{"id":3544,"date":"2014-06-17T15:00:55","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T20:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=3544"},"modified":"2014-06-17T15:11:51","modified_gmt":"2014-06-17T20:11:51","slug":"review-sony-e-pz-18-105mm-f4-g-oss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-sony-e-pz-18-105mm-f4-g-oss\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sony E PZ 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last August, Sony announced not one, but two constant f\/4 standard zoom lenses for their APS-C mirrorless cameras: The Carl Zeiss 16-70mm f\/4 OSS (Reviewed Here<\/a>) and Sony’s first G lens for the E-Mount: The PZ 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS, which I’ll take a close look at today. \u00a0The 18-105mm f\/4 covers a nearly 6x zoom range from wide-angle to medium telephoto, all while maintaining a constant lens length and a constant f\/4 aperture. \u00a0Sony also made this lens a power zoom lens, as a nod to videographers. \u00a0This ambitious design also is ambitiously priced. \u00a0The $599 price tag is a full $400 less than its Zeiss brother, which begs the question: Can this lens really live up to the G moniker at this price point?<\/p>\n

\"Sony<\/a>
Sony 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS on the Sony NEX-6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with my reviews, I review from a real world shooting perspective. \u00a0You won\u2019t find lens charts or resolution numbers here. \u00a0There are plenty of other sites that cover those. \u00a0I review products on how they act for me as a photographic tool in real-world shooting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Around the Lens: Construction<\/h3>\n

To get the obvious out of the way after looking at the picture above, the Sony 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS is a large lens for a mirrorless camera. \u00a0Given the large zoom range and the constant f\/4 aperture, this is to be somewhat expected, but it does make the camera+lens combination less than ultra-compact. \u00a0However, if you’re packing this lens, it is likely as a single lens replacement for several other lenses, and in that context it’s really not too big. \u00a0What makes the lens manageable is that despite its size, it’s very lightweight. \u00a0Picking up the lens is almost bizarre, as the expected heft from a lens this size just isn’t there.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Sony 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS with hood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the light weight, the lens is very solidly constructed, living up to the G moniker in this department. \u00a0The lens barrel is metal, with high quality plastics making up the zoom and focus rings. There are no creaks or wobbles anywhere in the construction. \u00a0It’s light, but it feels high quality. \u00a0Both the zoom and focus rings operate very smoothly, though I do wish for slightly more damping on the focus ring.<\/p>\n

The one area on the lens that does feel slightly flimsy is the additional power zoom rocker,\u00a0which operates smoothly, but with less resistance than I’d prefer. \u00a0Still, it’s not bad in any way.<\/p>\n

Included with the lens is a reversible petal-type lens hood that locks solidly into place. With the hood attached, the lens looks truly massive, but it does a nice job at shielding the lens from sunlight. \u00a0The wide hood does make the lens very large in diameter when the hood is reversed for storage.<\/p>\n

One more thing: for some reason, the front element on the 18-105mm is among the hardest to clean of any lens I have ever used. \u00a0I got a little bit of water spray on the front element, and usually that can be cleaned right off with a microfiber cloth or a lens pen. \u00a0I swear it took me nearly 10 minutes to get the water spots off the front element. \u00a0I am normally not a UV\/protector filter kind of guy, preferring to use filters only when they have a photographic purpose, or if I’m shooting in extreme conditions with blowing sand or water, but I purchased a Hoya HD UV filter (which has extremely strong glass and exceptional coatings that are a breeze to clean) just so I don’t have to clean the front element on this lens.<\/p>\n

Handling, Autofocus and Stabilization<\/h3>\n

As mentioned in the previous section, the 18-105mm f\/4 G is a large lens, but its light weight means that it still handles relatively well on my NEX-6. The length dictates that you support the lens barrel for the best stability, though it can be shot one handed if needed. \u00a0The 18-105mm focal range, which has an equivalent field of view of a 27-158mm lens on a full frame camera, is an extremely useful range for a single walkaround lens. \u00a0While the wide end seems to be a bit longer than the marked 18mm (framing is similar to 19mm on the Zeiss 16-70mm and my Fuji 18-55mm), the ability to have everything from wide-angle to medium telephoto in a single lens with a constant f\/4 aperture makes the lens extremely versatile. \u00a0If you only want to bring one camera and one lens, it’s a very handy optic to use.<\/p>\n

Being a power zoom lens, there is no direct mechanical coupling to the zoom mechanism. \u00a0I was quite worried that this would be supremely annoying in use, as I have experienced some power zooms that can be frustrating in use. \u00a0However, Sony has done a great job with the power zoom implementation. \u00a0There are two methods to zoom the lens: a wide to telephoto rocker switch on the left side of the lens, and a traditional zoom ring in the middle of the lens.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS – The power zoom rocker can be seen on the side of the lens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rocker switch is very useful for shooting video, as it allows for smooth control of zooming at a variety of speeds. \u00a0However, for still shooting, most photographers (myself included) prefer a twisting zoom ring. \u00a0The zoom ring allows the lens to zoom smoothly and quickly, and while there is a very small amount of lag, it reacts responsively and feels about as close to mechanically coupled as you could hope for a power zoom implementation. \u00a0Zooming is completely internal and almost completely silent. \u00a0I adjusted to the power zoom usage very quickly. \u00a0With no markings for focal length on the lens barrel due to the power zoom, the camera displays the current focal length in the viewfinder. \u00a0The one down side to the power zoom implementation is that it sets itself to a ‘park’ position (somewhere in the middle of the zoom range) when you turn off the camera, and then resets itself to 18mm when the camera is turned on. \u00a0It would be nice if the camera could remember the last zoom position and reset to that position when powering on.<\/p>\n

The autofocus motor in the PZ 18-105mm f\/4 G is relatively quick and silent. \u00a0Focus is achieved quite quickly in good light and even has passable speed in lower light. \u00a0Overall focus accuracy was very good, except when shooting in lower light at the long end of the zoom range. \u00a0For some reason in lower light, the lens had a tendency to miss focus just slightly when shot at 105mm, so it’s worth watching your focus point in dimmer light if you need the reach.<\/p>\n

The 18-105mm features Sony’s Optical SteadyShot image stabilizer, and the OSS works as advertised, allowing for sharp shots at shutter speeds 2-3 stops slower than would otherwise be possible. \u00a0While not among the best stabilizers I’ve used, this is a competent performance.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n

Distortion<\/h4>\n
\"Pincushion<\/a>
Pincushion Distortion (51mm) – Click to Enlarge<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you’ve read my reviews before, you may notice that I always discuss sharpness first, but I’m switching things up for this review because the discussion on distortion will impact the discussion on the other imaging parameters. \u00a0The reason for this is that when viewing uncorrected RAW files, the 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS has the worst distortion characteristic of any lens I have ever used for any format. \u00a0The lens exhibits moderate pincushion distortion at 18mm and it simply gets worse from there, with more severe pincushion throughout the zoom range. The level of distortion is rather extreme, and is actually somewhat more complex than typical pincushion distortion, as using standard distortion correction tools will still leave residual bending of lines at the image edges.<\/p>\n

The distortion is severe enough\u00a0that I view the digital correction of this distortion to be absolutely essential to using the lens. \u00a0The distortion is visible not only in shots of architecture and other images with straight lines, but can even be noticeable in portraits or more abstract work. \u00a0It has the potential to\u00a0ruin images if left uncorrected.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The same file, corrected in Lightroom 5.4 with the built-in profile – Click to Enlarge<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Luckily, if you are shooting JPEG images or shooting videos on a more recent E-Mount body, the camera will apply built-in distortion correction to the images, and this correction is even displayed when the camera is showing you the live view. \u00a0Additionally, Lightroom 5 has a profile for this lens that corrects the distortion perfectly, which I would highly recommend applying upon import if you are shooting RAW. \u00a0As such, after discovering this and setting an import preset to apply profile corrections, I don’t ever see the distortions any more in practice.<\/p>\n

View the two images to the right, showing uncorrected and corrected levels of distortion. I would not recommend using the 18-105mm if you are shooting RAW and you typically use a RAW converter that doesn’t have a profile for this lens.<\/p>\n

The reason I discuss this first, is that the evaluation of all the other imaging qualities in this review is based\u00a0on images that have had the digital distortion correction applied.<\/strong> \u00a0I didn’t bother evaluating sharpness on uncorrected images because in my opinion, images from this lens are essentially useless without correcting the distortion. \u00a0As such, sharpness and CA was evaluated after applying the profile corrections in Lightroom 5.4.<\/p>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n
\"100<\/a>
100 South Third – Sony NEX-6 with Sony 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS @ 18mm, f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, given the ‘G’ designation on this lens, I expected a relatively high level of sharpness from this lens, and I have to say, it didn’t quite meet my expectations, though it wasn’t too far behind. \u00a0The 18-105mm f\/4 is a lens that provides very good sharpness over the central 80% of the frame throughout the range, right from f\/4. However the edges and corners do lag a bit behind at f\/4. \u00a0Stopping down brings edge and corner resolution at most focus distances to ‘good’\u00a0territory, but never into outstanding territory.<\/p>\n

The lens is the weakest at the wide end of the zoom range, with the edges of the frame retaining a bit of softness even stopped down, though for most shooting there is plenty of detail across the vast majority of the frame, and the center is excellent. Click on the image to the left and then click on the green arrow to enlarge to see a large sample. \u00a0The mid range towards the long end of the zoom sees some improvement overall, with a very good performance here, with just a slight bit of corner softness. \u00a0The center softens slightly at 105mm, but still provides acceptable results, though image borders at 105mm remain only average stopped down.<\/p>\n

The best way to sum up the sharpness of this lens is to say that it is always competent, but rarely exceptional.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n
\"Fireman<\/a>
Fireman – Sony NEX-6 with Sony 18-105mm f\/4 G OSS @ 83mm, f\/4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wide range standard zooms are usually not renowned for their excellent bokeh, but the 18-105mm does a very nice job in this department. \u00a0With a longer range than most standard zooms, the f\/4 aperture will still allow for a fair bit of background blur, and when blurring the background, the 18-105mm produces quite pleasing bokeh. \u00a0Out of focus areas are generally smoothly rendered and specular highlights are round and evenly lit. \u00a0‘Onion’ rings in the highlights can occasionally be observed due to the aspherical elements in the lens, but overall, a very nice performance that stays consistently good at all focal lengths.<\/p>\n

Color, Contrast, Flare and Aberrations<\/h4>\n

The 18-105mm provides a very neutral output with regards to contrast, with somewhat muted midtones. \u00a0The result is a file that can be tweaked to your desire, but won’t provide huge amounts of pop right out of the camera. \u00a0 Color on the 18-105mm tends towards the cool side, with color saturation being neither dull nor extremely rich. \u00a0While this means that straight out of the camera, you may need to add some minor contrast and saturation tweaks, it also means that you’ve got a great starting file from which to work.<\/p>\n

Overall, the lens performs pretty well against bright light. \u00a0Some minor flare ghosting can occur in the right circumstances, but overall the lens does a nice job here. \u00a0In the right circumstances, some lateral chromatic aberration can be visible, though I found it rarely posed an issue in everyday shooting. \u00a0Indeed, I have to go looking for it for the most part. \u00a0A lot of this is not so much that the absolute level of CA is low, but rather that for some reason, where it shows up, the saturation of the fringe isn’t particularly high, so it often blends into the adjacent detail without issue.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

\"18-105_G\"<\/a>Pros<\/h4>\n