9/22/10
Check out my full review of the new Sony NEX 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 OSS lens, it’s a long one, and chock full of sample crops and comparisons, so dial-up users be patient while the page loads. I went ahead and did a quick comp with this lens and the Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 at 200mm, just to see what the real differences are, you may be surprised, or not! I know it’s not a fair test, but it was fun to do anyhow. It’s at the bottom of the review page.
This brand new, just released NEX E-mount super-zoom lens turned in a decent review over-all. Oddly, the most notable characteristic is probably the build quality and feel, it’s very nice, and much more so than the typical Sony alpha branded lenses. The next most notable feature is the actual resolution, it’s pretty high, especially at the short end, with the whole image exhibiting good contrast at F/5.6-8. Unfortunately, as you zoom out, the contrast erodes rapidly, and you’re left with the typical super-zoom (slightly washed out) look. There are some other areas where the lens could do better, like the macro shot (poor for an $800 lens), and color fringing, (typical amount), and the focusing issue, (as describes in the NEX camera thoughts), even worse with this lens at the long end. One item that stands out a little (because I’ve never seen it quite like this before) is the light fall-off pattern at 200mm, F/6.3. It forms a distinctive circle because of a very narrow transition zone, I have some samples in the light fall-off section. It’s all in the review so click the picture below.
Great new from Photokina; Sony says a new intermediate level DSLR will likely be available by next summer(!) Yup, that’s the news we’ve been waiting for—isn’t it?
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| Click for review page |