Samsung EX 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 OIS Lens Pro Reviews

The Samsung NX 18-55mm f/3.5.5.6 OIS (II) is, of course, not a perfect lens - the low pricing sets limits to what you can expect here. However, it is a decent offering nonetheless. The image corners are somewhat soft at 18mm @ f/3.5 and 55mm @ f/5.6 but if you stop down to the sweet spot - around f/8 - you can expect sharp results across the frame. The quality stays, of course, short of what you can achieve with prime lenses but that's no surprise anyway. Lateral CAs are generally well controlled. You will see some light falloff in the image corners at max. aperture but if you stop down a little the issue is not really relevant anymore. Image distortions are an issue at the wide end of the zoom range but this is rather typical for a lens in this class. The plastic lens body is tightly assembled. However, we didn't like the rather uneven zoom action and the high amount of friction. This may also be a bit of competitive disadvantage when interested users compare the various kit offerings (especially vs Sony E) in shops out there. The AF operates fast and silently. The optical image stabilizer (OIS) works just fine and its efficiency is comparable to other systems. Mirrorless systems are certainly the future but as of now their major appeal is size and low weight. The NX200 + NX 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS is certainly small compared to a DSLR but still the biggest "kit" in the mirrorless system class. So at least size-wise some users may find the Samsung NX 20-50mm f/3.5-5.6 more appealing.