The Nikon VR 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 stabilised zoom is the first obvious comparative competitor to the Sony Carl Zeiss 16-80mm f3.5-4.5, from another brand. The comparisions here are based on 'walkabout' shooting on the first sunny day of having the two lenses side by side. Nikon's in-camera JPEGs (shooting JPEG plus RAW) are more compressed than Sony's RAW+JPEG output, so in some cases, I have processed Nikon using Capture NX as the 'Basic' JPEGs - the only option possible from the camera when shooting raw - are very crude in quality. In other cases, where the Nikon compression had not apparently damaged the image much, I have used the Nikon JPEG as it better reflects exposure and tone differences. The gravestone 'bokeh' shots show something which became apparent - the Nikon lens produces a wiry bokeh and apparently has greater depth of field. This seems impossible, but when you compare a CZ shot at f8 with a Nikon one at f5.3 and the Nikon has FAR more depth of field, the results can not lie. An optical design expert is needed here to explain the phenomenon, which I suspect is linked to telecentricity/retrofocus design and exit pupil diameter.