Product Reviews

This lens is very good. The images are always clear and the autofocus is excellent.

I bought this lens to partner my SLT A65 instead of the standard lens and what a great combo they make, I just love it. Light and versatile, this lens is my main travel companion and apart from an occasional switch to my 50 mm 1.4 lens, it is permanently fixed to my camera thereby avoiding the risk of dirt and dust getting to my sensor. The 18 - 250 mm is without doubt the best zoom lens I have ever owned. This equates to 27 - 375 mm with my APS/C sensor. Images are as near to pin sharp as you can get for this type of lens and with the clarity it produces, I don't ever need to consider buying fixed focus lenses (except perhaps a macro lens in the future) as the difference cannot be that great. I am more than happy with this lens and I plan on keeping it for a long time. Auto focus is very quick in good light and when carrying it around it can be locked so there is no zoom creep. Manual focus is smooth and responsive. Overall this is an excellent lens in it's class and one that I would not be without.

Good, all rounder Sony 18-250 lens, expensive though.

I bought this Lens to use on a A65, I was lucky enough to travel on a 3 month cruise around South America and the 18 - 250 Zoom never left the camera. From the heat of the Amazon to the chill of Cape Horn it was faultless

This lense was part of a kit buy with the A65. I have used this lense and some of my old Minolta glass with the A65 and this lense does NOT pale in comparison. Even though it isn't a Zeiss lense and not sure how much better a Sony G lense might be, this one with it's wide breadth of 18 to 250 does well. I do notice some lense creep when the camera is at severe anlges and can be frustrating when trying to accomplish HDRs. There is some abberation on the edges when zoomed out or high contrast. The first image below is a pan image from the A65 - these are a lower res since it is a pan shot. The second image with the plants and butterfly will show what the clarity of the images can be. I do agree that a mild highpass filter in PS helps these images if real crispness is needed but for the money this lense is great. I had the panoramic shot printed at 30" at a print house on a high end printer and have had two pro photographers compliment the A65 and this lense. Not bad since they use Zeiss lenses and have the high end Canons. I would rate this 5 stars for the lense it self but in regards to other lenses out there I know it isn't the top. The focusing isn't the quickest but it finds the subject and is a little loud when doing so.

I've only just bought this lens .... yes, I know I'm a bit late to the party but I'm already loving it. I bought my Alpha 300 a couple of years ago and I've been switching between the 18-70 lens that came with it (still a jolly good lens) and the 75-300 that I purchased shortly after. However when I'm travelling and likely to be in spots where changing the lens isn't ideal, this new 18-250 is just the job. It's compact and my initial pictures have been great - I can see why people were saying this is their 'default' or 'go to' lens. I've got to spend some more time using it but so far I'm delighted.

This lens is great for all-around shooting and takes beautiful photo's in any lighting condition. However, I do notice "lens creep" (extracting/retracting) when taking photo's in a vertical position. This is probably normal with "high-zoom lenes" but very frustrating when shooting in an upward position. Other than that, this lens is highly recommended for the advanced photographer who wants an all-in-one high zoom lens without having to change lenses..

I am a total amateur, shooting only on preset and automatic settings. I know, but you had enough reviews from experts, you need one from someone that understand very little about photography and only enjoys shooting pictures for fun. I have been able to get excellent pictures with my Sony Alpha 55 and this lens.

l have been using this lens for nearly 4 months and without autofocus having hard times. It is a take and go lens but without autofocus it is nothing.

I LOVE this lens. It zooms really well. I took great pictures from the stands at our high school football stadium (and it is a big one). I was in the box at the top of the stadium and got pictures that looked like I was on the field. Great close ups too. Worth the money.

I purchased this lens to complete my A55 kit. I use a Sony Zeiss wide and zoom. However, the Sony Zeiss line has no long tele-zoom lens in its compliment. I am returning home to Ireland in a couple of weeks where winter's effects on the the mountains is magical. The SAL 18-250mm with an ND/Polarizer (for any ice or snow) will be a perfect lens to roam about with. Here in Manhattan, the tight compression (see image) of the tele at the 250mm position gives some interesting results. I am looking forward to playing with this lens in the countryside. Thanks, Sony!

A picture says more than thousand words. Mounted on a Sony Alpha A55 Very pleased Roland

I have had this lens for about a year now and it rarely comes off of my camera. I do use my 70-400 for longer range and birding when planned for, and my 50mm 1.7 for indoor shooting but this is a perfect "take a walk and shoot some pictures" everyday workhorse. Love it

Purchased this lens with the a550 6 months ago and have used it in many situations and have yet to be disappointed. Bought it because I was replacing a Minolta 7000i and most of the equipment was compatible. Although not a Macro lens, I was able to step back a little, zoom in, and capture the enclosed photo.

very useful, you can do everything with it,except macro is not so good.

Purchased for my Alpha 350. Just returned from a winter river cruise on the Rhine river and could not have been more pleased with using this lens with my 350! It is simply a terrific all purpose lens that leverages the capabilities of my Sony DSLR camera.

With the exception of the 18-55 kit lens I've shot only with Minolta glass, til now. After using this lens I will defiantly be looking to get more alpha lens' as my budget permits. I uploaded the pic of the duck to show the sharpness at long range as well as the colors you can reproduce with this lens. I don't how much the image will be shrunk but believe me the original is crisp. As for the color; this image is 100% as shot, no modifications were made. The second image is just an example of the bokeh this lens produces. So far bokeh is average to good, in my opinion. I have not taken a pic where the bokeh really impressed me nor have I taken one where the bokeh bothered me. Most often the bokeh has been pleasing. The auto focus has been great. Reasonably fast and very quiet compared to my old Minolta AF glass. Smoother and more quiet than the 18-55 kit lens as well. The grip is similar to the kit lens but slightly finer ribbing. It's comfortable but does seem to attract lint. I don’t particularly like the manual focus on this lens. The grip is fine, same grip as the zoom ring… but the rotation feels “gravely”. The good thing is I rarely go to the manual focus on this lens. I like the size and feel of the lens based on its 62mm size but it's a bit of an odd size which can lead to trouble finding filters... but you can get anything online. The weight is fine for a lens like this; sighter than my old Minolta 75-300. It takes less than a quarter turn to go from 18 all the way out to 250. So you can usually travel the whole length of the zoom without removing your hand, which is nice. The internal focus means that the filter ring does not turn when you zoom or focus which is nice for using circular polarizers. Ok for macro shooting but only in a pinch. At this point I still use the 18-55 kit or most of the time my old Minolta macro. Let me bottom line it... No better lens for alpha's if you want max range. It wont take the place of a quality macro or a 2.8 telephoto for long range, but if you want a one lens solution I don’t think you can do any better. All reviews place it ahead of the Sigma or Tamron versions in overall quality. After using it I'm glad I went with the Sony. Sony is great at starting where other companies leave off and making improvements to their versions. Last but not least, the balance is very nice with the zoom tube retracted or extended. I would have given this 4.5 stars for design but it only allows whole star ratings. Reliability... well it hasn't broken in the few weeks I've had it haha... and value.... I think all this stuff is too expensive so 4 stars. I'm OK with paying the extra 50-100 over the Sigma or Tamron. But since no VR in Sony lens' it would have been nice to see them price more competitively with other 18-250's.

I have rarely taken this lens off my Alpha 350 since purchasing it. Easy to handle & use. I like the fact that I do not have to switch lenses while I am in the middle of shooting (thus keeps dust & dirt out of camera) & love the wide range. As stated, I do get some vingetting, but can usually edit it out. But, for most situations that I shoot in (as an amature/hobbyist), I really like this lens.

I just purchased this lens to replace the lens that came with my A300. The only bad thing I can say is that its too bad it wasn't the lens that came with the camera. Ive only had it 2 weeks but Im very happy with it so far.

I purchased this lens for my Alpha 300 camera. I took the camera to Alaska and was able to take pictures from long distance landscapes and zoom in as if I was much closer. I am very happy with the results. A huge difference from the lens the camera came with.

I have had this lense for two months and continue to be amazed at it's sharpness throughout the focal length. I have taken indoors and outdoors and all my pics have been very pleasing to my eye. I use it with the DSLR-a200 and it works just perfect. Highly recommend for the price.