DrJ

Thanks to suggestions from fellow Hogs, I bought a new SONY 16-50. I own two SONY 18-55 lenses--one black that was kitted to my SONY NEX-7 and one silver that I picked up cheap at a pawn shop. I decided to compare the three lenses along with a legacy Vivitar 24/2.8 MF lens made by Tokina in 1977. I used a tripod on a bright hazy day, hi-res jpegs, and tested apertures from wide open to f8 at 16mm or 18mm, 24mm, 50mm and then 55mm with the 18-55s. Here is a summary of my findings. All 3 SONY lenses were at least good on the 24 MPx NEX-7. The 18-55black and 16-50 were similar in IQ overall with subtle differences at various apertures and focal lengths but overall about equal. The Vivitar-Tokina was at least as sharp as these two SONY lenses at 24mm, but the newer SONYs had an edge in contrast. The big surprise is that the 18-55silver (the word silver for identity) had more vivid colors, better contrast and sharper resolution than the the other two SONY lenses! I tested with UV filters to protect the lenses. The 18-55black had an expensive B&W KR 1.5 filter, the 18-55silver had an unnamed Chinese MC filter, and the 16-50 had an XIT Pro Series Digital filter that was bundled with 2 other filters and the lens by Abes of Maine (I ordered before I saw the recent string). I intend to spot check these results without filters. So, the 16-50 is a decent lens, I can't yet explain why the 18-55silver was borderline fantastic and noticeably superior, and the legacy Viv-Tokina 24/2.8 was a sharp lens despite being 41 years old. DrJ

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

IMO, this negates any conclusion about this test ! .....

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Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

Introduces a whole new set of variables! No conclusion possible.

DrJ

I appreciate your point. I thought the B&W filter would give the edge to 18-55black compared with the cheap Chinese filter on the 18-55Silver--the results work the wrong way. I took one of the filters off and the presumably plastic threads on the 18-55 have high friction, are a pain, and easy to strip. I think the important uncontrolled variable was the ambient lighting changed slightly throughout the shoot. Nevertheless, the conclusion that all 3 are decent lenses was apparent. Thanks, DrJ

DrJ

I spot checked 18-55black vs 18-55silver at 55 mm and f5.6, ISO 100 on a brick wall with typical small cracks. I removed the filters. Looking at the LCD on the camera, 18-55silver was still better than 18-55black. It was a indeed a pita to put the filters back on. I much prefer the threads on Canon EF lenses. DrJ