Samsung NX 16 50mm F3 5 5 6 Power Zoom ED OIS Review | 54 Data compared

The PCMag review highlights the Samsung 16-50mm Power Zoom ED OIS as a top-tier, compact kit lens for the NX system, featuring strong center-weighted sharpness and an efficient power zoom mechanism for video. Its primary strengths are its portability, built-in optical image stabilization, and impressive sharpness that peaks at f/8. Key drawbacks include the narrow f/3.5-5.6 variable aperture, which limits low-light performance, and significant 2.4% barrel distortion at the 16mm wide-angle end. While in-camera JPEGs are corrected, Raw shooters may face challenges with manual distortion correction due to the lack of dedicated software profiles.

The Samsung NX 16-50 mm f/3.5-5.6 Power Zoom ED OIS is a super-compact and lightweight all-around zoom lens weighing just 111 grams, designed for Samsung's APS-C format cameras. Offering a 35 mm-equivalent range of 24 to 75 mm, its unique 16 mm wide-angle focal length captures significantly more in a frame than a standard kit lens. The lens operates entirely electronically via a motor-driven zoom switch and "by wire" manual focusing ring. Thanks to an internal stepper motor, focusing is smooth and virtually silent, preventing the front element from rotating or extending, which stops dust from being sucked into the housing.

The Samsung 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 Power Zoom ED OIS is a compact standard kit lens that provides a versatile focal range from wide-angle to portrait perspectives. A major strength of this lens is its excellent distortion and vignetting control, with only mild barrel distortion at wide focal lengths that shifts to minor pincushion distortion at 50mm. Vignetting is also minimal and consistently clears up by f/5.6 across most of the zoom range, though it lingers until f/8 at the 50mm mark. Chromatic aberration and purple fringing remain low and easily correctable. Additionally, the lens features a powered electronic zoom ring—making it highly convenient for shooting smooth video—alongside an integrated optical image stabilization system that counteracts camera shake by roughly two stops. However, the primary drawback of this lens is its subpar sharpness when shooting wide open. The center of the image is notably soft at maximum aperture across all focal lengths, requiring users to step down to f/8 to achieve optimal center sharpness. The corners are even softer and demand an aperture of f/11 to reach peak sharpness, after which diffraction...

The Imaging Resource field test highlights the Samsung NX3000 as a budget-friendly mirrorless camera delivering excellent image quality with low noise up to ISO 1600 and impressive sharpness from the bundled 16-50mm kit lens. Notable features include reliable Wi-Fi and Auto Upload connectivity for seamless sharing. Conversely, the 3-inch LCD lacks touchscreen functionality and suffers from poor visibility in direct sunlight. Additional drawbacks include a shallow buffer depth that limits continuous shooting to 12 JPEGs or 4 RAW files, along with an entry-level autofocus system.

Overview of the Samsung NX Standard Zoom Lenses This review evaluates three Samsung NX standard zoom kit lenses—the 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 OIS III, the compact 20-50mm f3.5-5.6 ED II, and the newer 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 PZ OIS—by analyzing raw file sizes and image center crop details to determine their performance across different focal lengths. The evaluation reveals that image sharpness and resolution vary significantly depending on the selected focal length. At the wider 20mm setting, the medium-compact 20-50mm lens delivers the highest level of detail, followed by the 16-50mm, while the 18-55mm ranks last due to poor central performance. At a mid-range 35mm focal length, the 16-50mm lens catches up at wider apertures but loses its advantage when stopped down past f/7.1. Finally, at the maximum 50mm focal length, the 16-50mm lens outperforms the other options by a wide margin, only losing its lead at very narrow apertures like f/20 and f/22. Pros and Cons Analysis Each lens presents clear trade-offs in features and optical performance. The 16-50mm PZ OIS offers the benefits of an ultra-wide 16mm focal length, highly portable compact...

Despite these highlights, the lens possesses significant physical and optical drawbacks. Weighing 622 g and measuring 9.7 cm deep, its considerable bulk makes it poorly balanced on smaller bodies like the NX500 or NX3300. There is a physical design conflict with the NX30 where the lens barrel rubs against the user’s handgrip fingers, and the wide barrel partially blocks the camera's AF assist lamp. On the performance side, the reviewer notes issues with field curvature, visible lateral chromatic aberrations (CA) in the corners, and persistent mild flaring when shooting against light. Most critically, image sharpness drops drastically past 35mm, rendering details at the 50mm telephoto end disappointingly soft in the corners, even falling slightly behind Samsung's cheaper 16-50mm PZ kit lens in corner clarity.