Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS

I have seen some critical reviews of this lens. I suppose if you are professional photographer there might be some merit in the critical review. I have taken in excess of 5000 shots with this lens on multiple trips in the US and Europe. I find the lens on the Sony A6000 to be an excellent all around lens. It is well balanced and covers the range one desires in a single lens for travel. I do not experience the excessive distortion that some have reported. Two excellent feature of the lens are the f4 throughout its zoom range and the lens does not "extend" when zoomed. The manual zoom, OSS and excellent balance allows me to quickly frame and shoot in all situations. The 2X digital zoom extension on the A6000 covers the full wide angle to telephoto I need for all situations. The fast focus and the excellent performance of the lens on the A6000 makes it my "go-to" lens. During my last trip to Paris, Amsterdam, Germany, Austria, and Budapest, I never took this Len off my A6000. Several full frame DSLR users kelp switching lens from wide to tele to get shots that I could just point, manual zoom to frame and shoot. Often, they missed the best shot switching lens. The only area I have found to be critical of is in Video of a performance. The Sony RM-VPR1 Remote Control with Multi-Terminal does not allow a fast enough zoom to be useful. This may be a function of the A6000 and/or the Sony RM-VPR1 Remote Control with Multi-Terminal.

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Purchased this lens and the Zeiss 16-70mm to see which one to go with over the kit lens on the a6000 and I was underwhelmed by this lens for photos but blown away on its abilities for video. So I ended up keeping both lenses but which one I mount depends on if I am going to be shooting video or photos. First the barrel distortion is out of control and must be fixed in post theres just no way around it if you shoot in RAW. Shooting in JPEG it seems the a6000 automatically adjusts for most of the distortion but doesnt eliminate it. Secondly its the same size as my full frame Zeiss 35mm f1.4 lens and the same weight as my full frame Zeiss 16-35mm f4 lens. Its literally a full frame size (72mm front element) and weight lens for a camera system that was designed to be light and compact. I get the additional reach with the 105mm but IMHO this lens defeats the purpose of buying/using the Sony NEX/a6XXX series camera for any type of photography. Unless your goal is to shoot 100% videos (power zoom works great and is silent) I highly recommend you find a used Zeiss 16-70mm on eBay (make sure its been tested for decentering). I found my used flawless Zeiss 16-70mm copy on eBay for $635 so for marginally more money I am able to get a much better lens system with 2mm additional wide angle (makes a bigger difference than youd think) that actually looks and feels like it belongs on the Sony a6XXX camera. Conclusion: If video is your goal then theres no better option for the Sony a6XXX series camera. However, if your goal is to maintain the compact, inconspicuous, portable profile of the Sony a6XXX and take high quality photos look to find a used and tested copy of the Zeiss 16-70mm for nearly the same price. For videos, however, I go with the 18-105mm every time.

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Its funny that most of us here should list their qualifications in order to garner some authority when it comes to this lens, but I think that no matter what your level of photographic expertise is, it should be clear just from the fact that after many months there still arent any used or refurbished lenses for sale at amazon, likely because no one wants to part with this lens. So, I bit the bullet and purchased one new after thoroughly researching why I should have this lens. The first thing I did was analyze all the pictures Ive accumulated over the last couple of years with my Sony NEX-5n and various Sony lenses. It turned out that the majority was shot within the equivalent of 28-150mm range. I sold my Sony 18-55 and 55-210 with whose sharpness I wasnt happy, ignored the Zeiss 16-70 on the basis of price and after reading many reviews went for the 18-105/24-160mm equivalent Sony G. Well, come to papa! This baby has an unexpected creamy bokeh at f4, feels great in the hand, zooms smoothly, and the pictures are sharp. Perhaps not as sharp as a zoom at twice the price, but close enough, and with a little post sharpening on my Sony A6000 24mp files whos gonna see the difference? The build is nice, but all in all I now really enjoy going out and shoot, knowing that Ill come back with results. So, no five stars, because its not perfect, but in my world five stars only go to things that are outrageously great. Id say, for $600 you cant go wrong.

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I got my lens just before leaving town to go camping. If you arent going to switch lenses and want just ONE to live on your APS-C Sony, this is a good choice. Its a good focal range, but I was a little disappointed in the sharpness. It isnt bad, but it also didnt blow me away. I think part of the problem is that I mainly shoot with my Zeiss 55mm 1.8 and that is one of the sharpest lenses Ive ever owned. If you switched from Canon, I would say this lens is comparable to the 24-105L f/4 but maybe slightly less sharp. Either way, I dont regret buying it and it will get a lot of use.

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