Sony 18-105mm F4 G PZ OSS E-mount lens review by overeema

overeema#36822 date: Apr-8-2017
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.9	tested on: film camera: APS-C: 6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP; 16MP; 20MP; 24MP full frame: 12MP; 24MP; 36MP; 42MP; 61MP
ownership:	I own this lens
compared to:	Minolta AF100 F2 (A-mount) Sony Zeiss Vario Sonnar DT 16-80 F3.5-4.5 (A-mount) Minolta AF 28-135mm F4-4.5 (A-mount) Sony 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 PZ OSS (E-mount) Minolta AF 50 F1.7 (A-mount)
price paid:	€ 504 (2017)
positive:	Weight, constant aperture, internal zoom and focus, seamless additional digital zoom 18-210 effectively, or with loss of resolution 18-420, good contrast
negative:	always back to 18mm after power down, size, 72mm front lens, distortion when using RAW (perfect correction in JPEG by camera)
comment:	This lens is a significant improvement for the 16-50 kit lens; not so much at the wide end (18mm) but increasingly when zooming in. At 50mm F4 it easily beats the kit lens at 50mm F8. Beyond 35mm it is a match with the CZ 16-80 and the Minolta 28-135 in sharpness and even better in contrast. The sharpness almost matches the fixed focus minolta lenses 50/f1.7 and 100/f2. On the NEX-6 it feels a well balanced combo.