The Sony E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS is a general-purpose 7.5x zoom lens with a very versatile zoom range that covers a wide range of subjects and situations. It’s compact, lightweight, and quiet, which makes it a great lens to take on your travels.
Here are a collection of sample images that I took with the lens on a recent trip to Tenerife and La Gomera. The images on this page are compressed, so I’d recommend downloading the full sized JPEGS if you wish to take a closer look at any of the shots. They are also straight from the camera, no post processing has been applied.
All image samples were shot with the Sony a6500 and of course the Sony E 18-135mm (SEL18135) lens. All shots are handheld apart from the seascapes where I used my little Sirui T-025X tripod.
Full specs for the SEL18135 can be found on Sony’s product page for the lens here.
**Please Note: Unless otherwise mentioned no post processing has been applied to the image samples in this guide except for cropping. Full resolution SOOC JPEG images are available to download. RAW files are also available but password protected to help keep my hosting costs sensible. However, I do provide the username/password to all members of our community forum. All images are copyright protected and may be used for personal use only.
109mm | 1/200 | f/5.6 | ISO 320 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
83mm | 1/200 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
31mm | 1/160 | f/8 | ISO 400 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
I used my Sirui T-025X travel tripod for the following shot, and also a Lee 4 stop ND filter and a 2 stop grad filter.
31mm | 5 seconds | f/4.5 | ISO 200 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
79mm | 1/250 | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
19mm | 1/1320 | f/5.6 | ISO 400 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
44mm | 1/800 | f/8 | ISO 320 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
29mm | 1/800 | f/9 | ISO 400 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
23mm | 1/100 | f/8 | ISO 200 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
18mm | 1/250 | f/9 | ISO 200 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
18mm | 1/320 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
18mm | 1/320 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
109mm | 1/125 | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/250 | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/200 | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
33mm | 1/200 | f/11 | ISO 200 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/160 | f/5.6 | ISO 200 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/250 | f/5.6 | ISO 400 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
115mm | 1/20 | f/5.6 | ISO 6400 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
41mm | 1/80 | f/8 | ISO 125 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/400 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/1000 | f/8 | ISO 200 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
43mm | 1/500 | f/5 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
77mm | 1/800 | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
22mm | 1/400 | f/8 | ISO 400 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
71mm | 1/200 | f/7.1 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
57mm | 1/500 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
I used my Sirui T-025X travel tripod for the following shot, and also a Lee 4 stop ND filter and a 2 stop grad filter.
59mm | 4 seconds | f/5.6 | ISO 250 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
123mm | 1/200 | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
29mm | 1/640 | f/8 | ISO 200 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/250 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
25mm | 1/320 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
48mm | 1/250 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/200 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/500 | f/5.6 | ISO 400 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
I used my Sirui T-025X travel tripod for the following shot, and also a Lee 4 stop ND filter and a 2 stop grad filter.
37mm | 1 second | f/11 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
71mm | 1/160 | f/9 | ISO 1250 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/320 | f/5.6 | ISO 500 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
135mm | 1/100 | f/5.6 | ISO 800 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
29mm | 1/200 | f/8 | ISO 100 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
My lens was most definitely not as clean as it should have been for this shot!
135mm | 1/400 | f/36 | ISO 640 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
50mm | 1/100 | f/5 | ISO 6400 | *Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW
My Brief Review of the SEL18135
The Sony E 18-135mm lens is really a joy to use, especially as a travel lens thanks to its versatile focal range, small size and lightweight body (325g). I barely notice it on my a6500.
The built in image stabilization helps to stabilize the lens on camera bodies like the Sony a6000/a6300 that do not have stabilization built in. There’s also a useful auto/manual focus switch on the body itself, and both the zoom and focus control rings are silky smooth.
The lens delivers crisp results across the frame and throughout the focal range. There is a little corner softness with the wider apertures, but stepping down to f/5.6 soon sharpens things up.
However, where the lens does disappoint a little is with vignetting when shooting wide-angle shots at around 18-22mm. In this focal range you will notice darkening in the corners, but only if you are shooting in RAW. If you shoot JPEG then the camera body will apply corrections automatically so you never need to worry about it. And if you prefer to shoot RAW, you can still easily correct the vignetting in post with programs like Adobe Lightroom.
So will I be adding this lens to my bag the next time that I want to travel light? Most definitely!
* Check Prices for the E 18-135 Lens
US: Amazon.com | Focus Camera | B&H Photo | Adorama
UK: Amazon.co.uk | Wex Photo | Park Cameras
Other Countries: Amazon links above should redirect to your local Amazon.
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