sony 18-200m vs sony 55-210mm

[oryahalom]

Hey!

I just bought the Sony a6000, and I’m Looking for a lens to Landscape Photography (already have the kit lens). I’ll be glad if there is any recommendations of lens like that. The two main lenses I think about is the Sony 18-200m and the Sony 55-210mm.My dilemma is whether the 18-200 lens provides poor image quality compare the kit lens (16-50mm), and whether the 18-200mm lens provides less quality images compared to the 55-210mm in their maximum zoom range.  

 

Thanks!

 

or

[Austerror]

The 18-200 is more of a do it all travel lens.  Also the original I read has better OSS for video... but I can't confirm that.

 

I can confirm the 55-210 is awesome, relatively light and small and has great image quality.

 

However, for landscape...I'd be looking at the 10-18mm lens.

[AJNorth]

If you are mainly shooting landscapes I think the 55-210 would be too narrow. You want to be wide so the ideal lens for that is the 10-18mm.

 

Alternatively, there is the 16-70 Zeiss, which is a slightly longer zoom than the kit and should be much better quality. (I have ordered one of these to replace my kit lens).

 

As a cheap solution, there is also the 16mm Pancake, which you can also buy a wide converter for it. Although it has mixed reviews.

[rob_sk]

I have the 18-200 and it is a great lens. Nice and compact. I have taken some great shots with it. The 10-18 F4 is a dynamite lens for landscapes. I thought the 55-210 was to bulky for my needs at the time. I picked up the 18-200 for a project deadline and was not disappointed.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Austerror]

The 55-210 is a lot smaller and lighter than the 18-200 lens. But as I said above, it is a do it all in one lens.  So if buying one lens is the only option the 18-200 is the way to go.

 

Review of the 18-200:

http://kurtmunger.com/sony_nex_18_200mmid237.html

 

A the long end, the contrast is not so great.  But that is to be expected in a lens that has this wide focal range.  There is also the Tamron, which is a little cheaper and the same performance.

[dltpml]

I had the 18-200 on my a6000 and tried the 55-210.  I compared them by zooming all the way out, taking same picture with each,and blowing up a small portion of each picture.  18-200 was sharper.  Sent 55-210 back to vendor.

[OldNoob]

Are we talking about the SEL18200 or the SELP18200 or the SEL18200LE  , because from all my research i found the the SELP18200 generally seems to be a better lens. However it's the heaviest

 

sel1820

the SEL18200LE

 

 

 

 

 

or the SELP18200 AKA 18200PZ

[dltpml]

Oldnoob, SEL18200LE was the one I tested vs the 55-210.

[Michael_j]

I have the older 18-200mm lens. It's a very good all round lens, excellent for video and good for a wide range of still work.

 

No doubt other lenses do better on specific jobs but as a single all rounder the 18-200mm takes some beating.

[DaveL]

Very helpful.

 

I have had excellent results with the 55-210. My wife bought the silver 18-200. she enjoys it. I've never used it

 

I find the 12-50 too short. Am considering trading Oly gear in to get the Zeiss zoom. 16-70

 

Dave

[technomad]

I've had all of these lenses except for the 55-210. The 18-200 delivers remarkably good IQ for its range, the trade-off being that it's really quite slow. That is only partly compensated for by the OSS, which doesn't seem as effective as that on the 16-70mm Zeiss (I'd give it 2 stops) and way off the mark set by Olympus' 5-axis IBIS. IQ though is better - IMHO of course – than either the 18-55 or 16-50 kit lenses. The 16-70 and 10-18 are very good lenses, although optically the 16-70 is better (the 10-18 is rather soft in the corners). When I was selling my Sony kit, the 18-200 was first to go and I held on to the 10-18, 16-70 and 24 whilst I decided whether or not I'd get another Sony body.

[technomad]

Am considering trading Oly gear in to get the Zeiss zoom. 16-70

 

Consider that carefully! I've gone the other way and find the Olympus lenses to be in a different class altogether: the Oly pro zooms in particular deliver awesome IQ and usefully ahead of the Zeiss 16-70.

[janekx]

I buy SEL18200, that silver and I am really satisfied. It is very handy, little heavier 500g+, but then LE version picture quality much better as reviews says so diference 100g is acceptable.

[desert_view]

I have used a SEL18-200 successfully on my A6000 for about a year, that is until today. I tried to take long shots of fast and slow moving model airplanes. I had difficulty getting the camera to focus using aperture priority f7 against a bright blue sky. I tried both auto focus and continuous focus settings. Through the viewfinder, at all focal lengths, the focus seems to wander, never really locking in. At long zoom, it would not focus at all. For long shots, sometimes I could get it focused at medium zoom and then follow the subject and crank in the long zoom successfully.

So, does any one have an idea of what is going on.

Tomorrow I will try my kit 55-210 lens to see if it will work.  let you know.

[Username]

I have used a SEL18-200 successfully on my A6000 for about a year, that is until today.

I tried to take long shots of fast and slow moving model airplanes. I had difficulty getting

the camera to focus .........  

   

You don't say what AF pattern you use. If it's a wide pattern that chooses it's 

own focus points, and if the model airplane is the only object against a plain 

sky, then that should work. If you use a single point, or other predetermined 

chosen AF point, you could easily fail to put the AF point accurately onto the 

flying subject.   The AF will pretty much just go bonkers when the AF point is 

seeing only plain sky [or even seeing some soft clouds].  

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

People may have different ideas and expectations when they talk about landscape photography. The most common idea is wide, sharp photos with low distorsion.That really rules out the super zooms or tele lenses.

 

In keeping with the low cost, weight and size nature of the A6000, I would suggest lenses such as Sigma 19/2.8 or Sony 20/2.8. They will be a great improvement on the kit lens at the wide end. There are more expensive alternatives, but generally people will seek those out for themselves if they are interested.

[tinplater]

This thread started a year ago, but nothing wrong with an update.  I personally find, of all the reasonably priced zooms, that the 18-105 F4 is the best image quality all around solution for the a6000.  It's main drawback, in my experience, is the cumbersome zoom process, resetting to 18mm and using electronic zoom which lags and overshoots.

[Pieter Batenburg]

The 55-210 is a lot smaller and lighter than the 18-200 lens. But as I said above, it is a do it all in one lens.  So if buying one lens is the only option the 18-200 is the way to go.

 

Review of the 18-200:

http://kurtmunger.com/sony_nex_18_200mmid237.html

 

A the long end, the contrast is not so great.  But that is to be expected in a lens that has this wide focal range.  There is also the Tamron, which is a little cheaper and the same performance.

I used to own the Tamron version and I later bought the Sony version (the silver one). The Tamron has two distinct disadvantages.

• AF-C only works in the center.
• The lens is much softer than the Sony version.