The Ultimate Video Lens for Sony APS-C System – SONY E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS

SONY E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS is undoubtedly one of the most popular Sony APS-C lens.

Since I got into Sony camera system, I’ve heard of this lens over and over as being one of the most versatile video lens for Sony APS-C system. But it took me 2 years to finally get my hands on this super popular lens.

So why it took me 2 years?

One of the main reason I initially switched from Canon to Sony system was because of its small form factor from being a mirrorless system.

Sony Mirrorless Camera — Small form factor of Sony mirrorless camera – Photo by Nikita Kachanovsky on Unsplash

At first sight, 18-105mm F4 G OSS seemed a bit bulky, and it seemed to contradict the point of switching into more portable camera system. I guess that reason alone made me to look for other options that are more compact. So I went for 18-135mm F3.5-F5.6 as my first lens for my A6400 (apart from the good old kit lens). 18-135mm was newer, lighter, and was received well amongst the photo community as being a sharp lens, so it made sense to go for this lens at the time.

I wrote on my other blog about getting 18-135mm instead of 18-105mm a while ago, so if you’re more a photographer and interested in 18-135mm, check out this article.

Overall I was happy with the images that came out of 18-135mm, but I grew to dislike its variable aperture, especially for video.

It took me quite a while to realize that I use my cameras for videos a bit more than photos, and that having a lens with constant aperture is really important. There are also a few more things that convinced me to get 18-105mm, so let’s break it down why I was sold on 18-105mm F4 G OSS this time:

Powerful OSS: I also own the kit lens (16-50mm f3.5-5.6) and I initially thought image stabilization on 18-105 would be somewhat similar, but I was very wrong. The OSS (Optical Steady Shot) is way more powerful on 18-105, making sense of the rather hefty size
Image quality: It’s known to be not the sharpest lens out there, but it’s decent. It’s good enough to serve my needs.
Constant F4 aperture: Having a constant aperture that doesn’t change brightness of the scene with zooming is not just something that is “nice to have”, it’s a must feature for me now
Power zoom: This is something I grew to love it. And on 18-105mm, it’s super silent compared to the kit lens. You can get smooth footage even handheld with the power zoom, perfect for run and gun type situations
Versatility: 18-105mm is a very versatile zoom range, and it’s equivalent to 27-157mm in full frame
Price: despite having the ‘G’ tag on the lens, this lens is quite affordable given all the packed features

So as you can see, my needs changed over time. And it’s also clear that there is no one lens that suits everyone’s needs.

With my kids growing up, I now get to participate in all sorts of their school activities, and 18-105mm is just a perfect all rounder to carry around and capture those candid moments without much hassle. If you’re starting out with Sony APS-C system, and video is important part of your image making, this lens should be first thing you want to consider.

Here are the links to the camera and lens mentioned in this article.

Camera gear review is not complete without image samples, right? 😎

Here are some of the images that were shot in RAW and edited in Lightroom. And since this is more a video lens, I will also try to share sample video clips in near future!