Comments on: Scoping out the Sony E-Mount Lenses

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By: Sharron Clemons

Sharron Clemons — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:09:14 +0000

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By: Lou Welke

Lou Welke — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:09:05 +0000

I just purchased a Sony Nex-3 camera with a 18-55mm lens and would like to get a 18-200 lens someday but only if the price comes down below what I paid for the camera and everything that came with it.

Hopefully other camera manufacturers will make the E-lens’s for Sony and bring the price down.

There is no reason for the high price they want now when the same 18-200 mm lens for normal size SLR cameras is under $400.00

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:52:41 +0000

…one question though. Does anyone care to speculate whether the E-mount 18-200mm lens will have an internal zoom mechanism like the alpha 18-200mm lens? The thing is, I’d hate to mount a zoom lens on a tiny NEX-5 camera if it’s going to physically extend itself as it zooms (it would make the camera unbalanced and difficult to hold). If that were the case then I’d buy the alpha 18-200mm instead.

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:41:07 +0000

Thanks for the great info! I travel a lot for work/pleasure, and am considering an upgrade from my Leica V-Lux 20 to the NEX-5. I like the small size of the NEX cameras and the great features including in-built HDR. The only thing that’s been holding me back is that I don’t want to lose the great 12x zoom that my Leica offers. It seems that if I get the NEX-5 with the 16mm lens, and then pick up the 18-200mm lens as well, I’ll have the same zoom range as my Leica but with with a lot more features…

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:13:07 +0000

Hi there,

Thanks for this great info. Do you know what the minimum focus distance is for the 18mm lens? I’m wondering if I’ll be able to get very close up, macro shots with the 18 mm lens.

By: Tom Bonner

Tom Bonner — Mon, 31 May 2010 03:31:59 +0000

HI Alex

Good question. The crop factor doesn’t have anything to do with whether a lens can cover a full frame size sensor. Focal length is relative to the size of the sensor. So a 200mm focal length lens on an APS-C size sensor will produce roughly the same magnification as a 300mm lens on a full frame camera.

This is true regardless of whether the lens is designed to cover a full-frame or a smaller sensor.

Of course the lens is really an 18-200mm. But when you use that lens on an APS-C sensor, it will be the equivalent of having a 27-300mm lens on a 35mm film camera.

On the long end, this is a good thing, since you gain telephoto length. On the wide-angle end, however, this is a drawback, as that extremely wide 18mm will only give the angle of view of a 27mm lens on a full-frame camera.

It all depends on the size of the sensor. The definition of wide, normal and telephoto are different for APS-C and Full-Frame sensors. A 50mm lens is considered a normal lens on a 35mm film camera or a full-frame dSLR. That same lens looks like a 75mm short telephoto on a APS-C sensor. If you managed to attach that same lens to point and shoot camera with a tiny sensor, that 50mm lens would turn into a giant telephoto.

Back in the early days of photography, professional photographers often used a variety of view cameras that accepted different sizes of sheet film. They would buy lenses that could cover the largest size film they intended to shoot with. They could use the lens with smaller film sizes, but the angle of view would change. So one lens could serve as a wide-angle on their largest camera, become a portrait lens on their medium size camera and then offer up super-telephoto capabilities on their smallest camera.

I hope that helps. The bottom line is if you put the 18-200mm lens on any APS-C sensor, you will get the apparent focal length of a 27-300mm lens on a full frame camera. An APS-C sensor will always yield an angle of view roughly 1.5 times that of the same lens used on a full frame sized sensor, regardless of whether the lens can actually cover the sensor or not.

Regards, Tom

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 30 May 2010 20:04:52 +0000

“The crop factor on this lens makes it equivalent to 27-300mm lens on a 35mm camera.” Isn’t it truly an 18-200? I thought you only apply the crop factor when using a Full Frame lens on a crop camera? It would be the same field of view as using a Full Frame 18-200 lens on a Nikon D700?

By: TJP

TJP — Sun, 30 May 2010 19:37:58 +0000

Just to verify: the E-mount lenses will have sufficient coverage for a 36x24mm frame? If this is true, then we’re looking at the replacement for the 25 year-old Alpha mount. The NEX units are probably just a low-cost, introductory platform to get the EM established. (Check out the kit price: $650!)

My speculation, but I found the recent release of two mid-range Alpha SLRs inexplicable. However, it makes sense if Sony is putting /something/ on the market to make money while they prepare for the future. (It’s the curse of the trade rag; if a company isn’t always releasing something new, no one has any reason to put their name in print.)

I bet the next full-size Alphas will be E-mount bodies. But we won’t be calling them SLRs–they’ll be SLEVF “pro” bodies.

Warning: SLR is about to die.