16mm 2.8 is a fantastic lens (full size example)!

i was hesitant to get it due to bad press

Now that I have it, I can confirm that it is fantastic lens - I actually like it better than Voigltlander 15mm.

It is super sharp in the middle 70%, even at 2.8, which is great for portraits and pretty much everything if you think a bit before framing.

Here is an example at f7 (gets even better at 9): developed with LR3, sky darkened a bit, and 16mm LR3 correction applied (geometry and fringing).
Once purple fringing is automatically fixed it look much better and sharper.

Take a look at the left side - it is sharp even in the corners and razor sharp in the middle. Right hand side is getting out of focus and hence not as sharp.
Click on Original link to see the full size file.

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http://www.supernovak.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogic

FED-S (my father's) > Canon AE1 (my brother's) > Minolta Maxxum 3xi (my first precious) > Minolta Dynax 400si (hello Canada) > Minolta Dimage 7i (darling) > Konica Minolta 5D (first DSLR) > Sony Alpha A100 (killer baby) > Sony Alpha A700 (serious tool) > Canon 5DMkII (weird computer with average lenses) > Back to A700 (reassured about the greatness) + A900 (depth of colours and pixels)