A-mount fisheye lens AF FISH-EYE 16mm

1．Overview

The AF FISH-EYE 16mm is an autofocus fisheye lens released by Sony in 2006.

This lens is simply a Sony batch of a fisheye lens released in 1986 during the MINOLTA era; there are no functional changes to the lens.

As it is an α-mount lens, the lens barrel has two rings: a focus ring and a color filter change ring, and the aperture is controlled on the camera.

The hood is fixed, so a protective lens filter cannot be attached to the front of the lens, so a cloth lens cover is included to protect the front element.

Since it does not use the SSM (Ultrasonic Motor)/SAM (Smooth AF Motor) motor built into the lens, as was used in later Minolta and some Sony lenses, limitations may occur when using a genuine Sony mount adapter with a Sony α mirrorless camera.

Restrictions are summarized in the “Specifications, Considerations, etc.” section.

2．Usability

The AF FISH-EYE 16mm is a Sony A (α) mount lens, so the aperture is controlled by the camera. The lens barrel features a focus ring and a ring for switching between four built-in color filters, a relic from the film camera era. These built-in filters are used to adjust color during shooting and include NORMAL (colorless), FLW (light purple), O56 (orange), and B12 (blue). However, with digital cameras, color adjustments after shooting are easy, so you’ll probably never use anything other than NORMAL (colorless).

The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 20cm, allowing you to get close enough to the subject, making it easy to create compositions that include close-up shots of the main subject and their surroundings.

When mounted on the Sony α900 A-mount digital camera, autofocus is enabled, and I was pleased with the focusing speed and accuracy.

Furthermore, even when shooting close up, as long as the subject is clearly visible, the autofocus function will not hesitate to focus precisely, eliminating the need to estimate the focus by eye, as is the case with manual focus lenses. Also, with high-pixel digital cameras, even slight deviations in focus position are noticeable when viewing the image on a monitor, so using autofocus to adjust the focus position makes sense.

Of course, autofocus can sometimes focus in a position that the photographer did not intend, so you shouldn’t rely too much on it.

The lens is compact, and even when paired with the SONY α900, it doesn’t feel particularly heavy at around 1.2kg. This is only in terms of a digital SLR camera; it is about twice the weight of a modern mirrorless camera, so it will be quite heavy for photographers accustomed to modern cameras.

3．Summary

In conclusion, to sum up the AF FISH-EYE 16mm, it is a 180-degree diagonal fisheye lens that can use autofocus.
There are some things to be careful about with autofocus as mentioned in the usability section, but having autofocus as a tool is not a bad thing. If you don’t like the focus position, you can just set it manually.

The lens construction is similar between the SONY and MINOLTA versions, and while there may be differences in coating, you should hardly notice any difference in practical use, so it’s best to choose based on your preference for brand and retail price.

Specifications, considerations, etc.

MINOLTA, the predecessor to SONY cameras, was a camera manufacturer with a full line of lenses, and sold fisheye lenses for cameras prior to the α mount. The Minolta MC ROKKOR-OK 16mm F/2.8 Fisheye, released in 1969, is considered the ultimate example of MINOLTA’s diagonal fisheye lens. This lens is said to be the prototype for the LEICA R FISH-EYE ELMARIT 16mm, and has nearly the same lens configuration. The AF FISH-EYE 16mm introduced here also has nearly the same lens configuration.

The A (α) mount was the world’s first interchangeable lens camera mount to feature autofocus as a real product, but early α mounts used a motor in the camera body to drive the lens, and while the aperture was controlled from the camera, the actual aperture mechanism was operated mechanically using a lever.

For this reason, there was only a few millimeters difference in flange focal length with other companies’ SLR cameras, so while it was just possible to move the focus mechanism, it was difficult to incorporate a mechanism to drive the aperture, and so no mount adapters were made to allow α-mount lenses to be used with other companies’ SLR cameras.

With the advent of mirrorless cameras, the difference in flange focal length with SLR cameras was reduced to around 20mm, so Sony released mount adapters to allow genuine α-mount lenses to be used with E-mount cameras. There are five types of mount adapters, and their features are briefly described below.

• LA-EA1: Aperture control + limited autofocus for APS-C sensors
• LA-EA2: Aperture control + autofocus for APS-C sensors (with translucent mirror)
• LA-EA3: Aperture control + limited autofocus for 35mm full-frame sensors
• LA-EA4: Aperture control + autofocus for 35mm full-frame sensors (with translucent mirror)
• LA-EA5: Aperture control + autofocus + camera limit for 35mm full-frame sensors

If you want to use older A (α) mount lenses like the A FISH-EYE 16mm with autofocus, there are two options. For older E-mount cameras, use the LA-EA4, which features a translucent mirror. For newer cameras like the α7R IV, α7 IV, α1, and α6600 and later, use the LA-EA5, which allows autofocus with all A (α) mount lenses.

Sony Lens Compatibility Information

The above is a website that displays the limitations of the combination after selecting the camera body and lens. However, this website lacks a comprehensive overview and can be confusing.
The autofocus feature information clearly states whether a lens is compatible or not, but is silent if it is.

	Sensor size	AF compatible E-mount camera	Supports image plane phase detection AF with SSM/SAM lenses	Supports focal plane phase detection AF with lenses without a motor (SSM/SAM)
LA-EA1	APS-C	×	×	×
LA-EA2 *	APS-C	△	×	×
LA-EA3	35mm full frame	SSM/SAM lenses only	×	×
LA-EA4 *	35mm full frame	△	×	×
LA-EA5	35mm full frame	SSM/SAM lenses only	α7 II、α7R II、α6300、α6500、α7 III、α7R III、α7R IV、α6100、α6400、α6600、α9、α9 II、α7S III、α7C	α7RⅣ, α7Ⅳ, α1, α6600, and newer cameras

It may be possible to make an A (α) mount adapter for other companies’ mirrorless cameras, but with the aforementioned A (α) mount adapters for the E-mount already available, it is unlikely that any company would be so bold as to make an A (α) mount adapter, which requires complex mechanisms and high development costs, for other companies’ cameras that are unlikely to sell very well.

As an aside, the reason there are so many EF mount adapters for mirrorless cameras from various manufacturers is because the hurdle for product development is low – both aperture and focus are electronically controlled, so as long as there is ROM to convert the control commands, all that’s left to do is match the mount shape to create a mount adapter; and because the EF mount has historically had a large market share, so the market is flooded with used lenses.

lens name	A-FISH EYE 16mm	FISH EYE ELMARIT
Focal length	16	16
35mm equivalent focal length (mm)	24
Max aperture	2.8	2.8
Min aperture	22	16
Leaf blade	7	6
Lens Construction	11 elements in 8 groups (including 1 filter)	11 elements in 8 groups
Min distance(m)	0.2	0.3
Lens length(mm)	66.5	60
Max diameter(mm)	75	71
Filter Size(mm)	none	none
Weight(g)(lens only)	400	470
Lens hood	fixed	固定
Model number	SAL16F28	–
Release date	2006.10	1974(*2)
Price	98,000	–

Reference links

• SONY lens official page
• Sony announces release dates for α lenses and accessories・Degi-came watch
• Elmarit R 16mm Diagonal Fisheye・Shige’s hobby
• Minolta MC ROKKOR-OK 16mm F/2.8 Fisheye・Lens.DB
• Minolta AF 16mm F/2.8 Fisheye・Lens.DB

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Affiliate links

• SONY LA-EA*・Ads by Amazon
• SONY LA-EA5・Ads by Amazon
• SONY α900(A900)・Ads by Amazon
• ソニー・α900・Ads by Rakuten
• A FISH-EYE 16mm・Ads by Amazon

Update history

• 2025.12.28