Samsung 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 NX ED OIS II i-Function Zoom

Samsung 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 NX ED OIS II Handling and features

The lens barrel is constructed from reasonable quality plastics and the lens mount is plastic also. It has a metallic matte finish and a blue metallic ring between the lens body and the zoom ring. It balances well on the Samsung NX11 body used for testing due to its light weight of only 198g.

Focusing is performed internally, so the 58mm filter thread doesn't rotate, which is ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. Focus speeds are quick, although maybe not sprightly enough to keep up with fast moving subjects. The manual focusing ring is very loose, which can make applying fine focus adjustments manually a little tricky, as it's very easy to accidentally nudge the ring whilst shooting, or to overshoot correct focus altogether. An iFunction button on the side of the lens provides quick access to a number of functions that can be customised in the camera menu.

The minimum focus distance of 28cm is fairly typical for lenses of this range. The optical image stabiliser keeps the on-screen image nice and steady and allows sharp shots to be taken roughly half the time at 1/10sec at 55mm. This is roughly three stops slower than the usual rule of thumb for taking hand held images would allow.

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