Buy Sony Alpha SEL18200 E-mount 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS Lens (Silver)Sony Alpha SEL18200 E-mount 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS Lens (Silver) Product Description:
- Front Lens Cap
- Rear Lens Cap
- Lens Hood
Product Description
The Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DT Lens for NEX Cameras is a can-do lens that can handle everything from wide landscape photos to portraits to sports, action and even wildlife photography with the telephoto up to 200mm. And the results will be brilliant, with ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass that minimizes flare and greatly reduces chromatic aberration, fast internal focusing, 13 groups and 15 elements (including aspherical elements that correct visual aberrations across the entire zoom range), and a circular aperture for more pleasing out-of-focus areas. This lens is not recommended for use with full-frame DSLRs.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
154 of 155 people found the following review helpful.
Superb optics, build quality and effective stabilization
By Richard Lau
First and foremost, you should be aware that you'll need another lens aside from the 18-200mm, to take flash pictures. The 18-200 lens barrel obstructs the lower part of the flash output at anything less than ~50mm. Sony made a big mistake here in not supplying a 'flash extender' with the lens and at this time of writing, it is not available for purchase either. Moreover, it would have nice if Sony included a lens pouch or carrying case for the lens while it awaits its use. Yet, something else you'll need to purchase if you want to keep the lens in it's pristine condition. BTW, the NEX/18-200mm combo doesn't sit flat on the table either; the bottoms are not even.Then we have the lens size and the integration with the NEX body. Suffice to say, it is reminiscent of the older Sony 707/717 models where a much bigger lens is coupled a smaller body. Difference is that with the NEX, the body doesn't twist/tilt like the 7x7 models but only the LCD tilts, which helps with stability. It's a big lens if you're comparing it to the compact superzooms but it's not given the size of the NEX sensor. It is comparable to the 18-200 of the DSLRs and the 14-140 zoom lenses of the m4/3s. The dichotomy is that for the folks who bought into the NEX for its dimunitive size are now faced with less than compact setup.On first use, the NEX/18-200 combo seems like a joke. Clearly, this is a one-handed operation for a very short time only; the NEX body itself don't have much of a grip and the front heavy lens is going to tip the balance. This is worsened in its fully exended zoom length. To zoom, you will need to use your left hand to hold the bottom of the lens barrel while using its two finger tips to rotate the zoom ring. Likewise to manual focus.However, the quality of this lens is just plainly superb. The distant test scenes from backyard I normally take with new lenses and cameras were outstanding and possibly one of the best I've ever had. The stabilization system works very well and I have no issues handholding the combo and getting clear pictures. The lens stops down to f6.3 at the max zoom length but this is compensated with the NEX's low-noise high-ISO.I have also not heard it focusing either. In the few 1080 videos I've made, I have not heard any focus noise which can be extremely distracting during viewing. The 18-200 makes for an excellent video lens as well.The build quality of this lens is also outstanding. The zoom ring is firm but rotates smoothly and likewise with the focus ring. I thought this Sony lens is better built than the similar 14-140 Panny lens which has free play in its lens mount and a inconsistent zoom movement. I have not even used the zoom lock switch once as I have not experienced any zoom creep yet while carrying the lens.Overall, an outstanding lens.
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
Should have bought one sooner
By UC Gamer
After seeing pictures of it, and comments from others complaining about the size, I was initially steered away from the SEL18200. It does look ridiculous in pictures mounted on the slender NEX-5. But in person, it's a different story. The metal build quality is superb, and feels great in hand.The weight and optical steadshot are just perfect for my preferred shooting method: Left hand supporting the lens, LCD flipped up, and shooting at waist level. For street shooting in good light, the 18-200 range means I don't miss many interesting moments regardless of where I'm standing. Like many super zoom lenses, contrast erodes at max 200mm zoom and colors are a little washed out. Focusing is also slow at the 200mm end.From my testing in A mode and EXIF, maximum apertures through the zoom range seems approx as follows:18mm - f3.519-26mm - f427-37mm - f4.538-46mm - f547-143mm - f5.6144-200mm - f6.3For $800, I would have liked f5.6 at the long end similar to Canon and Nikon's superzooms. But the SEL18200 is absolutely silent and wonderful for video, so I'm just being nitpicky.Overall, this is solid all-in-one solution.
50 of 54 people found the following review helpful.
All in all a good lens
By David R. Courtney
I have been using this lens for about a month, so I think that I have a good feel for it.PROS1- It has one of the best optical stabilization systems that I have ever used.2 - Its range of 18mm-200mm is amazing.3 - It feels firm and solidly built.4 - It produces crisp and sharp pictures when the light is good.CONS1- The control ring is strictly "by wire" and does not inherently control anything. Therefore it forces you to go into the camera's god-awful menus and submenus before you can manually control anything. I found this to be so much of a pain that when I want to slip into a manual operation I find it easier to simply remove the Sony lens and put on a third party manual lens.2 - It is very slow. It does not work well in low light conditions.BOTTOM LINEYou should definitely have this in your kit. But do not expect it to do everything that you want. Make sure you have a few good, fast, manual prime lenses to cover the situations where this will fail.PeaceDavid Courtney
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