Sony NEX-7 18-200mm e-mount zoom lens
This lens illustrates what many see as the flaw in the Sony NEX system, small bodies / large lenses. However it is a superzoom with built-in image stabilisation, and even on m4/3 these aren't small. In practice it handles well, and even though as you can see, it won't even sit flat because of the barrel being so large, as an all-in-one solution, its (sort of) unique. (Tamron now make one as well, but the suspicion is that Tamron made this one as well, and since they are part-owned by Sony, that makes sense.)
I tried it on the NEX-5n and thought it performed OK, with all the usual superzoom problems. i.e. CA, fringing, distortion, softish at the telephoto end. I hadn't until today tried it on the NEX-7, and I wasn't expecting anything that great, as I suspected that all those extra pixels would show up its deficiences.
However despite my pessimism, it actually performed very well. Shooting raw files and using the Photoshop lens profile for the lens, I was impressed by the fact that the images were very "clean" and relatively free of CA / fringing. The lens doesn't have biting clarity, but the files sharpened up very nicely in Photoshop with very little increase in noise, and overall I was surprised by just how well it paired up with the NEX-7.
I should also mention that the IS works very well indeed, which considering I took these in an icy wind was a good thing.
I've put these on flickr at full resolution so click on them > flicker > Actions > View all sizes > Original gets you the jpg. I created. I have sharpened them for picture / library reproduction use and they are at jpg 8. This is exactly how they would sell on picture / stock library sites. As ever please be aware that these are © images and will probably end up on stock sites soon. I am happy for you to have a look at them but any other use is prohibited, and its Getty's lawyers, not mine, that will come after you!!
