Sony NEX lens choices: I am about to list my Sony 18-55 mm and Soy pancake WAL in Ebay, replace both with Sony's 18-200MM lens. The reviews say this lens is a great general purpose...

BobInNJ Loc: In NJ, near Phila. Pa

I am about to list my Sony 18-55 mm and Soy pancake WAL in Ebay, replace both with Sony's 18-200MM lens. The reviews say this lens is a great general purpose lens; some claimed it opened up the NEX way beyond the kit lens. I really don't feel the WAL does m uch. I got romanced by the size and promise of the NEX, have been wrestling with it ever since. Then a few reviewers of the 18-200 made me think this would be a great solution for WAL shots inside houses mostly- my business is in real estate.
any comments?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

The real beauty of the nex is doing in camera sweep panorams with a 20-24mm lens in the vertical or portrait orintation. As a single lens solution I use the 15mm Voigtlander in Leica screw mount ( and 21mm optical VF) with adapter, although it does go slightly magenta in the corners which can be fixed with software. The NEX is not a good camera for tele work IMHO.

BobInNJ Loc: In NJ, near Phila. Pa

thanks muchly. I like pano, too; will look into your suggested choice. dont know if I can afford the adapter and leica set-up- Is there another option that would work well?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I have used the Vivitar 24mm F2 with astounding results - which you could use in any mount adapted. I have also used the Tamron SP 20-40 which also works well with a zoom option....

Peekayoh Loc: UK

Personally, I wouldn't touch an 11x zoom with a barge pole, jack of all trades and master of none.

Unless you already own Leica rangefinder lenses, I would avoid them. They are small but as Imagemeister said, you get smearing and colour casts in the corners.

Interior wideangle is often a problem for a crop camera; what I would ask is what problem did you have with the 16mm lens? It's unlikely that using an 18-200 will bring about an improvement.

BobInNJ Loc: In NJ, near Phila. Pa

the 16mm didnt look much different than the 18-55mm. ,aybe there are WA settings in the NEX-5 I dont know about. ty for your interest

Peekayoh Loc: UK

At the wide end, 2mm makes quite a bit of difference but I guess it depends upon the subject and no, there are no additional setting in camera for the wide angle.

I would say though that the 16mm e-mount pancake does not offer the performance you should expect from a prime, the corners are pretty abysmal. I think that adding the WA adapter would make it a lot worse.

You also have to remember that 16mm on a crop camera is not really "super wide" as the FOV is more akin to 24mm on Full Frame. If I were in your position taking interiors on the NEX, I would seriously consider the manual focus Samyang 14mm/2.8 and if it's not wide enough stitch two frames together or try the panorama mode.

You could try stitching or panorama with the 18-55mm to see if it's practicable.

BobInNJ Loc: In NJ, near Phila. Pa

Freaking great advice, my man! I am off to try pano first, look into the other lens you mentioned.Thank you SO much!

Peekayoh Loc: UK

One more thing, I suggested stitching frames because, with interiors, you often need to use flash to supplement ambient and that's not possible with Panorama mode.

Use a tripod and level it; the pitch and yaw display on the NEX is a big help.

MtnMan Loc: ID

imagemeister wrote:

The real beauty of the nex is doing in camera sweep panorams with a 20-24mm lens in the vertical or portrait orintation. As a single lens solution I use the 15mm Voigtlander in Leica screw mount ( and 21mm optical VF) with adapter, although it does go slightly magenta in the corners which can be fixed with software. The NEX is not a good camera for tele work IMHO.

I didn't think it did that! Off to test it.

Neubee Loc: Wisconsin

Bob, do you live near Paulsboro, NJ ?? I have relatives there..

MtnMan Loc: ID

BobInNJ wrote:

I am about to list my Sony 18-55 mm and Soy panca... (show quote)

I'm still wanting ideas on the original question asking about telephoto. I'll also use this camera for opportunistic wildlife, and don't feel 200 mm is enough. While I won't replicate my Sigma 150-500 for this camera, I think 300 mm at least. Suggestions?

Is there also a Nikon lens adapter?

Peekayoh Loc: UK

The original question was about wide angle rather than tele but it's a fair question. I don't think the NEX is all that suited for Tele lenses as they are not going to be small and Sony only provides the 18-200 lenses so I guess they think so too.

If it were me and only because I have one, I would use the Alpha 70-300/4.5-5.6 G SSM on the Sony LA-EA2 adapter which adds phase detect AF to the NEX. My other choice would be the Minolta 500/8 cat lens, both lenses are relatively small.

Yes there are Nikon/NEX adapters and you can get them with Aperture rings to suit the G-lenses but you are not going to get autofocus so you will have to rely on focus peaking and focus magnify functions.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

MtnMan wrote:

I'm still wanting ideas on the original question asking about telephoto. I'll also use this camera for opportunistic wildlife, and don't feel 200 mm is enough. While I won't replicate my Sigma 150-500 for this camera, I think 300 mm at least. Suggestions?

Is there also a Nikon lens adapter?

The Pentax 300mm F4 M green star for K mount lens is a work of art ! Very compact, but will only focus to 12 feet.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Peekayoh wrote:

The original question was about wide angle rather ... (show quote)

Thanks!