The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Lensbaby Velvet 56 and the Sony DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is a crucial factor to consider when comparing two lenses. Lensbaby Velvet 56 is the longer of the two lenses at 86mm. The Sony DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA with a length of 83mm, is 3mm shorter. On the other hand, there is no difference between the max diameters of these lenses, both coming at 72mm.
The weight of a lens is equally significant as its external dimensions, particularly if you intend to handhold your camera and lens combination for extended periods. Lensbaby Velvet 56 weighs 400g, which means it is 45g (10%) lighter than the Sony DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA which has a weight of 445g.
Filter Threads
Both the Lensbaby Velvet 56 and the Sony DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA have the same Filter thread size of 62mm.
Below are links to the 62mm filters that we recommend you to consider for these lenses:
Lens Mounts
Both the Lensbaby Velvet 56 and the Sony DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA has the same Sony Alpha lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Sony Alpha lenses are Sony A99 II, Sony A68 and Sony A77 II.
Lensbaby Velvet 56 is also available in the Canon EF , Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon F (FX), Pentax KAF3, Samsung NX and Sony E mounts.
Focal Range
Lensbaby Velvet 56 is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 56mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of
84mm.
On the other hand, the Sony DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA has a focal range of 16-80mm and 5.0X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 24-120mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.
