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Archive 2016 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions

  
 
matthewm
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


Hello all,
I have been using the Zeiss 24/1.8 and 55/1.8 with my A6000 for a while and while I love both of those lenses, I work in communications photographing events, etc. for the city where I live and my job requires a little more flexibility and I sometimes needed something a bit longer or wider or more flexible for whatever reason. Doing a little research, I decided the 16-70 wouldn't give me enough difference over the 55 on the long end. Enter the 18-105 f/4.

My initial impressions opening up the lens were that, while fairly large (but smaller than I expected), it felt very well made. The zoom and focus rings are smooth and well-damped. The build is excellent and feels hefty in the hand. It mounts securely and, despite the large size, it balances quite well on my A6000.

The focusing is extremely quick and completely silent and I love the fact that the lens does not extend when zooming, nor does the front of the lens rotate during focusing so using the lens with a circular polarizer, etc. shouldn't present any issues.

The zoom rocker is awesome for video and ensures smooth, consistent zooming throughout the range. And since the A6000 doesn't shoot "RAW" video, the camera corrects for the distortion issues that show up in some of the higher-end Super 35 / APS-C models (pros complain about the shift in distortion from wide to pincushion quite a bit, but on the A6000 takes care of this easily as would the 6300 and 6500).

It comes with a lens hood, which is sturdy and well made and the whole thing feels really, really good. Very much deserving of the "G" moniker.

My initial impressions of image quality just shooting around the yard and house are very, very good. Typically, these types of lenses are very much a jack of all trades, master of none in that they do everything fairly well, but don't do any one thing particularly well, which was my concern with what is essentially a 6x optical zoom with optical stabilization and an internal zooming/focusing mechanism. It's just a lot to ask in a lens this size, especially given it maintains a constant aperture of f/4.

All-in-all, for the amount I spent on this lens used from the boards, I'm more than happy. I'd be equally as happy had I paid full price for it. In my opinion, it's one of the best sort of all-around lenses available for any system hands-down. Not sure how Sony did it, but it's a winner in my book. Is it as sharp as my 24 or 55? Probably not. But it does a hell of a lot more for the same or less money. And that's a big deal to me.

Here are a few images from around the yard, etc. with some 100% crops to go with them. Hope this helps some of you guys out if you're on the fence about a great walk-around lens for the A6X00 bodies.

Best,
Matthew













Edited on Oct 14, 2016 at 07:48 AM · View previous versions



Oct 13, 2016 at 07:15 PM
bluloo
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


I owned this one when I had an A6000. I thought it was very versatile and the IQ was pretty solid too.


Oct 13, 2016 at 08:32 PM
TheEmrys
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


Thanks for sharing. This is a lens I know little about and always deemed "too big to try." Can you take a picture of it on your a6000?


Oct 13, 2016 at 09:06 PM
matthewm
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


TheEmrys wrote:
Thanks for sharing. This is a lens I know little about and always deemed "too big to try." Can you take a picture of it on your a6000?


Sorry for the late reply! I was zonked out when you responded last night!

Here are a few photos of the camera with the lens on and with a 55/1.8 on. The grid lines in the background are under my cutting mat and are 1" spacing so you can get a general idea of size. Hope this helps!!!

Best,
Matthew







A6K + 18-105 (No Hood)







A6K + 55 (No Hood)







A6K + 18-105 (With Hood)







A6K + 55 (With Hood)




Oct 14, 2016 at 07:45 AM
TheEmrys
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


That is a pretty tidy package. Thanks for that. It has a pretty great look to it.


Oct 14, 2016 at 09:18 AM
matthewm
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


TheEmrys wrote:
That is a pretty tidy package. Thanks for that. It has a pretty great look to it.


You're welcome! I think for all this lens does and the image quality it produces, it's pretty incredible that they got it into this footprint.



Oct 14, 2016 at 09:20 AM
bluloo
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


FYI - Here's a few shots from an A6000, and the 18-105mm, all HH.

Tower Steel by lareginl, on Flickr

Flag Jet by lareginl, on Flickr


Remember by lareginl, on Flickr


Not 100% on this one, but I'm fairly sure it was the same lens.

Kips Castle Skull by lareginl, on Flickr



Oct 14, 2016 at 09:25 AM
howard
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


This looks a good lens, however, from what I read, there may be two problems with it:

1. Being a power zoom, it resets to default focal length (18mm ?) when powered off and on again. This can be a bit annoying, and I generally don't like power zooms. But this is not a deal breaker.
2. Its close focus distance is too long, thus magnification is low. I like lenses with close focus ranges, even if they lose focal length when doing so, at least they will let you get some near-macro shots.

How do you guys feel about these?



Oct 14, 2016 at 11:16 AM
bluloo
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


Mine is long gone, so can't comment directly.

Due to the IQ of the lens/camera combo,cropping to get an effectively shorter MFD is usually possible - see shot of the skull above, for example.
Though I’m not a big fan of focus-by-wire, it was my favorite zoom, FWIW.



Oct 14, 2016 at 11:25 AM
matthewm
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · 18-105 f/4 G Lens - Impressions


howard wrote:
This looks a good lens, however, from what I read, there may be two problems with it:

1. Being a power zoom, it resets to default focal length (18mm ?) when powered off and on again. This can be a bit annoying, and I generally don't like power zooms. But this is not a deal breaker.
2. Its close focus distance is too long, thus magnification is low. I like lenses with close focus ranges, even if they lose focal length when doing so, at least they will let you get some near-macro shots.

How do you guys feel about these?


It definitely does reset which is mildly annoying but not terribly so. The MFD is a concern, however, I have a set of Meike (brand might be wrong there) extension tubes that I paid like $18 for on Amazon and they maintain AF and AE and give me a much shorter working distance should I want macro capabilities.

Not a fantastic solution but it works if needed. I agree though, that it would have been nice to have a shorter working distance.



Oct 14, 2016 at 11:33 AM





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