Discussion about
Sigma AF 18-200mm DC OS Lens
I see the discussion revolving around the Nikon 18-200mm lens, but has anyone tried the Sigma 18-200? It is quite a bit cheaper, just wanted some thoughts from anyone that has actually used it as to its quality. I want one lens that can cover the entire range of my 18-55mm and 55-200mm as I find that I am in situations where I would like to switch between them too often and this would offer quite a bit of convenience. What are anyone's thoughts?
While I do not have this particular Sigma lens, I do shoot with Sigma lenses frequently. One of the bigger drawbacks is that the Sigma lenses do not have vibration reduction. I don't know if this is an issue for you or nor.
Glass is not as sharp as Nikon's but I am an amateur photographer, and for me the quality is good. The lens that I found I was shooting with the most was not the Sigma 18-200 but Nikon's 18-135mm. It is a good telephoto and does bridge that gap nicely. If you get a chance also look at Nikon's 18-105 VR that is normally sold with the D90. At the end of the day, you need to go and try the lens out on the camera and see if you like it.
Glass is not as sharp as Nikon's but I am an amateur photographer, and for me the quality is good. The lens that I found I was shooting with the most was not the Sigma 18-200 but Nikon's 18-135mm. It is a good telephoto and does bridge that gap nicely. If you get a chance also look at Nikon's 18-105 VR that is normally sold with the D90. At the end of the day, you need to go and try the lens out on the camera and see if you like it.
I have this lens and I enjoy it quite a bit. I'm an amateur, so take this recommendation for what it's worth.
I spent a lot of time researching the right price/value ratio for my needs. Sigma came out the winner.
I love shooting at 200mm with a (somewhat) wide aperture, especially for face shots or action shots.
It's currently the default lens for my Nikon D70.
The good:
- Nice range of focal lengths
- Good depth of field with the lower apertures
- Inexpensive
The bad:
- A bit noisy (but not noisy enough to not recommend)
- The manual focus ring is unnecessarily big, and easily touched when in auto-focus mode. You'll have no trouble getting used to it but beware when giving the camera to someone else -- make sure they know not to rotate the manual focus ring -- they may think it's the zoom ring and potentially break the lens.
I spent a lot of time researching the right price/value ratio for my needs. Sigma came out the winner.
I love shooting at 200mm with a (somewhat) wide aperture, especially for face shots or action shots.
It's currently the default lens for my Nikon D70.
The good:
- Nice range of focal lengths
- Good depth of field with the lower apertures
- Inexpensive
The bad:
- A bit noisy (but not noisy enough to not recommend)
- The manual focus ring is unnecessarily big, and easily touched when in auto-focus mode. You'll have no trouble getting used to it but beware when giving the camera to someone else -- make sure they know not to rotate the manual focus ring -- they may think it's the zoom ring and potentially break the lens.
