, and those are the kind of thing you usually screw onto the front of a lens, which was just not possible with that 14mm.

It Takes Normal Filters

Thankfully, I’m glad to tell you that this 16mm will take regular filters, and it has a super common filter thread size of 67mm, which can make for even more affordable filters.

G Versus GM

Yes, I realize this is only a G lens, whereas the 14mm is a GM, which is supposed to indicate higher quality. But in my experience, not only using this lens but with many of the other newer Sony G lenses, it has been very hard for me to distinguish a quality difference between a G and a GM. Both of them are excellent.

So if you’re looking for a wide angle lens that excels in low light, and you’re willing to forgo those extra two millimeters you get on the wide end with the 14mm GM, and you also want to save some money, in that case this new 16mm is a real no brainer, and one I would heavily consider.

Image Quality

This lens has a really beautiful image that’s very sharp. And let me just say, even if you’ve used something like a 16-35mm f/2.8, the jump in the amount of light you can get and the shallow depth of field you’re going to see going from f/2.8 to f/1.8 cannot be understated. You’ll be able to get noticeable separation of your subject from the background even at this wide of an angle, which is really great to see.

Not to mention, I know I talked about the size earlier, but whenever you consider this is an f/1.8 lens in such a small housing, I think you’re going to be really impressed. I know that I am.

All The Controls Are Still Here

Thankfully, even at this small size, Sony has still managed to fit all of the usual controls you’d expect from their G and GM lenses onto it. So you’re getting an autofocus and manual focus switch, a programmable button, an aperture ring with a switch to declick it, and an iris lock. All of it easily accessible, just shrunken down to fit onto a smaller lens.

Focus Breathing And Autofocus

Focus breathing has been an area Sony has been focusing heavily on improving with their lenses, and I’m happy to say this one has very minimal focus breathing. And of course, because it supports Sony’s breathing compensation feature, you can turn that on and have no focus breathing at all if you want.

The autofocus performance is excellent too, just like pretty much all of Sony’s other modern lenses. Very fast, very responsive.

Who Should Buy This Lens

Looking past all of the tech specs and features, let’s talk about your actual usage for this lens. As someone who has used a 16-35mm extensively over the years, at least in my opinion, the reason you buy a 16-35mm is that you really like the ultra wide look of 16mm and you want to film with that often.

Personally, whenever I have a shot that I want to make look really grand and epic, maybe it’s a couple standing in a field together, or a landscape that I want to make look larger than life, a 16-35mm zoomed all the way out to 16mm is usually the lens I reach for, because that can make whatever you’re filming look as grand and epic as it looks to your eyes.

Well, this 16mm gives you that same grand, epic shot you were looking for, plus some extra depth of field and better low light performance if you want it. So if you’re someone who commonly finds yourself filming with a 16-35mm and you’re usually sitting at 16mm anyway, this may be the lens for you.

The Price

And at the price Sony is going to be selling it for, picking one up is kind of a no brainer too. Sony tells me this 16mm f/1.8 isn’t going to be two thousand something dollars like a lot of their new lenses have been. No. I was pleasantly surprised whenever they told me they were targeting a price of only 800 bucks for this lens, which, remember, is half of what Sony usually charges for their 14mm f/1.8.

Whenever you consider the kind of shots a lens like this is going to enable you to get, that’s where I think this new 16mm f/1.8 G is a great choice.

Speaking of being a great choice, if you’re a wedding filmmaker and you want help booking more weddings, what if I told you I could help you book your next wedding in 30 days or less, guaranteed? If that interests you, you have to check out my free workshop. It’s going to show you the exact steps to take to not only find a couple getting married, but have them book you to film their wedding in the next 30 days. It’s completely free. You have nothing to lose.