First picture of the new pancake 16-50mm E-mount lens!
We now saw pictures of all cameras but not of the new three NEX lenses. But at least I can share another picture I found through an Asian forum. It is the super tiny 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 pancake(!) zoom lens with buil-in stabilization and power zoom! It is as small as the similar Panasonic 14-42mm X lens (Click here) but covers a larger APS-C sensor. Another amazing achievement from Sony engineers!
Here is the list of the three upcoming E-mount lenses:
- Sony 10-18 f/4 OSS: available in November 2012 for $850.
- Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS: available in December 2012 for $450.
- Sony 16-50 f/3.5-5.6 OSS (kit lens): available in January 2013 for $350.
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Anton
9 months ago |Second!
Jotun
9 months ago |Wow! That’s going on my 7 if IQ is good!
St.
9 months ago |40.5mm filter size?????
Seriously????????
Come on – why they don’t stick with the 49mm?
I have 4 lenses for my NEX-7 – all 49mm thread.
Why would I have to buy a new filters?
Or why to use adapter ring 40.5 to 49mm, as it will increase the length of the lens – what’s the point to be a pancake then?
Very stupid, Sony!!!!
quentin
9 months ago |nothing stupid, just a consequence
it’s a retractable lens
49 would be put the filter on the outer cylinder (that’s stupid)
Ned
9 months ago |What “filters” do you use ? Anything other than a circ. polarizer ? Why would you use filters ?
Tom S
9 months ago |personally, my camera is full spectrum modified, which means I always use a filter;
1.ir/uv hot-mirror type filter for normal photography
2.baaden filter for astro (similar to above but with some added uv & ir for better pictures of stars)
3.ir filter for nightvision & ir effect photos
bubba5000
8 months ago |How much would the adaptor extend the lens? You must be a very sensitive individual.
peter
9 months ago |not so exciting
Patrick
9 months ago |Agreed. Not very exciting. Collapsible design and if image quality is similar to the current 18-55, then not very worth its weight in salt right?
I am curious about the new 35mm and the other zoom.
Atlasman
9 months ago |Peter
I think it’s exciting.
If it has the hybrid focus system, this could have significance in the capture of sporting events—using stills or video. It brings mirrorless one step closer to the elimination of the DSLR.
kirk fuk
9 months ago |And death on m43 for sure!
Pete
9 months ago |Hell yeah! Make is larger so that moron here can save few bucks on a cheap filter.
XylumProto
9 months ago |cool! power zoom too!
Hellven
9 months ago |lol… bad photoshop work
Rooru S.
9 months ago |Why photoshop? We haven’t seen NEX-6 in that angle yet so how is it possible to photoshop something if you don’t have the original pic? I see this as legit.
Hellven
9 months ago |loll, it can also be corel draw!! lol, serious, thats photoshoped, and a bad job by the way, that’s a m4/3 lens
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Not sure if troll… or just blind.
kebo
9 months ago |my bet is on troll =)
kirk fuk
9 months ago |it’s an irritated m43 fboy realizing nex finally achieving fast af, more lenses, more compact, and as always, superior iq
Renz
9 months ago |Could also be both.
Wow
9 months ago |It looks fake to me. The distance between the filter ring and the outside of the lens isn’t consistent. The writing doesn’t like it’s aligned correctly either. And 40.5 seems too small given the nex lens mount size.
matgay
9 months ago |totally fake! the highlights and shadows are inconsistent and contradict.
Rooru S.
9 months ago |Fake what? LOL
Beachrider
7 months ago |I guess that the doubters turned out to be wrong…
waldomarek
9 months ago |if this is real, then it’s quite small indeed, as a pancake lens should be.
i wonder how good the image quality will be.
edit: oh and what does “power zoom” really mean on a lens?
Robert Bell
9 months ago |It means you press a button to zoom in and out like the lumix pancake kit lens. If its anything like the lumix it wouldn’t be very good, but the old kit lens wasn’t any good anyway so no big deal. Its all about the convenience which is fine by me as the huge old kit lens defeated the object of the camera. Leave this on the camera and a pancake prime or 2 in your pocket you have the best of both worlds.
Rooru S.
9 months ago |Hahahaha SEL1855 huge? People calling the kit lens huge makes me laugh..what would be a normal 75-300 for DSLR? Giant? Titanic? Can’t imagine what the 500mm f/4 is then…
Robert Bell
9 months ago |well a 70-300mm on a dslr is not marketing itself as a compact camera though is it.
Rooru S.
9 months ago |The SEL1855 is pretty small for a cheap, kit lens and is on par (size wise)with other kit lenses on mirrorless APS-C system. I wouldn’t call it huge.
Robert Bell
9 months ago |Yes and they are all far to big for a compact system camera not just the nex. Although both Olympus and Panasonic have both already released collapsible kit lenses to rectify the problem. This looks to be nex’s answer. If the large size of the kit lens wasn’t a concern to customers they all wouldn’t have released these lenses. You may not think its to large thousands would disagree.
Almazar80
9 months ago |The old kit lens gets a bad rap. Yes, there are bad copies out there but the 18-55 E mount was/is quite good. Maybe not for pixel peepers, but to many photographers it is more than adequate.
Jordi Ribas
9 months ago |Agree!
Owen
9 months ago |probably means it has a motorized zooming feature, I see it more of use when you’re recording.
Geir E
9 months ago |the shadows are wrong, the text is written in the wrong curve compared to the barrel, the lens is jagged around the mount. this isn’t a photo of the nex-6 with that particular lens. it is a photoshop job.
so if this is the real deal, just ‘shopped into place – or a fanmade photo i can’t guess on. In any case, by not titling it a G lens there ought to be a high quality G standard zoom still in the pipeline which will what i buy. i don’t need a pancake and i don’t like pancakes compromises.
James
9 months ago |ugh, they changed filter thread… damn, my Pol isn’t gonna work with this
Beautiful lens btw… and people…
IT’S BLACK!!!!!!
Rooru S.
9 months ago |40.5 mm filter thread?
Colin
9 months ago |That’s actually a somewhat common filter size. Most of the Contax rangefinder lenses used 40.5mm filters, as well as the Leica versions of those lenses. And, of course, the countless Russian knockoffs.
Rooru S.
9 months ago |ohhhh I see..thanks for the explanation. Thought it was a really weird filter thread size.
Ray oody
9 months ago |That looks like my new fav lens !!.
Ray oody
9 months ago |So we r expecting it 1st quarter 2013??!
tsoe
9 months ago |Fortunatley it’s black.
(Hello Sony? Where is the 50mm in black?)
LC
9 months ago |Come on…worst skill of PS
Hellven
9 months ago |yep, this is so fake…
Rooru S.
9 months ago |fake? PS? what? LOL
Catalin
9 months ago |This lens alone will at least double the NEX sales, I predict. The NEX cameras just became a lot more compact while offering wide-angle by default.
And also, while the Panasonic m43 pancake zoom has a lot more girth than the m43 mount making it look weird on the camera, the Sony pancake zoom is not larger in diameter than the usual NEX mount lenses.
A NEX-5R with this lens is as small as the smallest m43 camera, while having the advantage of the larger sensor, and 24 wide angle.
Sony really takes the photography world by storm lately
peevee
9 months ago |“A NEX-5R with this lens is as small as the smallest m43 camera”
BS.
kirk fuk
9 months ago |being smaller isn’t always a good thing. Being ergonomically compact, yet delivering high iq images is. And yes, that’s nex.
incase you want smaller, get yourself rx100, it will best your m43 system
Like I said, the death on m43 system is imminent.
peevee
9 months ago |“rx100, it will best your m43 system ”
More BS.
pancanikonpus
9 months ago |I am 1st time ever seen Sony going to MASSIVE annouce so many GREAT GEARS at once! Absolutely fantastic! GGWP Sony
Owen
9 months ago |lets wait till it is officially announced shall we :crossfingers:
sabunyuma
9 months ago |Well, that made no sense, grammatically speaking. But I hear you, I’m excited too!
James
9 months ago |I <3 it! This could persuade me to go NEX rather than RX or M43.
Niels
9 months ago |I’m wondering the meaning of the word pancake is different with the Sony developers?
This is not a pancake at all?
usch
9 months ago |Sony doesn’t call it a pancake, do they?
Judd
9 months ago |For a ZOOM this is indeed a pancake
Steve
9 months ago |A short stack
That’s what a stack of pancakes are called at a 24-hour diner.
peevee
9 months ago |“Borrowing” from somebody else – “cupcake”.
Noovuss
9 months ago |Spreading the BS…….
waldomarek
9 months ago |ehh.. compared to the 18-55mm, the 24mm zeiss, the 50mm, this is “very pancake” to me.
Wow
9 months ago |Sony don’t describe the lens as pancake, and Panasonic don’t describe their lens as a pancake either. Ultra-compact retractable is the accurate term. Unfortunately, Andrea doesn’t like to use the correct terms – maybe he can tell us why ? I’m sure he knows pancake describes a prime lens design. It’s not a zoom lens term. But i guess most people here don’t care about accurate descriptions.
admin
9 months ago |Ok…go to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancake_lens
Definition of pancake: “A pancake lens is colloquial term for a flat, thin lens (short barrel), generally a normal or slightly wide prime lens for a camera.” You read it? “colloquial term for flat”. Of course there were no pancake zoom lens until the Panasonic 14-42mm X came out. That’s why you wikipedia writes it is “generally a prime lens”. Not ALWAYS.
admin
9 months ago |Oh…that is even better: “Pancake lenses are primarily valued for providing quality optics in a compact package. The resulting camera and lens assembly may even be small enough to be pocketable, a design feature which is usually impractical with conventional SLR bodies and lens assembiles.”
Wow
9 months ago |How can you have a 50mm pancake ? Just think about it. Obviously that’s not possible so that’s why they are described as retractable and compact by the PEOPLE WHO MAKE THEM. You can call them pancake but you know that’s not accurate.
G.
9 months ago |…but this looks twice as long as compared to the lumix 14-42mm…so this is not a pancake lens..
Kevin Alpha
9 months ago |Do you have dimension for this lens? I don’t care how it’s called, it looks thick to me,
matgay
9 months ago |compare it to the thinnest of the pancakes and you will see the giant
a
9 months ago |pancake generally: diameter > length.
clivengu
9 months ago |BLACK!! YES!
fsjal
9 months ago |Jesus Christ, these markings on the lens are SOOOO FAKE. :/
Sean
9 months ago |Yeah, very fake. The text on the front of the lens is clearly amateur once you look at it closely.
sabunyuma
9 months ago |Not necessarily, to me it looks like poor image scaling.
Seeky
9 months ago |Why would Sony bother to put 2 minimum focus distances on the front of the lens? And it’s good to see a MF ring!
Heikki Taskinen
9 months ago |“Another amazing achievement from Sony engineers!”
Well… Lets see about that. With high iq it will be amazing, but I highly doubt so.
neo
9 months ago |Finally a portable zoom lens matching nex cameras. 24-75mm is impressive.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |filter ∅40,5? that’s kinda odd… AFAIK there’s no other Sony lens suing filters like that nor Sony itself offers any filters with this diameter.
Leetyx
9 months ago |So it is not a G lens. Where is the G zoom lens ….
But this will be a good lens for my NEX 7
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Panasonic got some G lenses for you if you care so much about the labels.
Leetyx
9 months ago |I don’t care about the G label… But Sony planned in their roadmap a “high performance standard zoom G lens” for 2012
I was just wondering why this 16-50mm zoom is not a G lens…. But It could be good as a G lens
Matt
9 months ago |No, the high quality G zoom was in 2013. This is the standard zoom on the roadmap.
Pete
9 months ago |This is basic zoom lens aimed mostly at entry level cameras. Not a good fit for NEX7.
Rooru S.
9 months ago |G zoom lens was shifted for 2013 announcement according to last official Roadmap released earlier this year
Robert Bell
9 months ago |does looked faked
Artichoke
9 months ago |Anyone have an idea of how the powerzoom will work on a NEX 7–where the on-off switch is where the zoom lever is on most compacts (RX-100 included)?
Will there be a customization for one of the thumb wheels?
Of course the graphics are faked–too many geometric errors. The lettering on the face of the lens is not even concentric with the circular elements of the lens around it.
gfrensen
9 months ago |The zoom lever will be on the lens, not on the camera (although new cameras with a zoom lever may come in the future, esp. video cameras…)
Rooru S.
9 months ago |You zoom in or out using only the rocker lever on lens with NEX3/C3/F3/5/5N/5R/6/7/VG10/VG20/FS100. The only bodies with control over the lens zooming are VG30/EA50/FS700.
Dair
9 months ago |40.5 filter thread? What a weird diameter… My current 39mm stuff would be useless
. I guess 39mm was not possible due to wider angle…
Other than that it looks lovely.
Steve
9 months ago |Sony could probably have made this an even brighter lens (by looking at the supposed pic) but it then most probably could not be sold as a 350 USD kit lens.
Bravo Sony.
Frank
9 months ago |Although being said as fake, that is the first lens that I would consider buying a NEX for.
saiman
9 months ago |PS or not… 3.5-5.6 is a turn off.
Lofote
9 months ago |Its not doable in pancake size with F2.8.
Lofote
9 months ago |So what good is PowerZoom? I only see it as a disadvantage. Isn’t the direct “mechanical” control of zooming much better!?
Spoon
9 months ago |- in theory allows for more compact (collapsable) lens designs
- in theory allows for smoother zooming during video, one of the reasons Sony also brought out a PZ 18-200 for the NEX video cameras (FS700 etc).
poke
9 months ago |Does being a power zoom not allow for manual zoom ability?
Spoon
9 months ago |Usually not. It removes the mechanical ring and parts that eat up space and are hard to implement in small collapsable designs.
It’s one reason why you see Nikon using PZ on its 1 series lenses, why Panasonic uses it on its smaller collapsable µ4/3 zoomlenses and why you usually don’t see real mechanical zoomrings on compact superzooms. One of the few exceptions are the FZ30, FZ50 etc., which interestingly enough… have a not so common non extending/collapsing closed lens design.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |it is for video. Not much else though.
Gabriel
9 months ago |Power zoom explain, it’s for pentax powerzoom, but all power zoom can do the same if the firmware allowed it http://www.mosphotos.com/PentaxLensPowerZoom.html
With face detection, image size tracking may be interesting.
Jason
9 months ago |Looks good and perfect for a general zoom which is smaller than the existing kit zoom…perfect for travelers like me who fancy a small package as much as good IQ. Great compromise in my opinion!
spaceman
9 months ago |Andrea you rock. Thanks! I have been longing for NEX lens pics…
If this is the actual Pancake zoom….then WAUV! I am getting it. Wish it was faster, but with that size it is perfectly acceptable speed.
Jansen
9 months ago |This slew of announcement by Sony (FF compact etc) is a sign of the slow death of dSLR.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Yea, I’m sure everyone think the same each time new rangefinder is released. lol
MF Mohamad
9 months ago |will this be NEX6 kitlens?
Kylberg
9 months ago |Nex-6 with pancake zoom vs Fuji X-E1 with kit zoom?
My guess is Fuji wins on the lens, but loses on price. Very attractive alternatives I think.
Robert Bell
9 months ago |Fuji’s primes are £500-£600 so the zoom will be more again. Yes they will be better than this but the nex6 with this lens will be much smaller with faster AF.
peevee
9 months ago |admin, you are really pushing the term “pancake” here.
dellaaa
9 months ago |The diameter of the front is about the same as the standard kit zoom, which is 49mm.
Just from the picture you can see that the front isn’t 40.5mm
FAKE
Ayoul
9 months ago |The curve of the text “E 3.5 etc etc” on the front of the lense isn’t really accurate comparing to the circle of the lense itself… And if you download and look at the picture, the aliasing doesn’t seem to be exactly the same on the camera and the lense… As geir E said, the lights / shadows look strange too…
GreenLens
9 months ago |OK, it’s fake but accurate, so what?
(remember a99 drawing?)
Spoon
9 months ago |Agreed. Remember all the leaked pictures from last year (16-50 SSM A mount lens, bodies) and markings, text and other parts not following the right curves either. Tons of people called “obvious fakes”.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Well, it’s not our fault that they photoshop these shots beyond reason!
Ayoul
9 months ago |Yes GreenLens. Even if it’s probably a fake, it’s very possible that the real lens looks exactly like that. It COULD be an accurate picture. It could…
DH
9 months ago |OK, so this thread is about the zoom lens. But isn’t there anyone out there who agrees with me that if this is a production model Nex 6, then it’s very dull looking indeed?!
Even my cheap C3 is made from more interesting looking plastic. Sony seriously, you have access to such beautiful material as used in the RX1 !!!
And then there’s that hotshoe, nickel … really?? O wait I get it, when Sony got to the anodizing plant the people there said “Sorry Mr. Sony but we don’t carry that dull shade of gray in our palette”.
I’m really hoping this is not the final design. If it is I’m definitely switching to Fuji.
Pete
9 months ago |Don’t like the shade of grey, switching systems. Are you mad?
DH
9 months ago |Haha, no not mad, crazy maybe, lol.
It’s not just the material/color. I also feel that the Nex’s are turning into gimmicky accessories, and if that is what you’re looking for, then by all means. But I suppose I’m a bit old fashioned and to me the Fuji system makes more sense.
And furthermore with the upcoming lenses it seems that the Sony’s are going to cost as much as the Fuji, while still lagging behind in speed and probably in quality.
I’m not bashing the Nex system though. There is definitely stuff I will miss, focus peeking, articulated high quality lcd. And the upcoming remote function could’ve had some use.
Austin
9 months ago |Honestly starting at 16mm is reason enough for this to be exciting. There are no inexpensive kit options that are that wide. I expect performance to equal or best the 18-55, I will probably pick this up down the line due to size and convenience. Being black is very cool too!
peevee
9 months ago |1. It is not so inexpensive. What, $350?
2. Oly 12-50 is that wide, but much longer on its format.
Noovuss
9 months ago |M43 reject?
Ferdinand
9 months ago |Looks great! If image quality is a bit better (or even if at least as good as) the 18-55 kit lens I would consider buying it. This could make the Nex-6 finally pocketable.
zetlorf
9 months ago |“Another amazing achievement”?! Will wait and see the IQ, and after we can talk…
FlashBFE
9 months ago |@Andrea:
Why doesn’t get this picture (and others) a rumor rating?
I don’t want to judge if this picture is an original, but if I understood you right this picture came out of a forum with unknown creditability. So I would rate it SR2.
Pictures of unreleased products are also rumors more or less. Information hides in more media then just plain text.
admin
9 months ago |I am so busy that I forgot to put the SR5 before it
a
9 months ago |you’re rating an obvious photochop as an sr5?
passer-by
9 months ago |Maybe he already saw the real thing…
Mars Observer
9 months ago |Looks interesting. I guess the big question is whether this will resolve well enough to take advantage of the NEX-7 24MP sensor. I’d like to think so, but…
Alain
9 months ago |This news is far more interesting than the Pro nex camera …
With my Sel 50 m 1.8, my 18-200, my Zeiss 24 mm and this (cool black) pancake I will have everything I need.
Just waiting for the G lens with constant aperture .. and why not the futur e-mount Zeiss 60mm macro lens coming next year !!
Nex system is getting really in the good way …
ah and the perfect touch … please a new firmware for the Nex 7 giving possibility via USB to download apps !!
Thanks !!
AG
9 months ago |Looking forward to the 35mm and 16-50mm for NEX.
Any news if the 16mm pancake will be updated ??
Robert Bell
9 months ago |No but in light of the 16mm kit lens i’m hoping the new wide pancake will go a little wider, 12mm please!
Dirk
9 months ago |Here from my point of view answers to your “Sony oracular inquiries”..
facts:
-the 16 PC was crap right from the beginning
-the 18-55 kit was/is a bit chunky and only medium quality
-there is a HQ 24 Zeiss, a HQ 50/1.8
-an upcoming 35/1.8
-an upcoming 10-18
-an upcoming 16-50 PC
My conclusion?
-the 16 PC will not be renewed because no big market chance and useless due to having the 16-50 and the 10-18
-the 16-50 will replace the 18-55
-the G most likely will be something3x zoom between 16 and 70 mm but 1:2.8
-sooner or later there’ll be a medium tele prime such as 85/1.8
usch
9 months ago |Neither a 16-50/3.5 nor a 10-18/4.0 can replace f/2.8. I’m glad that I have one of those unloved lenses.
Dirk
9 months ago |Technical parameter wise you are right. But what helps f2.8, if it produces such crappy results? I really don’t repeat what others are saying ’bout this lens, I gave it a try on my Nex7 for a day, and I was overall disappointed.
The 10-18 is just 1 f-stop behind – so what?
Robert Bell
9 months ago |I thought the 16mm was crap by prime standards too.
usch
9 months ago |Granted, wide open it is blurry in the corners, but when you shoot at ISO 3200 in available light you won’t see much of a difference between a “sharp” and a “not so sharp” lens anyway. However, you *will* see the difference if a slower lens forces you to use ISO 6400 instead.
And mind you, we don’t know yet whether the new lenses will be any sharper. Putting a 3× power zoom with OSS in such a small housing might require some compromise, too.
Gasi
9 months ago |Does anybody know when is the Nex-7 successor comming??
Anfernee Cheang
9 months ago |Harmony~~ This is the first word in my brain on the first sight.
When I firstly heard about this pancake, I have no interest at all. But after seeing the image, now I am seriously considering to buy one. Hopefully I can get it in kit with NEX-6?
What a wonderful world. Well done Sony!!
Moon
9 months ago |Uh, I’m already so much loving this.
Hope it will be also available in silver.
Robert Bell
9 months ago |I think you’re the 1st person i’ve come across who prefers the silver lenses of the black?!
NEXfive
9 months ago |No, most people buying other cameras than black ones prefer silver lenses, which look much better with white or silver NEX cameras. I’m also one of them and therefore glad this picture is a fake, nevertheless I’m afraid this lens will really come in black…
Austerlitz
9 months ago |That would be perfect if they are a new kit lens for nex and start with nex-6
Robert Bell
9 months ago |This might be the first csc to make me sell all my dslr gear.
loverhd
9 months ago |the diameter of this lens seems to be much smaller then 18-55 zoom lens. therefore it seems the vignetting will be much harder then 18-55.
Kumm
9 months ago |Does the Sony Nex-6 have metal body like the Nex-7??