Walk around lens with "good" optics? Does it exist?

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I am pretty new to mirror-less world. I have been using Canon XSi (450D) with kit lens for past 4 to 5 years. I mainly use my camera for travel pics, enthusiast level landscapes and sometimes use my cheap 50mm 1.8 for basic party/portrait pictures. I recently started to get a little serious and started learning proper techniques to capture good pictures. I am no pro by any means. Photography is still a hobby for me. So I stared to rent better lenses during my travel. </p>

<p>I am now looking to upgrade my camera and the two best options (in terms of budget and my purpose) in my mind were Canon 70D and Nikon D7100. When I started to do more research, I stumbled up on A7 and A6000. I even went to Best Buy to check out these cameras and was thoroughly impressed. They have all the features of big DSLRs in a compact factor, which is PERFECT for me. I almost decided to buy A6000 but I could not find any decent "all/general purpose" lens that has good optics. For example, if I were to buy Canon 70D, I was planning to pair it with Canon 17-55 f2.8 (or Sigma 17-50 f2.8). Both of them cost less than $1000, with good focal range for landscapes and travel photos, are fast enough for low light conditions. In addition, their optics are much better than the kit lens. </p>

<p>When I looked for something similar for E-mount, I could not find anything. At least not for under $1000. Am I missing/overlooking something or these type of lenses do not exist for E-Mount? All the articles/reviews online talk about the awesome prime lenses but no one seem to quote a good walk around lens. The kit lens that comes with A6000 does not have quality optics by any means. Is this the general case for mirror less world?</p>

 

 

 

 

 

<p>Thanks.</p>

 

 

 

 

<p>There are lots of quality lenses in the mirrorless lens world, they just may not have the features you want. For instance there are lots of Leica aficianados using their high quality lenses on the A7...but these are all manual focus lenses - single focal length-not zooms. So when you ask about quality, so that the discussion doesn't go astray, you may want to specify what other features are important to you as well and I am sure you will get some good answers from users of lenses having those features..</p>

For Sony E mount you can choose the 18-105 G lens or the 16-70mm ZA (which is one of the Zeiss co-branded lenses). There's also Fuji with the 18-55 and 18-105.

 

Those are all great lenses - noticeably better than your typical kit lens

options.

<p>I heard good things about the Fuji 18-55 too, But from my limited current understanding you either have to go the Leica lane entirely, which means their contemporary lenses on their bodies or live with compromises. As I understand there are 35mm and 50mm Zeiss lenses for the A7 which shine on it. You can adapt a few other primes too with good results but evrything else is not satisfying pixel peepers, its probably just "shooting data junk for average needs". - Nothing too bad about that, at least the camera involved doesn't weigh a ton. Considering how uninformed we are buying our equipment I guess things will stay as they are for a while. DSLR / MILC kit zooms probably beat the average P&S counterpart and make consumers happy. - Tourists will stick to endless zooms to safe hassle, enthusiasts will stock ultra fast special purpose primes and maybe someday we will see a line of compact unspectacular solid performer primes, but I fear they will stay expensive since they can't be marketed to the masses. </p>

Leica has benefits but it's really, really expensive. Fuji and Sony+Zeiss accomplish most of the same things for much less

cost. But if you like the true rangefinder your only digital option is Leica.

<p>I didn't intend to push Leica. - All I read is: the A7 doesn't play well with their shorter lenses. <br>

I'm not sure how the "good zoom on 450D" experience translates into the next stage of the megapixel war. Current APS C bodies seem at 20/24MP. - Is there still enough resolution for pixel peepers? - Shootouts performed with primes tell little and I didn't bother to get a body at that resolution yet.</p>

<p>A6000 with 16-70/4, add 24/1.8 and 70-200/4; none of these lenses can be considered "cheap". Read good things about their 10-18/4 too.<br>

A7 - since you are considering a 17-55 for a crop sensor camera , the range of the 24-70/4 should satisfy you for walkaround. Personally, I would find the range too limiting - an experience I gained from owning a 17-55DX. Their 16-35/4 should be available soon, and you can round off the system with the 70-200/4/. None of these three lenses comes cheap either though.</p>

<p>There are some great options for µ43, too. But what I've heard about the Fuji, that would be awesome to go with.</p>

<p>Were I the OP, I'd look carefully at Fuji, I have the X E-1 and the X T-1 and a bunch of lenses. I got the original X E-1 with the 18-55 f/2.8-f/4, and after buying a group of primes (all of which are just superb), have returned to the small zoom because it is sharp, small, light, flexible, and with the incredible low light capability of the X T-1, fast enough, and it's stabilized. Fuji has a philosophy of firmware upgrades which bring the older cameras up to the newer ones without having to buy yet another camera. When tested the X trans sensor and Fuji lens combination, come impressively close to the Leica M and Leica lenses, and at a fraction of the price.<br>

If the Fuji doesn't impress, for some reason, the micro 4/3 cameras are quite good as well. I had an Olympus OM-D for a while and absolutely loved the in body stabilization. Any lens you can bolt to the front, and with the adapters available, that's a LOT of lenses, is a stabilized lens, even my old early 60's Leica 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit. I ended up liking the Fuji a bit more and sold the Olympus, but I occasionally miss some of its features.<br>

All of this is an exercise in compromise, size, weight, flexibility and image quality. You cannot have all of them at a low price, or actually any price. Things are constantly changing but this is a great time to be an enthusiast photographer.<br>

Good luck.</p>

<p>i have no insight to offer about sony e-mount lenses whatsoever. but fuji offers two "good" walkaround zooms, the 18-55 and 18-135. both are solid reasons to choose a fuji system over other mirrorless options. </p>

<p>The Sony A7 has adapters for many brands of lenses, including Leica and Zeiss M mounts, Nikon and Canon, and a few designed specifically for that camera with auto focus and other features. The attraction of this camera is it's potentially high quality images and small size.Since it has an EFD, it can be used with longer lenses, unlike a true rangefinder. The image is always full sized, regardless of the focal length.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Except on certain web boards, the Sony 16-50/3.5-5.6 seems pretty decent if you can work with the lens speed and focal lengths. Have you read of a particular problem? I've seen some very good photos made with the 20/2.8 as a walk-around lens, as well. </p>

<p>Putting aside the generally unconvincing reviews, my particular 20mm Sony is excellent on my particular NEX6. No, it is not a Leica or a Zeiss. But at about 5.6, shooting raw, and processed through something like DxO optics, it is damned good for most of what I do and generally stays on my camera. The only "bad" Sony lens I've used is the 16mm, but it's ok for certain artsy things. Kit lenses are rarely much more than something that allows you to take pictures with the body you've just bought. I think the kit lens that comes with the A6000 is actually OK apart from the distortion, which is easily fixed. Another option is to go 4/3s. There are a lot of very good 4/3s lenses out there. </p>

<p>I'm not sure what you mean by "good"... Are you being sarcastic or are you using quotes for emphasis? </p>

<p>Anyway. A <em>good</em> walk around lens in my book would be a Fuji XF 35mm f/1.4. The 23mm f/1.4 is a solid performer as well. On an X-Pro1 or X-E2, especially the 35mm is very unobtrusive. The under-recognized "kit" lens XC 16-50mm is a stellar performer as well, as long as you don't need the large aperture (I believe it's an f/3.5-5.6).</p>

<p>I converted from a large Canon full-frame system to the Fuji X a year ago and haven't looked back. I don't miss the bulk or weight of the Canon system. The images from the X-Pro1 are better than those I got from the 5D, so I'm happy. I do miss the EF 135mm f/2, though. Thankfully, a 90mm f/2 (equivalent to 135mm on FF) is on Fuji's lens road map for the relatively near future.</p>

<p>~Tom</p>

<p>Not sure if you'd be interested in a m4/3 camera, but if you are the 14-140 II is an excellent walk around lens. Pretty sharp with great range. Reason enough to get an m4/3 body.</p>