One of the pleasant surprises that’s come out of testing the full-frame coverage of APS E-mount lenses on the Sony A7R came when I discovered that the Sony 10-18mm F4 OSS E lens (Amazon | B&H) covers a lot more real estate than needed for the APS-C chip.
While this lens was not designed for Fullframe, the coverage is much better than I expected at 12mm and above. Sony’s SEL 10-18mm F4 OSS E-mount lens actually does a pretty good job from 13-16mm and is particularly good at 14-15mm.
It’s easy to turn off APS-crop in the camera: Menu > Custom Settings 5 > APS-C Capture > Off
For each focal length between 10-18mm, I’ve included the un-corrected iamges along with a second version that was processed using a modified Lightroom lens profile for the SEL 10-18 F4 OSS.
PLEASE NOTE: the Lightroom SEL 10-18mm lens profile was created for APS-C sensors and needs to be re-done for the Full-frame chip. An updated lens profile should straighten out the lines and help clean up the magenta cast in the corners.
Exposure: 1/80 at F8 ISO 200
Everything was processed from RAW captures using Lightroom version 5.3 RC.
The White Overlays show the original APS-C crop.
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 18mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 18mm – No Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 18MM
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 18mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 17mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 17mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 17MM
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 17mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 16mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 16mm – No Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 16MM
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 16mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 15mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 15mm – No Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 15MM
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 15mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 14mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 14mm – No Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 14MM
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 14mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 13mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 13mm – No Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 13MM
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 13mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 12mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 12mm – No Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 12MM
Sony A7R with Sony 10-18 F4 OSS E-mount lens at 12mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 11mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 11mm – No Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 11MM
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 11mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18 F4 OSS at 10mm
Sony A7R with Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS lens at 10mm – No Lens Corrections
CLICK TO VIEW 100% CROP AT 10MM
Sony A7R with SEL 10-18mm lens at 10mm – Modified Lightroom Lens Corrections
Bottom line, this lens is not Zeiss glass, but it’s much better than I thought it would be. I’d recommend shooting a bit loose so you can crop so you can crop from the sides. No need to crop top and bottom of the frame unless you’re in love with the 2×3 crop.
from 14-18mm plan to crop 5% off the sides 7360 > 6992 px
from 11-13mm plan to crop 10% off the sides 7360 > 6624 px
Don’t even bother shooting at 10mm
Tests shown were shot at F8. Vignetting is pretty much the same at 4 and 5.6, but extreme corner sharpness improves slightly with each stop down..
Sony E 10-18 F4 OSS lens (Order at Amazon | B&H)
Sony A7 camera (Order at Amazon | B&H)
Sony A7R camera (Order at Amazon | B&H)
Sony A7S camera (Order at Amazon | B&H)
Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith creates iconic portraits of the famous and infamous for magazines, books and advertising. He has appeared on The X Factor, Fine Living Network and Israel Channel One and exhibited at the Library of Congress and the Aperture Gallery.
Comments
Pingback: Sony A7 and A7r test roundup… | sonyalpharumors November 24, 2013
[…] Sony A7 test scenes added at Dpreview. Test of A7 and A7R in German, with high-ISO pics at RalfsBude. Sony 10-18mm F4 OSS on Sony A7R by Brian Smith. […]
brian, its really and amazing camera i am also using this, i am a wedding planner and wedding photographer and i have captured so many photographs with this camera….you can see my photographs here.
Very nice Angela. Glad you like it too!
Does the OSS work when using the Sony 10-18mm F/4 lens on the A7r? My 18-55 doesn’t work with OSS on the A7r (it is greyed-out in the A7r menu).
Yes, OSS works with the SEL 10-18 on Sony A7/A7R
Bri
an, May I know which modified profile that you are using? Thanks
Hello Ryan, I use the Lightroom lens profile for the Sony E 10-18mm and then add a bit of additional distortion correction.
Brian,
Great pics showing the lens at various focal planes. Can you mount this lens directly to the a7r or do you need one of the various adaptors?
It’s an E-mount lens so you don’t need any adapter for A7/A7R.
Hi Brian,
thanks for posting this kind of test, it’s really helpful for ask who want to keep 10-18mm for A7/A7r :D.
One question, in the above pictures, when you say 11mm, it’s actually 11mm FOV in FF (35mm)? because 11mm in FF is soooo wide :D. Thanks!
Yes, fullframe. The APS crop is shown as an overlay.
Hi Brian,
One more question :p, one of my friend said that combination of A7r + 10-18mm isn’t good since the A7r’s sensor outresolve the 10-18mm. Is it true? is the picture quality (e.g sharpness level) is degraded?
Thanks
Same could be said of many of the Canon lenses people are mounting on the A7/A7R. The best way to look at it is that the sensor won’t be the weak link. It will capture the most detail possible the lens can resolve. There will certainly be a FE super-wide in the future, but until there is, this lens is a surprisingly good option – particularly at 14-15mm.
Brian
Thanks for all your great reviews on the Sony Alpha7. Did you have a chance to compare the Sony 10-18mm and the Zeiss Touit 2.8/12 lens on this body? Love the two primes made by Zeiss but I need a wide angle lens. Many thanks again for your work.
The Zeiss Touit 12mm F2.8 is a spectacular lens on APS-C. Unfortunately that’s about all it covers. It doesn’t come close to fullframe coverage. The generous coverage of the E 10-18mm F4 OSS was very unexpected.
I got this lens for my NEX-3N. I noticed when i used the zoom lever on my 3N that there is no sound? Is it that quiet? Of course i can zoom in or out with the zoom ring, but just wondering if it is suppose to not make noise when zooming with the zoom lever on the 3N…also, since it is not quite up to par in low light, what other tip do you suggest besides bumping up ISO and exposure compensation. thanks.
I don’t have a NEX-3N to test that on, but I’d assume that most people would consider silent zooming to be a good thing – particularly when shooting video. As far as working in low light, in addition to opening up, shooting at a slower shutter speed and raising the ISO your other option is to add Light – either from strobe or a continuous light source like a light panel or fluorescent lamp.
The 10-18mm lens is not a power zoom so the zoom lever on your 3N is not doing anything… that’s why it is quiet. The zoom lever on the 3N only works with power zoom lenses, e.g., the SEL 16-50mm PZ kit lens.
You are activating the digital zoom in the camera instead of physically zooming the lens. You will lose resolution this way, try not to use digital zoom if possible.
Will the 10-18 work equally as well on the a7 as its will on the a7r?
Yes. Same coverage on A7 as A7R.
Have you tried any other E mount lenses on the A7/A7R?
Yes, I’ve tried a number of other APS E-mount lenses and this is the only one that comes lose to covering fullframe.
Will this work on a7s?
Yes. Just like it does on A7/A7R.
I am looking for a UWA with a filter thread for A7. The results look good to me, do you think I should wait for FE 16-35 or buy this?? 10-18 looks to have a very good 13 mm which is much wider than 16 mm of FE 16-35??
I haven’t heard the official ship date on the FE 16-35, but it’s rumored to me a month or two away. So it depend how immediate your need are. Personally, if I didn’t already own the 10-18mm, I’d wait, but that won’t help you if you need it next week.
Pingback: Ultimate Guide to E-Mount Lenses for Sony A7 A7R A7S A7II December 15, 2014
[…] SONY E 10-18mm f/4 OSS APS lenses aren’t designed to cover fullframe sensors – yet this lens does a surprisingly good job covering fullframe A7/A7R/A7S from 13-16mm. Widest Sony’s E-mount lens may get you through until the FE 16-35 F4 ZA comes out. See more here. […]
Brian, your review of the Sony E 10-18mm f/4 OSS lens is a breath of fresh air in terms of detail and clarity. As a Nikon photographer for more than 20 years, I plan to retire one of my D800s in favor of the new A7R II. The Sony E 10-18mm lens will replace my Nikon 14-24mm ultra wide. I hold out some hope that Sony will soon release a lens that competes with my Nikon 28-300mm lens which has been the best walking around glass I have ever used.
If you want to match the performance of your Nikon 14-24, I’d suggest the Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens instead. This post was written before that lens came out and while Sony’s E-mount 10-18mm does surprisingly well on a full frame sensor, the FE 16-35mm OSS is better.
In terms of 28-300, Sony just released the 24-240 F3.5-6.3 OSS. I’m not certain they’ll do another all-in-one-super-zoom lens so quickly but I’m fairly certain longer glass on the way.
Brian, I have a Sony 55-210 e mount lens which fits the A7 series cameras. But the image stabilization doesn’t work. Any remedy for this or Sony firmware update for this issue? I think Sony said that the 55-210 stabilization is supposed to work, but user with the A7 series know and say stabilization doesn’t work?
As always, thanks for your efforts, the support, and professionalism you show with photography!
If I remember correctly SEL 55-210 is one of four Sony APS E-mount lenses along with SELP1650, SEL1855 and SEL18200LE that in-lens OSS is not compatible with a7/a7R/a7S. While Sony a7II and a7RII would provide in-body 5-Axis Image Stabilization, I don’t think any firmware update can enable the in-lens OSS on a7/a7R/a7S.
Great review and info Brian. I want this 10-18 for my a6000 very badly. Seen many awesome shots taken with it. Until I get a FF Sony body, this will be a great ultra wide option.
Is the same for 7r2? Thank!!
Yes. It’s the same on all a7 Series cameras. However now that the FE 16-35 F4 OSS is out, I’d HIGHLY recommend it instead.
Hi Brian, does the A7 offer automatic lens corrections on any of the APS-E mount lenses? Any idea if this will come with future firmware upgrades?
You can turn in-camera Lens Corrections On or Off:
Menu > Custom Settings > Lens Compensation >
• Shading Compensation > Auto/Off
• Chromatic Aberration Compensation > Auto/Off
• Distortion Compensation > Auto/Off
These will adjustment will only affect Jpeg unless you are processing in Sony Image Data Converter which reads this for RAWs – but you can apply these settings to RAWs in Lightroom (or Adobe Camera Raw) by Enabling Profile Corrections in the Lens Corrections Tab of the Develop module.
Bear in mind that APS-C lenses are not designed for full frame sensors. While this particular lens does an OK job at certain focal lengths, you’re get much better results using native FE lenses.
Brian, Thanks for your review of the 10-18 (which I now own) and its performance on a full frame. Do you think that removing the baffling over the rear element might improve its range on the A7’s ? I’m toying with trying that for my A7Mk2.
I’m told that will reduce vignetting on the “long” end from 16-18mm. I don’t normally recommend lens mods unless you’re confident with your skills to reassemble if needed.
Understood and thanks for your response Brian, but it looks like any easy on/off mod. Just removal of 3 small screws…..
In light of the other FE options for Sony A7* cameras, would you still recommend this as a good lens to get into ultra wide photography?
How wide do you consider “ultra-wide”?
wide: 21-28
ultra-wdie: 10-18
I’ll be taking my family on a trip, traveling with my A7II, and am looking for a creative option for shooting cathedrals, museums, Disney parks, etc
Thanks for your reply
That’s an easy one! My FAVORITE LENS for just that sort of thing is the Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens. It’s available from B&H Photo | Amazon
Thanks for your valuable review. How would the 10-18mm perform on the PXW-FS5?
Yes. FS5 is Super 35 format and this lens covers Super 35.
Brian, thanks for the great article. I’m upgrading from the A6000 to an A7Rii and have been on the fence when it comes to buying the Sony Zeiss FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS lens. It seems to have good reviews, but it’s not that fast, isn’t the sharpest, and has quite a bit of barrel distortion. Not huge deals but at $1,300 it needs to be a perfect lens for me. Until I can save up for the Batis 12 or 18, I think I’ll keep using my 10-18mm as my wide angle option. Thanks!
The FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS is dramatically sharper than the 10-18mm, but you can get by in the mid-range with the caveats listed here.
Will the size of image reduced when taking shots with this lens?I experienced with my A7ii image size shrinked down to 8MP and can’t increased to 20MP
The examples shown in this post were shot in fullframe mode – not crop mode.
Since I wrote this, Sony released the FE 12-24mm F4 G Lens which is a much better choice for fullframe cameras.
Sony a7II is actually 24mp – not 20mp.
Hi Brian,
Thank you for this review. I am debating between the FE 16-35 and FE 12-24. The lack of filter threads on the 12-24 is throwing me. Do you think the 16-35 is a comparable lens to the 12-24?
Which FE 16-35? There are two.
If you mean the FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM Lens, it’s considerably sharper than the FE 12-24mm F4 G Lens – just not as wide.
In fact it’s the sharpest wide angle zoom ever tested by DxO.
Hi Brian, great post. It’s highly informative even if you are not using this exact lens.
I tried a SEL55210 on my full frame a7 to check sensor coverage. It gives about a 10mp image on my 24mp sensor….. unless I use the ClearImageZoom setting. Through most of the zoom range (1.3-2.0X) the image covers the entire sensor (a full 24mp).
Maybe you could comment with further settings options or other caveats.
Thanks.
Current fullframe FE lens options offer much better optical performance than APS-C E-mount lenses and no need to crop.