The Kit lens 18-70mm DT ... does the job

[sulhan]

Hiee...Pals...

I have been getting some queries form fellow CS and also read about the recent Sony reviews which was linked by ZCF. So kinda curious on how the kit lens performed. So far there were bits and piece of read-ups and postings on how bad the kit lens is....especially it build..

So i had some spare change and decide to get one of this lens as i had long sold my KM 17-35mm. I put it through a day's out event - my daughter's pre-school sports day event. Here are some shots to share..

The conclusion after putting this lens to use. All i can say is. Its a keeper. I'm glad that Sony put a "up" price on this one. The images out form this lens has really high contrast and also the inherent "slower" stops nature help in preventing too much burnt out in a very sunny day envirionememt. The important thing is......its light.

The 1.5 crop facture surely did help to hide lens edge weakneses. In this case to its advantage. Yes the lens may be dark to see through for indoord as i compared it to my 35-70 f4 its sharpness is comparable given a stop down of about 2 stops. But overall, wide open, if focuse properly ...its sharpness is very good for up to 5R prints.

Here are the pics...

The last image is again just an estimated point and press AF button type of shot.
Cant be bothered to go low to properly AF. But my....this is a one shot 1 kill...

So the only thing i can say is....the kit lens is a keeper for general use - like travelling.
Couple it with any 70-300 range and you've got it all...

rgds,
Sulhan

 

[jimjim]

Yes, agreed with you, a good keeper lens indeed.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I'm still keeping mine.

 

[Agetan]

I agree too...

I use this lens while travelling in Hong Kong... its a nice lens to use... light and good range.

Hart

 

[Eyesthruthelens]

Hmm.. I never use this lens after getting the older KM lens..
Last Saturday I was at my nephew's school event and was deciding to put on a light lens.. btw this kit lens and the 50mm f1.7..
At the end, I plugged in the 50mm f1.7..
because of the sharpness and color..

Maybe I should try using the kit lens again..

 

[Trigger Happy]

Hmm.. I never use this lens after getting the older KM lens..
Last Saturday I was at my nephew's school event and was deciding to put on a light lens.. btw this kit lens and the 50mm f1.7..
At the end, I plugged in the 50mm f1.7..
because of the sharpness and color..

Maybe I should try using the kit lens again..

i've still got mine, but hardly use it these days unless i need something between fisheye and 28mm. Sulhan's right, that and a 70-300 is about all you need. but between 18-70 and a 50 f/1.7 i'd choose the prime for shoots such as yours above. the shallow DOF and apperture will beat the kit for sharpness and especially in low light.

 

[nsalman]

I just got one sometime back, and I must say, I like it.

But then it depends on the needs of the photog. I for one have stuck this lens on my 7d. Used to be the 28-85. The 18mm really is nice.

 

[satay16]

for me, i find the 28 prime is the best. it hits the sweet spot of the focal length. personally, i find 50mm abit too tele.

 

[leeshock]

Just got the A100 and I must agree that I am pleasantly surprised at the quality. The range is also very usefull. The lense is light and I don't need to change lense so much, because of the useful zoom range. Good for travelling.

 

[eel]

My kit lens performs well stopped down at f8. Corner to corner sharpness is good and almost comparable to my 50 1.7

 

[zcf]

My kit lens performs well stopped down at f8. Corner to corner sharpness is good and almost comparable to my 50 1.7

Though I got to disagree on the corner sharpness (at wide angle)though, may be my copy is not so good :sweat: .

 

[apchoo]

While I never had the KM 18-70mm DT kit lens, my 7D came with the KM 28-100mm f3.5-5.6 (D) kit lens and I have to say that while its build is similar to the 18-70mm (plasticky & light), the sharpness and contrast I got from it is truly amazing for such a cheap lens. And it can be used on FF SLRs. Although my walkaround lens these days is the KM 24-105mm f3.5-4.5 (D), I'm somewhat reluctant to sell off the 28-100mm as I won't be getting much for what is quite an exceptional lens PQ wise.

 

[eow]

the 18-70mm is very useful lens to own..unless u going for the sigma 17-70,or 18-50...the ability to focus fast and smooth zoom barrel is it greatest saving grace...among all my zoom lens
when taking shot of quick movement..using the parfocusing method this lens scored the best hit rate%..if u not particular abt sharpness and colour...this lens is a must have.

 

[eow]

the 18-70mm is very useful lens to own..unless u going for the sigma 17-70,or 18-50...the ability to focus fast and smooth zoom barrel is it greatest saving grace...among all my zoom lens
when taking shot of quick movement..using the parfocusing method this lens scored the best hit rate%..if u not particular abt sharpness and colour...this lens is a must have.

 

[limkopi]

I wld say it's a very useful lens for beginners to learn & for pple who wish to travel light. :thumbsup: I was pleasantly surprised by the 4R prints of my travel pix which are mostly printed fr the original jpg file w/o any form of editing... using it @ F8 gives really sharp results & the colours are quite nice too...

 

[DewaKarma]

talking abt kit lens..my sony a100 18-70 kit lens seems slightly slower to focus compared to tamron 28-80 lens..

 

[leeshock]

talking abt kit lens..my sony a100 18-70 kit lens seems slightly slower to focus compared to tamron 28-80 lens..

Really? Are u focusing in low light?

 

[antere]

I was forced to use this kit lens to shoot some weddings while my main lens was sent for repair. I find it rather sharp and definitely good to keep. Sad to say that it was way under-rated during KM days....

 

[DewaKarma]

Really? Are u focusing in low light?

No bro..super in the morning..hehehe...serious..it takes a little longer to focus..weird..super weird..

 

[ch3tah_39]

the kit lens is good.. used it at SG fashion festival

 

[sulhan]

A panorama with the kit lens....

Used the 18mm end on purpose for the distortion in stitch...