It's a versatile lens but I sort of given up on it after using it for awhile (less than a month). Will be interesting to see the IQ from the new 16-50 lens though. Any links?
I found some full-size sample photos by the 16-50mm on one of the new 16-mp bodies on a review website about 10 days ago (forgot to bookmark as usual). The shots at 16mm looked almost as bad as the 16mm f/2.8 wide open on the NEX-7.
THEN . . . last Friday I shot with the lens (on a 5R, I think) at a Sony store. Even at f/3.5 the corners were actually decent, and contrast looked good throughout the range. All in all, the lens did MUCH better "in person" than in the website's sample photos. Maybe the in-camera jpeg processing corrected CA and distortion; but who cares, as long as a good photo comes out of the camera? I may even grab a copy a few months from now when people are dumping them off for next to nothing in B&S.
This is twice in a row that "sample photos" on the web were much worse than what I saw when I actually tried a lens. I'd hate to think it's sample variation; but I'd hate even worse to think that supposedly trustworthy reviewers shoot to make certain brands look bad on purpose.