Product Reviews

This lens can be an alternative to to a specific type of lens, in regard the photographs taken, in its various modes, enable other images to be derived from such, various settings?

That kind of lens to remain forever attached to the camera. Very versatile, fast autofocus, good construction. I think this is the best kind of lens for beginners.

One of the best lenses I ever had for a long time even in 2021 still great

Nice and smooth operation with the added bonus of Optical Steady Shot which is just sooooo good

Just took my first images with this lens and boy does it live up to its reputation of being one off the best 18-20mm superzooms available at this time.

I purchased this lens about 4 months ago and was rather dramatic about its performance. For a walk around lens it is perfect! But I will not keep it on my camera. For what it is, it is very good. But don't try to extend it beyond its range. It is a solid and well built lens. The photos are good. It is a heavy lens. Love it! Enjoy it for what it is!

OK at short focal lengths, if you can stand the distortion. Miserable at long focal lengths being no better than looking thru a coke-bottle bottom

A brilliant lens covering a range of photo opportunities - ideal for street photography as it covers 18-200mm ... no lens changes required! Love it!

I am satisfied with the quality of the design, of the lens and the image quality (even though image quality is about something combined with the body). Good for video. I always bring it with me when I have to shoot something important.

I bought this lens 4 years ago. Currently, Until most recently, I noticed that the zoom is stuck between 100 and 200. There must be something wrong with the zoom mechanism. Maybe, wear and tear? Can this be fixed?

Was unsure whether to purchase reading some comments about the size compared with the camera body. However, I find it very comfortable to hold and also looks fine. Good quality and well built. Easy to use. Quite pricey but very impressed with this lens.

I have been using this lens for almost 1 year now and could not be happier. I have the lens paired with a NEX7 and it has proved to be a very adaptable lens for a variety of different photography scenarios. The lens feels heavy when first used but I don't really notice it so much now. The lens looks and feels very sturdy and is simple to use.

Nothing but problems with this lens. Its not sealed from external environmental dust. When zooming it breaths in outside air making things impossible to clean in the front lens element. Im not used to cheap kit lenses. I would classify this lens to be a Kit lens for basic starting packages.

I have been using this lens in South Africa and have taken some great wildlife photos. I am very pleased with the results. The lens is heavy compared to my NEX-5 camera, but this adds stability to the set-up.

Used this lens in Alaska. Got great shots. Unfortunately the camera itself allows one to hit format without asking if one is sure. I will be attempting to recapture pictures taken on land in Alaska. If you can help me with this problem please contact me. I will be heart sick if my pictures are permanently lost. I got some great shots

Much better than expected Because of the slower speed’s {“F” stops} I have never before been an advocate of zoom lenses. I had a play with someone else’s camera with a zoom attached so I just had to get one. But I was literally blown away by this. The broken effect just unexpectedly brilliant, smooth focusing and the zoom range on an NEX7 superb. Many people complain about lens creep, but I found this not to be the case and thought the zoom lock may lock in any position but yes there is a very positive zoom lock when set to wide angle. It’s a zoom and a brilliant one at that and a lens for many outdoor occasions. Something that also persuaded me in the purchase was this was initially designed for the Sony move camera and image stabilisation is as I found necessary with a zoom. I always attach a filter to protect that wonderful glass, I did also “as expected” notice with versus filters attached the brightness and sharpness varied; therefore I would defiantly recommend splashing out for a B+W filter.

This lens is awesome. I bought it for my FS100, and couldn't be happier. The "lens-crawl" issue everyone else has been complaining about must have been resolved, as my lens does not do move unless I move it -- even when the camera faces 90 degrees to the ground. Auto-focus is super-quick and sharp, with zero CA.

Took this lens on nature trip to photograph whales. The time it took to focus, if ever, was abysmally slow and amazing moments were completely lost. It's just not up to par with what is promised. Very disappointed.

When I discovered that the NEX 7 lets you use digital zoom with a zoom lense, the already significant range of this thing became amazing. But even without that newly-found capability, at 200 mm and using the viewfinder and the manual focus button, some exceptional macro-like shots are possible, just as I had hoped. Using it just as a traditioanl zoom I also got a picture of a bird a quarter mile away that we had no idea as to what it was. Armed with that image we got the experts to tell us we had seen a wimbrel. Combined with the amazing NEX 7 - I have upgraded from being a totally satisfied NEX 5 user to being an ecstatic NEX 7 user - I can't think of why $899 isn't a pretty fair price. Remember, 18 - 200 is a lot of possibilities. Add the digital zoom (I know it reduces quality, but with 24mpx there is a little quality to be spared) and you have a lens that lets you rule the world.

Great overall lens other than a bit bulky and pricey (and it just got pricier!). Very sharp at all focal lenghts and apertures. The lens "crawl" as the lens is tilted up or down is rather aggrivating. Looks like it could have been better engineered than that. The lock only works when the lens is all the way in at 18 mm.

Love this lens. My pictures look much better with this lens as opposed to the stock lens it came with.

The review by mrbige does not do justice to this lens. Yes, it was first sold only with a video camcorder but it has great optics. The photo was shot at 200mm at iso 110 with a Nex-7 (1/500 f8). Image represents about 1/5 of original.

Image was shot at 94mm f/8 (Original). A touch of Fractal Sharpen, a little crop and vibrance, and the photo is truly stunning (Final version). This was an Auto HDR shot, the combination of 3 images. From my experience with much more expensive systems, this lens performs extremely well below 100mm. Above 100mm it is a slightly soft, but then so are most telephotos, and I don't use it in that range a whole lot. I almost always use Aperture Priority with f/8 dialed in for maximum sharpness (even above 100mm!). I would have been very happy to have a 18-100 or 18-120 lens rather than the 18-200, but there is no lens like that today. While this lens is big and heavy, it is still smaller and lighter than its counterparts from Canon and Nikon, and frankly, is sharper. It is really the ultimate "walk around" lens (I find 18-55 just does not cut it - although the 18-55 lens is no doubt a very good lens, it just does not have the zoom range I want). I would have been even more delighted if this was a 16-100 or 16-120 lens. Not that would be perfect, and would eliminate the need to switch lenses to get the 16mm wide angle - a must for nature photography (well, OK, with the wide angle adapter, going to 12mm is really cool). One other factor: at long zoom ranges, the lens tends to take a long time to focus in some cases. This is the disadvantage of contrast focus vs. phase as in the A77, but since I don't use that range much, I can live with it. At lower zoom ranges, it focuses just fine. My final comment is about HDR. This is a MUST HAVE feature of the Sony cameras! I was disgusted that I could take HDR photos on my iPhone, but not on my Canon system. Sony has done a really wonderful job on this feature, and it is fantastic in lighting situations like the one in the photo (a forest with sun and shade). No more shooting 3 images and fiddling around with HDR software back home. Of course I can still do that, but having this feature in the camera is fantastic!

the 18-55mm kit lens is WAY sharper in range and this lens is horrible after 70mm not worth the money this is a video lens it is no good for stills

It is a great lens but as instructions in box need a flash extender to work with flash otherwise you have shadows at the bottom of picture. --- Flash extender is not yet available will not even pull up with part number that came with the lens. --- Bad PR. Hopefully only due to everything that Japan is still going through. I hope Sony makes this part a priority since the lens does not work with the flash on in a quality known with the Sony products.

This is a must have lens for any NEX owner. The lens makes the camera perform at significantly better level providing broader control of your shots. As is typical, the included kit lens can only do so much - there's a reason they get bundled into the initial sale of the camera to get you started, but to extract maximum value from your camera, this is a must have purchase. Biggest negative is that the standard flash sits too low on the camera body and casts a shadow. This can be avoided by using the flash extender available at: www.servicesplus.sel.sony.com Part Number: A1787305A Price: $63 plus shipping Or wait for the new flash to be available this summer '11

I was going to return this wonderful Xmas present because of the price, but after I tried it on my Nex-5 I've been taking tons of landscape photos, portraits and video with this lens and the images are wonderful on a well calibrated flat panel tele, computer monitor or high quality photo printer. The photos taken at 16:9 ratio are fantastic for a slide show on tele or a home theater projector. After using the camera with the original SEL1855 lens, this big lens makes a lot of difference as soon as you start to use it. More versatile and great zoom range. I don't need an HD video camcorder anymore with this lens, I just the microphone and I've to 2 in 1. I highly recommend it.

27mm (35mm equiv.) max. wide angle is good, but 25mm or 24mm would be better. I've always found I need all the wide angle I could get, and then some - whereas giving up some telephoto (to get the wider angle), at the same zoom range, has never been a problem for me. At 11.1x zoom, 24mm wide still gives you 266.4mm tele. A litttle more wide angle and a little less tele would suit me fine. Bigger tele mm numbers are a diminishing return versus smaller mm wide numbers Or, hey, go from an 11.1x zoom to a 12.5x and get 24mm to 300mm.

This lens would have got at least 4 stars from me, if it is not because of the lack of the "rumored" flash extender. Without it, this lens is seriously handicapped. Sony, please do the right thing! The extender should have been included with the lens. Or at least make it available for purchase!

Pre-release online literature from Sony noted that the flash extender would be included with the flash so I was disappointed to find that it was not included. A representative at Sony Style indicated it would be an extra $65 but is not yet available.

I love the lens and it's great to move between the camera and camcorder with the same lenses. However, the press releases promised a bundled flash extended to help mitigate the shadows that show up if you try to use the NEX 5 flash and the lens at the same time. So far, Sony Parts and the Store are clueless in spite of a part number FA-EX1S

Can't wait to get this lens but my NEX-5 manual states that a flash extender is needed for this lens. The extender is not listed as in the box with the lens and I don't see where it can be ordered separately.