{review}
Rating: {rating} / 5
- Optical Stabilizer: Sigma’s own OS System
- Large Aperture/Wide Angle: Superior low light photos
- High Image Quality: Two SLD glass elements and three Aspherical lenses corrects all aberrations
- Includes: Petal-Type Hood
- Mounts: Sigma, Nikon, Canon, Sony and Pentax
Product Description
An upgrade to its predecessor, the 18-50mm F2.8-4.5 DC OS HSM is a lens dedicated to digital SLR cameras with APS-C size image sensors offering a large aperture and Sigma’s Optical Stabilization. Once again, Sigma has also engineered the built-in OS function, an anti-shake system, for Sony and Pentax mount allowing the photographer to see a stabilized image in the viewfinder. The combination of the large aperture of F2.8 and anti-shake function makes capturing exc… More >>
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8-4.5 SLD Aspherical DC Optical Stabilized for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
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I just received this lens, and I’ve decided to return it. The main reason is because it isn’t sharp enough, but also, the 2.8 aperture doesn’t apply to the full range of the zoom…just the wider end. The maximum aperture at 50mm is 3.5.
Rating: 2 / 5
Hello: I dont want this to be too lengthy, boring & too techie, just the truth for real world usage.
I just received the lens today and I would like say that it is nice looking lens.
Build quality is very good…metal mount, matte finish, and high impact plastics.
*Overall length does not change so that means no dust or dirt could easily go in the barrel. With a zoom lens, I noticed that when zooming in and out, the lens is like a vacuum, sucking in dusts and dirt, if your not careful.
Here is a few things that I would have liked coming from this lens:
*2.8: nice but usage only on the wider end of 18mm. Not throughout the zoom range like the competitors.
*HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor): not as quiet or fast as I would like but it gets the job done. It’s more of really quiet clicks…not like my Nikon SWM.
*OS (Optical Stabilizer): not as good as I liked it to be.
*Lens Hood: a tad longer than competitors. It should block light strays though…
*I wished that it would have come with those fancy Sigma lens pouch to keep it in
I mounted this lens on my Nikon D2H and D90. The lens is sharp but not sharp enough. I guess it depends on the size of the pixels too (D2H 4MP vs D90 12.3MP). Which camera will win??
Rating: 4 / 5
It looks more solid than the Canon 18-55 kit lens with its metal mount, but in terms of IQ, it is not better. So the only advantage is its f2.8. Eventually I returned it because I don’t think the benefit is worth the investment.
Rating: 3 / 5
I bought this lens hoping that the F/2.8 and optical stabilization would provide better indoor shots than the Pentax kit lens 18-55mm F/3.5-5.4. Unfortunately it provides no improvement for low-light shots. I am using this on a Pentax K-x.
The first problem is that despite being F/2.8, it’s not a bright lens. At the widest aperture F/2.8 at 18mm, this lens has the same light input as the Pentax kit lens at F/3.5. So the F/2.8 does not provide any shutter speed advantage over the kits lens. At F/3.5, this lens is about 2/3 EV darker than the kit lens at F/3.5. I verified this by taking the same picture with both lenses. This is confirmed by the camera when using aperture priority mode. Setting both lenses to wide open causes the camera to choose the same shutter speed. I was hoping for a 2/3 EV advantage with this lens.
The second problem is that the optical stabilization is only marginally better than the in-camera shake reduction on the K-x. You cannot use both OS and SR at the same time. You have to disable SR to use OS properly.
The 3rd problem is that this lens is quite a bit bigger and heavier than the kit lens. It makes it harder to hold steady for hand-held, indoor shots. These 3 issues lead to the indoor shots being no better then the kit lens.
On the plus side, this lens has better corner sharpness than the kits lens at wide angle and largest aperture. Center sharpness is the same as kit lens. Also, the HSM seems to work well and is slightly quieter than kits lens.
To recap, kit lens is lighter and performs just as well except for corner sharpness. Save your money for something better or stick with the kits lens.
Rating: 2 / 5
Picked this up with the 2 day shipping and used it right away on a job. Excellent lens for the value. Sharp and quick autofocus. It won’t replace a ‘pro’ lens or a prime, but if your looking for a wide to medium better than the kit lens that comes with most DSLR’s, this is a good choice. It’s a perfect secondary/backup lens. As a reviewer stated below, I’d use it on 12 mp or less DSLR, but than if you have a 12mp+ you should buy better glass anyways. For what it’s worth, you really don’t need more than 12 mp for a decent 8×10 so as far as I’m concerned this lens fits that perfectly.
Rating: 4 / 5