Features:

  • Provides a wide focal range of up to 315mm (35mm equivalent) ideal for sports or nature shooting
  • Quiet Internal focusing makes smooth, responsive AF possible with minimum noise. Perfect for video capture
  • Optical SteadyShotTM Image stabilization makes it easier to achieve crisp, stable images
  • Optical SteadyShotTM Image stabilization makes it easier to achieve crisp, stable images and video in low-light or when zooming in on distant subjects
  • Accepts 49mm Filters
Outstanding

i can't believe the quality of the photos at maximum zoom with this, for the price I paid. Under three hundred, and it's just phenomenal for this price. The downside is at max zoon, it can be difficult for the autofocus to work well, but that only impacted some of my photos depending on what the subject was and it's surroundings. The lens doesn't add as much weight as I had expected. The full zoom extends the barrel about two more inches. It fits my NEX-3NL/B perfectly, quick on and off. It's fun again, since I haven't used a 35mm camera since the early 90's. I've been too used to simple point and click digital cameras. I have several, and one of them is very good, with a phenomenal zoom, but there are just some circumstances it doesn't perform as well as something a little more advanced. I had received the NEX-3NL/B from the Vine program, and was very glad I did, since it was a great first step back away from point and clicks. But I didn't want to spend a grand on a telephoto lens, since I've been out of the hobby for so long, other than just taking some photos of my son as he grew. The fact that this lens worked natively without an adapter, and the autofocus and steady shot worked with it made it a quick and easy decision. It's nice not relying on the motors again for zoom, I can rotate it as quick as I need to get to the zoom factor I'm looking for. I took it on a test spin in the park with my 9 year old. The day started bright and sunny and upper 80's, and a storm front was moving through so we went to upper 50's and windy and incredibly dark clouds within about 30 minutes. I was able to shoot near objects, far objects, and got some awesome pictures of the storm clouds and the incredibly white, high cumulonimbus clouds. With just a couple instances of focus difficulty with the autofocus at max zoom, it performed far, far better than I had expected. Having read some of the reviews here from people far more knowledgeable than I, I was ready for some disappointment. But I haven't done advanced photography for almost 30 years, so I'm probably far less critical than they are. For me, a slightly more advanced than "normal" user, I was very happy with this through the entire range. It did well in lower light as well. The fact that it lets you use it without feeling like you've got an anchor sticking out the front of your camera means less lens swapping than I had expected as well. I comfortably spent the time at the park using this at the lowest setting just fine, and never felt the need to swap to my shorter lens. For the price, it's outstanding for people like me. If you're a pro, you won't be looking at this lens anyway, but for the rest of us, it works great. And since you can't touch it with anything else near this price point, it makes it an easy buy.

Hmmm....

So I bought an A6300 after selling my A6000 and I bought a couple Sigma Contemporary lens (16mm and 30mm) along with the 50mm Sony and liked all those lens but man the Sigma 16mm is so big it defeated the purpose of the smaller footprint that e-mount brings to the table. I sold the 16mm. Great sharp photos, but not any better than a 12mm Oly mounted on my main camera, a Panasonic gx8. So much bigger though. Anyway, I read so many bad reviews of this particular lens I put off and put off buying it. But then I bought one for a hundred bucks. Handheld is the only way I shoot and I love this lens on the A6300. Popped shutter priority as the setting, extended it all the way out, shot the moon. Shooting hand held through a window, extended straight out, I got this pic of an angry Robin. Now I'm thinking about investing in another Sony low budget lens or two. This 55-210 compliments the sharp 50mm Sony Prime really well. I highly recommend getting a cheap used 55-210. For my type of shooting I love it.

Oh my gosh yes

I wish I could rate this 100 stars. Use it with my Sony a5100. I am new to "professional" photography/cameras. I love this camera and this lense is worth every penny!!!!

This combo of the a6300 and this lens works great even handheld

I bought this lens for my SONY a6300. I have been using it at the long end to photograph shore birds here on the Gulf of Mexico, including birds in flight, for which you need a lens and camera that can focus fast. This combo of the a6300 and this lens works great even handheld. It can fire off 8-9 shots per second even when shooting RAW. The lens has stabilization, making it easier to handhold and still get a sharp picture. I also used it recently at a fencing tournament and was able to get clear pictures of the actual moments that the touches were made with the blade. This is the lens I now keep on my camera, only switching to the 16-50mm kit lens when I need a wide-angle capability.

What would I do without it...

So greatfull I bought this lens. Their has been sooowa many shots I got because of this lens, like close up portrait shots that just would have been awkward if I used say a 50mm lens. I can be across the room and get a clean, genuine shot that captures the subjects emotion, without them knowing.

Very good lens.

I read a few reviews of this lens before I purchased it as the kit lens with my new Sony a6000. I was very surprised to see the sharpness of this relatively inexpensive lens. It has a great zoom range, and I believe it will make a good portrait lens for the type of photography I do. I have tested it already (only have had it for a week) on a model shoot, and I can highly recommend it. I am still getting used to the a6000, which is now replacing all of my Canon equipment, so the "feel" is a bit different due to the diminutive size of the a6000. This lens, however, is a good fit and balances well. So far I have only used auto focus with it, but it is very snappy and surprisingly good. Just as an aside, I also have the Sony e mount 18-55 lens which I bought used so my total ranges are covered. All are silver which makes for a beautiful difference from the all black models. In summary, this is a very good all around lens. Yes, it is not a fast lens at all. However, with the extreme ISO capabilities of the a6000, and very low noise, you will not miss having a faster lens...except, of course, for the bokeh. Just move your subject farther away from the background and you will be ok with this lens.

great beginner zoom lens

I bought this used on Amazon to learn on. It is a great beginner zoom lens. It does not do well in harsh midday light. It washes out the colors. It is a good beginner lens to figure out how to use your camera and what works best and then to upgrade.

Lightweight, good range coverage, and doesn't hinder the fast AF of the Sony A6000 :)

I bought this lens to accompany my recently purchased Sony A6000 camera. Works perfectly. 55 to 210 is a range that I principally as a wildlife photographer find incredibly useful. And whilst a Sony mirrorless camera won't be replacing my full dslr for animals anytime soon, this lens works really well, and the zoom range picks up where the 16-50 kit-type lens for the A6000 stops. Very light, nice texture on the zoom ring; I purchased my lens lightly used, and it does expand and contract really easily. I don't think the weight of the lens, its elements, or the hood (which is also satisfactory) would really cause it to travel and slip out of the set range, a lock to keep the lens in at least the 55mm spot wouldn't go unappreciated - but that's likely just me and my paranoia :/ In short; good lens for the money. Not a phenomenal one; the f4.5 - 6.3 range isn't ideal, but for what you'll pay, it's very adequate. It's light enough to not be out of place on a camera as small and equally lightweight as an A6000, but not enough to feel precarious. Would greatly recommend to any hobbyist or prosumer in the market. The number of Sony lenses are still growing, but this is a good entry in the lineup, and covers the seminal 70-200 range every camera should be able to reach out to.

In fact I think it takes better photos then the 20-55mm lens that came with my ...

I am relatively new to the Sony Mirrorless camera lens series. Up until about a year ago I only used the Sony "point and shoot" cameras but I was looking for something new when I found my A6000 mirrorless camera but being a newbie I was not aware that 30x optical zoom is not the same as 55-210mm so that was a bit of a shock. My fault really for not researching properly. I have had no problems with this lens at all. In fact I think it takes better photos then the 20-55mm lens that came with my camera. I can look out my bedroom window and snap beautiful photos of the birds nest that is in my neighbors tree. It is a little large and pretty much impossible to just hang on my neck with the camera. I would go so far as to say that the camera does not feel quite as balanced but I imagine that is normal for such a large lens. I will continue to buy Sony lens in higher mm to hopefully catch the distance that my old camera had.

How good can this lens be for so cheap?

This lens has been on the market for a while but I just purchased mine toward the end of 2015. You are probably reading this because you (like me) tend to read the most recent reviews of a product to get a fresh perspective of a product after it has stabilized and undergone any of the manufacturer’s updates and/or revisions. My serial number indicates a made-on date of late 2015. I bought this lens as the walkabout lens for my Sony NEX-6. Most of my recreational shooting is done at wide angles with my Sony A7 when I am most critical about my shots. For the relative fewer times when I shoot at longer focal lengths I choose to carry the NEX-6 rather than swap lenses on the A7. That way each camera is optimized for the type of shooting I’m doing and I am not apt to introduce dust into the camera, especially “in nature” (not to mention the awkwardness of what to do with a lens when it’s off the camera body and potentially missing a shot while swapping lenses). The NEX-6 has a great APS-C sensor, is an excellent low-light performer and the smaller body size helps offset having a longer zoom lens attached to it. I don’t even use the kit pancake lens that came with the NEX-6, as it duplicates most of the Zeiss SEL2470Z on my A7 and obviously it is not in the same class. So that actually puts a lot of pressure on the E 55-210mm to perform well. As a professional photographer I am used to not questioning the quality of the gear I use and unfortunately that makes it difficult for me to choose a simple point-and-shoot camera for weekend outings with family and friends. So what do I use for snapshots? My iPhone and I’m glad I do … it’s always with me, I can post pics to social media instantly and for family fun photos the image quality is plenty good. So this review is addressed to others like me who like to shoot photos in that wonderful in-between zone of photography … not as a professional and not as a simple snapshot shooter, but purely for the recreational fun of it, whether that be nature, people, travel, adventure, etc. Cameras like the NEX-6 (and now the A6000) are wildly popular for people like us and our demands for performance are pretty high. That brings up the question of how good is this lens. Putting aside the technical words, it is AMAZINGLY good. The matchup in size and weight for Sony’s NEX/A series of APS-C cameras is perfect, so much so that I actually enjoy holding my NEX-6 with this lens mounted to it more than I did with the 16-50mm kit lens. The barrel diameter/length is perfect for two-hand photography, the feel of the mechanical (as opposed to fly-by-wire) zoom is silky, precise and accurate, and the weight distribution is great while shooting as well as when carrying the camera. Even if I didn’t carry a camera with a wider-angle lens I could see myself using this lens for 80% of my shooting on a vacation trip with the other 20% being handled by my iPhone. And most importantly, the image quality is almost magical. I know the NEX-6 does a lot of internal lens corrections (as many cameras do these days) but using these lens is almost an extension of my brain when I use it … what I see and what I want to capture is what I get. The attached samples are from my first batch of photos, just snapshots around the house, but especially the one if the cat illustrates how using the right equipment allows a photographer to be ready and able to capture an moment that only last a millisecond. Everyone has different photographic needs and we all shoot differently. My purpose in posting this review is to recommend that if you have a compatible Sony camera that you give serious consideration to buying this lens. Don’t let the reasonable price throw you off, this is a remarkable value and if you don’t already have a tele-zooms lens it will open up whole new vistas and fun for you.

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