What Is Acceptable Optical Quality?

Many people, including some readers of this blog, find the NEX kit lens 18-55mm and the 16mm f2.8 lenses to be optically unacceptable.  Yet, many, including me, find these lenses optically acceptable, given the price point.  What constitutes lens quality as acceptable?  Obviously, everyone has their own level of acceptance.

Optical quality is more than just sharpness. Distortion is probably the biggest concern for many people after sharpness.  Then there are other aspects such as vignetting, colours, rendering style, bokeh, flare resistance, and possibly others that affect our perception of optical quality. Personally, I think I have a pretty low standard of optical quality acceptance, when price of the lens is weighted it.  I am easily satisfied.  You might think that after using so many lenses, I would become a lens snob, but that's not true at all.  I always evaluate a lens from its target audience.  One should not expect the same optical quality from a kit lens from those that costs a thousand dollars or more.

Glass Stairs - NEX-5N & E-16mm f2.8. Click for larger.

In the case of the Sony 18-55mm kit lens for NEX, it's on par with most other manufacturer's kit lenses, though I think the original Panasonic 14-45mm (metal mount) is one of the best kit lenses I have used, but they all have their short comings, especially in the distortion department.  Manufacturers are increasingly relying on in-camera correction for lens design flaws.  I think this is a bad trend, especially when you are paying hundreds of dollars for a nice prime lens; you want a lens that's well designed from the beginning, not a patch up job by software afterwards.

Different kinds of horses - NEX-5N & E-16mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Adventure in New York City with Sony Kit Lenses

We have been planning to visit New York City for at least two years.  Last year, just before our planned date of visit, there was the hurricane (or was it a tornado?) in New York City and we had to cancel it.  This year, one day before we would leave, I got sick, and had to cancel the hotel room, but I felt better later so we decided to stick to our plan.  Of course, re-booking the same room cost more!

Driving there was uneventful.  We took a 45-minute break half-way in the trip, and arrived in New York City in approximately 9 hours from Toronto, as there was some traffic jam.  I had been to New York City a couple of times, but each time it was short and for business, so didn't really have much time to explore the city.  Three words jump out of my head about New York City: Big, Busy, Chaotic.  Regardless of time of day, at least where we stayed (West 32nd st. and 6th Ave), people are everywhere.  It was even worse around Time Square.  Definitely a huge change from the relatively tame and slow Toronto.

On the phone -- NEX-5N & Sony E-16mm f2.8. Click for larger.

Hot Dog Vendor - NEX-5N & E16mm f2.8. 

I brought five lenses with me: E-16mm f2.8, E-18-55mm Kit lens, OM 24mm f2.8, OM 35mm f2, and Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.4.  I ended up using only the two Sony auto focus lenses, but mostly just the 18-55mm kit lens.

I find the 16mm f2.8 lens more enjoyable to use, especially in low light (night time).  It's perfect for street shooting, though it's slightly too wide for this purpose.  To me, the optical quality is quite acceptable as a travel lens.  On the other hand, I am less happy with the 18-55mm kit zoom lens.

Tiles for America - NEX-5N & 18-55mm Kit lens. Click for larger.

The distortion at the wide end on the kit zoom lens is horrendous, if you shoot RAW and don't have the lens profile (correction) turned on.  The wide end, unfortunately, is the most used focal length in travel.  When I first looked at the pictures I shot, I couldn't below how bad they are.  Fortunately, Lightroom has a lens profile for this lens and it corrects the distortion quite easily.

Lower Manhattan - NEX-5N & 18-55mm kit lens. click for larger.

At the long end, the distortion is not as objectionable.  The lens is actually quite sharp, but the distortion really destroys it.  Even with lens correction, it's not perfect.  There are other good qualities this lens has: small, light, and has image stabilization.  It's a good choice for travel, but I think (or hope) the 18-200mm ultra zoom is better for travel and should be optically better, at least (hopefully) better at distortion control.

Statue of Liberty - NEX-5N & 18-55mm kit lens.

Happy Holidays!

I would like to wish all my readers a safe and happy holiday season.  May all your wishes come true and that Santa will leave the toys you want under that Christmas tree.  Most of all, this holiday season is a great opportunity to take lots of pictures of family.  I guarantee you will treasure these memories for years to come.  Happy holidays and happy shooting!

Downtown Toronto in golden morning light -- NEX-5 & 18-55 kit lens. Click to see larger.

Sony 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 Mini Impression

When pretty much all manufacturers are heading in the direction of making their kit lenses with all plastics, Sony made theirs with metal, for the NEX platform anyway.  The 14-45mm kit lens that came with  my Panny G1 has a metal mount, but later ones are plastic.  I don't expect much from kit lenses, as they tend to have very bad optical quality, and the hideous distortion.  Well, the Sony E-Mount 18-55mm kit lens has pretty severe distortion, like most others, but unless you shoot brick walls or pictures with parallel straight lines, it's not very obvious.  The lens is well made, and it's optically excellent, especially at the long end.  The SteadyShot stabilization mechanism works pretty well.  most pictures are sharp when shot at 1/13s or faster.  I wish the pancake 16mm f2.8 also has image stabilization, but unfortunately it doesn't.

English River -- Sony NEX-5 & 18-55mm kit lens at ISO 1600, 1/13s hand held. Click to see larger.