Sony PZ 18-105mm f/4 OSS 'G' lens review with samples
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- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2024
- Here we have yet another zoom lens option for Sony's APS-C cameras, this time, with some special features for video makers. With its nice zoom range and constant maximum aperture of f/4, will it be attractive enough for stills photographers, too? It's for Sony's E-Mount mirrorless cameras, and it covers and APS-C image circle.
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The smooth jazz, the voice, the knowledge. Heaven-like!
Something very very important about this lens that wasn't mentioned very much is that it has internal zoom and focusing.
Many zoom lenses during zoom are extended and eventually attract dust particles inside the lens. Also many lenses during autofocus extend the front element and that can also attract dust inside.
With the 18-105mm f/4 nothing is moving externally and that is a great protection against dust and maybe moisture.
This lens probably has rear focusing. The rear elements is moving during autofocus. But this element is much more protected by the mount than the front element.
so the elements pull and push inside the len right? oh hell no, the air suck and breathing still active and dust still get in no matter what, it just less than common zoom, so just minor protection, unless sony add rubber gasket to len joints to enhance the resistance....
and the problem is.....you can't block air 100%, zoom need air, or else it will fail!
HaiNam Nguyen The lack of rubber on the mount is a problem too.
I've had this lens for about 2 years and mainly use it for stills. It has lot going for it and is far better than than the 16-50mm kit lens. It's very versatile and ridiculously light, it really is the perfect travel lens in my opinion. However, it's not my favourite lens. That pin-cushioning is crazy bad though.
Love the consistency of your reviews and they are one of the most informative around. Thanks!
It's an awesome lens IMO, unbelievably, I got it cheap on Chile, cheaper than purchasing it on B&H. Another great review, Christopher, I really enjoy your channel.
I've used it a lot on my a6000 and a6500. Good image quality, very versatile. I do always need to frame my pictures a bit wider, because fixing the distortion in Lightroom means it crops the image significantly unfortunately. This of course isn't an issue shooting video, and 4K on the a6500 is really crisp.
I like how music & font of content changed when discussing distortion.
Thanks for the review. I have this and some good primes. I actually love this lens because it does everything well - if not brilliantly, and not many lenses do everything well. I'm taking about gimbal work, ibis, auto focus, video quality, still quality, zoom range, aperture, bokeh. All very decent. That's actually amazing when you think about it. That's why it's worth the money. And great for holidays. I bring this and a high quality prime and I'm all set.
what is your high quality prime?
For video this lens is fantastic! You get a wide range of focal lengths, a constant aperture, an electronic zoom, and a relatively compact package! Add a variable ND filter and you're golden! The ideal zoom lens does not replace prime lenses, it compliments them and this lens does just that. Combine this lens with a set of primes and you've got a great collection for film work! At least that's my plan. I have this lens but I need to get a set of primes when the money is available.
for now this lens is my daily lens on my a6000, together with my sigma 16mm f1.4
i like the flexibility of zoom lens, since i don't have to replace lens each time i want different focal length.
the only time i switched to my sigma 16mm is when i want the widest focal length(16mm), for great bokeh, and when in low light/night time situations.
thanks Christopher for this new video, i like so much your sweet voice, very easy to understand for a non-english borned
actually i bought this PZ 18-105 andi can't wait to use it after have seen what you make yourself with it !! :D
that was some spoooky distortion, shame it's only September
The best and most concrete review of this lens👍
Great review Christopher. For Video on APS-C just great for the price. I own it together with the a6000. I like it also for travelling.
Thank you, Christopher! I've been all morning watching your reviews contrasting with the market prices trying to decide which lens to get for an upcoming video project. I think the conclusion is this lens, despite it being wildly different from my original gut instinct.
Glad to be of service :-)
I keep this on my A6500 all the time, despite having Canon &Sigma lenses. It’s a great walk around lens and awesome for video. It goes well with my Sony 10-18 and Sony 35 1.4 as I am a hybrid shooter. I These 3 lenses without the lens hoods fit (sweet) in a small camera bag like the Peak Design 5l bag. So glad I left DSLR’s and didn’t invest (yet) in full-frame. It also comes in really handy for gimbal work. It suffers in low light but if you are running around town or on vacation, it has a sleek design and is lightweight. It is a great (better than average) kit lens, but not remarkable.
this is the best review i've seen on this lens. subbed!
Constant aperture is black magic
Clown World you might just be trolling but the aperture is basically the ratio of the lens length to the diameter of the opening. And the length if this lens stays constant
@@nogum100 it's the ratio of the lenses *focal length* and its opening diameter. And with a zoom lens, your aperture changes.
If you have an opening diameter of 25mm at a focal length of 50mm, your aperture is f/2.
If you don't change the opening at 25mm, but zoom in to a 100mm, your aperture changes to f/4 by formula.
Cheap lenses like your kit lens often don't correct or only slightly correct it. That's why they have an aperture of 3.5-5.6 for example. More expensive lenses have to compensate for that, if they want a fixed aperture. So the 18-105 at f/4 has to have a 4,5mm opening at 18mm, but a 26mm opening at 105 to achieve its constant aperture and that sounds like black magic to me!
I just ordered this lens for my Sony FX30 and I’m excited to make my dream setup
how did it work out for you?
I really appreciated the jagged fonts ;) I used this lens as a travel zoom and I have to say f4 was not really sharp, but 5.6 and upwards was ok. Like you said, ok performance but nothing special.
I want a zoom for my a6000. This lens dont worth the money? Maybe 18-135 is better?
Sony or Sigma or Tamron really needs to make a 17-50ish f2.8 native E mount lens for the A6xxx. I'm using an adapted Sigma 17-50 f2.8 and it works, but less than ideal.
A6 xxx ;)
Travel Minds It is pretty convenient, overall it served me well. I haven't tried the new 18-135 but it looks to be similar in sharpness but smaller when collapsed. However, it is also more expensive and not as bright. The best thing to do is to check them both out in person and then decide.
Really like your camera image testing it brings me back to photography school. This is the type of info i need but don't always get. Well done mate. Still looking for a good grey scale test with an 18% cardboard as i did when i shot film.
Thanks for the review! :) I've decided to buy this lens as some upgrade from the kit lens and "half" telephoto... After running some test have to admit the sharpest photos come at aperture f8... Corners come much better than with the kit lens... On sunny days you can make really nice portraits or details with defocused background/ bokeh at f4. The only problem I've noticed so far is some issue with focusing.... In single autofocus mode sometimes I get green squares as a sign that the focus has been caught (on A6000), but it doesn't... SONY claims it might happen with taking shots of some reflective surfaces such as windows, glass, white walls etc... But it's not the case... Haven't figured it out so far... Bad lens? You just need to make sure the focus has been caught right - otherwise you get blurry shots... It works better in point autofocus mode, zone or continuous autofocus mode (keep in mind though this mode drains the battery quicker...). Overall I'm pretty satisfied with this lens as you don't need to switch between kit and telephoto lenses back and forth letting btw dust in into a sensor... Don't buy rubber hoods for this lens - you'll get really heavy vignetting. This plastic one is the only compatible solution...
The best apsc all around zoom lens.. I have it along with sel 35 and FE 85
Good review! I love your channel Chris! From Indonesia much love!
Please don't stop reviewing and preaching! 😀
This lens has completely replaced my 16-50. The 18-105 is on my a6300 all the time. It’s a great value. My brother has the 16-70 Ziess, which is much more money - I think I prefer the extra range though.
This lens is so beautiful, minimalist industrial design, I love it
Can you help me out i just wanna ask, in 105mm photoshoot, do you have issues on autofocusing? I have that issue
The in-body correction drops the resolution though, unfortunately.
this len is small, you gotta kidding me :D
Holy shit I thought I recognised that view of the sea, and I was just up at Cilgerran castle a few weeks ago- fished in that river and stated in tresaith- small world eh? Great vid cheers mate
One of the best reviews on this lens...!!!
Christopher, I really enjoy your your videos, and somebody has probably already made this comment that owns this lens, but I'm not going to read all the comments, but at about 2:30 you say you can't get a very smooth slow zoom, but you TOTALLY CAN LIKE NOTHING ELSE. I have owned the lens about two years and use it effectively for such things as kids' soccer games and also chorus concerts and other concerts. If you put just the slightest pressure against the PZ slider, you can zoom so slowly it is almost imperceptible to the viewer (I hope). It allows changing the scene on live continuous performances/sports without having two cameras to inter-cut. I just did a simple test to post the result here, and on first try in my den, I did a zoom from 18 to 105 totally smooth that took 40 seconds. I am glad the 16-55 2.8 has finally arrived, and I think it is worth the (reduced $1200) price even though I'm not putting-out the dough for it right now, but I believe the 18-105 PZ is an almost-unique event-lens tool with respect to size, weight, cost and capability in camera history. Of course part of that is because the camera can make in-camera corrections that were impossible not-so-long-ago.
I said that the zoom is smooth :-) it's cool you managed to get a very slow zoom! I couldn't manage it with my copy of the lens. All the best :-)
Just bought this for some video and stills projects in africa. Overall it performed fairly well. The biggest challenge of it is its not wide enough at 18mm (im used to a 24 to 105 on full frame) so the extra 3mm sounds small but is huge in real world use... So i eas constantly switching to a wider lens. I have owned the zeiss 16-70 before which does give a 24mm equivalent and i found that lens much more useful for general use. (Although the long end of the 18-105 is also nice). I sold the lens after the project as i still have the canon 24-105 with a speed booster and works great apart from no eye focus. I really dont see myself using this sony 18-105 much again so its gone!
The scary piano music and the creepy text font is a good touch
This sounds like a great gimbal zoom lens. As the zoom is internal it won't put too much stress. Great when you are in a boat filming animals for example.
I really enjoy your lens videos and humour. Keep up the great work my friend. 👍🇨🇦🇻🇳
I just got this lens yesterday and you nailed it. Video is good the photos side is just okay I have this on my A7Rii not sure I love it. 55 still looks amazing
Yes and yes lol works fantastic for video zoom is all in the body ~ and photos still crop at 18 megapixels
The music @7:09 is just priceless lol
This has been the best breakdown of this lens that I've seen so far. Excellent work thank you. What's the best lens for the best bokeh?
i have it for a year now, and i can tell you for sure that with sufficient light, it is more than ok...it struggles a bit in lower light, but i am more than pleased, with image quality and versatility....i don t mind about distortion, as you never see it if you shoot jpg, or you can t see it even in raw, as it is autonatically corrected - i use capture one...should be considered also the construction quality and the almost half price of the zeiss...but should anyone desire sonething better may have a look at the bigger and more expensive ff g's or gm's
How do you feel about the size? That's the one big hang-up I have about this generally decent lens -- it seems huge, especially for a mirrorless camera.
…still feeling that, now that the Tamron 17-70 is out?
Ever reliable with methodical analysis.
Thank you Christopher!
If this was bit sharper and 2.8, it would have been my dream lens.
I like the design with the tele-zoom - if you’re a videographer, you know what I’m talking about (photographers, stay out of it:).
Zoom speed can be corrected easily when editing and this is a great lens for full frame video work as 4k crops in anyway by default .
I love your reviews! You're very objective. Thanks!
Great review as always. Just one notice: you mentioned that you didn't test if the lens is parfocal or not. As far as I know there are no parfocal lenses below cinema line quality lenses. If you are lucky it can work as a parfocal, but it's not consistent. For example I tested the Canon 24-70 2.8 on two APS-C bodies for this reason, and on one it was sharp all the way long, but on the other one it became soft during zooming. So even if you tested it, the result could have been different from other buyer experiences. At least this is what I know about the subject matter but correct me if I'm wrong.
on the new alpha 6700 this lens is fantastic tho
especially as you can remap the buttons on the camera to zoom so smooth zooms are possible in video mode
Beautiful and very thorough review, as usual!
I might add, though, that, in spite Christopher pointed out, that the bokeh is only OK, and that the stills are "Workable", that the bokeh is very beautiful for the lens' class, and the fact that at 105mm the corners are marginally soft - that's not a bad issue, because you mainly shoot portraits at 105mm, f/4. Forarchitecture, landscapes at 105mm, tou can use f/8. I did not find that limiting. At dusk landscape I managed to find a foreground to suit the corners nicely, or, simply, didn't noticed the soft corners at all (shoot with Sony A6300 at 24MPx). Beware of AF locking on the background, sometimes (zone AF or even Felxible spot) or blurry images (stills) in fast paced action on bright sunshine with POL filter. I
t is a very good lens, mostly for video, but the price is a little steep.
I even shoot event video with it on Sony A7 3 and works great, especially if you invert rotation for zoom ring (...) Don't use the side zoom button for slow zoom, it won't work right.
Thank you for your little review on this lens.
The tele-zoom button works perfectly.
It is like a analog joystick - you have to to “feel” it and learn to push it, to get the zoom speed you want or even CONSTANT zoom (you don’t have that on any lens, so far!).
;-)
I must say, you have one of the most detailed and interesting videos out there. Amazing work!
I was wondering what you would choose to upgrade the 16-50 kit lens on an a6000? Preferably a fast zoom. Im struggling to decide and can't really afford anything above £600 otherwise i wouldve gone for the sony 16-55 f2.8 :(
I love how the background music suddenly becomes disconcerting when the pincushion effect is shown at 7:10.
Is it safe to say that I secretly love you and your reviews???
Still my favorite APS-C lens for my a6300, good for casual photography and video.
Also in 2022? :)
What a beauty. Zoom part as canon PZ E1
5:47 at 50mm f/8 was sharper than f/11.
Sold years ago and bought back this year. No other power zoom lens in the market besides the over $2k one. Must have to video conference, stage performance, shows, etc. I wish it can goes to 135 or even 200 that will be better for a lot of long distance stage filming. Currently it is only good for small space.
Hey chris, are you in the UK? i got a bunch of sony/zeiss glass that id be happy for you to test if you werent far
I live in Wales, how about you?
Nice review. I agree with one of the comments below. The lens is not really made for stills. Whenever I zoom all the in, press half way to get focus, but it never really focus. It is blurry. I don't know if the lens is defective or not. I order the 18-135 and about to sell this one off to B&H.
As you say, it isn't a great lens for close focusing. However, there is a big improvement in close focusing by reducing the focal length from 105mm to 104mm, which I find a bit strange, but useful to know.
A defective copy, maybe?
No
For best magnification, go to around 82-84 mm where you can focus as close as 40 cm
After that point, the magnification significantly drops
Ahhh no! I wanted to see if its Parfocal 😢 i films football and my current lens loses focus when zooming in and out quick
i still the Zeiss 16-70mm F4 OSS for wide and Portrait shot. .. more contrast more blur more bright.. . its Sharp too. ..
Hey Christopher, is there a way to know which focal length you are using with this lens?
I wonder how, since there is no marks on the lens body.
I´m a big fan of your reviews by the way :)
I wish this lens could just work properly on full frames!
zed for real it's a letter not a word
Hey Christopher, great review as usual!!
I have a question: would you suggest this lens as an all-around-traveling lens on a Sony a6000? In the case of limited luggage space this to be a solution you would take if you could only take camera body & 1 lens, for instance? [and being on a reasonable budget too... :) ]
Thanks for your help!
Great review. Does the lens physically extend when zooming or focusing? I plan to use it with a mattebox so I don't want push-pull.
No, it doesn't
Don't know what to buy this or the 18-135...Still undecided...
I'm in the same shoes right now. Have you decided since?
Please, please please do a test of 18-105 f4 on your A7R2 in only full frame mode in regards to sharpness(chart), bokeh & distortion(will require manual correction in Lightroom)
Great content! you should definitely be more known!
Hi Christopher, I'm still missing a review of the Sony E 10-18 mm F4.0 super wide-angle lens. It would be nice to hear from you a review of this compact but expensive lens. Thank you for your expertise; CF photography is widely unmatched.
I'll take a look at it one day. I did actually buy one for testing, but it was badly de-centered so I sent it back
I'm now thinking I should've got a mirror less camera 🤔
Can you help me out i just wanna ask, in 105mm shot, do you have issues on autofocusing? I have that issue
New to photography, I have the Sony 6400 with the kit lens and sigma 30mm. I’m looking to upgrade a lens. Would you recommend this over the tamron 17-70? I am miso shooting pictures of my kids. However, I am quite interested in street photography.
Hey Chris, how are you, I thought you stopped reviewing lenses for a while but thank God you are here. BTW I don't use #Sony camera but still i love all the reviews you do.
Thank you for the review.
I'm thinking about 18-105...
After this video, I'm not sure if this lens is suited for my video works...
Once again, *thank you* for the review.
You wont notice the lack of sharpness in the corner in a video
there's so much compression in a 4K 100mbit video, the image sharpness is going to be uniform
you can only tell in a 24MP RAW image .. not a heavily compressed video.
Dont worry. I own it, you will be happy especially considering the price
I own this lens and I'm pretty satisfied, but one thing that surprised me in a very bad way was the vignetting, especially if you want to increase contrast in your images. It is definitely the most hideous vignetting I have ever seen. I returned it to Sony and they said that the performance of my unit is no different than others of the same model. It is present mostly in the photos, I have never noticed it in the videos. Second thing is distortion, but everyone knows about that so it should be no surprise for anybody.
Benoit Levesque thank you for information.
Murat Öztürk The focal range and OSS feature are impressive considering price range. F4 is kinda stopping me from buying this lens. But I fully understand that the 18-105 is a great upgrade from the kit lens.
Hey Christopher! Would you still recommend the Sigma 17-50 2.8 OSS? Or do you think the Sigma 18-35 1.8 is the better choice in terms of value? I want to buy one of them as a „walkaround lens“ to step up my game from the kit lens.
How does this lens compare for video work against the Sony kit lens 28-70mm f3.5 to f5.6. This kit lens is quite impressive. Is it worth the upgrade ?
I just can't get over this lens' size in particular. If it had all the other features, quirks, idiosyncracies, and it were half the size it is, I think I'd be able to justify the purchase. But it's just so large--approximately 4.5" in length and almost a pound in weight! It seems to defeat the very purpose of the asp-c / mirrorless camera.
If you are weak just that that
Great review!
Crystal Clear Pepsi!! Subbed
Very informative review! I'm looking forward to buy this one. Could you please tell me how to turn on/off the OSS? I always thought that it is always turn on. Does it depends on the lens or sony alpha cameras?
OSS should be able to turned off in camera menu. I'm buying this myself lol.
@@samuelsulaiman what do you think of this lens after using? I'm looking for a video lens for my 6400.
@@nedmacfadden2833 It's great video lens imo, its good all rounder. But it's pretty weak in dark environment. Footage would be a lot softer at higher ISO
The 135 equivalent is 28-161 mm.
Great review! :)
Hello! I am curious can i use fx30 power zoom option with this lens for smooth zoom for video work? Thanks!
Hey there. So for video, you would say that it is not possible to easily get slow steady even zooming using the zoom switch on the lens?
I was under the impression that it was possible to get slow even zooms using the button. is there some setting that limits it to a slow even zoom?
I wonder will the quality improve when stacked on top of a better sensor such as the A6000 or A6500?
The sensors on the A5100, A6000, and A6500 are practically identical, with the same size and same processor equipped.
Gosh, even just zooming in and out I can notice the awful rolling shutter effect. Jello!
Yay!!! I was waiting for this review for some time!! you're awesome as always and also.... FIRST!!!! :P
Would you prefer the 18-105 to the 16-70 from zeiss for photography?
I'm interested in this zoom to attach to my FS700 and FS7 video cameras. These have a zoom lever on the Sony hand grip. Do you know if this would allow the zoom to be controlled via the handgrip instead of the built-in zoom rocker (which I'd assume would be a lot easier and ergonomic to control)? Thank you
Yes you can control the Sony 18-105 f4 on the hairgrip on the Sony FS700. It was the kit lens that came with the camera back in the day. I was just using the 18-105 f4 recently on the Sony ZV--E10 and it works great.
The heck did you get a crystal Pepsi? So jealous...
hello :) first I would say, it's really good review :)
How would you compare this lens to Sony E 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS from your other review? Which one is better and why and if you would go for the A6400 as a kit which lens would you choose? Thx and Take Care :)
I think I would slightly prefer this on for that brighter maximum aperture. Take a look at my review of the 18-135 to see the differences :-)
YOU SHOULD TEST THE NEW VILTROX FE MOUNT LENSES !!!!!!!
NICE.
This is the dream lens that Canon never will make for APS-C.
Agapito, Juliano true
Sad and true. This lens is one reason to use my 6000 sometimes instead of my 5d3 with the 24-105
Ironically Canon has a 17-55 F2.8 lens that Sony E-mount Aps-c users always dreamed about but won't make.
I have it. Good first lens.
best zoom for sony aps-c!
MyLifeFrAiur Yang True.
How would you compare this to the 18-135mm, f3.5-5.6?
Take a look at my review of that lens :-)
@@christopherfrost He said this one is definitely one of the best zoom lenses for sony aps-c(price class)
Any issues in regards to the non existent of weather sealing?
Thank You for the review.
I own this Lens for about 4 years. And I hate it. It is bulky, too big for the aps-c cameras and has awfull distortion. The focus-per-wire is horrible and the focal length even goes back to 18 mm when you turn off your camera. At the end: the sunstars are bad, really bad.
…still see it as a big lens, now the Tamron 17-70 is out?
THAT lens is huge.
And sunstars?
Really?
You’ve watched too many reviews.
Who actually sees a picture and counts the sun… lines… “star” or watch the roundness of a bokeh ball 🤦🏻♂️
My God, photographers are so influenced nowadays, by so many stupid details.
A bad photographer will suck at making art, even with thousands of dollars of gear,
while a good one can make miracles with cheap Mickey Mouse cameras.
@@WEHAVETHISDREAM I agree fully. This guy has a wild hair up his ass for no reason. "too bulky" always makes me laugh. Go get a disposable camrta if thats the case.
Music follows the vignette :D gg
Is it as sharp as the 24-105 f4 G OSS?
Did you tested the 24-105mm F4 for A7 Cameras?
Would be Amazing if you have or can do any time =)
Why is the object @4:26 blinking? Is this visible in camera output too or YT re-encoding (720p) only?
I wanted to ask the same question....I have the same problem with this combo in some of my videos.
Couldn't find an answer to that
Thnx