Looking forward to this lens (Sony 18-104 OSS F4)...

I already did.

Yes, distortion correction in post is possible. But why should I buy a new lens, when 50% of the shots have to be corrected?
No, I gave it away and will stay away from Sony lenses in future, too. It's a sad thing, because the AF on the FS's is nice and really usefull in certain moments. The lenses are really lightweight and have a nice overall look and feel.

But this kind of optical shortcoming is so strange, that I won't think again of buying nice, light AF lenses for my FS. If I really need AF, which I never did, I'll go with the 18-200 kitlens. It looks awfull, but at least the footage doesn'T look that way.
 
Well that's disappointing... What's the point of making a video-specific E-mount lens that isn't compatible with video-specific E-mount cameras?
 
It's obviously absolutely not understandable why they would make this lens incompatible for the NEX-FS series unless they might have another trick up their sleeve, such as a more professional, better quality and ofcourse more expensive lens specifically for video. If this is not the case, they've just made a massive mistake and will lose lots of potential buyers. It's really a shame because we can't use the AF, powerzoom etc. with any other (good) lenses... And ofcourse we all know that the SELP18200 is not even close to as great as we hoped it to be...
 
Infilmer said:
It's obviously absolutely not understandable why they would make this lens incompatible for the NEX-FS series unless they might have another trick up their sleeve, such as a more professional, better quality and ofcourse more expensive lens specifically for video. If this is not the case, they've just made a massive mistake and will lose lots of potential buyers. It's really a shame because we can't use the AF, powerzoom etc. with any other (good) lenses... And ofcourse we all know that the SELP18200 is not even close to as great as we hoped it to be...
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It is highly understandable; they want a cheap lens to sell with NEX cameras, price is king and the melding of hardware and software to create the right image hugely reduces the cost of the lens.

The only problem here is communication as to who/what the lens if for and the lack of a 'pro' option for 100/700/F3 users

one can hope that a FW update can incorporate the right SW/Meatada to make it work right.

S
 
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Frankly Im not surprised that something is too good to be true.. usually that is the case.
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as my Grandma said: if something seems to be to good to be true it aint true in most of all cases.
 
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Sam tells a very valid anecdote on his site.

All lenses have weird distortions, i spend a fair amount of time undistorting and redistoring in post so i'm probably more aware than most. But what i find weird about this lens is why it exists. Having that level of poor optical performance to start with (because lets face it, undistorting it seriously reduces quality anyway) in order to get that range seems, well, stupid.

A small amount of distortion is fine. A reduced focal range, fine. I mean it's already f4, that makes life very much easier optically. As soon as you go below f2.8 you're in orders of magnitude more difficult designs (check out Erwin Puts essays on the subject)

So why an 18-104 f4 with such poor performance?

The sigma f4 24-105 by comparison is stunning so it's not like it's impossible.

This would put me off Sony designed lenses for life really. Remember this is a G pro lens! Under no circumstances should they release such a poor piece of hardware.

Thank god for Sony Zeiss partnership...

cheers
Paul
 
I don't think that I have to aplaude for the lens, that I won't hardly ever use. Yes it's cheap...

And yes, optically poor and cheap design can be corrected in post. But it doesn't make any sense to compare still photo lenses for 40Mpixels 14bit RAW data output with lenses for cameras with 8bit 4:2:0 AVCHD output. No it doesn't, at least for me. As a pro photographer for some years now, I can tell the post workflow isn't pretty much the same. This Sony lens is no PRO lens, it's a nice cheapo for general use like run'n gun, documentary and interviews. It's not meant for serious feature or corporate film production with lots of post processing time, knowledge and money. It's a good to go lens for small budget productions.

Does it deliver here? No.It's that easy for me.

Whoever likes this lens and tells me Sony did a great job giving us this G labeled 18-105 - nice! Buy it and use it, it's a bargain.
But it's not for me.
 
morgan_moore said:
I guess it exists because with the right in camera software (nex not fs cams) it probably works 'fine'.
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Debatable, the amount of correction it would need would really pull apart even a 16mpix resolution. The sigma isn't that much more expensive and doesn't need any correction, at least not to get a normal image.

And the fact that it's on some video cameras is truly mind boggling because they wouldn't have the inherent resolution to fix is a way that would look acceptable.

Still think it's weird!

cheers
Paul
 
paulcurtis said:
And the fact that it's on some video cameras is truly mind boggling because they wouldn't have the inherent resolution to fix is a way that would look acceptable.
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The video cams it is on start with high mp chips do they not? - loads of data to correct the EA50 or whatever its called is a 12mp still cam with video mode is it not?

Ultimately Im probably not a fan - I don't like any of my Sony lenses apart from the 16mm pancake, even the 18-55 is super distorted.. but they all cost nothing compared to my 90's glass which was costly at the time.

I was just trying to clarify that FS cameras are not listed as compatible, probably with very good reason, and people are complaining that the lens does not work with those cams. Sony never said it would work did they?

At least Hasselblad made the situation clear. Incidentally we know there is some tie up between Blad and Sony you can bet Sony are all over the R+D Blad did for Phocus.

S
 
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This is really bad news. Was looking forward to this lens, to use on my NEX-EA50 and then the 18-200 PZ on the FS700R when I get that, and use those two cams for filming live shows (+ a NEX 3N w/ 50mm ƒ1.8 as third cam). Wonder if it's as bad on the EA50 as on the FS100/700? The EA50 is APS-C while and not S35, maybe that makes a difference and the distortion is not quite as bad?

For live shows, powered zooms are essential to me. The 18-200 is a bit too slow on the EA50 but feel it could work on the FS700 as that camera is a bit more light sensitive...
 
The sensor size is near identical so will be the distortion.

For fast zooms I never used the servo capabilities of the 18-200PZ.
I just use my hand on the non-PZ version...
 
The lens looks pretty good for what it is - cheap and cheerful. The problem lies with the fact it only works on specific cameras and not across the NEX range. As soon as it was announced I checked on the website and saw that the FS wasn't included on the compatible products list and with a little more investigation (initially I wanted to now what functions were available, zoom rocker etc) found out from Sony that it was likely to be unsuitable for the FS. Here is their response at the time:

All E-mount "powered zoom" lenses can be controlled by FS700's zoom rocker (FW Ver2 or later) -SEL P 18200 is recommended (which comes with FS700RH and EA50EH). Other powered zoom lens may have vignette or distortion at the edge of image as FS700 doesn't have software compensation for that.-For LANC remote control, the followings can work;
　　Rec Start/Stop、ZOOM、FOCUS、PUSH_AUTO_IRIS、EXPAND_FOCUS、PHOTO
-Other functions could work but are not guaranteed.

I still held out hope and had one on order but felt it prudent to see how they would perform first. I wish now I had posted this info on this forum as expectations would be somewhat managed but in all honesty assumed most potential buyers would've done the same research.
 
I usually film in less than ideal locations, balancing on unstable benches, sitting on top of things etc, whatever it takes to get a good angle/view without the crowd in the way. The power zoom and face detection focus (when pressing the 'push auto') has worked really well for me in those situations. And with power zooms I can zoom with the right hand and do focus with the left. Since the [18-200] lens is not parfocal it needs to focus as it zooms...
 
So beyond greed or apathy is there a reason Sony can't issue a firmware update so this lens could work on the FS cameras?
 
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