Name: Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DT SAM A-Mount Zoom Lens
Brand: Sony
SKU: ISO18552
Price: 218.00 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 4.2 (19 reviews)

Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DT SAM A-Mount Zoom Lens

Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DT

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Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DT 

Buy: Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DT SAM A-Mount Zoom Lens Color: Black, Compatibility: Sony A100, Sony A3000, Sony A37, Sony A390, Sony A560, Sony A65, Focus Type: Auto Focus, Lens Format: APS-C, Lens Mount: Sony A, Lens Series: Sony DT

The DT 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 SAM is a 3x (approx.) zoom lens designed specifically for use with DSLRs that have an APS-C type sensor. It is exceptionally light and compact, with a weight of only 210g (approx.) and dimensions of 69.5mm (max. diameter) x 69mm (length) that make it very easy to handle and carry.  The DT 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 SAM's zoom covers the frequently used 18mm to 55mm range (35mmformat equivalent: 27-82.5mm), and provides a field of view similar to that of the human eye. As a result, it is an excellent lens for everyday use, capable of handling everything from snapshots and group photos to landscapes and portraits.  Two aspherical elements and one ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass element are incorporated into the optics to assure high image quality with excellent contrast and resolution all the way out to the periphery of the lens. In addition, a circular aperture mechanism is used to assure smoother, more beautiful background defocusing.  The DT 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 SAM's focusing lens group is driven by a new Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM) in the lens itself, instead of a motor in the camera body. Responding instantly to AF drive control signals from the camera, the motor delivers power with smoothness and precision. The designed shape of the rear lens element shade has been updated in the SAL18552 to help suppress internal reflections and reduces flare and ghost for higher performance and better image quality.  With a class-leading minimum focusing distance of just 0.25 meters and a maximum magnification ratio of 0.34, the DT 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 SAM can also be used to take macro closeups.

Bought with a68 as a kit. Despite all the negative reports I find it a very good lens for what it is meant as. Used far more expensive lens with worse results. Completely happy.

Underated

Excellent lens for mid-range photographs and videos.

DT 18–55 mm F3.5–5.6 SAM II

I purchased a brand new Sony SLT A58 complete with this lens. After realising that the other lenses offered by sony as kit sets included a lens hood as standard I found that the lens itself is fine but to my dismay a decent ("flower" or shaped) reversible lens hood which fastens to the bayonet fitting provided on the lens is not available - even from Sony. Any proprietary shaped lens hoods screw onto the filter ring and hence rotate with the focusing ring - which is hopeless. My previous much cheaper (Fuji) Bridge camera had this as standard and was found to be very convenient in use ( per the photos below). In this respect only I expected better from Sony who as a manufacturer I have always respected

Great lens let down by rubbish lens hood options

Excellent Quality

This came with my A58 three lens pack, it is quick to focus and superior to the DT 18-70, and the DT 18-55 SAM I. The results are great with no noticeable low points. In times of low light it is inferior to my DT 50 prime lens but that is tone expected!

A great quality kit lens doing a good job at tasks

Very good Lens. Makes excellent pictures. I recommend.

Good Lens

I purchased this to replace an earlier version of the same lens (SAM 18-55) because the zoom used to stick and it could not be used for video. A basic design fault that was well known!! This one was soft due to condensation build up. After a couple of days it cleared and is now OK. It was supplied by Sony UK as a split from combined lens camera combo and mailed without any packaging, just a bit of bubble wrap. You need to do something about this. Good value for money though.

Much better than the mark 1

Bought it along with an A58 to use on my A55 (and was going to keep a long zoom on the A58 body), unfortunately my A55 suddenly stopped working, will not take photos although very occasionally it comes to life and shows the parameters display, shows focus points, but no shutter release and no view (just blank) through the evf/lcd. Sent the A58 and lenses back, if the A55 is an example of Sony quality I will stick with my Panasonic FZ200. From the one use I had of the SAM II lens it seemed a big improvement on the original 18-55 on my A55. I recently took early ill health retirement and the A58/A55 set up with the 18-55mm SAM II and a long zoom was going to be my long term kit because of limited finances, it has left me very dissapointed.

Nice lens but returned it

This lens produces outstanding images with my A55 camera. However, zooming in and out is not smooth at all. Matter of fact, it is choppy at best. This should not be in a lens of otherwise high quality. Quality control slipped on this one.

Quality Control Slipped On This One

Very well made lens for the money. Works very well and the images are crisp and clear. I am very happy with this lens in its over all use.

Great lens

I have to finish testing. There MUST be a sweet spot or two on this lens! Overall, it is soft. My Sony prime lenses 35, 50 , 85 are wonderful and were a great price. The 70-300 G is wonderful, but for a thousand, it should be. (It was a gift; can't spend that kind of money.) If I could afford Zeiss, I would buy that, but I can't. Love my Alpha a77 camera!

18-55 You get what you pay for.

The SAL1855 is the kind of zoom lens that is often commonly packaged in a single or twin lens Alpha camera kit.

It was included with my DSLR-A390 in a single zoom lens kit (as I own other A-mount lenses like ones from Minolta-so the single lens kit suited me the best).

As it lens, the plastic lens munt is adequate and expected of such a lens but unlike my MInolta 28-85mm zoom lens for instance there is no distance scale window for manual focusing.

What I like most is the comfortable focus and zoom rings which work smoothly. Build quality-feels lightweight but good enough and sturdy .

Also with a 27-82.5mm equivilant focal length, the lens has nice wide-angle coverage at 27mm and telephoto coverage at 82.5mm (comes close the 85mm end on my Minolta 28-85mm)

A all-rounder kit lens

For an inexpensive kit lens for Sony/Minolta users, this lens is a true bargain, especially when purchased used. Much better than the older Sony/Minolta 18-70mm kit lens. Highly recommended.

Inexpensive and Very nice kit lens

The standard 18-55mm lens included in most Sony DSLRs. Great for general purpose shooting in a variety of light conditions. It is versatile enough to do portraits or macros with the depth of field effect. The autofocus motor is quick and the manual focus is smooth throughout the entire range.

The main issues I had with it is the focus through the Live View seemed almost unnoticably out of focus at either the 18mm or 55mm ends and at all ranges a slight soft edge on the focused subject when reviewed during post editing.

Overall a decent lens to start with but not so much for the adept.

Budget General Purpose Lens

This is a fantastic lens you should get upon purchase of a camera, (stock lens) I loved it. Check out my pics using my friend Bianca as the model in both pics. :)

Fantastic lens (Recommended upon camera Purchase)

I purchased the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 because of the reviews as a good performer and constant f-stop of 2.8. Well, I took direct comparison shots with the Kit Zoom and my Tamron Zoom, and the kit zoom was sharper and had better color and contrast then the Tamron could produce at the same f-stops of the Sony kit zoom.

Get this kit zoom if you don't have one, as it is a great performer, and weighs half as much as the 3rd party junk. at 1/3 the price.

If you need low-light shots, don't use a zoom. Don't fall for the constant aperture ploy spouted about as a reason to buy a 3rd party zoom like the Sigma or Tamron, and that the image quality is on par or better then this kit lens. It is NOT, and you have to use aperture priority to get it close to the kit lens.

At f/2.8 with the Tamron and Sigma, all shots are soft when compared to the kit zoom for same focal length shots. Stick with the kit zoom for zoom shots. Upgrade to the Zeiss zoom. Forget the Sigma or Tamron lenses.

For low light shots, get a fast Sony prime lens. You'll need the sharpness in low light shots, and the faster f-stop when compared to a zoom.

Lens is Better the Tamron 17-50 and Sigma 18-50

The 18-55 lens came with my camera. I have owned it for about a year and have decided to finally purchase a bigger zoom since I am getting comfortable with using a SLR. I would recommend this lense for beginners use. I have included an image that was taken on the first day I had the camera. Not too bad for my first time.

Not bad for standard lens

This is a great Lens ive had it on my A350 for more than 2 years

This lens came as a kit lens with my A550. What I like about it is that it is small and light and the 18-55 range is quite nice to have. I cant really complain about any distortion at the corners even at 18mm. But I have a few other higher end lenses and the difference in sharpness and color has made me stop using this lens unless I really have to. It is my widest lens so far so sometimes I have no choice but to use it. However to be fair, it is a budget lens. It never claimed to be a WOW !! its just a normal lens with acceptable quality and colors. Gets the job done. But not as well as some of the more expensive lenses such as the carl zeiss 16-80 for example. Oh and the auto focus is blind in low light situations. You really have to keep trying to get it to focus.

Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DT SAM A-Mount Zoom Lens

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