Price suggestion: SONY SAL 18-200 mm- Excellent

[aster]

Hi everyone,

I finally decided to put my SONY SAL 18-200mm zoom lens on sale on an online market that's an affiliate of ebay here in Turkey.

It first came as the kit lens for my A100 but hardly got out of its white box because of my Carl Zeiss 16-80 mm. The CZ was more than sufficient for my wide and zoom needs quality-wise when compared to 18-200 mm.

I don't want to keep it any longer since it's in excellent condition optically and build-wise and somebody else can make good use of it, I'm sure. ( no creeping, no strange noises, no wobbling; all parts are tight and extends very smoothly)

Here's the photo of the lens which I took an hour ago or so.

What would your recommended price be for this zoom lens that hardly ever came out of its box?

I have a couple of hours before listing this lens, so any urgent suggestions are very much welcome!

Yildiz

SONY SAL 18-200 mm - Excellent- Your recommended price?

SAL 18-200mm.jpg

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[Greg Beetham]

The SAL 18-200 new seems to be listed at anywhere between $500US and $550US, so you could probably put it out for $450US (as new-almost never used) to get a definite nibble, if you go at $500 people would probably choose a new one. I'm no expert on selling things over the web though, I get the impression weird things can happen over things for sale or on auction sometimes.
Greg

[aster]

The SAL 18-200 new seems to be listed at anywhere between $500US and $550US, so you could probably put it out for $450US (as new-almost never used) to get a definite nibble, if you go at $500 people would probably choose a new one. I'm no expert on selling things over the web though, I get the impression weird things can happen over things for sale or on auction sometimes.
Greg

I see what you mean about the price, Greg. I've noted your thoughts.

The site is an affiliate of eBay but I bought 14 different brand new items from this webmarket over the 4 years including my Tamron 90mm macro lens and my HD camcorder, a viewfinder, remote control and filters; all were decent, legitimate and quality equipment. I never had a problem with the sellers of those items but this is the first time ever that I'm considering listing an item of mine. The website runs on a system of 'paying from a pool of capital' that's controlled by the site's fiscal management. We never pay directly to the sellers, we make the payment to the management where they keep it in a 'pool' and only if the item arrives and is in good condition does the buyer give consent to the management to complete the transaction by transferring the money to the seller. And we can return the item within a week or so through the site's management coordination refreeing if need be.

What kind of weird things do you have in mind, Greg? So, I keep an eye on them..


Thanks for the quick response. : )

Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

Weird things, hmm you hear of crazy prices paid for old lenses that kind of thing, but I guess there would have to be a shortage of that item, or a perceived shortage. But in the case of your particular lens I don’t think there is any shortage of that model, so it’s probably a buyers market on that one…but hey you can only try and see what happens…you don’t know until you try.
Greg

[aster]

Weird things, hmm you hear of crazy prices paid for old lenses that kind of thing, but I guess there would have to be a shortage of that item, or a perceived shortage. But in the case of your particular lens I don’t think there is any shortage of that model, so it’s probably a buyers market on that one…but hey you can only try and see what happens…you don’t know until you try.
Greg

I see.

Yes,Sony SAL 18-200mm is not that old for a lens model nor is it a vintage MINOLTA version. Hard to compete with the excellent rare lenses of Minolta heritage.
Maybe if I keep it in the closet for the next 5-6 years, who knows. : ))


Thank you,

Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

You know what I’d do with that lens Yildiz, I’d put it on the A100 and have some fun taking some street shots in Istanbul, (when there is some spare time) it’s got a lot more reach (you don’t have to get as close to the subjects) than the CZ16-80 and it’s not a bad lens, I don’t think it is anyway.
Greg

[aster]

Hi Greg,

I just finished the listing. It will be on sale for 7 days then if it doesn't go I'll do as you say and take a SAL 18-200 mm tour in the vicinity.

Let's see how it goes... : )

That it's as good as the CZ 16-80 is not really meeting with the reality of these two lenses, Greg. I truly have a very good copy of the CZ and my comparison shots proved that the CZ is much better. I do remember sending some shots to the forum to help members to see the obvious difference. : )

I'm rather suspicious that your Minolta 18-200 mm is better than Sony's reproduction, hence your above assessment of the lens. You make sure that you keep the Minolta copy because it may take the market by storm some day.


Yildiz



.

[bossel]

The Tamron 18-200mm (nearly identical to the Sony) costs 160 Euro new these days... I sold my Sony 18-250 for a bit more than 300 Euro last year, to give you an idea - prices might be a bit higher in Turkey.

[aster]

The Tamron 18-200mm (nearly identical to the Sony) costs 160 Euro new these days... I sold my Sony 18-250 for a bit more than 300 Euro last year, to give you an idea - prices might be a bit higher in Turkey.

Thank you, Thomas.

I truly appreciate the info. Yes, the prices a little higher in Turkey; must be the impact of the taxes or such.
A brand new Sony 18-250 mm costs around 1.500 TL. cash nowadays. It's almost 600 Euros converted.

There indeed is a big difference of marketing and pricing...

Yildiz

ps: A brand new SAL 18-200 mm goes for 1.360 TL. minimum brand new these days...Mine is almost like brand new lacking only a warranty contract. : )

[Dr. Harout]

Yildiz, I have a hunch you're on to buy a new toy
I hope you get a reasonable amount for your lens, as I know it's quite hard to sell a Sony branded item (same mentality here).
If it were a Canon, there would be no problem...
I don't know if my advice would be of any guidance, but be flexible in your price.

[Greg Beetham]

Hi Yildiz, I wasn't suggesting that the 18-200 was comparible to the 16-80, my KM one is acceptable I think for it's range, and that's it's attraction for me the one lens solution with a big range, but it's not as good as a 16-80 that's for sure within the same range.
Greg

[agorabasta]

The lens FL does not relate directly to its effective 'reach'. E.g. a good Samyang 85/1.4 has a good chance to better resolve small remote objects than some SAL 18250 at 250mm. A crop and upscale from the Samyang image is actually more detailed than that of 18250 @250 if you shoot both with a high-res sensor. The Samyang would be limited by the sensor, and the 18250 @250 is always limited by its optics.

And I'm not sure that SAL 18200 really has greater 'reach' than 1680 even on a 12Mp sensor.

[Greg Beetham]

I'd like to see that one tested and proven agorabasta, the Samyang 85 is a very good lens by all accounts but 300% better? maybe if both were focussed on the exact same thing perhaps and the distance of the subject within the image would be critical, but even then the point focus accuracy at 250mm is going to be better than that from the 85 depending on the actual focus distance of the subject in the image etc. It would be an interesting exercise, unfortunately I don't have either lens to give it a try.
Greg

[Almazar80]

I would be flexible on the price for that 18-200mm. It's not really in short suppy and the 18-250mm Sony lens (and the Tamron 18-250, 18-270 and Sigma 18-250 totally outclass that lens). I'd be happy if you get $300 or so U.S. for the lens. It's an okay performer. You never know, though. Good luck with the sale.

[aster]

Yildiz, I have a hunch you're on to buy a new toy
I hope you get a reasonable amount for your lens, as I know it's quite hard to sell a Sony branded item (same mentality here).
If it were a Canon, there would be no problem...
I don't know if my advice would be of any guidance, but be flexible in your price.

I would be flexible on the price for that 18-200mm. It's not really in short suppy and the 18-250mm Sony lens (and the Tamron 18-250, 18-270 and Sigma 18-250 totally outclass that lens). I'd be happy if you get $300 or so U.S. for the lens. It's an okay performer. You never know, though. Good luck with the sale.

Hi Dr. Harout and Almazar, : )

Thank you for the heads up.

Dr. Harout, as we, all Alpha users know Sony doesn't exactly produce camera equipment that are behind the other prominent brands in the market but I'm aware of the bias and the perception towards the other brands. Turkey is no exception to the rule but Sony has a big market here all the same and they seem to be winning out on every brand maybe except IPhone, IPad, Apple.

An 18-200mm for Canon or Nikon mount might go faster in sales as you say. We all heard about the quality of those lenses as well. Sony's 18-250mm, with a better reach and maybe better performance did give the 18-200 a hard time on sales but there still may be the advantage of a good build and good optics for certain samples of the lens.

Mine is the best Sony 18-200 mm I came by until now, since I got the chance to take a look at other samples after I bought mine. Maybe it's still the better lens compared to some 18-250 ones. I'm blessed, actually, with my Alpha and CZ equipment. While others had lots of problems with their samples, mine were excellent. The samples I own are testimony that Sony can build properly operating DSLR equipment when they give their best.

The price I sought is reasonable in my terms, knowing the good condition the lens is in...who knows about the future of the lens though.

--------------------------

Hi Greg and Agorabasta, : )

I found the CZ to be the better performer with the samples I owned. I can't speak for other samples owned by others. Two good lenses were tested with the same scene with lots of geometry and the CZ 16-80 mm resolved the distant geometry more clearly with less colour loss and blur than the Sony 18-200 mm. At a bigger crop to equalize the output frame to 18-200's output the CZ 16-80 clearly showed more detail, sharpness and colour. I also found that there was less refraction from the CZ.

These are all in need of repeated tests with other samples too, of course.
Consequently, these are my personal experieces with the equipment I own and may be very different from other's. : )

Thank you all. The lens is on sale now...Let's see how things go.

Yildiz