About half a year ago I bought the Sony 18-105G
lens.
I use the lens on an A6300.
My focus is on filmmaking, but of course I
also like to take pictures with it from time
to time.
In this video I'll tell you what I like about
the lens and what I don't like so much.
My name is Werner, I live in the Italian Alps
and this channel is about filmmaking and GoPro.
Consider subscribing if you are new here and
have fun with this video.
If you want to choose a new lens, you should
ask yourself what is important for you about
a lens and what you want to use it for.
Deciding factors could be the features and
the handling, how versatile the lens is, and
of course the bokeh and the look you can create
with the lens and possibly also how sharp
the lens is.
However, opinions differ as to whether the
sharpness of the lens plays such an important
role in filmmaking.
The Sony 18-105 has a constant maximum aperture
of 4.
It has an autofocus and is stabilized.
Since I personally want a lens to be as versatile
as possible and I often film myself, a good
autofocus is very important for me.
And in fact the autofocus of the 18-105 works
perfectly and it has rarely let me down so
far.
This is of course due to the very good continuous
autofocus of the camera, which normally works
very well with all Sony E-Mount lenses.
At the same time I can add that the focus
is completely silent.
So if the focus changes during recording,
you won't hear it.
If you want to focus manually, you should
know that the camera has a focus by wire.
Basically this means that the focus is shifted
quickly or slowly depending on how fast you
turn the focus ring.
This makes it very difficult to pull focus
slowly and evenly, or to repeat a shot exactly
in the same way.
Personally, I think that you can actually
focus quite well manually.
However, if you want to work professionally
and focus a lot manually, Focus by Wire is
not an ideal solution.
In addition to autofocus, image stabilization
was also a decisive factor for me.
This is also due to the fact that the A6300,
just like the A6000, has no internal stabilization.
Of course you can also stabilize your footage
in other ways, for example with a gimbal,
a tripod or in post.
But all solutions have decisive disadvantages.
Therefore I would recommend an image stabilized
lens for these cameras, at least for filmmaking.
And the image stabilization of this lens works
well, as you can see from these sample shots.
A special feature of this lens is of course
the long zoom range.
18mm is enough for a typical wide landscape
shot or an establishing shot and with up to
105mm you cover a large area.
You can experiment with different compositions
and also shoot nice close ups of people.
You can take images with it that you would
simply not always be able to take with a prime
lens in this form.
Especially if you are travelling and you are
not in a controlled environment, this is a
great advantage.
In combination with the Clear Image Zoom of
the camera you get a total of about 210mm.
At the same time you have to add that the
camera has power zoom.
This means that the lens has a zoom motor
that allows you to smoothly zoom in and out
during video recording.
The zoom motor is also completely silent and
you can't hear it in your recording.
The length of the lens also remains constant
during zooming and doesn't change.
This for example has the advantage that if
you use the lens on a gimbal, the balance
always remains the same, even if you zoom
in or out.
As I said before the lens has a constant maximum
aperture of 4 which also has an effect on
the zoom.
You can zoom in and out while filming, without
changing your exposure settings.
Even if you want to change the focal length
quickly between two shots, you don't have
to adjust the exposure.
In summary, the lens has all the features
a perfect zoom lens should have for filming.
What do I miss about the lens?
With a constant maximum aperture of 4, the
lens is not very fast.
In other words, if you want to film a lot
indoors or generally a lot in low light conditions,
then it's certainly not the ideal tool.
The minimum focus distance of the lens is
also not great.
It is 1.48ft (45 cm) on the wide side and
3.12 on the telephoto side.
The lens is therefore not suitable if you
need to get physically close to objects.
Even the KIt-Lens is much better positioned
here.
The lens feels very high quality, even though
it's mostly made of plastic.
In my opinion, the biggest disadvantage of
this lens is its size.
It's not surprising that a lens with this
zoom range and a constant aperture of 4 has
this size.
Optical quality, of course, requires a certain
size.
The whole thing becomes problematic only in
combination with the very small body of a
Sony A6300 or A6000.
You must be aware of this when you buy this
lens.
You completely lose the size advantage of
the mirrorless Aps-C system.
I can't say that this wouldn't bother me.
I can live with it, but it's not optimal.
If the small dimensions of the A6000 series
were a purchase decision for you, you should
stay away from this lens.
The optical quality of the lens is good, though
not outstanding.
There will always be compromises with a zoom
lens.
Here's a comparison with the 35mm 1.8, which
is relatively sharp overall.
For video, I think the lens is sufficiently
sharp.
Much more important should be the question
how the bokeh looks like and what look you
can create with this lens.
With the constant maximum aperture of 4, your
possibilities to create a shallow depth of
field are strongly depending on the focal
length.
For a really cinematic image you need a long
focal length.
As you can see, at 105mm and F4 you do get
a cinematic image.
Also the bokeh is very nice at this focal
length.
A long focal length naturally leads to a
certain background compression.
The image frame in the background decreases
in size and objects move closer.
With a focal length of 18mm your possibilities
to create a shallow depth of field with F4
are rather limited.
So if you're looking for a wide look with
simultaneous background blur, you'll have
to look for another lens.
Let’s recap:
The Sony 18-105 is a very versatile lens - that's
its great strength.
The constant aperture and length, good autofocus
and image stabilization, along with the Powerzoom,
make it especially interesting for video work.
The optical quality is good and the bokeh
is beautiful at a long focal length.
The biggest disadvantage of this lens is its
size.
This is not surprising considering the long
zoom range and the constant aperture.
But of course you lose all the size and weight
advantages of the Sony A6000 series.
You need to be aware of that.
I hope the video was interesting for you.
If you liked this review, give me a Like as
feedback and see you next time!
