SONY | SONY STYLE.COM

Lets explain

Pros: Sharp center, smooth AF, very light, nice zoom range, macro

Cons: Chromatic aberration, corner sharpness, very thin MF ring

I own my A100 kit for over a year. I took allot of realy good pictures with it, but once I tried to sell them on shutterstock, I got very disapointed... Chromatic aberration and lock of overall sharpness made my pictures useless for shutterstock. P.S. If you want to have great pictures for your family album, Kit lens is just great, good zoom range, very light and sharp. But if you are thinking of selling your photos, you must have top quality optics like fixed focal length prime lenses, or Zeiss, or G series.

Better than other kit lenses on Famous name DSLR

Pros: " It's all good."

Cons: NONE

I'm no expert, but the range, 18-70 is way better than the 18-50, or 18-55, that you get with Nikon or Canon. Also the color quality and picture quality is very good for a so called "kit lens." I also did some research online, and the 18-70 lens from Sony has an above average rating. My lens came as a "KIT" with the a200 and I am very satisfied because it's a macro, and a zoom lens in one. It's lightweight and easy to use. Manual or auto focus it does what it's supposed to and much more. I've got some very good pictures and like this lens very much.

A Year's Experience

Pros: Size, weight, auto-focus, image stabilization, and price

Cons: None

I bought an Alpha100 with the 18-70mm "kit" lens in December 2007. After using it for a year I am still very pleased with it. The only thing I would like that the ?100 does not have is a tilting LCD screen, and that has been accommodated with the ?300. I have used the camera/lens for the full range of photography and it handled everything I attempted. I am especially pleased with its available light performance. And that was a surprise as the 18-70 is not a particularly fast lens. I think the image stabilization and auto focus are excellent, allowing me to concentrate on composition, and compensating for the average lens speed. I take a lot of indoor photographs of our Yorkshire Terrier and Blue Fronted Amazon parrot. Both are challenging subjects. The Yorkie is a black and silver and his fur is a light magnet and hard to focus on manually. Add the fact that he is in almost constant movement and is a hard subject to keep in focus. The parrot takes a dim view of cameras and goes into flight or fight mode when one gets near her. And the pop and flash of a big flash panics her. But with the 18-70mm lens I can stand back to where she will tolerate me holding a camera pointed at her. And the little on-camera flash provides enough light without spooking either of them. So my Yorkie shots have good definition in the fur without washing out the eyes and teeth. And the highlights in the parrots eyes and feathers of her face are sharp. The reaction time of the camera allows me to get the picture I am trying to take, rather than the back of the parrot's head or departure view of the Yorkie. I am mentally comparing the ?100/18-17mm to a classic German rangefinder camera I use to photograph these animals and it passes the test. I would recommend this camera and lens to anyone without reservation. Sony created a winner. I have been so pleased with the ?100 that I am getting an ?300.

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Overall, I'm dissapointed

Pros: low cost

Cons: poor performance- especially sharpness/clarity

Yes this lens is inexpensive, but the overall sharpness on my included kit lens leave a MUCH to be desired. At first I thought maybe I was just getting unlucky shots, maybe the light was bad. The final straw was a shot @ Thanksgiving. Bright day, great weather, my whole family together for once. The camera was mounted on a tripod, 10 second timer used and the resulting picture was ANYTHING BUT clear and sharp. I would NOT recommend this lens to anyone

Reviewer Images: (click to see full-size image)