My title above is, of course, is an attempt at humor, but when you see just how sharp your photos will come out with this little guy, you'll understand what I mean! In all seriousness, this lens is really superb, and when you look at its cost, weight, and performance, it is hard to beat. Sony released the lens after Nikon had a huge hit with a similarly specified lens for the Nikon mount (Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras), and Sony made the correct decision to keep this thing affordable when doing so.
Weighing just 170g, just pop this thing on your Sony alpha camera, and you'll be thinking you forgot to mount a lens. When you consider it costs only some $190, you might also be tempted to think it will produce mediocre images. But try it out and see if you agree with everyone who has used it. It's an amazing performer for such a low cost.
Images are richly saturated, and extremely sharp. To use it is to remind yourself of the compromises that are made with all zoom lenses. It will certainly hold its own against the Nikon variant.
There are a couple of minor quibbles with this lens. No pouch or case is provided (simply the two lens caps). The unit is made of rather plasticky design (but doesn't feel like junk; it's just not like a $2,000 Zeiss lens in construction). Autofocus is very fast, but a bit noisy, due to it's old-fashioned screw design. The unit is built in China.
But don't let any of these things deter you. It feels like a lens that should last if taken care of. And the thing just pumps out some seriously good images. It's inexpensive and lightweight. Pretty amazing all around. Thanks, Sony! We need more lenses like this for the alpha line. Five stars.
Update: March, 2013
Having recently returned with my wife from our last trip to Paris, I was extremely pleased with the performance of this lens when used in the museum setting. Although, sadly, some museums are moving to barring of photo-taking (the Musée d'Orsay recently adopted such a policy), I can say that this little prime lens with its huge aperture and fixed zoom length really knocks off some gorgeous photos even in these trying environments. With many museums careful to keep the lights down to protect artwork and other pieces, the F1.8 aperture here allows you to keep the ISO way down even in these semi-lit environs. The catch: the wide aperture also has a depth of field associated with it that keeps only very specific distances in focus. This means you have to watch what you are focusing on while shooting to ensure you have the desired object fully in focus. You can stop down the lens to any smaller F-stop, but then that defeats the purpose of having the wide aperture! For the Sony alpha mount system, it's going to be hard to beat the image quality of these shots with other lenses. You also have to be willing, however, to be the "zoom" yourself, stepping back and forth to get the proper "zoom" level before taking the shot. When you add in the lens weighs almost nothing, it can make for a satisfying museum photographic experience.
Notes:
This lens is part of a series of inexpensive Sony lenses that have been dubbed the "plastic fantastic" series (but note the word "fantastic": that's where your attention should be). Some of the others include:
Sony Alpha SAL85F28 A-mount Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens (Black)
Sony SAL30M28 30mm f/2.8 Lens for Alpha Digital SLR Cameras
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This Item  Sony Alpha SAL35F18 35mm f/1.8 A-mount Wide Angle Lens (Black) | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $135.00 | -8% $507.76 List Price: $549.00 | $125.49 | $159.00 | $150.49 | $248.00 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 15 | Get it Apr 22 - 25 | — | Get it Apr 22 - 29 | — | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 15 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | Blue contrail LLC | Amazon Global Store UK | Electronics Basket | Port Hole Renewed | Electronics Basket | Amazon.com |
| lens type | Standard | Standard | Zoom | Telephoto | Zoom Lens | Standard |
| compatible mountings | Sony/Minolta Alpha | Sony E | Sony E | Sony A | Sony E | Sony E |
| lens design | Prime | Prime | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom | Prime |
| focus type | Auto/Manual | Auto Focus | Manual Focus, Auto Focus | Manual Focus, Auto Focus | Auto Focus | Auto Focus |
| minimum focal length | 35 millimeters | — | 16 millimeters | 75 millimeters | 16 millimeters | — |
| max focal length | 35 millimeters | — | 50 millimeters | 300 millimeters | 75 millimeters | 75 millimeters |
| fixed focal length | 35 millimeters | 18 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 300 millimeters | 50 millimeters | 50 millimeters |
| real angle of view | 44 degrees | 51.3 degrees | 87.24 degrees | — | — | 39.6 degrees |
| model name | SNSAL35F18 | 585965 | e pz | alpha | SELP1650 | SEL50F18F/2 |
| max aperture | — | 2.8 millimeters | 4 f stop | — | 3.5 f stop | 1.8 millimeters |
| diaphragm blades | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Product information
| Product Dimensions | 2.05 x 2.76 x 2.76 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 6 ounces |
| ASIN | B0042GHI8U |
| Item model number | SAL35F18 |
| Customer Reviews |
4.2 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,538 in SLR Camera Lenses |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | September 9, 2010 |
| Manufacturer | Sony |
| Language | English |
Warranty & Support
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Very cool budget lens.Very decent optics.
I got this lens for my new Sony A55. First I was going to buy Sony 50mm/1.4, but after realizing how much I've already spent, I decided to slow down a little. After being used to quality build of SAL 18-250 lens I was just amazed how cheap this lens looked like when I took it out the box. It felt like this thing was build for Toys-R-Us. When I set to Manual focus and turned ring around - those little (plastic) gears inside were grinding pretty loudly. Build is comparable to kit lens. It is ... plastic. Made in China. But when I attached lens to camera and started taking pictures, I calmed down. :) All is fine, optics are very good, lens is sharp. Just, do not confuse "SAM" abbreviation on the lens with word "silent". Focusing is not silent at all. But not too terrible loud either. Bokeh is very nice too. I got it mostly for night video/still shots, but in daylight this lens is very good too. Colors are not distorted, no obvious defects in optics. It is super light - 6oz! (170gr). That's ~3 times lighter than my zoom lens! After APS-C 1.5 conversion ratio it is my 50mm lens (52.5). And inexpensive too for 175. If it dies, it dies. Most importantly, this is a newer Sony lens, I hope better suited for new cameras Sony A33/55 and A560/580. 1-2 year older lenses will fit/work too, but might be off in some parameters. So, if you have these cameras, you can definitely can give this lens a try. It does what it supposed to do. *************** UPDATE: after using this lens for a while, I found out that even in setting when all light is provided only by a very basic lighting in my office, plus table top lamp - this lens has no issues to get very good video/stills. Now, I'm VERY comfortable with it. And with (included) hood on - it looks cool too. I like it! I posted couple pics of plants in my backyard, to get idea how it works.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2012
- Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2010
I got this lens for my new Sony A55. First I was going to buy Sony 50mm/1.4, but after realizing how much I've already spent, I decided to slow down a little. After being used to quality build of SAL 18-250 lens I was just amazed how cheap this lens looked like when I took it out the box. It felt like this thing was build for Toys-R-Us. When I set to Manual focus and turned ring around - those little (plastic) gears inside were grinding pretty loudly. Build is comparable to kit lens. It is ... plastic. Made in China.
But when I attached lens to camera and started taking pictures, I calmed down. :) All is fine, optics are very good, lens is sharp. Just, do not confuse "SAM" abbreviation on the lens with word "silent". Focusing is not silent at all. But not too terrible loud either. Bokeh is very nice too. I got it mostly for night video/still shots, but in daylight this lens is very good too. Colors are not distorted, no obvious defects in optics. It is super light - 6oz! (170gr). That's ~3 times lighter than my zoom lens! After APS-C 1.5 conversion ratio it is my 50mm lens (52.5). And inexpensive too for 175. If it dies, it dies.
Most importantly, this is a newer Sony lens, I hope better suited for new cameras Sony A33/55 and A560/580. 1-2 year older lenses will fit/work too, but might be off in some parameters. So, if you have these cameras, you can definitely can give this lens a try. It does what it supposed to do.
***************
UPDATE: after using this lens for a while, I found out that even in setting when all light is provided only by a very basic lighting in my office, plus table top lamp - this lens has no issues to get very good video/stills. Now, I'm VERY comfortable with it. And with (included) hood on - it looks cool too. I like it! I posted couple pics of plants in my backyard, to get idea how it works.
Images in this review
- Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2014
Top reviews from other countries
-
Francisco Ortega HernándezReviewed in Mexico on March 11, 2018
Buena opción para APS-C
- Kaushik ChatterjeeReviewed in India on May 18, 2017
Awsome but at a little higher cost...
- Pritam Sagar SahooReviewed in India on December 8, 2017
Best lense in this pridce /// Love this
