Hi all,

Does anyone have advice on where's the best place to purchase the Sony 16-80mm f3.5-4.5 ZA VS T* DT Lens? Price does come into consideration.

I have been asked to photograph my sister in law's wedding this summer, and so I'm thinking of investing in this lens for my Alpha 700.

Many thanks.

Regrads,
Cenwyn.

where are you?
Cenwyn looks Welsh to me but that doesn't necessarily mean that you live in Wales or even the UK ...

If you are in the UK Jessops are currently £499.

Wow, correct, on both counts!

Welsh, yes. Currently residing in England! lol

Jessops? Wow, wouldn't have thought that they were competitive; how wrong one can be.

Thank you.

So is this a good lens to consider? I'm assuming in being a Carl Zeiss one can't get any better?

Kind regards.

It's an exceptional lens, not perfect, but nothing else produced images quite like it. Well worth getting.

David

Thank you David for your advice.

Seems the Sigma 10-20 will have to wait a bit longer (mind you still waiting to see a review of the f3.5 version).

Hi all,

I decided to purchase the lens yesterday from Jessops. I was really excited when it arrived through the post this morning.

However, after I opened the brown box to reveal the Sony lens box inside I noticed that the white seal had been tampered with.

Even though Jessops have apologised and are sending a courier for the lens, it is still disappointing to see such a company allowing 'returns' to be sent out to customers disguised as 'new'. Thank goodness I paid attention to the seal!

Now waiting for a replacement.

Regards,
Cenwyn.

Some companies open the seal to check the box contents, and sometimes include their own literature inside the box.

David

How is the difference to the Sony 18-250, let a side the important 2mm on the long end. Would it be worth getting a 16-80 in addition to a 18-250? Or shall I hold on and wait untill we get the FF equivalent (a 24-120mm lens)??

Hi Cenwyn,

As David already pointed out, it doesn't necessarily have to be a returned lens of yet an other customer if the seal on the box is torn or the box is already opened. When I purchased my CZ 16-80mm, the sales person told me on the phone that they had to open the box in order to activate the warranty statement and to check for any deficiencies that I asked them to check on because I had asked for a faultless one specifically at the time.

On arrival, the box was sealed with the shop's own seal and the lens was in perfect condition, with no loose parts or optical problems or suspicious looking elemental funtionality. And it's still in the same good condition, taking brilliant photos after more than a year now.

Your case may not be the same but I just wanted to share my acqusition experience.

Yildiz

Thank you guys for your experiences and advice. Visited Milton Keynes today and therefore took the lens with me as I thought it might be easier for Jessops; unfortunately they couldn't get through to the right department for their internet business. However, whilst opening the parcel the chap did confirm that sometimes the warehouse QA department will open a box to check authenticity, but they would re-seal with their own seal. Or maybe the store will show a lens to one customer, but then they would advise the prospective customer that they had done so. After opening the box and seeing the broken seal on the Sony box he confirmed this was unusual.

He was very helpful and suggested I contact them if I experience any problems in returning the lens, and receiving a replacement.

Thanks again everyone.

Looking forward to getting hold of the replacement towards the end of the week.

Cenwyn.

Last Monday DHL picked up the lens, 4 days later after several phone calls to Jessops and DHL trying to locate the returning lens, Jessops find it!

When promised a replacement either on Friday last week or Monday of this week, I call Jessops again today only to be told they are now out of stock and the lens is on back order so I will have to wait 7 to 14 days.

I'm sure if it ever does arrive it will have been well worth the wait and hassle.

To be honest, I wont be buying froom Jessops again - unless it is fromo a store.

Regards,
Cenwyn.

Sorry to hear about this. I got the impression at Focus on Imaging that Sony have a small fraction of the stock held by the other major makers. There was very little on sale at all.

David

Recently I dug deep and bought a Sony 70-400 - 'good' price (still over a grand - ouch!) from CameraWorld but they had to wait for a delivery from Japan. It only took about 2 weeks, but that seems to reflect David's comments.

Nice lens (to put it mildly). No regrets!

Ah, the laws of supply and demand. The real question why is supply low? Is it slowdown in manufacturing or increase in market penetration??

Hi all, just to let you know that the lens arrived today

Off out tomorrow totry it out.

Thank you again.

PS - Just bought the HVL-F58AM which will hopefully arrive next week - this time from SimplyElectronics as they were by far the best price.