18-105 PZ owners

silver07 · Feb 16, 2015

Are you satisfied with your purchase? Can't afford the 16-70 zeiss, going on vacation in 4 weeks, have $300 in amazon gift cards waiting to be used. Looking at this as my next purchase. I already have the touit 32, sel50, and sel1650. This should replace the little zoom, was wondering if you guys and gals notice a nice IQ bump from the 1650?

I know it's big on the a6000, but it seems to cover a huge range for me. For most shots I'll probably be using it, for low light I'll have the touit with me at night.

Anyone have regrets after getting it? Tips? Anything else I should know about it before getting it?

Dutchpepper · Feb 17, 2015

silver07 said:
Are you satisfied with your purchase? Can't afford the 16-70 zeiss, going on vacation in 4 weeks, have $300 in amazon gift cards waiting to be used. Looking at this as my next purchase. I already have the touit 32, sel50, and sel1650. This should replace the little zoom, was wondering if you guys and gals notice a nice IQ bump from the 1650?

I know it's big on the a6000, but it seems to cover a huge range for me. For most shots I'll probably be using it, for low light I'll have the touit with me at night.

Anyone have regrets after getting it? Tips? Anything else I should know about it before getting it?

I use it on an A6000, Pictures are great and I'm extremely happy with the quality of the image when shooting handheld in somewhat low light at F4. It is surprisingly light, only a little heavier than the body, and is very quiet when zooming.
Beware that this lens with the pop-up flash will produce a shadow. Use an external flash or point the pop-up flash upwards.
Also, when the camera powers down, it resets the focal length to 18mm.
Besides this minor things, its a great lens.

I shot the local Carnival parade this weekend and I must say the lens was Excellent here are some results Samples SELPZ18105 most of these are straight out of camera

Craig

Craig Martin

Explore Craig Martin’s 978 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

westlites · Feb 17, 2015

Lovely pics Craig!

Ben

Rupek · Feb 17, 2015

i had the same situation as you, decided to go with the 18-105, haven't been disappointed so far, it lives on my a6000 90% if the time. as it covers most of my walk around range. the only downside is the size, its a long lens, although it is light. makes it difficult to just chuck in a small back like the 16-50 would be. haven't had a 16-70 so can't compare sizes, but i have been happy with the results from mine.

Also the power zoom thing isn't too bag once your used to it.

jojoc · Feb 17, 2015

Same reply here from the Philippines. It is now my default lens for everything. The range is very good for traveling... I have it on a NEX7.

I used to have a Canon 600D + Tamron 1850F2.8. I carried this combo across 3 countries. After the 3rd one, I told myself never again due to the weight.

So I purchased a NEX7 and a separate PZ1650 initially. (the kit lens of the NEX7 is the 1855). I purchase the PZ18-105 last Christmas 2014 and I have not removed it since then.

My only comment is that in very low light evening shots, wherein my Canon combo can easily still take good shots, my NEX7 and this lens struggles. Of course, these are two very different system. But in good light, colors are traditional Minolta... slightly warm to the eyes yet tack sharp. I used to have the Minolta 5D and some F2.8 lenses.

dave_bass5 · Feb 17, 2015

Yep, another very happy user.

I could have got the 16-70 but all things considered the 18-105 seemed like the better overall lens for me.

It feels good on my a6000, the balance seems nice. Its not as heavy as it looks, and i love that it doesn't extend. This should help keep dust out and its one less thing to go wrong.

Its not perfect, but considering the 16-70 isnt either i dont feel im missing much. The edges are a bit of a mess at wider settings, but i only really notice this if i zoom in in LR, and ive stopped doing that with this camera.

If i could only have one lens for this camera it would be the 18-105. In fact this lens together with my 35mm f/2 OSS is really all i need at the moment.

Charles Currey · Feb 17, 2015

Yet another happy 18-105 user here. It's on my A6000 all the time. I shoot events and it is at F4.0 at about 85-100mm most of the time. It does a great job for me.

Tommy tek · Feb 17, 2015

Dutchpepper said:
I use it on an A6000, Pictures are great and I'm extremely happy with the quality of the image when shooting handheld in somewhat low light at F4. It is surprisingly light, only a little heavier than the body, and is very quiet when zooming.
Beware that this lens with the pop-up flash will produce a shadow. Use an external flash or point the pop-up flash upwards.
Also, when the camera powers down, it resets the focal length to 18mm.
Besides this minor things, its a great lens.

I shot the local Carnival parade this weekend and I must say the lens was Excellent here are some results Samples SELPZ18105 most of these are straight out of camera

Craig
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loubella/

This is my experience with the lens also! I don't have any other e-mount lens to compare it to. I like the camera and lens combination more than my A57 and I own 6 a-mount lenses. I did not get to shoot a carnival parade though.

Tommy tek · Feb 17, 2015

Special Olympics Skier and his support group.

Upside of Downs Holiday Party

I too shoot events. Shot with the E-6000 and the PZ -18-105G. I belong to the Cleveland Photographic Society, we have a community service committee and shoot events for charitable organizations.

Zapirian · Feb 17, 2015

I had this on the Nex 6. Because of it's range and good IQ I had it on my Nex 6 quite a lot. Obviously it suffers distortion at both ends but that is corrected by software and still leaves you with nice IQ. I liked the colours and contrast of this lens too, and even would use it even though I also had the 35mm F1.8. Only when wanting a small compact walk around camera would I switch from the 18105PZ.

Corelli · Feb 17, 2015

The 18-105 is an excellent all-in-one lens, ideal for traveling. I tried the 16-70. It IS better on the wide end but the 18-105 closes the gap at about 30mm. I didn't find the difference between the two lenses to be worth the added price, so I sent back the Zeiss.

If most of your shooting is on the wide end and you can get a good deal on the Zeiss it would be a good choice.

Since I also have the 10-18 for the wide end,it wasn't necessary for me.

I have taken hundreds of photos with the 18-105, many in low-light, indoors using HHT or MFNR and have been very pleased. I also have the 50 1.8, and A-mount 35 1.8 and 85 2.8 and Tamron 90 2.8, but rarely use them.

Recent photos here: http://beautiful-life.smugmug.com/Italy-December-2014/

Cheers!

cxsparc · Feb 17, 2015

You might want to take a look at my review .

andycincy · Feb 17, 2015

I have this lens on my A6000 95% of the time and it is wonderful. Here is a selection of shots taken with that combo from a trip this summer to the Wisconsin Dells. All shot in RAW with some quick filter action applied in LR, so keep that in mind. Many of these pics would not have been nearly this good if just straight out of camera jpg, and a few would not have been worth keeping (like the sunset pic).

Keep in mind I had to dramatically scale down these pics to be able to upload them to this website, so some good detail has been lost. I could easily print these 11 x 14 and they would look great. The original jpg exports from LR are about 14-16 mb each, and dp review rejected my 2.9 mb scaled down files, so I had to shrink them even more.

Anyway, this lens plus the sony 50 1.8 or 35 1.8 (for portraits and/or really low light pics) and you have 99% of all your needs covered. The only thing missing is a better option in the 200mm range, but for that we will keep saying our prayers at night I guess!

PS, another poster mentioned you will get a shadow from the built-in flash on the a6000 with this lens, which is true. You can avoid that problem in 99% of your pics by buying this inexpensive and sturdy flash diffuser gizmo:

Loading…

www.amazon.com

If dp review blocks the link I posted above to amazon, just go there and search for "a6000 flash diffuser" and it is the first result you see for $9.95 + $5.03 shipping. It actually comes with two flash/bounce cards. I use the clear one and think it works great. Don't know what use the white one is for, but it really doesn't help with this lens.

Me and my wife, pic taken by the mother-in-law on intelligent auto

Sunset pic...was very dark as jpg, needed to play with the RAW a bit in LR to bring out details in clouds

Amazing the auto-focus got my daughter and bits of flying popcorn

same as pic above but not cropped

This is a crop of the pic below, taken 30 feet away from a swaying pontoon boat going about 20mph

original shot of pic above

Ken Sills · Feb 17, 2015

My 18-105 is mounted on my NEX-6 nearly all the time. I love the one lens does it all for walking around. This set was taken exclusively with the 18-105:

Spain & Portugal 2014

Posadas & Paradores Tour

www.flickr.com

Ken

TO11MTM · Feb 17, 2015

The 18-105 almost always stays on my a6000.

Just Shoot Raw if you can, and make sure to Post-process. I found that even the In-camera corrected JPEGs benefitted from a run-through on DXO.

Comparison of Detail of JPEG with Correction.

Ray Maines · Feb 17, 2015

dave_bass5 said:
Yep, another very happy user.

.... The edges are a bit of a mess at wider settings, but i only really notice this if i zoom in in LR, and ive stopped doing that with this camera.

That's exactly the right answer!

Why we continue to torture ourselves with things we can't control and don't make much difference is way beyond my understanding.

Ray Maines · Feb 17, 2015

cxsparc said:
You might want to take a look at my review .

dave_bass5 · Feb 18, 2015

Ray Maines said:
dave_bass5 said:

Yep, another very happy user.

.... The edges are a bit of a mess at wider settings, but i only really notice this if i zoom in in LR, and ive stopped doing that with this camera.

Click to expand...

That's exactly the right answer!

Why we continue to torture ourselves with things we can't control and don't make much difference is way beyond my understanding.

val1 · Feb 18, 2015

I have a love hate relationship with this lens....

1) Consider purchasing a flash to go with this lens. The size of the lens blocks the built in flash. f/4 is really bleh for indoor without a flash.

2) PZ zoom is not great for things other than video. It does not have a good vari speed for zoom so also limited zoom use.

3) All internal focus AND zoom is fantastic. Also my copy of this lens IS parfocal which is great.

4) Contrast and color from RAW are good. Zoom range is great. Sharpness is weak on the outside but good in the center. For a 6xish zoom the sharpness is solid. It is MUCH sharper than the 18-200mm.

If you want an all in one zoom with a solid range for out door use OR indoor use with a flash, the 18-105g is a good lens choice. I did not think the 16-70 looked much better. The zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 is MUCH sharper but the size and weight are just moronic on this body. This lens is no where close to what you get out of your primes but the large range is really nice.

Arizona Sunset · Feb 18, 2015

Have spent a few days with both upgraded everyday lenses, the Zeiss 16-70 and the Sony 18-105.

The Sony is just great quality, quiet, built like a tank but still light, made me feel like a competent videographer on a lowly A5100, with that touch screen autofocus and all. My best videos of my newborn came from this lens over the holidays, and the extra range at a constant aperture matters for video because you can get a bunch of different shots quickly in similar light if you are splicing them together later on. Bokeh is pretty good at the longer ranges of course.

The Zeiss is solid too, surprisingly compact, but you add a little close focus ability and all of a sudden you have a dual purpose macro option. I do very little macro, and to date this is the Zeiss was my least favorite NEX "expensive" lens. It's still a wonderful piece of gear though.

That said, I would not purchase either one solely as an upgrade to a kit lens (or an RX100), but would considerate for the above to reasons.

18-105 PZ owners

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