Micro 4/3 Comparison between Panasonic G3 + 12mm f/2 and Sony NEX-C3 + 16mm f/2.8

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You can tell that the weather has been somewhat dull lately, as here's another comparison test!! This time between a Panasonic G3 fitted with an Olympus 12mm f/2 and a Sony NEX-C3 fitted with a 16mm f/2.8. The comparisons are for performance at all ISO's, both from raw and jpg. and how the lenses perform at their various apertures.

Soundimageplus: Comparison between Panasonic G3 + 12mm f/2 and Sony NEX-C3 + 16mm f/2.8

 

[Ray Sachs]

I never had any problem with the 16mm on a Nex. If they had more lenses of that scale and even in that much complained about quality, I'd still have a Nex and it would probably be my normal to wide focal length camera of choice. Since their new and coming lenses are all at least the size of the kit zoom and larger, I moved back to m43 once Oly came out with a camera with that same rear flip screen. But the Nex with the 16 was a fun combination to shoot with and the results were always more than good enough for me.

-Ray

 

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I had the same experience when I had a 16mm with the NEX-5 I had. It did seem to be a decent lens at the time. There is a great deal of over-reaction, exaggeration and hyperbole about all sorts of gear floating around on the net and I always like to see for myself. Lots of the stuff I read about the NEX system in general and with particular regard to the forthcoming NEX-7, makes reference to how the system in some way is "let down" by the e-mount lenses and that they won't be able to to do the 24MP sensor justice.

My experience with previous Sony 24MP full-frame sensors on both the Nikon D3X and Sony a850 demonstrated to me that this is not necessarily the case. I found the Nikon D3X in particular, very "forgiving" in terms of lenses. I used an old G series 28-200mm zoom on it and it produced great results.

I would suspect that the 16mm on a NEX-7 will do the same.

I never had any problem with the 16mm on a Nex. If they had more lenses of that scale and even in that much complained about quality, I'd still have a Nex and it would probably be my normal to wide focal length camera of choice. Since their new and coming lenses are all at least the size of the kit zoom and larger, I moved back to m43 once Oly came out with a camera with that same rear flip screen. But the Nex with the 16 was a fun combination to shoot with and the results were always more than good enough for me.

-Ray

 

[Armanius]

Thanks again for an interesting comparison David.

I also found the 16/2.8 to be a nice lens, even if it feels and looks cheap. It performed well, and it wasn't as soft as some played it out to be when shot wide open. Stop it down to 5.6, and in IMO, it was sharp enough even when shooting JPG on my NEX3. Similarly, I thought the kit zoom of the NEX wasn't bad either. I've seen wonderful photos taken with both lenses. With the original NEX3 kits with dual lenses priced at around $700 (when I bought mine a year or so ago), I still think it's a great value for a good performing camera. My biggest beef against the NEX was the user interface and it's horribly ugly looks!!

I never had any problem with the 16mm on a Nex. If they had more lenses of that scale and even in that much complained about quality, I'd still have a Nex and it would probably be my normal to wide focal length camera of choice. Since their new and coming lenses are all at least the size of the kit zoom and larger, I moved back to m43 once Oly came out with a camera with that same rear flip screen. But the Nex with the 16 was a fun combination to shoot with and the results were always more than good enough for me.

-Ray