Sigma AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS (Optical Stabilizer) Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
- 18mm to 200mm high-zoom-ratio lens designed exclusively for Nikon digital SLR cameras
- 2 SLD glass elements and 2 hybrid aspherical lenses correct for all types of aberrations
- Minimum focusing distance of 45cm at all focal lengths; maximum magnification of 1:4.4
- Lens coating reduces and flare and ghost; zoom lock switch eliminates “zoom creep”
- Measures 70mm in diameter and 78.1mm long; weighs 14.3 ounces; 1-year warranty
Fully compatilbe with All Nikon Digital SLR cameras including the D40 and D40x. Compact, Lightweight Superzoom lens, with high zoom ratio 11:1 The 18-200 F3.5-6.3 DC OS lens with is designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras and incorporates Sigma’s original OS (Optical Stabilizer) technology. This high ratio zoom lens incorporates Sigma’s original OS (Optical Stabilizer) function and exclusively designed for digital SLR cameras. It is perfectly suitable for low light conditions, indoors, at dusk and telephoto range. SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass and aspherical glass provide excellent correction for all types of aberrations. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 45cm (17.7″) throughout the entire zoom range and has a maximum magnification of 1:3.9. The inner focusing system is suitable for using a petal-type lens hood supplied and also circular polarizing filters. Sigma’s own unique technology OS (Optical Stabilizer) function The 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 OS is equippe
List Price: $ 399.00
Price: $ 399.00
Canon EOS 50D 15.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
- 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor with improved noise reduction
- Body only; lenses sold separately
- Enhanced Live View shooting includes Face Detection Live mode
- New Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction setting; HDMI output
- Capture images to Compact Flash Type I or II memory cards (not included)
Canon’s new EOS 50D bridges the gap between the novice and the seasoned pro with a perfect combination of high-speed and quality. It features an APS-C sized 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor for tremendous images, new DIGIC 4 Image Processor for fine detail and superior color reproduction, and improved ISO capabilities up to 12800 for uncompromised shooting even in the dimmest situations. It features a refined 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots) monitor, supercharged Live View Function with Face Detection Live mode, plus a number of new automatic Image Correction settings and HDMI output for viewing images on an HDTV. Pick up the EOS 50D and you’ll experience true digital inspiration!
List Price: $ 1,199.99
Price: $ 1,199.99
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Great camera even when compared to 40D,
Upon reading my way through every review I could find about this camera I noticed that a lot of people were upset about noise levels compared to those seen in the 40D. As I was looking to buy one or the other at the time it was very important to me to see if these noise issues were in fact true or just caused by external factors. Lucky for me a good friend has a 40D and a local camera shop was nice enough to let us borrow their 50D to snap a few comparison shots. My friend and I took shot after shot using identical settings and identical lenses under a variety of situations, (low light, high speed, high light, inside, outside, dull colors and vibrant colors). We then took the pictures, compiled them on a single memory card and displayed them on my 46″ 1080P HDTV. Results were very much in favor of the 50D. Shot for shot the 50D either matched or exceeded the picture quality of the 40D in all but one situation: indoors with low light and dull colors. Under that situation the 50D seemed to noise out on the constant color areas, (beige walls for example), while the 40D tended to noise out at the interface between colors, (at the boundary of a beige wall and darm crown molding for example). Both developed noise but the 50D had more.
Overall though I was very impressed with the performance of the 50D. It picked up a lot of details that the 40D didn’t even come close to getting, (thanks to the 15.1MP sensor no doubt), was much better able to capture high-speed action in daylight and only produced noisy images under very particular situations.
I purchased the 50D.
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|Detailed Review of the Canon 50D – I love this Camera!!!!!!!!!!!!,
SECTION 1: WHO IS THIS REVIEW FOR
This review is close to 10 pages long because it was written for people who are not proficient with the terms and concepts used in the DSLR world. If you are a proficient DSLR user then I would recommend that you check one of the much shorter reviews here or dpreview. For example, you already know what vignetting is and therefore understand the importance of the new lens peripheral illumination correction feature. However, a new DSLR buyer does not know what this means and this is why I therefore explain what each feature really is so these people can then decide if the feature is really important to them.
If you have not done so as yet, be sure to also check out my reviews of the Canon 7D and Canon 40D as well.
SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION
It has been just over a year now since I purchased my Canon 40D. At the time, I was just beginning to take my photography really serious. Since then, a lot has changed. I have now become a semi-pro. I still have my full-time job as an IT Manager here in Miami. However, I do a lot of photography work, especially events, on the weekends.
I really love my 40D but as I started doing more and more professional work I realized three things:
1. I needed a second camera body
2. I needed a camera with a more professional focusing system.
3. I needed a camera with even higher ISO performance
It was rumored back then that the replacement for the Canon 5D would be out in the first quarter of 2008. I decided to wait for it. However, when the time came there was no news from Canon about the 5D replacement. This was back in March 2008. The Nikon D300 had now been out for a while by then. I thought about buying it but I decided to wait until it was fully reviewed by dpreview as I wanted to see if Nikon had really finally addressed the high ISO performance issues. I ordered it one day after it was reviewed by Phil Askey on dpreview.
Since then, I have been using both the Canon 40D and the Nikon D300. I know it is a bit of a strange combo. People are always surprised when they see that I am using a Canon and a Nikon together.
I took all three cameras – Canon 40D, Canon 50D and Nikon D300 – over the weekend to the Miami Seaquarium to see how the new Canon 50D compared with both of them.
SECTION 3: NEW/CHANGED FEATURES
A. High-resolution LCD Screen
The LCD screen is still 3 inches. However, Canon has now increased the resolution from 230,000 dots to 920,000 dots which is the same as that found on the Nikon D300. Of course, this makes it a lot easier to check images on playback to see if they are sharp and in focus. More important, however, is the fact that Canon added a two layer anti-reflective coating which makes it way easier now to review images in bright sunlight. It is a lot easier to review images on the Nikon D300 than the Canon 40D. However, the Canon 50D definitely surpasses the Nikon D300 when reviewing images in bright sunlight.
B. 15.1 Megapixel CMOS Sensor
I think the MP increase is the biggest surprise to me since Canon has always been conservative when it comes to this. However, this increase now seems to be the trend as the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II has gone from 12 MP to a whopping 21 MP. I was always puzzled by the fact that the baby Canon Rebel had more MP than its big brother.
I can clearly see the difference in the resolution of the images produced by the 15.1 MP Canon 50D and those from the 10 MP Canon 40D. For a casual shooter this is not a big deal. However, for professionals shooting events this is really useful. Whenever I shoot an event I try not to turn it into a photo shoot. People are there to have fun. That is the first priority. I need to be able to get my shots fast. Many times this means getting the shot and then doing some cropping to make it perfect. Having 15 MP to play with can be a life savior here. Of course, if I only did portraits where I have time to pose my subjects this would be less important to me.
There is a small difference in the resolution of the images from the 15.1 MP Canon 50D and the 12.1MP Nikon D300.
C. High ISO Performance
The ISO setting control how sensitive the image sensor is to light. As the light gets lower you can increase the ISO to avoid using the flash. This is really important when you want to shoot in available natural light such as at dusk or at dawn when the light is really beautiful. Another example is when you want to photograph a bride and groom during the first dance without using the flash so you capture all the romance. The downside to increasing the ISO is that the resulting photos will tend to get grainier as the ISO increase.
The Canon 40D allowed me to go to ISO 1600 and then expand it to ISO 3200. When I just started out doing…
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|Excellent solution for many Photographers.,
This was shipped to my office yesterday, so I naturally had to play with it. I have an old Nikon D50, and had gotten use to the kit lens that was on it. This Sigma is CONSIDERABLY larger and heavier. I expected that of course, and maybe I’m just getting old, but IMO its a pretty hefty lens.
I bought this lens expressly for the Optical Stabilization, so that was the first thing I tested. My office has a logo painted on the far side, so I handheld, indoors, at 200mm and focused on one letter. The lens setting was f6.3 at 1/30 sec. Looking side by side at the OS and non-OS shot in the camera lcd screen, they looked almost identical.
However, puting them in Photoshop and blowing them up revealed a whole other story. The non-os picture was blurred – and no amount of sharpening in Photoshop could correct it.
The OS picture was sharp. I’m not easily impressed, but I was really surprised at how well it worked. When I enlarged it to 200 percent in Photoshop, it seemed to be a bit soft, so I applied a small bit of sharpening from the software – and ended up with a photo that looked like
it had been shot with a macro lens from 3 feet away on a tripod. It was outstanding.
I bought this lens for 2 reasons.
First I am a Realtor. All of my listings need indoor shots, and I stay away from flash if I can – natural light seems to create warm home interiors. Problem was, most of these shots ended up in the 1/8-1/15 range – so I packed a tripod around. This lens should be far more convenient.
Second, I am a photographer. I shoot a lot of weddings and reunions, and I often try to drag the shutter, especially in churches or large halls, where I want some ambient light to fill in the background. This lens will allow me to shoot all day at 1/15 sec. with a TTL flash, and create some nice balanced portraits without the background blur found in most of these sort of images from the slow shutter speed.
I have read in other reviews that this lens is slow. It is. If it were a straight lens with f6.3 at 200 mm, I wouldn’t even consider it. However, the OS allows you to handhold safely at least another 2 fstops slower, so IMO, that makes up for the slow speed of the lens. Besides, it’s ridiculous to compare a $500 lens to a $1700 lens in the first place.
The lens also has a bit of distortion. If you primarily shoot architecture, and don’t want to correct all of your images, this isn’t the lens for you.
I haven’t noticed any lens creep yet, the zoom ring is pretty stiff, but that may change over time, and there is a lock, anyway.
One major complaint I have about this lens: the focus ring is prominent, and easy to grab. TOO easy to grab. Sigma warns against turning the focus ring when you are in autofocus mode, for fear of damaging the lens. I trained myself after about 15 minutes to keep my hand off of it, but I noticed that anyone that picked up the camera had a tendency to want to turn the focus ring, thinking it was the zoom ring. If you hand this lens to someone to take your picture, be sure to instruct them how to handle it, or risk damage to the lens.
The focus mechanism and OS are a bit noisy, but mostly because my ear is about 4 inches from the camera when it operates. I care very little about the noise factor.
Overall, this is a great lens. Inexpensive, will probably be on your camera exclusively, and allows you to handhold the camera in low light situations. I never got to test it against Nikon’s version, but the difference in price made the choice easy. I recommend this lens highly.
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|Sigma got it right,
We’ve been using this Sigma AF 18-200 lens for a couple of months now. Recently we compared the Sigma with Canon’s 28-135mm image stabilized lens on a Canon 30D. We shot side by side photographs at 28mm & 135 mm both, set to ISO 100 with camera in Program mode. Our lenses were set to autofocus with image stabilization on.
The good news which I really didn’t expect was to see both lenses produce images that were nearly identical– I thought for sure Canon’s optics would far surpass Sigma’s. Color saturation, light exposure through the lens, and detail were indistinguishable. The autofocus worked equally well on both. Both weighed about the same and were about the same size. The Sigma has a 72mm diameter aperture which I liked (so does the Canon). Of course the Sigma is 18-200, and at this time Canon does not have a competing option in the same digital SLR lens class with image stabilization.
The only aspect of the Sigma that differed significantly from Canon’s lens was the noise of Sigma’s autofocus motor. Sigma produces noticeable motor noise, though it wasn’t overly loud. Still if you were shooting in a spot where silence was critical such as a ceremony, it may become an issue but probably not. In comparison, the Canon autofocus motor is silent and fast every time.
Sigma places a locking mechanism on the lens barrel to eliminate any possibility of lens creep (lens extending when pointed down). I doubt this would be a problem with the Sigma anyway. The zoom ring is a little stiff, but not too stiff. The manual focus ring is designed to be used with AF set to off to avoid manipulating the motor when focusing.
The image stabilization works well allowing you to shoot lower light photos without a tripod. I was quite satisfied with Sigma’s newest effort here.
I’d say this Sigma makes a great choice for amateur photographers like us looking for a single lens option on Canon digital SLR cameras. The only dissuading factor ‘might’ be the motor noise if you hope to match Canon’s silent motor system. Until Canon produces the same class of lens at a competitive price, Sigma has this round sown up.
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UPDATE: “LENS CREEP” September 18, 2007
We did just notice the Sigma lens starting creep for the first time (extend while pointed down). So apparently while the zoom mechanism starts off stiff enough to hold the lens in position, over time it will loosen up enough to move on its own with gravity assisting. Still love the lens though.
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