Most cameras you buy come with what’s called a “kit” lens. They’re great for getting you started and being able to take good images, but there are always better pieces of glass out there that make a better kit lens replacement. The Sony 18-105mm G Series Lens is one of those lenses, that's a great step up and a good balance between affordability and quality.
This lens is significantly bigger than the standard kit lens and may be a drawback for some. There are more compact options, but many of them will come at a higher cost than this one. This is one lens that's very hard to beat on its cost, plus its very good quality optics.
Sony 18-105mm Specs
- Sony E-mount (APS-C lens)
- Aperture Range: f/4-f/22
- 72mm Diameter Filter Thread
- Metal Construction
- 77 to 15 degrees - Angle of View
- 45cm Minimum Focus Distance
- Autofocusing
- Power zoom lens
- 0.94 lbs. (427g) - Weight
Something to note is that this lens is an APS-C for Sony’s Mirrorless E-Mount cameras, which will give you a 35mm equivalent focal length of 27-157.5mm.
What I think about the 18-105mm
It’s a lens that brings to life your Sony a6000 series camera, from the standard 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.
The first thing you notice is just how small this lens is! I say this about all of the E/FE-Mount lenses, as I’ve used several of them now. It’s always a surprising matter when you see the lenses for this mount vs that of other cameras and even that of the Sony A-Mount.
This lens offers excellent quality and is certainly a lens that would make for a hard decision to choose from, between the much more expensive Sony/ZEISS 4/16-70mm.
What makes the Sony 18-105mm great?
- Range - Absolutely ideal for anyone who may be traveling and don’t really want to have to change lenses. This covers a wide range and offers the superior image quality you’re wanting. I currently own the Sony E 4/10-18mm wide angle lens and the 18-105mm makes the two lenses together a 10-105mm f/4. That’s a lot of range to have between two lenses, with a constant aperture as well.
- Power Zoom - You either totally love this or totally hate it, there’s simply no in-between! I absolutely LOVE this. Many may think that with it not being an optical zoom lens that it will be delayed. I’ve actually not noticed a difference with it and welcome this feature. It’s incredibly awesome for those who may be into video recording, as having the silent power zoom feature you’re able to record absolutely smoothly with the zoom lever.
- Image Quality - As with any Sony G series lens, you expect the best image quality possible and this lens doesn't disappoint. You’ll notice a significant difference with this lens from the standard kit lens. It’s a night and day difference and certainly the first lens I would recommend to anyone who’s looking for better quality for their photos.
- Build - Many people aren’t fond of the E/FE-Mount lenses build, but I totally love them! It’s certainly more to my liking over many of the older A-Mount lenses for some reason. The lens is very light but still feels very solid and has a nice feel. It’s not a heavy lens when mounted to the a6000, which is a huge plus for me! It’s length is a bit long (as it does incorporate in body lens zooming, which doesn’t change the length of the lens at any zoom range), but yet doesn’t feel too front heavy on that camera.
- Cost - For a Sony G series lens, it’s priced fairly moderately. Sony natives know that even for a G series lens you’re going to spend at least $1k on, but this lens is well below that mark. It’s certainly a great option over the Carl Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 (which has a shorter range and costs about $300 more). In comparison the Carl Zeiss lens isn’t that much sharper than this lens and for the greater range and the power zoom addition, it was a no-brainer for me to go with this lens.
What makes the Sony 18-105mm not so great?
- Distortion - The one and only gripe anyone would probably have is the HUGE distortion of this lens, which is the infamous PINCUSHION! You’ll notice that on the edges especially that they’ll be bent inwards to the center of the frame (this is the pincushion effect) and it’s very heavy. This can be corrected if you’re photographing in JPEG and have Lens Correction set (although lens correction actually over corrects this and may still not be what you’d like to see in your photos). For RAW shooting, this can easily be corrected with a click in Adobe Lightroom to the Sony Profile option for this lens. Adjusting this in Lightroom is by far superior to the in-camera correction. After doing that your image is perfect!
- Lens Reset - When the camera goes into power saving mode or every time you turn the camera off and on again the lens resets back to 18mm. This can be a total pain as you may want to say keep the lens zoomed in at 105mm... well don’t expect that here lol. I’ve gotten accustomed to it, but to avoid this the only thing I know to do is turn the camera’s power saving mode off.
Who is this for?
- If you’re one that doesn’t really care to change lenses and wants one primary lens to capture most of what you’re photographing.
- One who may want an upgrade in lens/picture quality from the standard kit lens and may can’t purchase a lens like the Carl Zeiss 16-70mm f/4.
- Those who may be using their mirror-less Sony camera for cinematography work and want a very versatile lens for filming.
- Wanting to take advantage of your Sony a6000 or other APS/cropped sensors.
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