Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 11 DC OS HSM Lens for Canon

Product Information

Face it, the vast majority of us won't be shooting test shots under controlled conditions in a studio, and looking for spectacular sharpness from edge to edge, without noticeable vignetting. So, don't get hung up on studio test shots when evaluating lenses. I'd leave a 72mm Hoya Super HMC UV on the lens at all times. I wouldn't bopther buying the extra-cost plastic hood. SIGMA has always been producing a high performance standard zoom lens, dedicated for digital DSLR cameras, that covers up to 200mm by reflecting the latest technology. In 2005, SIGMA released 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC as a smallest and lightest all-rounder lens in class that covers from wide-angle to telephoto range. SIGMA, in 2007, incorporated OS (Optical Stabilization) functionality, and in 2011, has successfully made the size of the lens even more compact. Now, this new lens has been redeveloped as the standard zoom lens from SIGMA's new product line, which has higher performance, is even smaller and lighter-weight, and on top of that, includes “the macro feature”. As an entry level interchangeable lens, it is capable of many photographic scenes.

The Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens features an awesome focal length range (one that completely covers the needs of many photographers) and Finally at 200mm, good sharpness in the centre is still maintained at maximum aperture and fairly good sharpness levels towards the edges. Peak quality across the frame is attained at f/8 for this focal length and good sharpness across the frame is achieved.The quality of walk-around lenses is currently high enough for a large group of amateur photographers. It surprises me again every time how large the zoom range is and how similar the various 18-200 mm zooms are in terms of image quality and build quality. They’re also getting a bit better, but that applies for the more expensive lenses as well. Of course, accurate focusing is not especially challenging for a slow (narrow aperture) lens on a 1.6x body. The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. Like all superzooms the Sigma 18-200mm OS features a complex optical design, in this case 18 elements in 13 groups including one Super-Low Dispersion (SLD) glass element, and no fewer than three aspherical elements to combat aberrations. A minimum focus distance of 0.45m through the entire range adds to the lens's all-round versatility. The optical stabilization system detects when the camera is panning and automatically switches to operating in one axis only, useful for shooting moving subjects such as sports. There is so much moving around as you zoom that it's more difficult to zoom if you point the lens directly up or down, since you now have to pull half the lens up or down with the zoom ring. If this is difficult for you, point the lens the other way first if it helps you zoom in (pointed down) or zoom out (point it up). It's no problem pointed horizontally.

At 80mm, the good sharpness in the centre is maintained at maximum aperture, with sharpness towards the edges dropping to fair levels. Peak quality across the frame is again achieved between f/8 and f/11 for this focal length, where sharpness across the frame is very good. The manual focus ring is relatively small and reasonably smooth, but has some play in it - especially around 50mm. I have been using this lens for the past month or so on Nikon D50 plus I use the 18-70 Nikon. Though 18-70 has a slight advantage in terms of image quality when compared at the same focal length and faster, silent focusing but for the range I normally carry this lens whilst traveling. And for all other occasions I use the 18-70 Nikon. The EF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 IS is Canon's latest zoom lens for APS-C format DSLRs, introduced as a companion to the EOS 50D. Its announcement in August this year came as no great surprise, as wide focal length range 'superzooms' are clearly popular amongst photographers seeking an all-in-one lens for travel and everyday shooting. The most obvious example of this is the runaway success of Nikon's AF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6G VR, and a Canon equivalent has almost certainly been the most-requested lens on our forums.The pictures below illustrate the focal length range from wide to telephoto (on Nikon DX format, 1.5x).

Also, compare the 18-200 images to the nearly-distortion-free Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II Lens samples for the same camera. Now , Canon's also got this super zoom , so I wanted to buy it for myself and compare it to my Nikon Af-S18-200Vr , I think the Canon lens is a bit sharper , espeically at 200mm it , but the Nikon lens handles CA at wide end a bit better(even without the D300 in-camera CA control tool). The only difference is that this one has a longer reach, but the 6.3 max aperture is quite slow (to be honest, I usually stop mine to f/8 when I have enough light, so I wouldn't actually notice the slower max aperture). Image quality is pretty much the same at the same settings, so here is a copy of my review of my 18-125/3,5-5,6 : Falloff of illumination towards the corners is reasonably well controlled. At 18mm the corners are 1.42 stops darker than the image centre and at 200mm the corners are 1.26 stops darker. Visually uniform illumination is achieved with the lens stopped down by just over a stop from maximum aperture throughout the zoom range. Corner shading is fairly well-controlled in the 18-200mm IS. Wide-angle lenses typically show some form of light falloff, and while we see this phenomenon with the 18-200mm, it's not too severe: the corners are only 3/4 of a stop darker than the center, and only when used at 18mm and at ƒ/3.5. At any other focal length while using the lens wide open, corner shading is only 1/2 of a stop. As the lens is stopped down, corner shading falls to 1/4 of a stop by ƒ/8; when using the lens at a focal length of 80mm or greater, there is virtually no corner shading when the lens is stopped down to ƒ/11 or smaller.

UPDATE: after posted this one , I read the previous poster's trashing this lens , and I thought he probably never used this lens in real life or he just got a bad copy. In any case , this lens is much better than that , it's AF very fast ,at least as fast as any other consumer grade lens in this price range and actually faster AFing than the Nikon super zoom , which I also have had for about 4 months. At the wider focal lengths, such as 18mm and 28mm, it’s possible to see some distortion when shooting geometric subjects. As you might expect, if you get too close to a normal subject at these wide angle lengths you can also see distortion happening. In any case, if you see a one-in-a-milion shot, take it in RAW and correct using DPP. It works well. With a narrow range of optimum apertures to use, image stabilization becomes even more valuable because IS allows the lens to be handheld over a much wider range of shutter speeds. Shooting at 18mm at the lenses widest aperture of f/3.5 it’s possible to see some light drop off in the corners of the image. The effect is lessened at f/4.0, and is almost non-existent at f/5.6. It’s a decent performance considering that f/4.0 is a reasonably wide aperture.