The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Viltrox 28mm F4.5 FE and the Sony E 16mm F2.8 Pancake 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. Sony E 16mm F2.8 Pancake is the longer of the two lenses at 23mm. The Viltrox 28mm F4.5 FE with a length of 20mm, is 3mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Sony E 16mm F2.8 Pancake also has a larger diameter of 62mm compared to the Viltrox 28mm F4.5 FE's 60mm diameter.
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. Sony E 16mm F2.8 Pancake weighs 74g, 15% (14g) lighter than the Viltrox 28mm F4.5 FE's weight of 88g.
Below you can find the dimension and weight table of the Wideangle Prime Lenses in Sony E Mount for size comparison purposes.
Wideangle Lenses in Sony E Mount for Size Comparison
Lens Mounts
Both the Viltrox 28mm F4.5 FE and the Sony E 16mm F2.8 Pancake has the same Sony E lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Sony E lenses are Sony FX5, Sony A7R VI and Sony A7 V.
Focal Range
Viltrox 28mm F4.5 FE is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 28mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of
42mm.
On the other hand, the Sony E 16mm F2.8 Pancake is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 16mm which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 24mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.
