Customer Reviews

Sigma 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC Telephoto Zoom Lens for Olympus and Panasonic Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Look, this lens will get you into the action (no problem focusing on your little soccer phenom), but at f/4 you have to compromise on either shutter speed or ISO. So you may have to choose between motion blur or noise, neither of which is attractive. Alternatively, you can use Photoshop (or equivalent)to correct these photos (ideally, your action shots should freeze your subject while blurring your background... harder to do at f4 than f2 or f2.8) by blurring the background after the fact. That said, if you are on a budget, I can recommend the lens. Just know in advance that you may have to compromise a bit on your shots and that you may be required to edit/retouch your photos to get the effect you are after.

If you have a little more cash to spend, check out the relatively new Olympus Zuiko 18-180 lens. This is one you can keep on your camera nearly all the time (f3.5-f6.3) It has just a slightly shorter range than the aforementioned Sigma. I use it and I love it. Really is a fantastic lens that didn't break my bank.

The Sigma lens is a good telelens, more range for less money. I use it with my E-300 Evolt. The operation feels different from the original Olympus lenses, it takes a but more effort and you cannot use the manual focus mode on the camera, you must flip a switch on the lens. Other than that it works seamlessly and provides good quality.

I've been enjoying this lens for several weeks. I bought my Evolt in late June with an eye on the Sigma 55-200. It has exceeded my expectations, I like to think...I "effectively increased my range without leaving my price range!"
Clearly, Sigma makes a good product on par with Olympus Lens. I'm looking forward to other Sigma products for the Evolt here at Amazon.

This is not a high end lens, but it's a nice pacifier until you can save up for the Zuiko 50-200mm :) It works good as a sunny day zoom lens. I use it with my E-1.

Pros:
- Price!
- Small & lightweight
- Great entry level for this zoom range

Cons:
- Not very bright
- Slow focusing
- f/4.0 :(

I recommend it, especially if you're not sure how much you'll use this zoom range.

I purchased the Sigma 55-200mm lens only two weeks ago after it was recommended by a friend.

Thus far, I am very pleased with its optics. I was somewhat reluctant to buy a lens at such a low price thinking that the quality would be lacking. To date, I have no complaints at all.

I would recommend it without reservation.

CR

Despite what some reviewers have stated, I found the IQ produced by this lens to be unacceptable. The lens is cheap compared to the Zuiko 50-200mm or even the Zuiko kit 40-150mm and it gives a nice focal range but that's about it. Images are soft (unless the lens is stepped down to f8.0, which becomes a problem in moderate to low light conditions) and it produces a yellow cast, visible in most shots. I should have listened to the many negative reviews I came across and avoid it. In the end, I sent it back to Amazon for a refund. I won't recommend it not even if you are on a budget. Save you money util you can afford something better. I bought the Zuiko 70-300mm instead and that's one great lens...worth every penny!!!

Like you, before I bought this lens, I read through the different reviews. The price is surprising modest ... which made me a bit cautious. But to say the least, I was very pleasantly surprised.

I used the lens on my Olympus Evolt 500, in a wide range of applications and instances. Outdoors and indoors, with and without a flash, at ISO speeds from 100-1600.

The lens construction is solid. Finish is very high ... so it won't drag down the looks of your system. The zoom ring is a bit on the stiff side, but that actually helps in accurately framing and capturing your shots. The lens mounts cleanly and smoothly ... every bit as good as any of my three Olympus lenses.

I've put this lens through it paces for approximately 6 months, shooting everything from weddings to landscapes ... and I am MORE than pleased. Images are razor-sharp with no color or image distortion. After using this lens, I would immediately consider other llenses from Sigma.

An excellent buy at an excellent price!

I have been using this Lens mostly for sports and nature photography. It has a clean image with little distortion. I bought it strictly because of the price being much better then actual Olympus lenses. The only thing is if you set the lens on manual focus, you can't trigger a shot with a remote IR device. I take lots of time-lapse sequences using my "pclix" (Google it) triggering device using a fiber optic cable and I like to have the camera set completely manual to maintain exposure. The 14 to 54mm Olympus lens allows remote triggering when set to manual focus. I suppose it is how the lens communicates with the camera.
One complaint is the lens hood intefears with the manual focus ring if placed on the camera in the storage mode (backwards) and removing it requires a strong enough twist to spin the internal focusing mechanics when set on the auto focus mode. Other then that, I have had really good luck with this lens. Bill K

I own an Olympus E-300 and several Pentax K mount lenses that work beautifully with the camera when an adapter is used. They are all manual focus and my two telephotos (a heavy Tokina ATX 50-250 (35mm equiv) and Takumar 135mm (35mm equiv) are truly excellent performers. Sharp and crisp. When I add a 2x extender I am easily up to 1000mm, and find that noise levels in the E-300 let me snap away at ISO 800 and 1600 with the former quite good and the latter fixed up by Neat Image.

Because I do a lot of canoeing and also railroad photography, which often require pretty quick focusing, I decided to get an auto-focus lens and took the plunge with this Sigma.

It is not quite as good optically as my PK lenses, but it does an excellent job in most situations. It focuses quickly, contrast is fine, and it is very, very light...great for travel. Like most lenses in its price class it is best when stopped down to f5.6 or higher and images are better a the wider end of its reach. Mechanically, it is solid but does feel a bit rough when focusing and zooming, but it is not rough enough to affect much of anything. Some day I might upgrade to far more expensive glass, but right now I am pleased with this lens.

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April 2009 update

Though I have added two Olympus 4/3rds telephotos to my collection (the most recent 40-150 and the 70-300) I continue to use this lens, which sits in my car kit and often goes out in the boat with my E-330 or E-510. Every time I use it and review the pics I find myself extremely satisfied with results. It has stood the test of time well and was a great investment. Frankly, stop it down a bit and it produces results equal to the Oly lenses.

The Sigma 55-200 is a very inexpensive telephoto zoom. For the price, it's excellent. Of course it's not a pro lens, but for candid telephoto shots of the family and friends it's great. It's a little soft wide open, so try and keep the lens closed down a bit.