A6000 Choosing Kit Lens

[Ilia_Loladze]

Hello

Just bought an A6000 it came with 50mm 1.8 OSS, really happy with performance of camera and lens.

But I'm searching for kit lens with more wide angel and little bit of zoom, for travel and general use, 50mm is only good for certain situations and portraits.

So, I'm thinking of next three lenses: (sorted from cheapest to expensive)

Sony 18-55 3.5-5.6

Sony 16-50mm 3.5-5.6 

Sony 28-70 3.5-5.6 

what are your ideas ? 18-55 is really cheap prob 70-80$ on Ebay is it any good ? 

Any other suggestions ? priority here is the price, because I already paid a lot for 50mm and I'm using camera only for amateur photography.

[Pieter]

Both the 18-55 and 16-50 are good for what they are: small, cheap general purpose lenses. The 18-55 is optically slightly better than the 16-50. The 16-50 on the other hand is slightly wider and incredibly convenient in size (fits a jacket pocket attached to the a6000). People complain about it's optical performance a bit but I've made some fantastic landscape shots with it where I have no complaints about sharpness. I've sold it some time ago to be replaced by the 18-105 f/4.

Personally I wouldn't consider the 28-70: it's a fullframe lens and therefore much bigger than needed. Also it's probably not wide enough on an APS-C camera to serve as a general purpose lens. If you want something longer, consider buying the fairly cheap and decent 55-210mm lens in addition to your general zoom lens.

If you can stretch your budget a bit, the new 18-135 is fairly compact and decent optically. Has a very convenient zoom range.

[Ilia_Loladze]

I was thinking of 28-70 not considering that it is full frame lens changed my mind now I think 16-50 will be optimal choice.

Thank you for your response and detailed explanation, it helped a lot.

Another question which online store personally you would recomend for second hand lenses ? 

 

 

[PeterMac]

Just a couple of thoughts to throw into this post:

• I suggest that you totally avoid the 18-55 despite it's surprisingly good IQ vs $. I had 2 of them just die on me, one after the other...
• I have found that the Sony 18-135 f3.5-5.6 is a remarkably useful travel lens with nice IQ (I speak as a happy amateur) and an acceptable size and weight. Agreeably not pocket-sized though.
• I have had very good experiences with mpb.com and Wex for used lenses (both in the UK)
• eBay (UK) has been OK for me too, but look very closely at the product photos and closely read the text... Doubt anything not clearly described.... Caveat emptor!

[lamontcranston]

Another vote for the excellent Sony 18-135.  You might have to stretch your budget a little bit but you won't regret it. It's a superb little lens that is lightweight , compact, and has excellent reviews.  It stays on my A6000 permanently.