11-18mm useless on the A200?

[Jessieh04]

Hey fellow Sony Alpha users,

I have the A200 but I'd love to shoot wide angle. The most wide angle I have is the kit lens, 18mm but it isn't even 18mm truly with the lens magnification. The A900 full frame is not in my budget right now and I was wondering if it is worth purchasing the 11-18mm Sony or the Sigma 10-20mm for the A200 right now. Will the quality of the lens with regards to image sharpness trump the lacking focal length and be sufficient to justify the price tag? Or should I invest that $600 in the A900 and then try to purchase a wide angle after that?

I really want to shoot as wide angle as possible with the A200, but if it isn't worth it..Anyone have any sample pics of any of the wide angles past 15mm on the a200?

Also, will the lens work if I do end up upgrading to full frame down the line?

Thanks. I really value any input you guys can give me.

[Canuck935]

Hmm well it looks like you have a bit of a dilemma on your hands. The 11-18 and 10-20 are fine lenses, and either are perfectly capable of producing excellent results. However, neither are full frame lenses. If you plan to go with a FF body later, you might want to think about holding off. The 11-18 will most certainly work on the FF a900 using the a900's crop mode, which produces only a 10 megapixel image. So you'd get a pixel count equivalent to the a200 anyway, kinda defeating the purpose of that huge sensor.

I personally have the Sony 11-18, though the Tamron version is pretty much identical but for a little less money. I love this lens a LOT, and for me it was worth every last penny. I also don't foresee a FF body in my near future as I have too many DT lenses at this point to make it a practical choice for me.

Some Sony 11-18 samples of mine:

Zion Narrows, 16mm 1/6 sec @ f/5.6 ISO 400 Sony a700


Disneyland CA Teacups, 12mm 1/50th @ f/11 ISO 200 Sony a700


Vancouver, BC 11mm 25sec @ f/6.3 ISO 100 Sony a700


Lake 4 at sunrise, Cottonwood Lakes, Sierra Nevada 11mm 1/125th @ f/14 ISO 200 Sony a100
*Note the well controlled flare, despite direct sunlight coming in at an angle.

[NoKnees]

I would post some samples from my a700 too, but alas I don't have any on this computer to even put online.

The short answer is, look for deals, but the lens works fine on the a100-a700 cameras... I found my Sony 11-18mm for around $400 a little while back...

As noted, it will work on the a900, but only in "Crop" mode, meaning a lower mp shot similar to what you'd get when shooting with the a100-a700 cameras. If this is something you are seriously considering sooner than later, then yes, you may want to wait and see what kind of a full-frame super wide angle lens is around later... In a pinch, the 17-35mm f2-8-f4(?) Minolta lens seems to do fine on the a900's and can often be found in the $300 range...

[Franglais]

J04>> Hey fellow Sony Alpha users,

Fr>> Nope. But I do have the Tamron 11-18 which is almost identical to the Sony 11-18. I use it on the Nikon D60 and D200 which have the same sensor as the A200. I allow myself to butt in

J04>> I have the A200 but I'd love to shoot wide angle. The most wide angle I have is the kit lens, 18mm but it isn't even 18mm truly with the lens magnification.

Fr>> I know what you mean but you're using the wrong terms. No lens magnification. An 18mm is an 18mm but it has a different field of view on the APS-C sensor from the one on a 24x36mm sensor. See this discussion on Viewfinder
Aren't we just confusing ourselves?

J04>> The A900 full frame is not in my budget right now and I was wondering if it is worth purchasing the 11-18mm Sony or the Sigma 10-20mm for the A200 right now. Will the quality of the lens with regards to image sharpness trump the lacking focal length and be sufficient to justify the price tag? Or should I invest that $600 in the A900 and then try to purchase a wide angle after that?

Fr>> I am delighted with the 11-18. It's small, light, good sharpness, no light falloff in the corners. And it's much cheaper than an equivalent 24x36 frame lens

Here are a couple of pictures from last week, done on the D60 at less than 15mm

1. The beach at Nerja
2. My hotel in Cordoba

[OldClicker]

I would say get what you need now. It's not like you have to throw it away if you get a FF body. Buy a good used copy and you probably won't lose more than shipping when you sell it. - TF