The Perfect Travel for Canon is the Sigma AF 18-200 F3.5-6.3 DC?

Published by

rich

15 October 2007

I’ve already mentioned that the Nikon D40X and their 18-200 lense are a wonderful travel kit, but what about the Canon user?

For the Canon photographer, there is no equivalent until now. The new “Sigma AF 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 DC OS”:http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/4603/lens-test-sigma-18-200mm-f35-63-dc-os-af.html seems to have lots of sample to sample variation, but at least PopPhoto.com found that at 200mm, it is even better than the Nikon.

“Photozone.de”:http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/sigma_18200_3563os/index.htm confirmed that review showing visible barrel distortion and a problem with resolution in the 35mm range. That reviews main advice was to stay close to F/9 in all zoom and beware the bokeh is only so, so. You have to fix distortion manually with Photoshop CS3 or hopefullyDxO will have a module for the Sigma soon that does that automatically). The main advice is that you need to stay fast and above F/9.

The main issues are the Sigma lense quality and also it is “slower”:http://dslrblog.com/sigma-18-200mm-os-review/ at the top end at F6.3 vs. F5.6 for the Nikon. On the other hand, Popular Photography says image quality at 200mm is better on the Sigma, so go figure. The issue is how fast the Sigma autofocuses, many reviews mention that it doesn’t have a fast HSM motor

“DSKblog.com”:http://dslrblog.com/sigma-18-200mm-os-review/ says “lightrules”:http://www.pbase.com/lightrules/178518200main that compared witht he Canon 17-85 IS USM, it is ok with center sharpness, but the 17-85 wins in corner sharpness. He evens like the build quality better that the 17-85 which isn’t after a professional quality “L” lense like the 24-105. Again, he points out that autofocusing isn’t that fast with the Sigma.

“ephotozine”:http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Sigma-18-200mm-f35-63-DC-OS-1 also did a quick review which like other reviews show that it does have some distortion at the wide end. And that the lense is best in bright light, so tun it at F/8 at the short end and F/11 at the longer focal lenses.

So if you are a Canon guy, it becomes:

* Canon Digital Rebel XTi. Also 10 megapixels
* Sigma 18-200 lense. “Pricegrabber”:http://cameras.pricegrabber.com/slr-lenses/m/40235217/search=18-200/sort_type=bottomline has it for as little as $464 vs. a list of $550.

One response to “The Perfect Travel for Canon is the Sigma AF 18-200 F3.5-6.3 DC?”

ronin

16 October 2007

Heh, been pondering this myself lately and came pretty much to the same conclusion. The only problem I have with the Nikon D40 is the 3 AF points. I think that’d be tough to get used to. Also, don’t forget a companion low-light, indoor lens. Most people will recommend the nifty 50s on both sides since they’re cheap and give good results for the money but I find 50mm to be too long on crop bodies so I’d personally prefer the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 which come in both Canon and Nikon versions. I think this 2 lens combo would be perfect for traveling. I’m not much of a tripod guy and since the 18-200 lenses both have VR/OS I think that makes toting around a tripod even less necessary.

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