Sony SAL18135 A Mount – APS-C DT 18–135mm F3 : SAL18250 review

January 27, 2020

Sony SAL18135 A Mount – APS-C DT 18–135mm F3 : SAL18250 review

Very happy with the sony lens. The package arrived on time and well protected in its packaging. The lens does everything it was described, extremely happy with my purchase and the seller.

This is a decent lens, lightweight walk around zoom. It focuses quickly on my a77, similar to the speed of the 16-50mm f2. 8 ssm, a lot faster than the 55-300mm sam and bit faster than the 35mm f1. The colour and sharpness is better than the 18-200mm i had previously (and much faster to focus), i don’t miss the extra range of the 18-200mm. The combination of this lens and the 35mm f1. 8, meant i had no real use for the, heavy, 16-50mm f2.

This is one of two lenses i own (apart from the kit lens that came with my a200), the other one being the sony f1. This lens excels as an outdoor single lens solution, having an excellent range that encompasses any two other lenses. The sony version is based on the original tamron, the sony having better bokeh (and some reviews also put the sony a little faster in auto focus). As with all lenses of this optical range, there are problems at the very low and high end, but nothing that can’t be sorted out in post processing if it is an issue. A bigger issue for some may be that the 18-250 is often too slow for low light (for that, read indoors under artificial lighting). Of course, a suitably faster lens with the same range would also be twice as heavy and 10 times as expensive. Not really an option (or even an issue) unless you want to shoot rock concerts in darkened venues or high speed sporting events. ‘to be expected’) issue is that the 18-250 has no macro mode. Again, you can’t have a range of 18-250mm and expect macro as welloverall, a recommended buy. Not perfect, but possibly the most versatile single lens solution out there, and certainly the backbone piece of any beginner/intermediates 2-3 lens set (especially, if, like most users, the majority of your photos are taken outside or in reasonable light). The only other lenses i’m looking for to complete my set is the tokina 11-16 to take my below the low end of the sal18-250 (and into true wide angle), and perhaps a macro. *** update october 2010 ***since writing this review, i now have that tokina 11-16 and the macro (tamron sp di 90mm), and i now own the sony alpha a500.

Overall, i find this to be a great lens. The zoom range makes this an extremely versatile lens – covering wide angle to a fairly tight zoom. The optical quality of this lens appears to be at least as good as the nikon 18-200 which i had before and was always very pleased with. This lens works very well for both stills and video – one of the main reasons that i switched from nikon to sony. The sam focussing system is very quick and and is very quiet. In normal use i do not notice the focus motor sound on video but you probably will do if shooting in quiet situations. (i generally am filming my young children so an absence of noise to cover the focus motor isn’t an issue for me. )there is no optical stabilisation in this lens. The sony alpha bodies have built in sensor shift stabilisation. This works reasonably well but i do notice that the optical stabilisation on my previous nikon lens was better i.

Bought this as an upgrade to my kit lens and have not been disapointed. Very versatile zoom range and the colour reproduction with my a330 is amazing, wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to other alpha owners.

I bought the sony 18-135mm lens as an upgrade to the standard 18-55mm kit lens which came with my sony a65, as i wanted better optics and greater focal & zoom length, for extra versatility when shooting photgraphs. In my experience of using the 18-135mm lens for the last month or so, it certainly does seem to be an improvement on the standard kit lens. The images i’ve taken to so far do seem to be clearer and sharper than the kit lens and colour rendition and graduation seems improved also. The lens has yielded some nice looking results whether in wide-angle or relatively close-up shots. From what i’ve read on camera websites, the 18-135mm is a fairly new addition to the sony range having been released in 2012. The lens itself seems well constructed (made in japan) and the lens mount is made of metal, (looks like aluminium). The lens has large zoom & focus rings making it much easier and quicker to work with than the 18-55mm. The lens also comes with both front & rear lens caps and a lens hood which can be reversed for compact storage. However, the lens does not come with a bag or cover which seems a bit mean for a £300+ lens. Autofocus is for the most part quick, smooth and accurate and whilst not silent, is a big improvement on the kit version.

This is the best, affordable, piece of glass for any new photographer. You can tell the difference over the kit lense.

I studied a number of reviews on this and similar lenses, it was to be the most expensive lens i purchased and plumped for the sony over several alternatives. Whats good – fast focus and sharp pics, it does however become a little soft at 250mm but i have learnt not to take it to the edgenot a criticism as this is the nature of this type of lens at this price. Solid feel construction though definitely not too heavy for all day hand held use. Not so good – lens creep, after only a few days, use unless locked the ‘trombone’ slides out (i wear it shoulder slung resting at the hip). Whilst i realise that is why there is a locking function, when you raise it up and frame your subject to take a shot, all too late you have to fiddle to find the lock, or worse still you have to bring the camera down, knowing that the inquisitive but cautious shot of a lifetime in front of you won’t be there when you bring the camera back to your eye. Have to say however that is more about tecnique, all in all and having used it probably daily it has become my favourite, serving well for close up as well as a reasonable zoom.

Covers a lot of bases
Sony SAL18250 review
Good quality & versatile lens for sony alphas

Sony SAL18135 A Mount – APS-C DT 18–135mm F3.5–5.6 SAM Zoom Lens

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Light, compact DT18-135mm F3.5-5.6 lens with 7.5x zoom. Great for everyday shooting or travel. Smooth autofocus motor
High magnification zoom lens
A-mount, APS-C
Aspherical lens with ED glass

Very quick delivery and excellent quality for a second hand product.

I have this item, it recently covered all angles, (forgive the pun) while on a 2 week holiday around the grand canyon. All i took with my a700 was this plus the sony 11-18. There is a superb lock on the lens which prevents it moving when not in use. I found i had an electrical problem on mine which manifested itself intermittently when the lens was attached to the camera body. This cause odd colours to be present so i had to check the first picture had been taken successfully after fitting the lens. Once it was found to be ok i could simply shoot away until i had to re fit the lens. I took it back for an immediate replacement. It is a lens i would not be without. Just waiting for the 70-400 to arrive and that is my set up complete until the a99 is released.

This is a brilliant lens and has now become my main lens when out and about taking photographs (previously using the kit lens with a tamron 70-300mm) as this can do the range from 18-135mm and then use my tamron 70-300mm when needed.

Very pleased with lens and delivery from camera centre uk. Only issue is the continuing correspondence with sony to honour their £50 cashback offer. Have sent scanned copy of the invoice, (2 page multi page scanned document), but sony (belgium) only seem to read page 1, and say the document is invalid and my claim invalid. I continue to chase them to get them to meet their obligation, which was a deciding factor in my decision to buy.

Recommended to anyone wanting a quality and an adaptable lense.

An excellent lens that fits nicely between the standard kit lens (18-50) and my zoom lens (75-300 ). It is a good compromise between speed and flexibility.

Great piece of kit, finally i have a great all round lens and don’t have to change it constantly which is not great especially when on the vacation. This makes great photos, it’s amazing giving it’s from 18 wide to 250 teleuse to have 18-55 sony and 55-200 tamron this gives you so much more. 5/5******* update after – after 2 years – would give it 6/5 if i could. *******i have used this lens for over 2 years on the a550 and now on the a77, i have learned a few more things about photography and the lens grew up on me even more. This lens captured beautifully unforgettable memories on few holidays and local trips. With a77 i use full manual mode much often, and it results in better, sharper images. Still amazed with versatility of this lens. Granted, af is little bit slower noisier than a77 kit 16-50 lens, but considering range/age/price it is to be expected and doesn’t devalue this glass. You can use it for light box product macro shots, portraits with great bokeh, wide landscapes and even bif.

If you took all of my lenses and left just one, i’d want it to be this one. The range (18-250) is great for the vast majority of photography done while travelling or touring. This lens particularly excels on holidays when, generally, you are outdoors in reasonable or good light. It benefits a lot from being stopped down to f5. 6-f8 when you get really good sharpness, hence the need for reasonable light. Wide open, particularly at the wide focal lengths, it can be disappointingly soft (worse than the kit lens). If i could only take two lenses travelling with me it would be this one, backed up by a 50mm f1. 4 for low-light social shots. Pros – great range, very sharp when stopped down a bit, good build qualitycons – really quite soft wide open at wide angle.

Purchased at christmas so only limited experience to date. Good results both indoors and outdoors in low winter light levels. This lens has a lock which is essential to stop it extending when being carried. Stowed size enables it to fit in an ordinary sized carry case. This is presently the only lens i use.

Fast service, less than a day to arrive. Brilliant lens & so compact, much shorter than my sigma 70/300. Seems to be as good as my sal 1870 lens over the same range & with the built in zoom it’s my one lens solution.

Having read some online reviews on this lens i noted kurt munger’s review and didn’t feel inspired by what i saw. However having had the opportunity to try the lens myself i can report that the lens is almost an entirely different animal to the online review i read. I wasn’t exepecting much, but it has to be said this is really a very good lens on an optical level and offers a very useful focal range. I’ll start with my pros and cons list as per usual, please see the uploaded images for real world examples at various focal lengths. Pros+ very useful equivalent on an aps-c camera of 27-202mm+ sharpness is excellent in the central region at all apertures and focal lengths (and good across most of the frame) bar extreme corners (at 18mm my samples was very good across the entire frame with just very slight softening in the extreme right and left areas, though only a little)+ good build quality, in fact almost very good. Nice quality plastics, decent hood, metal mount (aluminium). The zoom ring and mf ring are smooth and tight fitting. + has a lens zoom lock at the 18mm mark, useful if needed possibly later on+ superb contrast and colour rendition, sony really nailed it here. + new sam motor is surprisingly fast in operation (though not entirely silent)+ not too heavy for a walk around lens, and size is quite compact with a 62mm filter+ ca is well controlled and rarely an issue. Some pincushion tele end (stronger at 50mm but not much at 135mm) quite a bit less than say a nikkor 18-105mm.

Needed a lens to bridge the gap between the wide angle and telephoto lenses. It had to be compact and versatile enough to cope with a wide variety of applications. This lens ticked all the boxes. It works down to a good wide-angle but also provides a reasonable telephoto capability. First used for a wedding and it provided everything expected of it, from the wide group shots down to the individual portraits. The lens worked equally well in manual and autofocus modes, with good response to varying light levels. Having used sony lenses in the past this one achieves the expected quality and reliability levels without breaking the bank.

I actually bought this lens just after christmas but ended up returning it after 2 weeks as there were a couple of annoying characteristics that really bugged me. Let me start by saying that the focal range is huge, image quality is acceptable and the price is amazing (if you pay less than £330 that is, try jessops). This lens has many good points but it also has a couple of negative points which annoyed the hell out of me, although you might find that you can live with them. The first problem is darkening in the corners. It is quite extreme at wide angle and large aperture. Of course most telephoto lenses in this price range will suffer from it, but this lens seemed particularly bad. The darkening was also uneven so it was hard to edit it out evenly. Secondly it suffers quite easily from lens flare which ruined more than a couple of shots. In time you would get used to these limitations. Thirdly sharpness is ok but not significantly better than the cheapo 18-70 kit lens which incidentally out-performed this lens with regard to darkening and flare.

It telephotos and it zooms and not surprisingly it does it between 18 & 135mm. A good one lens solution for holidays and travel.