REVIEW - SEL1018 Sony E-mount Super Wide-Angle Zoom Lens

Sony 10-18mm f/4 OSS Alpha E-mount Wide-Angle Zoom Lens

It's been a while since Sony announced their new batch of E-mount lenses, but today I'm finally able to do a hands-on review of the much anticipated Sony 10-18mm super wide-angle E-mount zoom lens, compatible with the Alpha NEX cameras and NEX Camcorders. Now, I won't be doing this review from a scientific point of view. I'm a photographer and filmmaker and personally care more about how it is to work with in the field and seeing the results created with my own camera and settings, then talking about specs and lab-results. So if you were hoping to see some nice colour boards, diagrams, graphs and lab experiments, I'm very sorry to disappoint you! Luckily there are many sites out there that can show you exactly that and they can certainly be interesting to see. A comparison (with video) between this 10-18mm ultra wide lens and the Sony 16mm pancake lens with VCL-ECU1 ultra wide converter will be posted soon.

First impressions

SEL1018 in use on the Blackbird stabilizer

When I opened the box and took out the lens, I was pleasantly surprised with how light-weight the lens actually is. It weighs only 225g. This is perfect for using it on a Sony Alpha NEX Mirrorless Digital Camera and even better for using it on a NEX-FS100 or NEX-FS700 in combination with a handheld stabilizer / Steadicam.

The second surprise was the build quality. Except for the lens hood, there's little plastic parts to be found. The zoom and focus rings operate very smoothly, but unfortunately there are no markings on the focus ring and it doesn't have stops. However, it works and responds much better then the focus ring on the Sony 18-200mm NEX lens, which feels a bit more electronic-ish. When using the zoom ring to go to 10mm ultra wide, the lens will extend slightly. This is the opposite of what you might expect normally. The drawback of this, is that the lens will retract a bit when mounting the lens cap when you're in full wide. The lens is quite small when you compare it to a similar lens like the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 lens and it's only half the weight. The lens has a filter thread in front, so you can add a 62mm Variable Neutral Density filter or 62mm UV filter if you want. An option that was seriously lacking when using the ultra wide converter with the 16mm pancake lens.

Sample images
Now before talking further about specs and performance of this lens, I'm going to share some sample images I took with this lens on a Sony NEX mirrorless digital camera.

Tulip Fields of Holland - NEX-5N Pictures

Typical Dutch landscape with the windmill in the background

Last weekend I took some pictures of the tulip fields in Noord-Holland. All pictures were made using a Sony NEX-5N with E-mount 18-200mm lens. I love what this little camera (more lens then camera actually!) is capable of and it's an absolute joy to work with.

Sony's new NEX E-mount 10-18mm, 16-50mm power zoom and 35mm F1.8 lenses

Three new Sony E-mount lenses: the 16-50mm power zoom, 35mm f/1.8 lens and 10-18mm super-wide lens

Sony has announced three new E-mount lenses at Photokina 2012 for their NEX cameras. A 35mm F1.8 prime lens, a 10-18mm super-wide zoom and a 16-50mm power zoom lens.

<< Now in stock: The Sony 10-18mm f/4 Alpha E-mount Wide-Angle >>

NEW: Sony NEX-EA50

The Sony NEX-EA50 NXCAM Camcorder

Just announced: the Sony NEX-EA50 NXCAM Camcorder with Power Zoom Lens!
<< Pre-order today: Sony NEX-EA50 at B&H for $4,500 >>

This new E-mount camcorder which is similar to the NEX-FS100 looks very promising and comes with a completely redesigned E-mount 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS Power Zoom Lens. That's right, this camera has a zoom rocker! Now here comes the best part. It will even work with primary lenses and manual zoom lenses by cropping the image sensor in real-time without compromising the quality of the footage, thanks to using a much higher resolution sensor (then 1080p) to begin with. Make sure to also read the B&H InDepth article about this new camera. The NEX-EA50 has a shoulder pad which can be extended to balance the camera on your shoulder.

Steadicam Merlin Arm & Vest with the Blackbird Stabilizer

Blackbird stabilizer on the Steadicam Merlin arm and vest

Today I received a package with something very handy inside!

It's the Z-post from Camera Motion Research to use the Blackbird Stabilizer (which I reviewed a few days ago) on the Steadicam Merlin arm and vest! Let's have a closer look at it.

Short Movie: Old Jet Fighter (MiG-21 F-13)

MiG-21 F-13 jet fighter

Old picture of the actual aircraft in use!

Two weeks ago I was filming in Noord-Holland and when we drove from one location to the next, someone spotted something very unusual in the backyard of an old farmhouse. This old jet fighter from the Czech Air Force, I believe a MiG-21 F-13 Fishbed. I thought it was pretty unusual so we stopped and I went to see if anyone was home. Luckily the owner answered the door and I asked him if it was OK to film his jet fighter in his backyard. He had no problem with it, so I went back to the car to change lenses on the camera.

NEX-5N with 18-200mm lens - Footage

Location to capture footage with the Sony NEX-5N

Two days ago I was at the beach and decided to bring my Sony NEX-5N with me and shoot some footage with it. Just to see what this camera is capable of. I simply used the internal microphone and recorded in AVCHD, 50i 24M (FX). Lens I used was the Sony E-mount 18-200mm from my NEX-FS100.

Importing the footage into FCP is the same as with the NEX-FS100 and editing is simple and fast. I decided to leave the footage ungraded and just show what the camera is capable of. You can see the result in the video below.