28.8.2013

I finally got fed up of lugging around my heavy telephoto zoom lens in the back-pack, and constantly having to swap lenses, and decided to go instead for an all-in-one 18-250mm superzoom lens for my Pentax K10-D. I have a couple of other Sigma lenses (including the aforementioned 70-300mm one), and I've always been very impressed with them. They always seem to deliver lovely sharp, contrasty photos with rich colours (sometimes almost Velvia-like), and a pleasing Bokeh effect in out-of-focus areas. They're also generally very well built.So far, I'm very happy with my new lens. It's not a lightweight, weighing in at about 500g with the lens hood (see later), but on the other hand,it is less weighty than my standard & telephoto zooms combined. I havn't found the weight of this lens on my camera excessive to carry around slung over my shoulder. This is my first lens with built-in hypersonic focusing, and I'm very impressed with the quick but gentle focusing action, which is almost silent and very accurate. It's much less aggressive than lenses which use the motor in the camera. This function is switched on or off using the control on the lens barrel, rather than the switch on the camera body. The camera switch can still be used to select single or continuous auto-focusing, however. In continuous mode, the lens responds very rapidly to small movements in both subject and camera, producing consistently sharp images even during continuous shooting in macro mode. There's no quick-shift function with this lens- auto-focusing is either on or off, and whilst on, the focus ring shouldn't be forced by hand, as this could damage the lens. I havn't had any problems with lens creep, despite walking for hours with my camera draped over my shoulder, with the lens pointing downwards.This zoom is a bit darker than my other telephoto, with a max aperture f6.3 as opposed to f5.6, but this is normal for a superzoom. In practice, with shake reduction I havn't noticed the difference. The Pentax & Sony versions don't have shake reduction built-in, but instead use the camera-based mechanism- so the switch for this function is missing in these lenses. In this model, macro-focusing has been improved to 35cm, which is great for snapping insects, flowers etc. I'm pleased to say they've done away with the macro-switch, and focusing is continuous from 35cm to infinity at all focal lengths.I've never been a fan of either plastic or metal lens hoods, so I opted to buy a rubber one for my new lens. I went for the AGFA heavy-duty model (62mm thread), and this works very well with the lens. The hood can fold into 3 positions- fully extended, mid-position, & fully retracted. In fully-extended mode, it does cause some vignetting in the wide-angle range- so it needs to be retracted to the half-way position. This hood is also threadded on the front, so you can fit filters, and put the lens cap on securely. The only problem with the hood, is that it tends to cast a shadow if the built-in flash is used, so it should be removed in these circumstances. Recently, I've found it's better to remove the threadded ring from the hood, and simply fit the rubber part to the end of the lens barrel directly. This reduces the possibility of vignetting still further.The price offered by Capital Stores was competitive, and it arrived fairly quickly, within the estimated delivery slot. My only very minor gripe was that they didn't supply a receipt- but this can always be printed off from Amazon if need be.Update- I've now had the chance to use my new lens at a music festival, and it has performed superbly! The results aren't as good when it gets darker, as this lens does have a fairly high f-number. But as long as you try not to photograph dimly lit rapidly moving subjects, the results should be pretty sharp, most of the time. The only other problem I found was I had to be careful when zooming in in crowded areas, as while I was looking through the viewfinder, I didn't realise how far the lens was protruding, and I had to be careful not to poke one of my neighbours! Another thing I noticed whilst on holiday, is that the lens tends to under-expose photos by 1/2-1 stop, so I sometimes have to alter the exposure compensation setting.

6.11.2012

Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM Lens for CanonI have bought this lens purely for my up and coming trip across the deserts of Western Australia, so I needed an all in one lens, both as a weight issue and for ease of travel and as any photographer amateur or professional will know changing lenses in the desert is never a good plan!.The lens was ordered on Thurs 1st November 2012 and arrived 6th November 2012, the company Luzern Tech were brilliant and on time, the Box was well packaged and well protected, on opening the internal packaging was again done properly to protect the lens, the lens feels sturdy to hold and feels robust,it comes with a lens hood!.I use a Canon 400D and it was easy to fit on the camera the lens felt well balanced and comfortable to hold, I took some initial shots at each end of the scale and some macro shots, the colours looked good and close-ups seems to capture a lot of detail. the OS feature was brilliant, my eyes are unfortunately going (age comes to us all) and if I don't wear my glasses when shooting I sometimes get blurred shots, not with this lens though, it compensates shakiness with the OS and the photo's were sharp and clear, the zoom was good and gave a good clear picture and the landscape shots were clear and the colours were good.Initial reaction and I have read all the reviews on the magazines but sometimes for us amateurs, they get far too technical!! So with that in mind, for other amateur shooters, my initial reaction is that this is a good sturdy lens, will provide a good "1 lens does all" which for travel and holiday is brilliant, looks good, the lens hood is handy and nice to know you don't have to buy one as an extra!!, I will get a UV filter for this to protect my lens and possibly a polariser as well, but hopefully this lens will fullfil all my needs other than those two items. which will mean lighter travelling!! but still able to take lots of good photos, landscape, wildlife and macro.On another review on this lens it was noted that Sigma are doing an extended warranty, I went onto the Sigma site registered the lens and got the same extended warranty, well done to Sigma for offering this facility and not charging the customer!, so if you are buying this in the next fews months registar with Sigma as the warranty is worth it.I have 3 Sigma lenses for my Canon and have never had any problems I expect to have none with this lens. I will write a further review in 6 months on my return from Australia.I have given it four stars for now but that will probably change after I have used it and expect it to go to 5!!!But right now initial thoughts are buy, especially for travel/holidaying etc.UPDATE UPDATE!!! WOW! Chuck the other kit lens away, stick on this one, travel, enjoy and never worry about dust getting inside your camera when changing from Zoom - Wide Angle - Macro, I have completed a trip through Western Australia, crossed Deserts, sailed on the Indian Ocean and stopped to shoot in a Gorge (Kalbarri) in over 50 degrees baking heat, I shot wildlife, landscape, scenes in low light (hand held), flowers and insects in Macro, all are what I wanted, and anything that did not look good was more due to my composition than the lens!!! it is fast enough to focus on a fleeing Roo! and capture it in mid bounce, it is rarely off my camera, (the lens not the Roo!!) I like to travel light with my Photo Kit, but need a lens that does everything, did not think that would ever be available until I got this lens, I would highly recommend this lens to anyone who is looking for a single lens for traveling it is well worth the money and Luzern Tech who were the sellers were a very safe and professional company so this is the lens for you if you travel, it will fit all the Canon APC-C Ef/EF-S mounts. the shots are clear with good colour and good prints at the end result.

13.1.2017

I bought this lens in June 2016 but wanted to get some proper and varied use out of it before passing comment. It has been in service for just over 6 months now, so here goes..........Personally I feel that photographs are the best way to preserve memories and I have taken thousands of them over the years, more so since I moved into the digital world. However, I do not regard myself as a true photographer in that I do not fully understand much of the technical side of things and tend to rely on automatic settings most of the time. A lot of people will fall on the swords when I say that I use a Nikon D3200 (special birthday present) as I am only using a fraction of it's potential,but that doesn't overly concern me. I print a lot of my own pictures and have used many more in PhotoBox productions without any issues at all and that is what matters most to me.Not long after getting the camera I felt the need for a longer lens and so purchased a 70 - 300 to compliment the kit lens. Like most people I soon grew tired of constantly swapping lenses, not only because of the increased risk getting dirt in the camera but also the frustration of missing those 'once in a lifetime' shots. The solution for me was an 'all in one' lens and I read loads of reviews to make sure that I knew the downsides as well as the advantages. I was advised that the Sigma lenses were the best and so all things considered, I bought this one.Since putting this lens on my camera it has never come off again. It's first proper outing was a family holiday to Kos and the great thing was no lens swapping in the hot and sandy conditions. Since then it has been on various family outings, recorded many school productions and, most recently, seen it's first Christmas. My wife and two children (10 and 8) can use it with ease because it has created an almost perfect 'point and shoot'. On those occasions where the 250 end does not get you close enough, providing the quality of the photograph is good (I always use best setting on the camera anyway) you can crop and enlarge portions of the picture to suit. For me, it produces great results (indoors and outdoors) with both stills and (not for the purists) also the video facility. In short I like this lens a lot.However, nothing in life is perfect and I did note some very minor issues that I had already noted in other reviews.a) The lens is noticeably heavier than other similar ones but once I had got used to it, I found that it made the camera feel more stable.b) The lens lock only operates when the lens is fully retracted. If you take the lock off to use the zoom and the camera is angled downwards then the weight of the lens will cause it to extend. You need to be aware of this and hold on to the lens to prevent it.c) The lens rotates in the opposite direction to the Nikon lens and after 6 months I have still not fully got used to this.None of the above are what I would call faults and do not, therefore, warrant the deduction of a star.Based upon some of the reviews I have read there are no doubt many technical reasons for not having an 'all in one' lens but I think a lot of this depends upon what you want your end result to be. If you are like me and just want to keep photographic records and produce some decent prints when required, then I do not think you would be at all disappointed with this lens.

13.10.2012

Much like the other reviews, I will speak highly of this piece of equipment, although I have only had it for a month. I bought it along with a 60D body-only. For a couple of months beforehand I was chopping and changing my mind, researhing heavily into lenses for what I wanted (travel/general all-purpose), and I finally decided on this particular Sigma. I didnt go for the older model that this one has replaced (despite it being cheaper) as the camera itself was a couple of years old and I thought it would be better to get a newer lens to counter that - particularly as it's supposed to be a lot lighter than the previous model, although I havent held that one to compare.But most of the weight will definitely come from the camera.18-250mm is ideal for me right now - having to chop and change lenses whilst travelling is a pain for sure, and this just stays on, reducing the chance of anything getting inside the camera. The image quality is very good for this type of lens, and the entire thing is extremely quiet - particularly the shutter sound, and if you try and listen for the optical stabilisation hum when turned on you really do have to concentrate with no other noises in the room!I'm someone who has quite small hands, but the lens is very comfortable to hold, with a great grip on the barrel, which itself isn't particularly wide in diameter (62mm) - also doesnt need to extend as far as I thought it would for a lens of it's focal length. Autofocus is quite fast and works well in al-servo mode, but I dont think it would hold up to fast continuous shooting for sports photography or something like that. Manual focus ring is quite light and feels more "plasticy" then the rest of the lens, and can easily slip if knocked - there is also no lock for it either. There however is a lock when the lens barrel is retracted at 18mm, and whilst it doesn't always slip, it might if mounted on a tripod pointing downwards (albeit at quite a low angle) if you're doing some macro work with it, so bare that in mind. It's very smooth, however it might be a bit stiff to zoom when you first unpack it - this will go away eventually.The lens hood is included and can stay on the barrel in reverse when not in use - however you would need to remove it if using the manual focus ring.I have rated it 5 stars as it does everything I want it to do. Also as previously mentioned by others, Sigma offer a 3 year extended warranty - just register the lens and your details on their website, then wait for an email back from them and you're sorted.Sorry for long review but when I was researching I also wanted as much detail and info as possible. I will report back with other updates or info that I feel necessary (still need to test it out at night for example).

17.12.2014

I've been using the Tamron for 4 years & taken about 10,000 pictures with it, about half on a K7 & half on a K5IIs. I've found the Tamron slightly soft above about 150mm & was looking to improve on that, hence getting the Sigma.After fine tuning the focus I took pictures of a test target at various focal lengths and apertures. At it's sharpest setting (18mm at f8) the Tamron looks to be just slightly sharper in the centre than the Sigma & just slightly softer in the corners. At all other focal lengths and apertures the Sigma (my copy anyway) is just a little sharper than the Tamron. Interestingly the Sigma looks to be at its sharpest at the two extremes (18mm & 250mm),

8.7.2013

History: I've owned a superzoom lens before; the Sony 18-250, and I loved it but as it's f6.3 at the long end plus I wanted a longer reach and decent low light lens, I sold it and got a Bridge camera (FZ48), and the utterly brilliant 85mm f2.8 lens, a year on and I wasn't impressed with the superzoom, that's the problem when you go from using an A77 to a bridge camera, a bit like driving a Buggati Veyron and then getting into a robin reliant, so the bridge camera went and another Sony 18-250 was sourced, second hand from a main high street store, worst condition lens I've ever bought, so that went back and a replacement sourced.I don't have much time for Sigma,

21.10.2013

I recently bought the A65 DSLR which is in itself a superb camera. Of course the 18-55mm lens it comes bundled with is functional but in reality nothing more than a 'get you started' item.I do have other lenses from an older Sony Alpha but wanted a good reasonably priced all round lens that I can leave on the camera unless I want to specifically shoot something requiring particular lens. Sony of course do upgraded lenses which seem to fall into two categories - brilliant and eye-wateringly expensive or reasonably priced but lacking that quality feel that makes using a good lens a pleasant operation.So one has to look at the 3rd party suppliers for that elusive mid range lens that is both high quality without the wallet rupturing effects of a 'G'

2.10.2012

I bought this lens recently from Amazon to replace my aging but reliable 5 years old non-stabalised Tamron 18-250mm zoom lens, i`m getting older now lolol, and find that i could not hold my Canon EOS 650D without the shakes, WOW!!!! this Sigma offering is totaly superb, the build quality is astonishing, built as, if not better than some of the Canons, It is near silent in operation and the image stabilizing is in one word FANTASTIC!!! what a difference, and my pictures are sharper, more so than the Tamron, i had read quite a few reviews on this new Sigma, near all resulting in 4-5 stars and also how a good few reviewers claimed this Sigma was better than the Tamron 18-270mm vc zoom lens (its main competitor)

7.12.2013

This is a solidly-made lens that feels like quality engineering...the switches feel very positive, the zoom action feels smooth and ergonomically, it just feels good. I recommend reading a detailed technical report with regards optical performance because this is complex and so many parameters can be measured and expressed. Using it for real (i. e. not photographing test charts or comparing every focal length with another lens), I am happy with this lens' performance. If I use it at it's widest setting, I can see a bowing of straight lines and if I zoom into a detail on a photo taken with the lens, I can see it isn't pin-sharp. However, considering the huge zoom range and the compact size of this lens,

14.1.2014

I was a little bit sceptical when purchasing this lens as I was concerned about wasting money buying a lower quality non Nikon Lens. I shouldn't have worried.Before buying the Sigma I was using a Nikkor 16-85 VR and 70-300 VR as my two main lenses, but on a recent trip to Woburn Safari Park I was constantly changing lenses trying to capture that photo.Looked at the Nikkor 18-200, but even a second hand V1 without the lens lock would cost approx the same money as the Sigma, let along the V2 version which costs double the price brand new.Now using the Sigma as my walkaround lens when out and about with my family. Image quality is very good, as good as the 18-55 kit lens but a tad softer than the 16-85 but still good for most needs.

14.7.2014

I bought this lens to replace a Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR which over the course of 4 years cost me well over £1,000 to purchase and repair. After the Nikon lens broke for the third time, I decided to cut my losses and buy a different lens.Although this Sigma lens is less than half the price of the Nikon, I consider it to be a significantly better product. Optically it is certainly no worse - it produces some great quality pictures at all points of the zoom range - which is more extensive than the Nikon's zoom. It is also more compact - which is great if you want a versatile, "go anywhere" lens - and it feels considerably more robust. The zoom lock switch is also useful,

24.10.2015

This is an excellent all-round lens for people who only carry one SLR camera with them and need the flexibility to catch either wider angle photos or zoom into the detail. As an amateur photographer who appreciates image visual quality rather than image aberration technicalities and who uses my Sigma lens for travel photography in combination with a Canon EOS 500D, I love the results I get and I have used this lens for 3 years without any problems.Unfortunately, earlier this year, the zoom started to stiffen when turning the barrel of the lens and it eventually locked fast such that I can't use the zoom any more. The lens is out of warranty and effectively dead with repair probably costing as much as a new lens,

28.2.2013

If you have a Nikon D3000/3100/3200 or D5000/5100/5200 and you want the convenience of point and shoot zooms with the quality of DSLR this is THE lens for you. Yes it is expensive, yes it might well cost more than you camera but it is worth it.The problem with lenses is that the more the zoom the less the quality, it is always a balance. This hits the sweet spot for most uses that these types of cameras will be put to. It has a nearly 15 X zoom, a macro feature for close ups and doesn't weigh too much. The price is great as well.Be warned the "lightweight" in the product description is relative to other super zooms. This is a hefty piece of glass and adds considerable weight to the smaller camera it would normally be paired with.

31.8.2014

I have a Canon EOS 60D and an EOS 100D, the latter being the more recent purchase as I wanted a good quality but fairly compact camera. As I have used Canon DSLRs for a few years, I have a few Canon lenses in addition to the standard 18-55 kit lens - I have the 28-135IS and also the 70-300IS. However, ahead of a two week family holiday to Canada, I opted for the Sigma as I wanted 1 universal lens that would cover all bases and that I could use with the 100D. First impressions are that the lens is lightweight but well made and, in my opinion, build quality is up there with the Canon lenses I am familiar with. The lens was put through its paces via c500 shots on holiday, which covered landscapes,

29.9.2014

I've owned this lens for a couple of years now and overall I'm pretty pleased with it... No more juggling lenses when out and about, risking dust and sand etc getting into the camera. The picture quality is pretty good, you sacrifice a little with a super-zoom but it's very slight; I have a 50mm prime lens that is my favourite and you can see the difference in direct comparison but the convenience and flexibility this lens offers over the prime and the 2 lenses I bought it to replace means that it is the lens that is mounted on the camera most of the time. I've knocked off a start for two niggles; the auto focus on close inspection was not as sharp as manually focusing but this has been corrected using the camera's micro adjustment,

Sigma 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 DC Makro OS HSM - Reviews

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