Review: Sony 18-200mm retest By
Andrew Alexander (Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 15:21 EDT)The Sony 18-200mm ƒ/3.5-6.3 DT is a member of the ''vacation lens'' club, with an extreme range of focal lengths available through the zoom range that makes changing lenses a thing of the past.
Or at least that's the idea with vacation lenses, but the trade-off for their obvious ease-of-use and zoom range is usually a distinct lack of optical quality. And while it's theoretically possible to make a high-quality vacation lens, the result would probably be very big, very heavy, and not exactly something you'd want to take on vacation.
The 18-200mm, on a Sony digital body with a 1.5 crop factor, will represent a 27-300mm lens in 35mm film terms. It's a reduced-frame lens design, so expect it to vignette on a Minolta film body or a full-frame Sony body. It weighs in at 14oz (405 grams) and takes 62mm filters. It ships with a petal lens hood and a carrying case, and is available for around $500.
Note: this is the second sample of this particular lens, the first giving us such bad results that we asked Sony to supply us with a second sample.
Review: Sony 18-200mm retest