Sony Alpha NEX-7 Digital Camera Review

Chromatic Aberration

The kit lens on the NEX-7 left a moderate amount of chromatic aberration, mostly due to heavy diffraction at smaller apertures of f/22 and under. The camera can largely correct these color fringes, but the sharpness loss is something that cannot be replaced. If you have the ability to, we recommend shooting with an aperture larger than f/22 whenever possible.

Distortion

The 18-55mm kit lens on the NEX-7 had some distortion issues typical of wide angle zooms. At the 18mm focal length our tests indicated a barrel distortion amounting to nearly 3.75%, which is more severe than normal. While most kit lenses suffer from this, the E-mount 18-55mm lens quickly fell in the other direction, with a 2.34% pincusion distortion already visible at the middle focal length of 35mm. This was reduced to a little more than 1.2% pincushion distortion at the maximum 55mm focal length, but no matter how you slice it, it's a poor showing from this little kit zoom.

As will become a common refrain throughout this review, we recommend replacing or complementing this kit lens as soon as you can. Utilizing just this 18-55mm lens on the NEX-7 means you've paid for significantly more performance than you're getting from your camera.