Sony AF DT 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 A-mount lens review by QuietOC
 QuietOC#20389 date: Oct-18-2015 | |
|---|---|
| sharpness: 3.5 color: 4 build: 3 distortion: 3 flare control: 4 overall: 3.5 | tested on:
|
| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Sony DT 18-135 SAM Tamron 18-250 Minolta AF 28-135 Sigma AF 35-135 F3.5-4.5 Tokina AF 35-200 SD Minolta AF 35-200 Xi Tokina 35-300 Sigma 50-150 F2.8 EX DC HSM II Sony E 55-210 OSS Sony DT 55-300 SAM Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM Sigma AF 70-200 F2.8 EX DG APO Minolta AF 70-210 F4 Minolta AF 70-210 F3.5-4.5 Minolta AF 70-210 F4.5-5.6 I/II Tokina 80-200 AT-X Pro |
| price paid: | 65 USD (used) |
| positive: | Small and light Internal focus Non-rotating filter threads Center sharpness on the wide end Flat field at 24 mm Lens Compensation Support Large petal hood |
| negative: | Heavy barrel distortion at 18 mm Loses focal length at close focus Soft, distorted corners Very soft at the long end (>70 mm) Backwards focus direction Short focus and zoom throws |
| comment: | This was a nice clean copy in the original box. The Konica Minolta DT version had a list price of $500 when released in 2005. Sony and Tamron have discontinued their versions of this lens. Sony replaced this lens with the longer 18-250 and the shorter 18-135 SAM. Tamron has a new $200 18-200 that includes a focus motor. "JAPAN" This lens has similar problems as the 16-105 but with even more distortion on the short end and less sharpness at the long end. It is one of the better performing lenses at 24 mm--a focal length that is unmarked on the zoom scale. However even the little 18-55 SAM II performs better at 18 mm and from 35-55 mm. It does seem to perform better than the older 18-70 kit zoom. Despite its stated focal length range this lens is not equivalent in range to a combination of the 18-55 + 55-200 SAM lenses. At close focus is not much longer than the DT 18-135 SAM. This copy performs poorly beyond 70 mm. The 16-105 might even have more reach as far as ability to resolve detail. The 55-200 SAM performs much better than any of these along with having considerably more telephoto reach. |
; 24MPrating summary
- total reviews: 28
- sharpness: 3.82
- color: 4.21
- build: 3.50
- distortion: 3.57
- flare control: 4.00
- overall: 3.82