Customer Reviews

Sony SAL18250 Alpha DT 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 High Magnification Zoom Lens w/Lens Hood

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Short version: This is a great lens... very well made, effective, versatile, and performs impressively. A great investment for anyone wanting a lens that really can 'do it all'.

Long version: I got this lens as an upgrade from my original Sony 18-55 lens, since I wanted a lens with a little more zoom capability (and some close-up as well) without having to switch back and forth between the 18-55 for wide angle and a bulky telephoto for higher zoom.

I was worried a little bit by reviews of the similar Tamron 18-250 lens because some reviewers claimed it had slower focus times and zoom slip.

Well, with this lens, I've not noticed any difference in focusing speed or had any problem with the zoom slipping; the zoom itself is tight and the autofocus is spot-on (I have mediocre eyesight, so AF is pretty important for me). Colors are vibrant, the view is clear... everything is good with this lens so far. I'm very pleased and not at all remorseful about dropping the cash for it.

I've only had a chance to take a few hundred shots with this lens so far, but I'm fairly impressed. It's an excellent zoom lens considering the large range it covers; making it a very good "all-purpose" lens. It's clearly better than the kit lens in their overlapping range, focuses pretty quick, and offers much greater zoom, but there's still some noticeable barrel distortion at 18 to 21mm or so, and some softness and light loss at the tele end as expected. You can definately beat this lens with the right smaller range lenses or primes, but you'll pay a LOT more and have more to carry around.

My wife uses the Tamron 18-250 on her Alfa 100. The results are good no more, no less and it is difficult to focus when there is not enough contrast.
I must say I used this lens on my Minolta 7D. I got faster results with this camera but again the pictures were good, no more no less.
With the Sony 18-250 on my (new) Alfa 700, this is another story. This couple is damn fast; only in a few occasions did I have some difficulties to focus. I shot already 1000 pictures at the sea side, in mountain areas, in a desert; I am happy to report that I got accurate colors (those I actually saw) and distortion free pictures.
If you want to travel light, the couple Alfa 700/Sony 18-250 is a must. It is a kind of standard lens along with the Sony 11-18 that I rate 5 stars too.
Simply amazing.

While many people are happy with the Sony DT 18-200 zoom lense, the DT 18-250 is even better. For just a bit more this one has stainless steel mount and longer zoom. The size is surprisingly compact almost the same size with the DT 18-200. It is an awesome lens, I am happy with mine.

I purchased this lens in July. It's rarely been off of my A700 since then. It covers such an incredible range for the shooting I do-mostly landscape and nature photos. I've already taken over 3500 shots with it. I have no problems with the focus speed. I haven't used my 18-70 or 75-300 kit lenses for more than 10 shots since I purchased this lens...there's no reason to.

If you're considering this lens, I recommend it. You won't regret it.

I've read a lot about super zooms and in a lot of reviews I've read that they are not very sharp. I wasn't expecting tack sharp, just a good lens that I could take with me when I didn't want to tote a camera bag, but I got a great lens. I don't know if it's just my copy, but I get great sharp shots throughout the len's range, with accurate and good color. Okay, it's not a prime, but it's as good or better than the kit lens that came with my Alpha 550 and that had no range at all.

Yes the lens isn't as fast as others, but to go from the equivalent of 27 all the way up to 375 in one lens that is this compact is quite an achievement. And it focuses fairly fast, not as fast as some of my shorter zooms, but fast and accurate enough for me and it has no problem keeping its focus tracking moving subjects.

The build quality is what you'd expect from Sony, better I think than the Sigma lens I almost bought instead. It feels good on the camera, well balanced, and that's important when you're holding a lens that weighs about a pound, pointing it at a soccer star, for any length of time. I didn't use this lens all that much on my Alpha 100, because of the noise issue at ISO 800 and above, but I've got an Alpha 550 now and noise isn't an issue for me at higher ISOs so I find that I'm keeping the lens on my camera much more than before. I can't recommend this lens highly enough.

I have a number of lenses for my Sony A350. This is my "everyday" lens. It has a wide enough range to take wide angle to telephoto shots. The only minor flaw is that it is not the fastest lens out there in terms of aperture, but in the midrange, it is fast enough for most shooting. If you are only going to get one lens, seriously consider this. It works flawlessly with the a350 (and my friend's a300.) It weighs just over a pound and considering the zoom range, that isn't bad. Also, when locked, it is fairly small and fits easily into camera cases/pockets. I have taken about 1000 shots and it produces very good results. I only gave it 4 stars because of the aperture, but I wouldn't really hold that against your "basic" lens.

I have this lens on a Sony SLT-a55. I read many reviews that described the various kit lenses as worthless. I tried the kit lens out in the store and found that what people were writing was true. I then compared the 18-200 to the 18-250. All the clerk in the store had to say was that the 18-250 was a little more expensive. What I noticed immediately was that the 18-250 felt like it was made by a different manufacturer...the zoom and heft felt more significant and of a superior quality. Indoors it was difficult to see much of a difference between 200mm and 250mm, but the quality difference was obvious. The 18-250 was by far taking better pictures without softness around the corners, and even when zooming at 250mm standing a few feet away from a flower gave amazing depth of field and clarity where it was needed. I bought this lens on here and have been very impressed with the results I am getting. I highly recommend this over the kit lens (so just buy the body and use the extra $100 towards this:), and I also recommend it over the 18-200 which feels super cheap and gets sloppy past 150mm. Hope this helps.Sony SAL18250 Alpha DT 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 High Magnification Zoom Lens w/Lens Hood

The Sony SAL18250 is a great everyday lens that will do 99% of what the average enthusiast needs a lens to do. It's fast, light, and versatile. I've owned this lens for just two months now, but have taken over a thousand pictures with it, and it does not disappoint. I currently own 6 high-quality (Sony and Tamron) lenses, and this is the one I always return to. It is not perfect, but what is? I couldn't be happier with a lens with so great a range as the 18-250mm Sony.

This is a very versatile 27-375 35mm-equivalent lens. I'm using it on the A550. Image quality is pretty good as verified by independent reviews if you make a search on the web.

The drawbacks I've noticed are (1) a high minimum aperture and (2) a somewhat noisy autofocus function. However,the only real alternative would be to go for f/2.8 lenses that cost around USD2,500 each and you would need two or three of them to cover the same focal range. Alternatively you could go for very sensitive (f/1.4) fixed length lenses, something that wouldn't be so bad because you can crop using Photoshop. However, Sony has no wideangle lens of this nature available for the APS-C format. In that case you would have to buy a full-frame Sony camera.

Sony also has an 18-200 lens. Since it is almost the same price as the 18-250, the choice of the latter seems obvious.

I give this lense five stars for the good all round character and the good value-for-money ratio. There are cleary other lenses out there with better techical performance.