Customer Reviews

Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8-4.5 SLD Aspherical DC Optical Stabilized (OS) Lens with Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm using this lens on a Nikon D200. After destroying my 18-200mm Nikon VR I wanted a cheap "walkabout lens" that I could risk destroying as I do a lot of industrial shooting where it's easy to whack a lens.

I bought this lens despite some less than glowing reviews. I really liked the self-contained design where nothing changes length when zooming or focusing. I also liked the idea of it being f/2.8 at the wide end.

This lens has a boatload of chromatic aberration at wider settings which is it's chief drawback. I use Lightroom 2.6 and it's perfectly correctable which enhances its wide end sharpness as well. This lens is sharp enough at all zooms stopped down just a little. It's really quite a surprise. I wouldn't try to make billboards with it, but it should print up to 12x18 with a little care in shooting. The optical stabilization on mine is really very good and I'm impressed with how far it allows me to push the shutter speed on still life shots.

Like most inexpensive wide lenses, it shows corner softness and vignetting at wide settings but this can actually be used to push the viewer into the center of the shot, or vignetting can be corrected in post. Wide open at 50mm (it's full zoom limit) it's soft all over but sharpens up by even F/5.6 on my copy. Not bad since most lenses in this price range are already F/5.6 at this zoom and have to be closed further to get any sharpness at all.

I have a number of Nikon and Sigma lenses and this one sits on my camera almost all the time. I've grown to know and trust it in just the short time I've had it. The autofocus has been very good in low light -- contrary to some reviews I've read elsewhere -- and I have to say this lens is easy to like once you understand its limitations.

For the very low price this lens sells for and the features it has (non-rotating filter mount, internal zoom and focus) it's a very attractive lens for a shooter like myself.

I'm an amateur photographer, whose pictures are taken indoors, with no flash. I could not afford higuer-end class just yet, so I opted for this lens, knowing that 18mm, it gives you f2.8. That is pretty awesome. IT works fantastic and smooth. From the beginning, my photos came out pretty sharp, thanks in part to the Optical Stabilization offered, something that other brands cannot offer for that price.

Strongly recommend this lens for your everyday photos. Outdoors and indoors. It is not heavy, it is fast, sharp, and practical.

Test photos made with this lens on a Canon XSI were beautiful.
The photos showed no chromatic abberation or edge distortion.
The colors were true and images sharp as a tack. Depth of field was excellent due to the large aperature.
Large blow up of text revels sharp edges. I would recommend this lens to anyone who likes good quality and price value.

I used this lens with my Rebel T2i, and believe me, I really wanted to like it for its $200 price point. Wide-open at f/2.8 (available only at 18mm), I was dumbfounded by how soft the output was. Stopped-down to f/11, the lens exhibits adequate sharpness, but displays high levels of (correctable) distortion. The lens really struggles to resolve any detail in the corners at most focal lengths. I would not recommend this lens to anyone who tends to view images at 100%. Very strong chromatic aberration is visible at all focal lengths, even when stopped down.

Sigma's powder coat looks and feels nice, and the lens has great self-contained zoom action. However, the image quality is downright ugly on an 18MP sensor. I might recommend this lens to anyone with a 12MP or less camera who does not print large or enjoy viewing photos at full resolution. Indeed, the build quality and theoretical features of this lens are appealing, but you really do get what you pay for. CANON USERS: Keep your kit lens for now, it's CONSIDERABLY sharper, I assure you.

As a walk-around lens I really did try to think of the best overall lens that I would want. I recently purchased another Canon body (450D) and instead of getting another 18-55 canon kit lens I opted instead to purchase body only this time. I then did my homework on which lens I thought would be best. Looking at the 18-100+ lenses, the 18-200+ lenses, and the typical overpriced L lenses really put things into perspective for me. I love the range of the kit lenses but REALLy wanted a better quality piece of glass, silent AF, and NO lens extension while zooming. This lens fit the bill perfectly! The fact that Sigma not only made the ultimate kit lens upgrade, but also included the petal hood as well for $300 really made me think about my next purchase and Canon.

Canon wants too much money for their lenses and unless you pay the high price for an L lens you don't even get a lens hood! ENOUGH ALREADY! I am sold on Sigma quality and will continue to support them for my future lens purchases. I have now shot over 3,000+ images with this lens and I have only tossed around 15 total.
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Extremely Sharp, accurate color, little to no chromatic issues, fast, and sturdy. Buy this lens, you wont regret it!

I was using a Sigma 28-70mm until the diaphragm seized with a friend's wedding a few days away. In the dim light, the large aperture and the optical stabilization proved to be a life-saver. I have a couple of other lenses, but this one hasn't left my camera for weeks, now.

I purchased this lens to replace the 18-50 kit lens on a T1i. I am pleased with the construction and performance of lens.

The auto focus motor is not as fast or quiet as the canon USM. It is faster and quieter then the kit lens. I would say it is in between the two.

The Optical stabilizer is good but under performs the kit lens. This negates the 2.8 aperture some when comparing it to the kit lens.

Unfortunately I will return this lens. The deciding factor is on my particular T1i the lens purchased does not auto focus correctly. At 2.8 aperture with its narrow depth of focus the auto focus can not be used. It is a real shame that Canon does not add the AF micro adjust feature to the T1i. I would keep this lens if I could calibrate the camera for it.

I wouldn't expect L quality with this lens, but it does have some nice features (OS, HSM, and f2.8 at 18mm for $200!) and it focuses very quickly and accurately on my T2i.
At first I thought it was going to be a really great lens, but after seeing a lot of CA and softness on the edges of pictures, I am not as impressed. The center of images looks very sharp, but because I always take pictures with the thought that I could publish one, the edge softness is disappointing. *To update this, I have found that stopping to f/8 produces sharp photos, all the way to the edges.
Now for video this is a great lens w/ f2.8 at 18mm. That's one reason I bought this lens and that I'm going to keep it. Because the video files are compressed, the edge softness won't matter nearly as much. Judging from the videos I've taken with this lens I'm much happier with it over the kit lens (18-55mm). The videos taken with the kit lens, even in daylight, just looked bad for some reason. The videos taken with this lens match up nicely with videos taken with my canon 50mm.
Bottom line, if you need f2.8 at the wide end, this is the best value you can get for your crop-sensor DSLR, especially if you don't mind some edge softness. If you happen to capture a really great picture with this lens, a little softness around the edges isn't going to matter, because the center is adequately sharp. Get this lens if you need a versatile zoom for you rebel, 40d, etc. If you already have the kit lens, this lens isn't going to blow you away with how much better it is...you'll just have to weigh the pros and cons (the only con I can think of it the edge softness and CA at wide apertures), and decide for yourself. If this lens cost 600 dollars, I'd be disappointed, but it's only 200.
I've come to realize I use CPL and grad filters all the time, especially for wide-angle landscapes, and the fact that this Sigma allows filter use with its non-rotating front element is a considerable advantage over the Canon and Nikon kit 18-55mm lenses, which rotate annoyingly while focusing.

Pro: Stabilizer works very well, built quality is very good, hood fits like a glove.

Con: Focusing is a hit or miss at wider aperture, it's more so than my F2.8 constant Sigma($500), especially at wide end of the zoom.

verdict: can't really complaint about the lens at this price point, it's ten time better build than the NIkon VR 18-55(which i had), and 18-55 Canon IS(which I used), the extra stops is very helpful in some situation.

Just a word of caution about the filter recommendation provided during checkout. I just assumed the 72mm filter suggestion was correct and ordered one. However, unlike the more expensive Sigma 18-50mm 2.8, this lens uses a 67mm filter. This is a great general purpose lens at the new $200.00 price point. IMO.