iamimdoc

I am a serious, competent hobbyist, not a professional. Mainly landscape, Architectural stuff ( castles, buildings, etc), some family, some wildlife, some flowers but no sports.

I bought the above Sony camera with the kit lens, 18-50 mm. I bought this mainly to get a lighter camera than my Nikon D300 w 18-200 mm zoom. Also wanted to try something new, get live view, etc

I am trying to keep things light and easy to deal with and am considering the 18-200 mm Sony lens. Makes life simple, no issues with changing lenses, relatively light. Kit lens sort of wasted though.

Would consider other lens options to keep things light and get more extension at the far end.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Lens does not have to be Sony but I want no loss of Sony functionality, no “gotchas”, no incompatibilities.

Thanks for suggestions.

repleo Loc: Boston

The Sony 18-135mm OSS is over a 1/4 of a pound lighter than the 18-200mm and less expensive. I don't think you really need 200mm for the subjects you mentioned except the 'wildlife' and 200 mm is probably not going to cut it for wildlife.
My favorite is the 18-105 f4.0 G OSS. It is nearly as heavy as the 18-135 but is constant f4.0 which is great. I shoot most of the same stuff you mentioned and I rarely yearn for anything longer than 105mm .

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

The 18-200 is a decent all-around lens, even if it’s not real light, but it’s a good companion to the A6400. Don’t forget that Sony cameras have a feature called Clear Image Zoom. CIZ effectively doubles your lense’s zoom range. In the case of the 18-200, it gives you an effective reach of 400mm without perceptible loss of image quality. It’s a neat feature, but only works in JPEG mode. CIZ is a kind of digital “zoom” that employs a sort of pixel shifting to attain the extended zoom range. I can’t explain the exact physics of it, but it works.

Otherwise, I have the A6300, and my lens is the 18-135 f/3.5-5.6. It’s a great lens, and my kit 16-50 sits, mostly unused, in the camera backpack. Same for the kit 55-210. It’s an ok lens, and not as bad as some make it out to be, but I’m not a bird or wildlife photographer, so the 18-135 works for me.

sergiohm

I also recommend the Sony 18-105 f4.0 G OSS

User ID

Sounds good, I went with the 18-105/4.0 and never miss the longer FLs, but if you need them you need them. As to wildlife ? Everyone will say 200mm is too short. You say you wanna keep it simple. Use the 18-200 and ignore the wildlife thaz out of reach. Your best shots will be the closer ones anywho. Waaaaaaaay too many Hogsters think it’s a crime to forego ANY photo op. They think a whole lotta other silly BS as well.

Do not hesitate to get an 18-135 or 18-200 “keep it simple” zoom. If someday you actually need a big “safari” lens that will be someday, but now is now.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

You could get the Sigma MC3 adapter and the Tamron 18-400mm in Canon mount ..... I am using the 6400 with the Metabones IV Canon lenses and working well.
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billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Get the vertical grip.

HiFromSusan

I had an a6000 that had to be returned four times (4!!) during the year that I owned it. They had to replace the shutter curtain twice, and it still didn't work. The a6300 they sent me as a replacement was just as bad -- during the first week it refused to operate in playback mode. So, I am simply not interested in any more Sony products.

However, if you are looking for a lightweight mirrorless camera and excellent lenses, I would advise looking into micro 4/3s. The Olympus bodies all have 5-axis in-body stabilization, even in their beginner models. And they are much less expensive than the maybe-it'll-work-maybe-it-won't Sony's.

With that said, I am pretty sure that the OM-D EM5 once used Sony sensors, but that doesn't bother me. The EM-5 bodies are excellent, and there are some very good Panny and Olly lenses as well. The crop factor is 2.0, so you get the equivalent of double the lens length.

Here's something I read that helped convince me to make the switch: https://mattsuess.com/goodbye-sony-wasnt-you-was-olympus-why-i-switched-part-1/

spaceytracey Loc: East Glacier Park, MT

I have a Sony DT 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 autofocus for sale. $176.00. Like new because I upgraded.