18-105 F4 lens, anyone?

[Bruce S. Yarock]

I shoot a local Mma event once a month, and need an all purpose lens for it. First two dates, I used my 18-200 Sony with the zoom. The place ( except the cage) is really dark, and I ended up with my FS7 at 15 db of gain. I used an on cam led for close ups when fighters were being prepped, and of course, brought down gain then.

I rented an 18-105 F4 for the event last week end, and had better luck. I still had to use on cam light outside of cage. I like the lens, but as everyone else, wish it were a 2.8.

Problem is, there's no time to change lenses, so whatever I choose is on for the night. And I need the 18 to be able to be close for the prep shots.
Any body else using this lens? If so, do you like it?
Bruce Yarock
VIDEO PRODUCTION FORT LAUDERDALE, SOUTH FLORIDA|MIAMI|PALM BEACH AREA

[Daniel Epstein]

Bruce,
I use the lens on my FS7 but definitely aware of it's operational deficiencies so wish Sony made one more like the 28-135 control wise. I was hoping for an improved version of the lens this year but no joy yet. It does help to upgrade firmware to latest version but of course the FS7 doesn't help you with that.

[Glen Vandermolen]

I use mine on my FS5 all the time. I have the 28-135 as well, but the 18-105 is far more comfortable for hand hold use. It's not the perfect lens, but it does a good enough job. Having a power zoom on a Super 35 camera is worth it.

[Nigel Davey]

I agree, I'm not in love with this lens but it spends more time on the FS5 than anything else because it is 70% good at everything. If I need 90%+, I'll swap to another lens.

I know some folks seem to prefer a Canon or Tamron on a speedbooster, but I'm picking up AF/OSS isn't that good or non-functional. Even though they are not stellar on the 18105, they still seem like big giveaways nonetheless.

[Simon Denny]

You mentioned you used a 18-200 Sony, what's wrong with this?

[Nigel Davey]

At the tight end it will be f6.3

[Simon Denny]

Yes f6.3 is lot. I own the 18-200 Sony and a A7s. The reason I have stayed with the 18-200 is that the A7s can gain up nice at f6.3.

Cheers

[Chris Stevens]

Well for what it's worth - I've been using the 18-200 as my run & gun lens on an FS7 for two years now and , despite its ramping aperture I find it easy to use. I only use manual zoom and often switch between manual & auto focus. Among other lenses I also have the 28-135 but find its range too restricted & the stabilisation is inferior to the 18-200. Some people claim the resolution is poor compared to the 28-135, I disagree. I'm sure test charts will prove me wrong, but in the real world I'm quite happy with the 18-200's quality, even wide open it's acceptable. The only downside is that its weatherproofing is not too great. But a little care & vigilant use of a portabrace rain slicker has kept most water & dust out.

[Nigel Davey]

I don't think there is a perfect lens for you Simon.... or me. I have the 18-105mm kit lens as well as a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 which I use both with a Speedbooster and standard adaptor. Obviously the Nikon has low light advantages over the kit lens as well as the reach. But it loses OSS, AF and full AE which I often need in run and gun.

Also it's a hassle/time consuming to put the Nikon on the FS5 together with support grip (I wouldn't trust the e-mount long term with that weight). So 95% of the time I end up using the kit lens for convenience and full auto features.

I have been looking at the Sony 18-200mm power zoom myself, but I'll only benefit from it outdoors, where I do 60% of my shooting.

So for now I've just purchased the inexpensive Sony 55-210mm to see how I get on with that for it's long reach and auto features. But I have a feeling I'll end up missing the 18mm end of my kit lens. And that's why eventually I might end up with Sony 18-200mm PZ myself. But like you, I will be frustrated that it's such a slow lens.

So right now there is no perfect long reach Sony lens me thinks.

[Mark OConnell]

Is anyone using a 10-18 f/4 E mount?

[Gabe Strong]

Does anyone use the 18-105? Yup. I do. I wrote a blog post about the lens
here.
Digital cinema in the last frontier: Sony 18-105.....The Baby Sea Monster

It's improved a ton since I wrote that blog post too. There has been a firmware
update for the lens, giving it much better manual focus instead of the crappy
'focus by wire'.

[Simon Denny]

I have the Sony 10-18 f/4 E mount on my Sony A7s, great lens, greater image.

[Glen Vandermolen]

Speaking of the 18-200, my friend has the FS7 with the 28-135, but his go-to lens is the 18-200. He likes the very long zoom range. For his style of shooting, it's his favorite lens.
I wouldn't mind having the 18-200, just for that reason.

[Nigel Davey]

I realise this is slightly off topic... but not too mch. I am starting to seriously look at the Sony 18-200mm PZ and spotted a review over at B&Hphotovideo for this lens that 'might' suggest there is an older and newer version of it.

If you look at the review entitled 'Much improved over the old version By bennyboyhead'

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/913563-REG/sony_selp_18200_18_200mm_f_3_5_6_3_pz_oss.html

Of course he mght be referring to the non-PZ version. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[Christopher Young]

Beware of this lens. I've had two of them and when you start the servo from wide or full zoom there is a momentary loss of focus and a slight but noticeable sideways 'jink' of the extended portion of the lens both of which are pretty self evident in the pictures produced.

As long as you are prepared to live with those two shortcomings the rest of the lens performance such as tracking, stabilization, auto focus etc are pretty good. It being an 11 x zoom is pretty useful too. The thing that killed these lenses for me, including the non servo versions, was the massive light loss when zooming from wide to full zoom. F/3.5 to f/6.3, the best part of two stops, very noticeable. It has its place for sure but I was often very frustrated using it. Its fly-by-wire focusing is worse than the 18-105. Also if you are used to B4 type zoom speeds you will find time for a cup of Joe while this one is doing a full zoom travel even at its fastest speed settings' Ended up selling them through frustration. Ended up using The MTF B4 adapter and an ENG lens with a proper servo control. Not the perfect solution but have never had a client complain of the results from this combo and the sheer joy of using a long parfocal constant aperture lens with very accurate servo control can't be overstated/

If you search on this forum these issues were discussed fairly extensively a couple of years back plus there are some Youtube examples showing the issues. Here is one:

Error in the zoom function of the SONY SELP 18200 power zoom - YouTube

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney