Strong CA Chromatic Aberration is present in the mid and peripheral image circle at 18mm. The CA lessens until becoming negligible at 80mm, and then increases until modestly present again at mm. The C shows moderately strong barrel distortion, especially in the center of the frame, at 18mm. By 28mm, pincushion distortion has set in. Moderate pincushion distortion remains present over the balance of the focal length range.
With its rounded 7-blade aperture, the C creates average quality bokeh foreground and background blur quality. However, this is not the same AF implementation seen on Sigma's best lenses. Autofocusing is quiet as the motor name suggests, but the focus speed is relatively slow and FTM Full Time Manual focusing is not supported.
I often find a finger or two resting on the focus ring, trying to help stabilize this very light lens. Perhaps most important is that I found this lens' autofocus system to be both accurately calibrated and consistently accurate.
This lens internally focuses and the front-mount filter threads do not rotate with focusing. This lens is not close to parfocal — you will definitely want to re-focus after zooming in or out. The C's manual focus ring is smooth with a very light rotational resistance. That the ring is very small reflects the Sigma target market's lack of interest in manual focusing.
With FTM not supported the focus ring does not spin freely , the focus distances can be printed directly on the lens barrel. Also printed on the lens barrel are the maximum reproduction ratios available at the delineated zoom settings.
While I am not a fan of designating a lens with a 0. This lens is more-macro than its non-HSM predecessor, so I guess the name reflects this improvement. Let's take a look at a table of close-focusing specs for a group of at-least-somewhat similar lenses:. In my opinion, this is the least meaningful series name "Art" and "Sports" are the other two and from my perception, designates the lower end of Sigma's offerings.
The finish is black with a variety of matte-ness levels with modern white font lettering. As expected, the lens is constructed of plastic while the zoom and MF rings are rubber-coated. Also rubber-coated is the base of the included lens hood, making the hood easier to graps during installation and removal. This hood is small and designed not block the image circle at 18mm, which means that its protection at the much narrower mm focal length is minimal. Especially obvious is that this lens, like all other lenses in this class, extends significantly when zoomed to the longest focal length.
The C's zoom ring is very smooth with just the right amount of rotational resistance, even though it is moving the end of the lens up to 2. The provided zoom extension retaining lock switch is not needed at this point in the life of the lens I have. Sigma shrank their mm lens. This lens is both smaller and lighter than the previous Sigma — by a noticeable amount.
It has 16 elements in 12 groups, two ED glass elements, and 3 aspherical elements. Capture the intricate details of a bird's feather or breathtaking, wide-angle landscape photos with this lens that has a maximum focal length of mm and a minimum focal length of 18 mm.
You can also capturing moments in dim-light conditions through this lens. It uses ultrasonic vibrations for accurate autofocusing. Get sharp, still images and HD videos with improved image stability.
The Super Integrated Coating SIC on the lens improves light transmission, color consistency and reduces flare for amazing photos. The Extra-low Dispersion ED glass elements reduce chromatic aberration. The Aspherical lens elements use non-spherical surfaces of the glass to help eradicate certain types of lens aberration.
This lens has a 72 mm filter size that can easily accept screw-on filters to add effects. Explore Plus. Camera Accessories. Camera Lenses.
View Plans. Buy without Exchange. Buy with Exchange. Enter pincode. Usually delivered in 7 days? Rate Product. Definitely the best Travel lens at this price range. The pictures are sharp. It is not best suited for low light photography, But overall a very good lens.
I bought this lens for normal photography like light potraits, a bit of landscape , street shoots and adventure. There is no Distortion at the edges both at the 18mm or mm range.
The VR-II substantiates in providing great results without shake. The distorsion, quite disturbing at 18 mm, can completely be corrected with DxO Pro. It is not expensive at all, considering what it delivers. I also compared it to the Tamron f2. All in all, the Nikon one is the best super zoom of all these 4 , though as SLR says , it is a bit less sharp than the Tamorn and Canon. I think as I get a bit of money in next month , I will re-buy it for my D80 and I will sell the Canon eF-SIS ,which is a too heavy lens for a this kind of super convinient zoom.
I like the Canon zoom lock sytem , but it is a bit too big. Oh , if you want to get it , just get it as a part of a D90 kit or D kit like me , you will save a lot of money. It's a super-zoom so it needs f8 to perform adequately at the tele end. For non-critical work it's great but if you are fussy the quality will disappoint. After using this lens for about 6 months, I recently sold it.
Though it is very versatile, and remits you from lens changing if not for an ultrawide or supertele, I was just never that impressed by it's image quality. The lens is only marginally sharper than that of my Fuji E point and shoot, but with more CA and distortion.
This is perhaps the ultimate lens for "get the shot" people, or those who take what I'd call documentation pictures. For me, it is not worth the trouble and risk of taking a DSLR if only to take documentation pictures of an event of place that is not particularly interesting.
Then spend on lenses that allow more creativity via higher image quality, larger aperture, more extreme focal lengths, etc. For this cost, I'd expect a lens that feels extremely well made, but this lens is merely average in that regard. In the end, this lens is a jack of most trades, master of none. For those who'd rather not miss a shot than exploit what their DSLR is truly capable of, there is no current substitute. Most of the time it is ok but there will be times when it simply isn't sharp enough even at F8 for a good shot at, say, 21" diagonal.
You might want to try it at F11 a few times, once you get past mm or so. That's what I plan to do with mine. Supposedly that will cut the blur in half beyond mm. Still, that's really sloooow It does have good VR and that will count for about a stop as the sun drops below the horizon, and up to 4 stops at mm. It's adequately-sharp and focuses well and it's stable in low light It's just not sharp or long enough during the day or fast enough at night, for every shot that you will want to take, so don't buy this thinking that you will be "set for life" with it.
It's a good "starter lens", and, generally, it and one or two other lenses depending on what they are will fit in your bag with your DSLR, and make a good travel-kit. I would at least get the Tamron for sharp day shots and save this one for short to midrange work in "less than perfect" light or that lucky long-range low-light handheld shot. The Tamron is smaller, lighter and almost half the price. Oh and did I mention that it's sharper and longer?
I just looked at that insanity and traded the D and the for a Canon5D and the Tamron VC, then sold the rest. Made a tidy profit. And now I don't have to run DxO at all. I took a lot of good shots with it, though. This was far better but still not really good enough. There's simply no other comparable alternative. The Sigma OS just doesn't have as good a quality, and it's ever slower to boot. And there are definitely times when I need that like, say, at the beach , times when I don't want to change lenses.
It's great for that, but it's not great. I much prefer my fast glass to this in most situations. It's a nice enough lens, though, a very nice range to have coverage on, and I would definitely recommend it as a primary lens to the novice or a secondary lens for the enthusiast.
This is my lens of choice for all-around shooting on my D The performance of the VR system is excellent. The sharpness is more than acceptable, and I love the wide zoom range. I am extremely unhappy with the way this lens creeps. I sometimes use a short piece of gaffer tape to hold the focal length. Otherwise, lens construction quality is excellent, but Nikon really dropped the ball by allowing this lens to creep so readily. Can't complain. Image quality is good to excellent. Build quality of the lens could be better, when zooming back from mm to 18mm.
Made In Thailand. I wanted to throw my two cents in here so as to hopefully help people know what this lens is and isn't.
What it is not is a pro piece of glass that will give amazing sharpness. I think a lot of people have established unrealistic expectations of this lens, which is unfair to say the least. Now, this lens is a great all-in-one walkaround type lens.
You get consistently sharp yes, sharp. Just not as sharp as the pro lenses images throughout the zoom. The VR makes this lens usable in a number of circumstances without need for a tripod. The only place this lens can get in trouble is if you need a fast shutter speed in lower light So if you want one lens that can stay on the camera most of the time and do an excellent job of making images, then buy this lens.
If you want razor sharp images for fine art work, save your pennies and buy the faster 2. I bought this lens in August 06 and have taken over 2, pictures with it. As you get older, like me, you discover that your hands are not as steady as when you were younger. Accordingly, the image stabilization in low light is worth it's weight in gold to get good pictures at slow shutter exposures. This is really great for we old duffers who don't like carrying around tripods or other stabilizing equipment.
Unless you are an absolute perfectionist, you will be very satisfied with the pictures you get from this lens. Sigma is suppose to be manufacturing an OS lens but it has not been released as of this review. Don't hesitate to buy this lens and try it. If you don't like it, it is easy to sell on e-bay for about what you paid for it if not more. After all I have read of this lens I really thought it would be something special I wasn't planning a review of this lens as I returned mine, but I thought a reality check might be in order for those contemplating this as I did, due to all the glowing press.
Yes it has the kind of zoom range where it could be the only lens you use, and it is good throughout its focal range, but it is far from great optically.
I see a lot of "tens" here and am wondering what they could possibly be comparing it to to justify a perfect score. I find my G to be sharper and have better CA control, and my 50mm and mm primes blew it away. Although this is a good "all in one" lens, it is not without compromises, especially at this price point.
To me this is the main advantage of having a SLR. And while I found the VR to work well, I am afraid it did not offer me much else so I saw little reason to keep it. For the price and versatility, this is an excellent lens. It is perfect for travel and general walk-around photography. It does leave some to be desired though. The build quality is not great.
Beside from the zoom creep, my barrel has a disturbing amount of play when fully extended. No matter how solid your tripod is, I'm afraid this can introduce some shake in gusty winds. I have had great luck using this lens in a wide variety of situations. Recently, I got very good results in a low light, no flash situation. I like to have a very sharp image, so I sharpen the nef images with Raw Developer before printing.
This lens is a great choice to keep on your lens. Just shot this last night. Just think what a bit of PP can do. I only had this lens for about a week. I was thrilled when it came. The range, VR, and AF-S had me immediately, but in use, I found the autofocus slower and louder kinda scratchy than my , distortion higher than , sharpness lower than Needless to say, I stuck with my I enjoyed the , but it didn't seem that much better range and VR were nice than my tried and true workhorse.
This one got sent back. It's by far the best out there currently Dec It would be all you needed for general shooting.
Even though I returned mine, I recommend it to anyone looking for a good wide to tele lens. I purchased this lens to take aerial photos. I am shooting from a helicopter which has some vibration. The VR has worked well smoothing things out.
I will have to agree with others in the respect that this is not always the sharpest lens in my bag. Overall a great lens. What can I say that others have not. This is just a great carry around lens. I use it almost all the time. I wish it was better in low light situations, but that is just being picky. For the price, there is not much to match it, in my opinion. This is a very handy lens to have. I haven't taken the lens off my D since I got it in July.
It's replaced my and Nikkor lenses. It's has also been close enough to my Sigma mm that I haven't had to change to my Sigma very often. The lens is great for shooting in low light scenarios where the objects are stationary, but not the best when shooting moving objects.
Lens is subject to "lens creep" which can be annoying. This lens deserves well its success - in its category, it definitely is one of the bests!!! Of course, there are some design trade offs, resulting in various aberrations distortion, color fringing, If you really care about distortions, color finging, etc This lens is great if you just want to carry one around, leave your tripod at home most of the time thanks VR, even if it only partially compensates the smaller max aperture.
This lens, like all the consumer zooms I guess, performs well when you operate it in its sweet spot. After playing with some primes, I start thinking of this lens as 5 lens: 1 mm f 2 18mm f4 3 24mm f5. The 24mm focal length is undoubtedly the best optically due to the benefit of negligible distortion. The constrast and sharpness fall noticeablly in the longer end, however, it still ok.
Lastly, according to the review of slrgear. On the other hand, this lens can just as well be used as one wishes. The range and VR really gives one wings I mean make one feel free in most cases. This is good and bad, though. Good for the convenience and bad for sharpening one's skills because it can make one not to think.
However, I think this lens has the capability to grow with one's techniques, and it has an unique combination of strengths that easily outweigh its shortcomings. While I will say this is the most useful lens I have in my bag, it's not the Lens of all Lenses Nikon made it out to be.
I will say that this was in part from my lack of understanding how the VR would work in real world shooting. It is absolutely superb for shooting in low light scenarios where the objects are stationary, but not that great if you are shooting moving objects. For shooting sports, I just turn the VR off and use it like a normal lens and go with shutter priority.
The lens has its faults, which have been described in other reviews, but it is a lens that you can carry around all day and have great results at the end of the day. If I need the sharpness or the extra speed I will use the f2. I bought this lens together with my D as a kit. I really enjoy the zoom range of the lens and find that the VR works very well, but I was disappointed by the speed of the lens and the fact that there was so much lens extension with zoom.
Many people had complained of lens creep - my lens did not exhibit this at first, but over time I found that lens creep began to set in as the lens components loosened up. The images I've taken with this lens have been a mixed bag. In good light, I find I can get decent images of my daughter with decent bokeh, but I was also disappointed by the lens' apparent softness.
The images just did not seem very sharp. At first I thought it was my technique that was at fault, but my 50mm 1. I guess it is unfair to compare a prime to a zoom lens though.
All-in-all, I think it's a good lens for its intended purposes. As far as recommendations go, I really think it would depend on what would be expected of the camera. If you're looking for tack-sharp images and speed, then no.
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