I tested the 16-300mm with Imatest software in my home studio. The lens delivers excellent center sharpness (3,000 lines) at maximum aperture at 16mm and 35mm, is very good at 70mm and 135mm (2,500 lines), and shows good results for a 26MP image at 300mm (2,100 lines). These figures are quite close to the Tamron 18-300mm’s lab scores, so in practice, there’s not much difference in resolving power between the two.

Sony a7R IV (APS-C crop), 229mm, f/6.3, 1/400-second, ISO 250 (Credit: Jim Fisher)

Edges are never as clear as the center, a typical result for a superzoom, so if you are using it for landscapes, it is a good idea to set the aperture smaller. I see strong edge clarity in lab tests at f/8 at wider angles (16mm and 35mm) and at f/11 when zoomed in (70mm and 135mm). All in all, I’m quite happy with how well the 16-300mm resolves detail, especially given its zoom power.

Sony a7R IV (APS-C crop), 85mm, f/5.6, 1/160-second, ISO 4000 (Credit: Jim Fisher)

The 16-300mm is designed for mirrorless camera systems exclusively and benefits from the digital corrections that EVF cameras apply transparently. Because of this, when you look through the viewfinder with the 16-300mm, you see an image that’s free of geometric distortion, compared with SLRs that show an uncorrected image in an optical viewfinder. Without correction, the 16-300mm shows some outward bowing barrel distortion at its widest setting, and lines curve inward from pincushion distortion when zoomed in. If you use your camera in Raw capture mode, it’s important to use processing software that includes distortion correction for the lens. Adobe Lightroom Classic includes a profile that straightens things out with a single click. The profile (and in-camera corrections) also compensate for a natural vignette that the optics show when you use the lens at its brightest f-stop.

Sony a7R IV (APS-C crop), 16mm, f/3.5, 1/500-second, ISO 100 (Credit: Jim Fisher)

I used the lens without a hood and didn’t contend with flare for most scenes, but was able to induce the effect by placing the sun just above my subject. Practically, you won’t have to worry about flare unless you’re pointing the lens directly at the sun. Landscape photographers may still want to incorporate the sun into scenes and use a very narrow aperture to induce the sunstar effect, though to my eye, the 16-300mm is not an all-star performer. Its starbursts have tines that aren’t clearly defined and streak out into multiple points away from the center. Wide-angle primes and zooms generally draw the best-looking sunstars, so consider complementing the 16-300mm with the Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN Contemporary for landscapes and other ultra-wide scenes.

Sony a7R IV (APS-C crop), 16mm, f/22, 1/60-second, ISO 100 (Credit: Jim Fisher)

Despite its narrow aperture, the 16-300mm is capable of softening backgrounds in certain situations. At wide angles, you can get relatively close to an object, as long as there’s some distance between it and background objects, but bokeh comes more readily at telephoto angles. On a positive note, I didn’t spot any distracting false color or texture in defocused highlights, and they are pleasingly rounded at telephoto focal lengths. Bokeh here is as good as you’ll find in a superzoom, though that’s not a high bar to clear.

Sony a7R IV (APS-C crop), 242mm, f/6.3, 1/400-second, ISO 500 (Credit: Jim Fisher)

It’s worth mentioning that the 16-300mm includes optical stabilization, a feature necessary to get good results from a long lens. The stabilized optics improve sharpness for handheld photography and are always engaged, so you won’t have to contend with a shaky picture in the viewfinder.

Sony a7R IV (APS-C crop), 19mm, f/4, 1/250-second, ISO 100 (Credit: Jim Fisher)