Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS Lens – SEL18200LE – Hands on Review, Sample Photos

Bianca,

Thanks for the comments and kind words! This really is an expensive lens, but any good all in one lens with OSS is. A nice alternative is the 55-210mm E-Mount lens. It complement the kit 18-55mm kit lens nicely, and is really a great lens. Much cheaper as well!! If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out My Review of the 55-210mm OSS lens over Click Here >>

Jay

Hello,

I had the original 18-200mm some time ago, but it did seem smoother to me. In the real world both lenses will produce about 1.5 – 2.5 stops of assistance depending on the focal length. At 200mm I can hand hold at 1/60th pretty consistently with both lenses based on my image archives. My hit rate at below 1/60th was not the greatest, but I did get a few good shots both lenses at 1/30th. As far as internal design goes I’m not really sure of the difference, but clearly it’s a smaller design.

If I had both lenses and did and was able to A&B them I believe the larger/ original 18-200mm would perform slightly better.

Best,
Jay

Hi Paul and great question!!

I don’t think I did in the Review, but yes it works. The OSS may give you some issues depending on the scene and the speed of your sweep motion. Turning off the OSS will help with this.

The Tamron struggles with IS enabled. The Sony OSS works a little different than the Tamron, and the Sony cameras can compensate for it.If you turn off IS it works fine on the Tamron as well.

I hope that helps,
Jay

Hello Con,

Thank you for your kind words I try to offer something different than the DPReview style They do a great job and there is no reason to try and compete with that style of review, Plus I don’t have the time or a Staff to help me!

In any event, Great question and I have a few for you, before I can answer?? Landscape and architecture type of travel?? What kind of budget are you on? Do you want convenience or best optical quality?

Honestly I like the Nex E-Mount lenses. They always get bashed by people for some reason, but they are some affordable for what you get. In My Opinion the best bang for the buck would be the 18-55mm kit lens, and the 55-210mm lens to fill in for the zoom. That will get you 99% of what you need covered.

Now, if you want top quality photos you are going to need top quality optics. There is no way around this fact I’m afraid. You can go with the $1000 24mm Zeiss, but that is a lot of money. Personally, I would go for the 50mm f/1.8 OSS or the New 35mm f/1.8 OSS Lens

The 16mm is also a pretty nice lens for the money and I would not mind having that in the bag also. The 16-50mm Power zoom lens is not mad, but I honesty like the manual zoom better personally. The range is really nice though!!

If your into Full Manual, you can go the Adapter and old school lens route as well!!

I hope this helps and I’ll fallow up once I see your answers

Jay

Hello Albert,

Thanks you so much for the very kind words!! It does sound like we are in very similar situations in a lot of ways. Fact of the matter is you don’t need the big DSLR’s any more for killer images. The Nex-F3 can do the job with a lens adapter and killer glass. So, the question then becomes why carry the heavy DSLR’s?? Yes they have there place and advantages, but it’s no longer necessary for the killer shots as long as you have the glass of course.

Now, in reference to your specific questions. I would not recommend the 18-200mm for getting the best quality shots possible. It’s a great all around lens, but no where near a prime lens level of quality. The all-in-one convenience comes at a cost As far as focus is concerned, it is also not the fastest focusing lens. Its more designed for video and smooth transitioning etc.. The real weak point with the focus though is the Nex-7 CDAF. It’s the On Sensor Contrast Detection Auto Focus. It’s slow by nature and although accurate, it’s not good for sports, tracking fast moving animals or kids. The real issue is when the depth of field is really narrow at say 200mm and about 5 feet from your subject. If the camera misses focus it will take a while for it to find it again as it has to go through the full CDAF cycle. That is where the “slowness” comes in the most. Mind you it’s still pretty good, but not like a DSLR with the PDAF Module and Mirror. The 7d and 5D Mark II will destroy the Nex-7 in a focusing competition. It’s not a fair match-up though as the Nex-7 simple does not have the hardware.

For best image quality possible the Zeiss 24mm is the best quality optics wise. It’s very expensive though in my opinion for what you get. The Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS is the best E-Mount lens for the money in my opinion, fallowed by the 55-210mm zoom. The 55-210mm zoom is not a fast focusing lens, but it’s pretty good optically for the money. I think the Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS might be a great alternative to the Zeiss 24mm, but I have not used it yet

Coming from the Full Frame Canon 5D mark III and L glass, you are going to notice the glass is not the same quality. But it costs about 1/4 the price and has OSS included. I think using lens adapters and your canon L lenses would be a blast and give you 7d quality results. With focus peaking and manual zoom assist, it’s pretty easy to use manual focus on the Nex camera system. The more I use manual focus and my canon lenses, the easier it gets! I actually took a ton of shots today at my parents house with the 135mm f/2 as it was super dark in the house. Really fun!!

I hope this helps a little Albert!

Jay

Hi Nelson,

The Nex-7 is a great camera, but not the best choice for fast moving objects like dogs, cats, birds, etc.. An DSLR with PDAF (phase detection auto focus) is much better suited for type of photography. The Sony a57 or A77 would be an example of what I am talking about. They are larger cameras, because they have the extra “fast” focusing system built in along with the translucent mirror. That mirror allows the faster af system to work.

You can get the LA-EA2 lens adapter for the Sony Nex-7 which will effectively turn it into a DSLR by adding the translucent mirror and PDAF focusing system. Overall though it will cost you way more money in the end for what you want to shoot most of the time for the Nex-7 and the LA-EA2 Lens adapter. You will then need A-Mount Lenses.

To answer your question directly,

I am planning to get nex 7 about next month with the body itself only. I never play with any of the dslr in my life before and I am total newbie towards all the features and lenses. I am very confuse what sort of lens to go with nex 7 would be the best. There is a few lens that I am very interested which is in black colour (pair with nex 7 black colour)
1) SEL18200LE
2) SEL24F18Z
3) SEL-35F18

All the lens above are over price for me to own. I am looking for althenative lens but don’t know which one to go with?

I would say the 24mm Zeiss is the best option for that high res 24mp Nex-7 sensor and faster photography. Beyond that for black, you a have the Sigma Lenses which are very affordable. Check out My Sigma 19mm and 30mm E-Mount Lens Review >>

The 18-55mm Kit lens also comes in black and is a great focal range to learn on!! Black Sony 18-55mm Kit Lens on Ebay >>

I hope this helps??

Jay

Nelson,

Ok, this is an easier question to answer now!! I think your lens choices are excellent and I pretty much want the same thing currently. Except I have the 16-50mm Power zoom currently for my Nex-6.

The 18-55mm is a zoom lens and will not be replaced by the 50mm f/1.8 Prime lens. The prime means it’s a fixed focal length, in this case 50mm.

Beyond this, if you like using manual focus, you can look into lens adapters and alternative optics!! Sony Nex Lens Adapters Guide >>

I hope this helps, but don’t hesitate to ask more questions if you have them

Jay

Hello Peter,

Oddly, according to Sony’s website it is not compatible. I find this hard to believe though? I will find out for sure Peter, stand by please

Jay

Hi Stephen,

Sorry, bit not available yet nor do I know if it will ever be. Seems like a Sony Native Lens exclusivity deal here I’m afraid to say. It’s very similar to A99 in that respect. Here is the link to the available updates: https://blog.sony.com/2012/10/alphafirmwareupdates/

Jay

Thanks for the comments John,

I would go with the pocket camera and the 55-210mm lens personally over the 18-200mm lenses. Value for dollar wise it seems like the Sony HX200v might be a great choice for your trip?? Or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ47K
looks pretty nice also!!

Jay

Hello Cyrus,

Thanks for the comments on the article and great questions!!

I totally hear what your saying and agree that the 18-200mm is not the ideal lens for our purposes. If you need an all-in-one, than it’s certainly a good way to go though!

The on camera flash will cause shadows with a few lenses when the lens hood is on indoors also. Not just the 18-200mm.

I personally like the 55-210mm for the long reach needs, but have not used it in a while honestly. I have also been using the Old School Minolta lenses with adapters, and that is a blast!!! They are fairly cheap on Ebay and you can get many focal lengths.

Sounds like a 16-80mm would be perfect, but it just doesn’t exist yet. An E-Mount 20mm lens is coming out though – Click Here >>

For Landscapes in particular, the new 10-18mm f/4 OSS lens I just reviewed is pretty awesome!! The E-mount 19mm Sigma prime is also a great option for the money!!

I also use the 18-55mm kit lens a lot for my day to day needs. I think having the basic’s covered and supplementing with high quality prime lenses when needed is a good way to go.

I hope that helps Cyrus,
Jay

Hello Abe, and thanks for the excellent well articulated question

I personally would rather have the better image quality as well, so I went with the 18-55mm and other lenses. In your case I would highly recommend the 55-210mm and keeping the kit lens for now, or go for the even higher quality prime lenses. The all-in-one convenience comes at a cost in optical performance Abe. It’s still a good lens overall, don’t get me wrong, but in the end I would rather have two better performing lenses. Supposedly Zeiss is working on a high quality 16-70mm or something along those lines for the Nex E-Mount. Once that comes out, it will prolly be worth upgrading to that in order to replace the 18-55mm lens. Perhaps a higher quality tele zoom will also come out as well??

It really is a hard decision Abe, and I hope I helped you in some way with it

Jay

Hi Mike,

Thank you very much for your comments, and yes I do plan on reviewing that lens!! In fact I was trying to get the Nex-3n, the SEL20F28, and the SELP18200 lenses.

I also have my Nex-6 to use the lenses on if I want.

In my opinion it will be slightly better than the sel18200le based on the 67mm filter size. That means the glass is actually bigger than the le model, and more like the origional sel18200 lens. We shall see though

Have a great day,
Jay