Review on Enhanced Sony SAL18250 Alpha DT 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 High Magnification Zoom Lens by Chris Nako

Bought used Revain Warehouse Deals version - very good condition. The lens was like new, there were no signs of wear. Came in original packaging with all parts. Very different from my experience with other used equipment outlets. I'm glad I bought the Revain and not from an online camera shop that had a used version at the time. Very happy with my 4WD experience. The lens is very versatile, and the convenience of a single lens for the 18-250 comes at a price (images are a bit softer compared to shorter zooms and primes). However, I consider this lens to be the best of all Alpha superzooms with a good autofocus motor. The a55 has a great motor and the autofocus is fast. The advantage of this Sony lens over the Tamron 18-250, Sigma 18-250 or even the Tamron 18-270 PZD is the AF accuracy. I used the Tamron 18-250, which many people say is optically the same lens, and it was much less accurate at focus than this Sony, even in the limited testing I did with my new lens. . I'd still love to try the Tamron PZD, but I doubt it will be much different. What pushes Sony over the edge is the lens profiles available in many software packages to correct distortion. A pleasant surprise is the relatively close shortest focal length. Close-ups at the telephoto end look like macro shots. I'm not sure what ratio, but it's better than I expected. 18-250 is better than Wal 18-55 in almost every way. It's brighter at its usual apertures (above 18mm) and just as sharp or sharper wide open. Focused autofocus is generally faster and the focused lens is much smaller and lighter. It's not difficult to keep the lens from the kit, though; right now they're barely $50. This lens replaces the Sony 16-105 for me and I see no reason to stick with this lens unless the extra 2mm is very important. At the broad end, there is certainly a difference between the two. 2mm makes a big difference for the FOV. However, at their combined focal lengths, the 18-250 has a larger aperture and is much sharper in the 50-75mm range and slightly sharper at 100mm. Also, the low-light autofocus is better and faster (still hunts compared to my 50mm f1.8, but it's not hard to get used to when you have a slow-moving subject). So far I'm very happy with the lens and expect to see a lot of use from it.