Sony E 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS (Sony NEX) - Review / Lens Test Report - Sample Images & Verdict
Lens Reviews - Sony Alpha/NEX (APS-C)

Sample Images

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Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 55.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/800s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 18.0mm
Aperture: f/9.0
Exposure 1/500s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 18.0mm
Aperture: f/9.0
Exposure 1/500s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 18.0mm
Aperture: f/9.0
Exposure 1/400s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 18.0mm
Aperture: f/9.0
Exposure 1/320s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 18.0mm
Aperture: f/9.0
Exposure 1/320s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 53.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1000s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 55.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/250s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 23.0mm
Aperture: f/9.0
Exposure 1/400s
Make SONY
Model NEX-5
ISO Speed 800
Focal Length 18.0mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure 1/30s

Verdict

The Sony E 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS is a decent "kit" zoom lens but it is, of course, not flawless. The image center is very sharp whereas the border/corner region is softer although still acceptable. A weakness is the high amount of lateral CAs at 18mm and 35mm which decreases the subjective quality perception quite a bit if you don't care about it during post-processing. The distortion characteristic is about average for a lens in this class - heavy barrel distortion at 18mm and slight to moderate pincushion distortion towards the long end of the range. The vignetting is well-controlled although we suspect some sort of auto-compensation by the camera here.
Sony's OSS seems to be as efficient as the more established systems by Nikon and Canon. The AF is virtually silent and as such also very usable for shooting movies. A really nice aspect, and that's typical for all Sony E lenses so far, is the build quality. A kit lens with a body made of mag-alloy is pretty much unique and it's certainly a differentiator when comparing different systems in shops out there - a smart move by Sony for sure here.

Optical Quality:    
Mechanical Quality:
Price/Performance:
      
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