Sharpness at 16mm

For this review, the sharpness test is carried out by photographing a real-world sample, rather than a test chart. The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH was mounted on a Leica SL, which was in-turn mounted on a sturdy tripod. Exposure delay was activated to prevent camera-shake. Any changes in tone you might see across the crops are due to natural light changes during the shooting session.

The full frame at 16mm

At 16mm, lens sharpness is very good at f/3.5 (the widest aperture available), and gets a little sharper at f/4.0. Sharpness remains excellent up until f/11, where it’s still good but noticeably softer when looking at 100%. The centre is softest at f/22, when examining at 100%, but a good overall impression of detail is maintained when looking at an image at normal printing sizes. The best sharpness at the edges of the frame can be seen between f/4 and f/8.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/3.5
f/4
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22