New Sony SEL 18-135/3.5-5.6

[glowinthedark]

Hi dear fellows,

 

I got yesterday the new SEL 18-135/3.5-5.6 and tried it for the very first time on the a5100. I summarised my very first impressions here:

 

https://sway.com/lgegg0vLedHJZgNq?ref=Link

 

 

Enjoy!

[PeterMac]

Wow! Interesting. I await my new SEL 18-135 - arriving this week (hopefully!) to be used with my a6300. I see that there is a firmware update which would appear to relate to using the new lens with my a6300 on:

 

https://www.sony-asia.com/electronics/support/e-mount-body-ilce6000-series/ilce-6300/downloads/00015024  

 

I too will have 'an issue' with Lightroom as there will be no lens profile - even less so now that Adobe has abandoned us "standalone owners" in favour of their subscription base... Still maybe I can work out a suitable preset.

[glowinthedark]

Hi PeterMac,

 

maybe you can post some of your findings, too. Especially if there is some gain in IQ with the newer sensor of the a6300 in a similar setting. Sharing your preset would probably be useful for a lot of people out there too (sadly not for me...).

[PeterMac]

Hi glowinthedark,

 

Very early days with both the a6300 (after an a6000) and my new 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS, but initial very positive impressions with both camera and lens. Turning to the a6300 and what I find (IMHO) different to the a6000:

 

• the greatly improved colours and clarity in RAW images right out of the camera.
  I hadn’t expected this to the quite dramatic extent that it is and it must be down to a re-write of the software algorithm that Sony use to record the image since the sensor is apparently  identical to the a6000. The clarity of the image is, I accept, more a result of the lens used but when using the same Sony 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens on both the a6000 and a6300 - images from the former definitely lacked colour and needed quite a bit of LR adjustment, whereas the latter's ‘popped’ right out of the camera.
   
• faster auto-focus acquisition
   
• higher-res electronic viewfinder is much nicer to use. I think even the view screen is higher res but I am used to using the viewfinder due to my Canon.
   
• the magnesium body feels more substantial (slightly heavier) but importantly is a stronger lens mount so should be better life.
   
• slightly improved battery life (reportedly) supposedly c.300 shots (a6000) increases to c.400 (I have yet to prove this!).

More shooting over the next week, so hopefully the above points will be borne out.

 

[cremaley]

Picked up my 18mm-135mm today. Should do everything I need in a single lens.

[BlazL]

Anybody tried the new 18-135 lens on both A6000 and A6300 (or A6500) and compare side by side?

Is there any difference at 18mm in distortion? Because for A6000 there is no lens firmware update. The new lens 18-135 have firmware only for A6300 and A6500.

 

From local sony support they said, that camera will do AUTO distortion compensation...but how will camera know the lens profile? This is strange..

[Username]

`      

    

I have NOT looked at Sony's support page but a good question 

is whether the update for correcting the 18-135 is a patch, or is 

it a full firmware replacement ?   

   

If it's just a patch, it prolly works on the a6000 as well and Sony 

simply neglected to mention that ..... perhaps nudging users of 

older bodies toward feeling that their model is close to obsolete

and that it's nearly time for buying new $ony $tuff !