Sigma AF 18200mm f/3.56.3 DC OS Optical Stabilizer

wonderful lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I received the len which was packed carfully. The len itself is very beautiful and the picture is beautiful too.

Half the price but half the qaulity
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is the second Sigma Lens I’ve owned and the second one I’ve returned. Common to many Sigma lenses is zoom creep, inaccurate focus, and heaviness. The reason I give it 3 stars?? If you use your DSLR more for snapshots and need a huge zoom range this lens is a good alternative to carrying two lenses or spending $600 on the Canon equivilant. If you want your pictures to be in focus and have a lighter lens, smoother focus ring and have some extra money in your budget, go with a Canon lens

Practical…but image quality is disappointing.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This lens is very practical given its range. It’s a perfect match to the entry level D40/60 with its built in focusing motor. If you are looking to upgrade from your 18-55 kit lens or want to replace your 18-55 and 55-200 with one lens then this is a great option.

I’ve used this lens since December 08. I am dissapointed in the image quality. This is a great option for someone taking snapshots with their dslr that doesn’t want to bother changing lenses. Forget about using this in low light. It’s also very very soft at 200mm. OS doesn’t seem to make much difference…

If you use your dslr like a point-and-shoot then this is the lens for you (you’ll save a fortune over the Nikkor version). If you take your photography seriously and want to grow… forget this lens.

Good range but a little softer for my liking
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I had to return this. This lens was a little softer for my liking. Got some very good shots thou. At full zoom, the pictures are not as sharp as i would want them to be, but again, great for teh price!

Great for beginners
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just got this lens for my new 40d and I’m quite impressed. I’m a beginner to DSLR’s and I’ve messed with my kit lens for a few days but after putting this lens on… wow what a difference. I have a 50mm 1.8 canon lens and this lens so I think my bases are fairly covered. If you want 1 lens with a big zoom range it’s hard to go wrong with this one. I read more reviews that I could count and the only people I’ve seen give this anything other than 5 stars are people who compare it to an “L” lens.

Great all-in-one lens and I’d recommend it to anyone. I can’t wait to stretch it’s legs more.

Great All In One
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am not a pro but sure have more confidence with this lense. I used it to replace a non-VR 70-300. I love it! You have read other reviews and specs that note that this is a heavy lense. Guess what? It is – so don’t buy it then trash it because of such – it also is round .

I rolled the dice in a decision over this or the Nikon. The money was just right and I am super glad of my decision. The first big shoot was bridal portrait. We were very pleased with the results (especially compared to overall pics from the non-vr replaced). We shot around 400 pix, and I was exhausted at the end from holding the camera, lense and SB600 flash unit). The setup is heavy but I think I like the feel better than lighter (feeling cheaper).

It also comes with the option of extending the warranty (paperwork was in my lense box). So, while not a perfect fit for anyone, if you are a newbie like me just happy to have something that is at lest “close” to a real camera (working with a D40x) this is a good route.

Cheers!

Great Lens for the Money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I purchased this lens in September ‘07 after I spent a week in FL and I was tired of changing between my 17-70 & 70-300. During those changes, I often missed good shots. I considered the Tamron 28-250 VC. However, I wanted the extra mm at the wide angle end. Also, I realized there was not a large difference between 200mm & 250mm at the telephoto end.

The first test was a trip to Turks & Caicos where the lens worked beautifully. However, after a few months, I noticed extreme vignetting in photos at the telephoto end. Also, I noticed my images were not as sharp.

I read about the potential trade-offs when I purchased the lens. However, I figured something must be wrong with it.

I sent the lens back to Sigma and they fixed the vignetting and the sharpness has improved. I’m pleased with the lens and I higly recommend it as a travel lens.

I have a Tamron 28-75 F/2.8 that produces sharper images. Yet, I enjoy the convenience this lens gives me. For everyday and travel photos, it is a great buy.

-Roger

worth every dollar
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a very nice lens and with one lens I can pretty much do everything that I need – wideangle and telephoto. Highly recommended.

Nice lens for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
A little heavier than the Nikkor equivalent lens, external auto focus ring requires getting used to since it moves when auto focusing. Overall, excellent image quality for the money (half the price of the Nikon brand)

Struted at track meet
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The lens performs well when you do not put in situations when you know it will not perform well. There are enough reviews out there to inform you of the lens weakness, low light etc. I made one of those mistakes too. It can be great walk around lens for you. I used it recently at track, and a coach asked me to take some pictures for their team. I took photo’s of their 4 x 400 relay team. I took a least four shots each leg using a D90 and all of the shots turned great. All of them could be used by the school. If it continues to perform, that $250 saving really looks good. At four shots per leg, auto focusing had to be on top of its game. Great value, give it shot.

great daytime walk around lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens when i bought my Canon XSi back in May. Its a great “walk around” lens. it covers a huge spectrum of range. For daylight photography and with a flash it works very well. My only real complaint is that its heavy and a little big… but this is expected with the 18 to 200 range.

IS works very well. At the 150 to 200mm range there is a noticeable difference between IS turned on and Off.

pared with the canon 50mm f 1.4 i think i have all the glass i’ll need for a while. now its just a matter of learning how to use it well.

OS/AF Mechanism Fails
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Go for the Nikon, or buy the lens in your local store, so you can return it within the one year warranty. The OS/AF mechanism is defective in 30-40% of the lens (it shows up after 200 shoots). You will not be able to return it to Amazon if it fails beyond the 30 days of purchase…

Paired with Nikon D40
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am pairing this lens with the Nikon D40 which is a relatively light camera body.

Pros:

- The OS works, I get about 3 stops better.

- The price is better than the Nikon 18-200mm

Cons:

- The OS when is on does chirp and whine a little. It is not as silent as the Nikon VR.

- It is heavy compared to the D40. This lens actually throws off the balance of the D40. You need a strong wrist to keep it from tilting forward. Keep in mind the D40 is light, and I know this is a light lens. But it is harder to shoot with one hand.

Overall, it is a great lens for a good value.

Sigma 18-200 OS lens w/Canon Mount
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Had this lens for about 6 weeks and it has performed beautifuly. Photographed a wedding, a family portrait and two family event with the lens (well over 1,500 images) and have not taken it off my 40D since it arrived. Not used it under extreme dim-light conditions yet so don’t know about the low light focusing. Ready to sell the two lens this lens replaces.

Pretty good lens for the $.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens works pretty good with my Nikon D40 and I have made great shots using it.

After about a year of use I got no complaints and would buy it again in a heart beat.

Note: there is some lens creep but not terrible, the the OS makes an audible chirp sound and the auto-focus motor makes a very high pitched sound that’s a audible too (not as much as the OS tho), but it’s not that bad and I can easily live with this.

Sigma made a fine lens- New HSM motor is wonderful!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just purchased this lens and received it yesterday, AUG 21. What I can say from my initial impression is that I am very glad that I purchased it! the writing is on the wall with the reviews, just go look them up, but here are the key points I notice:

-NEW HSM MOTOR- VERY QUIET! I have read reviews about the “old” micro-motor that was in the earlier copies of this lens being a distraction, the new HSM one is silky smooth and AUTO FOCUS IS QUICK. I would not hesitate to take this to a wedding, ceremony, library, whatever

-Autofocus is quick! Had to repeat that one, no hunting here, from wide to tele, I have not had any problems, even in low light, low contrast it does very well. I have been very happily surprised

-It is pretty heavy! Be prepared to have a work out with this one, although compact it is DENSE, hopefully a sign of quality (which seems good to me). As a wonderful walk around lens, this one will get your arm in shape- mine hurt after about 1 hour of shooting handheld.

-The zoom ring is a bit tough to turn (very very well dampened)- The NIKKOR is much easier and smooth . . . and tends to creep a bit from what I have read (although I didn’t notice it). I feel confident that this lens will not creep- you are going through a huge zoom quickly, so I cannot say this is a detriment to the lens user, just takes some getting used to. This is not an issue that I would pay $200 to correct.

- As others have noted, the VR is a bit loud, but not really LOUD, just louder than any other VR type mechanism I have heard, which is to say that you cannot hear it from more than a foot or two away

-Color, contrast are great, I couldn’t ask or more in these categories

-Bokeh, this is subjective, but I find the bokeh to be neither great nor poor. It isn’t beautiful or distracting. Nobody I know would buy a zoom for this anyways.

Read the reviews for all the technical stuff, to me this thing is very capable of making great photos. If I were a new DSLR user, this would be my first lens. There are very few gaps that this lens leaves behind. It replaces nearly every lens I own, or want to own.

Overall, I find the barrel distortion to be the biggest drawback, and really only at 18mm- I use Photoshop to correct this when needed, to great effect.

I would highly recommend this lens.

WARNING: THIS LENS WILL MAKE YOUR CAMERA HARD TO PUT DOWN!!

Sigma 18-200
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Nice lens to leave on or when you travel light. It won’t replace the Canon Pro lenses for weddings, but for knocking around it’s a winner.

very satisfied
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I PURCHASED THIS LENS FOR MY NEW CANON XSI. IT HAS PROVEN TO BE ALL THAT IT CLAIMED TO BE. IT IS SHARP EASY TO USE & GIVES GREAT RESULTS. I WANTED AN ALL AROUND EVERY DAY LENS THAT COULD GET ME CLOSE TO A DISTANT SUBJECT WITHOUT THE INCONVIENENCE OF CHANGING LENSES. THE RANGE IS GOOD OPTICAL STABILIZATION WORKS WELL & IT IS AN ALL AROUND PLEASURE TO USE.

THE ONLY DOWN SIDE IS IT IS QUITE HEAVY & YOU MUST GET USED TO IT. THE FOCUS RING CAN BE MISTAKEN FOR THE ZOOM RING SO YOU MUST BE AWARE WHICH RING YOU ARE USING AS YOU SHOULD NOT USE THE FOCUS RING IF THE LENS IS SET TO AF AT THE RISK OF DAMAGING THE MECHANISIM. I WOULD RECOMEND THS LENS TO A FREIND

Great Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have this lens for almost two weeks and I took already almost 500 pictures. The zoom works very prezise and the optical stabilzer is amazing. I took some pictures inside a church and didnt have my tripod with me. All pictures were in focus.

Great Walk Around Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS is a great lens to use if you don’t want to have to keep changing lenses. The range is a very big plus. 18mm is fairly wide on a crop-sensor camera, and 200mm is a good moderate zoom. This lens produces sharper and truer color images(compared to the kit lens on a Rebel XT), and it has a very solid build. It is easy to use, once you get used to where all the switches are(which happens quickly). In good light, this lens focuses fairly quickly. In lower light, it searches at times to find focus(as do so many others). The lack of blazing fast speed with this lens can be somewhat compensated for by using the Optical Stabalizer function. I have been able to shoot hand held with shutter speeds as slow as 1/20 sec. and the images that were produced were sharper than I expected. The 18-200mm OS is a good value at the price it is offered at. I can only give this 4 stars because I’ve only owned it for a week, and only have taken a few hundred pictures with it… and I am holding back on the fifth star until I see how this lens holds up under all sorts of conditions and time. I’ll add more when I’ve had much time to “play” with it. With all this said, I plan on using this lens as an everyday workhorse. Some reviews suggest that this lens is a bit too heavy for some, but I don’t feel that it is too heavy at all. I LOVE the range! If they made this lens at f/2.8 (which would cost a mint)it would have everything most people would ever need. I plan on having this lens on my camera for about 90% of all the shots I’ll be taking.

Great Service
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I got the package in a timely manner and since then have been using the lens quite a bit. While I will admit it won’t give me anything like my pro glass, for it’s class it does indeed hold it’s own!

Normally, it’s attached to my Nikon D300 and ready to go in a heartbeat.

Great value! Great lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens after reading all the great reviews and I’m very happy I did. I find it to take better pictures than the 18-55mm kit lens that came with my Canon 450D. I’m very please with the sharpness and clarity of my pictures. This will probably be my shooting lens for 90% of the time.

I could not give it less than 5 stars, it wouldn’t be fair, it is heavy and big but it’s expected. Absolutely in love with it, you wont regret it!

Much better than just a “walk-around lens”
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this lens for use with a new Nikon D40 and have been blown away! I really enjoy having the flexibility to go from 18mm to 200mm in a single lens, rather than swapping between my 18-55 and 55-200 lenses. I took it for a “test drive” on a hike in the mountains this weekend, and I will never go back to carrying my two other lenses again when I’m walking around! Images were crisp and the colors were great. I forgot to take my circular polarizing filter with me, but it wasn’t a problem with this beauty.

The optical quality is much better than I expected. There is some barrel distortion when you’re zoomed back to wide angles – it was noticeable through the viewfinder. If it bothers you, it’s corrected easily enough using Capture NX or Photoshop to work on your images.

The lens is noticeably heavier than its brethren, but I don’t believe that will be an issue. It’s also almost an inch bigger in diameter than my 55-200mm lens, but I actually think that’s good. It feels better in my hand.

I found myself switching to manual focus on several occasions, as I was shooting through trees into the valley several miles from the mountain. As others have noted, the focus ring is larger than I have come to expect on other lenses, and I did find myself grabbing it by mistake a couple of times when I meant to go for the zoom ring. I’ll learn, though…I’ll be using this lens almost all the time, so I know I’ll get used to it.

I have noted that in extreme close-ups (macro range), the lens does a great deal of “hunting” to find the right focus. The Nikon lenses often do the same thing, but the hunting is a little louder with the Sigma lens. I wonder if the wider lens barrel partially blocks the camera’s autofocus sensor. Again, this is not a big issue for me…especially in macro shots, where I prefer to focus manually anyway.

The Optical Stabilization feature worked great. I didn’t have a single blurred picture from my shoot on the hike, even though I was shooting at f10 or narrower most of the time, at many zoom angles, in a variety of lighting conditions, and without a tripod.

The biggest problem I had came from the embarrassment of riches at having so wide a zoom range available to me! On many occasions, I found myself shooting the same scene from the same spot, all the way from 18mm to high zooms, and every one of the pictures had its own artistic interest and merits. How do I choose which one I like best?!

All in all, this is a great lens. I’m very happy with it and I know I’ll be doing a lot more photography with it than I would have been doing without it.

Used it for two years, very versitile and good quality
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve used this lens on a Rebel XT and later a 50D. The broad range of focal lengths mean you need only carry one lens. It is fantastic when traveling.

Here’s why it doesn’t get a 5:

I agree with the other reviews, the AF is noisy and a bit slow

I wish it had a wider aperture

For the price and broad zoom range, these are trade offs that make sense to live with.

If you want sharpness, this isn’t what you are looking for
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens from Amazon last month and sold it this month. The reason … its not sharp enough.

Focal length is great. The lens is well built. The price is quite reasonable as well. The piece that I got didn’t have any focusing issues either. But I was expecting it to be very sharp.

It is sharp enough if you store your images online and view it zoomed out at 25%. But if you are looking to print your images, you might have to run them through Photoshop a bit to fix the softness.

I would recommend it for a casual photographer who wants to carry just one lens while roaming around. I have taken out one star for its lack of sharpness.

Don’t expect miracles out of OS either.

excellent
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The lens works very well creating sharp images in challenging situations. The fact that it starts at 18mm as opposed to 28mm as many the OS zooms do and extends to 200mm give me the flexibility to truly have a “one lens solution.”

Sigma AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS Zoom Lens for Nikon D40
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have used this lens with my D40 for about a month. I was concerned about the relative slowness of the lens, especially at full zoom, but the OS makes up for it allowing me to shoot successfully at slower shutter speeds. Optically the lens seems fine to me. It DOES autofocus with the D40. Combined with a Sigma 30mm HSM prime lens, I have everything I need for most situations. This lens is significantly larger and heavier than the Nikon kit lenses. You will know that you have this 1-lb lens hanging around your neck! I am very satisfied with this lens. Recommended to replace both the 18-55 and 55-200 Nikon kit lenses.

Sigma mechanism failed (for Nikon)
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Update:

After about 100 shots or 3 days, the Sigma Lens failed. The autofocus and OC mechanism made some fading sound and stopped working. I am returning this fast. Hopefully I can trade it in and add some more for a real Nikon 18-200 VR lens. The manual said turn off the OC when not in use, maybe this would have help, but three days is too short. Maybe I got a lemon, since I am the only one that said it failed.

Previous review.

General statement other has risen:

+The Len is larger and heavier then the Nikon D40 Len kits, also 72mm ring is much larger then a 52mm kits lens. Is a little heavy but this is also comparable to Nikon own 18-200 VR which is like a 1/3 more expensive. This Len is much heavier then the D40 body, which defeat the purpose of the lightness of the D40, but I think it makes holding it more stable.

+The optical stabilizer (OS) really works and is worth the purchase, if you zoom to 200mm a lot. If you don’t have an optical stabilizer things are burry with most shaky hands.

+The OS makes some noise like it a little mechanical device inside. I have a Panasonic F20 that has its own image stabilizer and it made no noise.

That I noticed:

+The shutter speed felt a tad slower on similar shots compare to the Nikon lens, but that could be my imaginations.

+The zooming between 50-80mm is not as fluid, there is like a bump when you rotate from 18 to 200mm, just not as smooth as the Nikon lens I am used too.

+I got the Nikon AF 55-200 without VR and noticed that the 200mm zoom on the Nikon is much closer then the Sigma 200mm. I say Sigma is more like 175mm compare to a Nikon lens with the same range.

+Sigma got it right by placing the zoom closer to the base and the focus in the front of the lens; this is easier to attach the sun-flare on backward without having to take it off. The Nikon 18-200mm VR has the zoom rotation in front and the focus in the back. This may be personal preferences though.

+ I liked the sun flare attachment that came with this len, very solid.

+ OS drain the battery a lot more, so turn it off whn you aren’t using it.

I don’t know why I been changing lens all these time and not having an optical stabilizer all these days. My 200mm shots are now worth something, before they would come out all burry without a tripod. I think the 18mm shots could be a little sharper at time, like my normal Nikon AF 18-55. If you like shooting 135mm and above, you got to have some form of an image stabilizer for a Nikon DSLR. Too bad Nikon didn’t include it like Sony and some other brands.

Had to get it repaired, but now it works well
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
(See update below)…Listed below is the problem I’m having with my lens. I am sending it into Sigma for repair. We’ll see how it turns out. I’ll try to come back and update this post when I get it back. I wish I would have just gone with the Nikon lens even though it’s a lot more money.

I don’t think the lens is connecting perfectly with the camera body (Nikon D90). Sometimes when I zoom in, my camera will stop registering a “F” number, and the camera won’t take the picture. The camera displays a dashed line where the F number should be (I assume this is indicating that the camera can’t figure out what the F number should be). If I zoom out wide, I can usually get the F number to come back and the camera will then take the picture. I think this is occurring because the lens in not perfectly connected to the camera body. When I turn the zoom ring, I think it is moving the whole lens a little bit in respect to the camera body. It must be moving just enough, that the camera and lens are not able to communicate properly. This a problem when shooting because I can’t have my lens “freezing up” all of the time causing me to miss shots.

In another unrelated issue, the lens sometimes has trouble deciding what to focus on when it is zoomed in most or all of the way, even when my subject is not moving.

**UPDATE – After the lens came back from being repaired, it is working well. If you read reviews on this lens most of them mention a lack of sharpenss. For most casual circumstances, this isn’t a big deal, but I do notice that some of my shots are not sharp at all in the corners. I am seriously considering upgrading to the newer 18-250 version. It seems to be getting better reviews:

[...]

Overall though, I have really enjoyed this lens. I hate changing lenses, so it has been wonderful to have such a versatile lens to work with.

Comparing the Sigma to the New Canon 18-200mm IS Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had the Sigma 18-200mm OS lens for several months and found it to give sharper images with my 40D than the Tamron 18-250mm (non-IS/OS) which it replaced. Then along comes the new Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, their own superzoom “travel lens.” I bought one to see how it compares to the Sigma. My tests show mixed results regarding image quality. With both lenses wide open the Sigma wins at the wide end from 18-24mm, especially away from the center, while the Canon wins at the 135-200mm long end, also especially away from the center. The Sigma is f6.3 wide open at 200mm while the Canon is f5.6. This is only a small difference, but it does give the Canon even more advantage at 200mm where shutter speed needs to be the highest.

Both lenses auto-focus accurately (no front or back focus) although the Sigma is slower to lock focus in low light and is a little noisier in getting there. Their IS/OS are equally effective at about 3 stops of compensation. Build quality, size and weight are about the same and both use the same 72mm filter size. Sigma includes a lens hood while Canon wants to sell you one.

In summary, the Canon is slightly better for me due to the faster and quieter low-light focus and improved telephoto image quality. The trade-off is poorer image quality than the Sigma for wide angle shots, even after stopping down. Finally, the Sigma lens costs about $200 less than the Canon at this time.

A complete lens, for a fair price.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
In my opinion this lens has the best quality/price ratio on the market today, among the superzoom ones.

It is solid, maybe a little heavy (heavier than my Canon 350D itself), but it provides a very wide range of uses in terms of zoom and stabilization.

The Optical Stabilizer is a little noisy, but you are not paying for Canon USM, and that is a fact.

Since, as far as I know, Canon does not produce a 18-200 stabilized zoom (notice that Nikon does), if you are a Canon user interested in the maximum range (from wideangle to tele) and OS, this is surely your best pick.

Great Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I wanted one size fits all lens–one that I didn’t have to take on and off my Canon Rebel. I love the optical stabilization and have seen a big difference in my pictures. Love the lens and think it is well worth the money.

Light Weight, Versatile, but Uneven Zoom Operation
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
At 14 oz. this lens is very light and I liked the operation except that there was a noticable increase in force needed to zoom from about 85mm to 135mm. The barrel turned easily from 18mm to 85mm and 135 to 200mm. It also zoomed back smoothly.

The lens offers a good bang for the buck, but I found the binding of the zoom mechanism distracting. I called Sigma and they offered to take it in and examine the lense, but said that some lenses will bind through some of the travel of the cam. Their customer service was easy to contact and helpful.

If price is a issue, this is a good choice. Otherwise, go for the Canon

70-200 F2.8L IS USM.

Sigma 18-200mm Lens is Great!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Decided to try this lens to cut down on the amount of lens swapping I’ve been doing. I now use this lens 90% of the time (I have a 100-400mm lens for really long work). An important part of my decision on this lens was the optical stabilization – very important in the longer focal lengths. I’ve had Sigma lenses in the past and have always been happy with them. This is no exception. Clicks right on my Canon 10D body and everything works perfectly. Very happy with the results so far!

excellent lens for nearly half the price of nikkor
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Before I decided to go for sigma I hesitated for a long time. I almost purchased nikon’s similar lens, but then after going through every possible review I could find, I realized that nikon just doesn’t worth the double price. I am very happy with my decision and satisfied with the lens.

Had too much motion blur with OS on
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
With the OS off, got nice sharp, no motion blur shots; with OS on, I got soft focus and always got motion blur. Almost made me think the switch was wired backwards on the copy of the lens I recieved. I returned it to amazon for a refund.

Really great lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I received this lens today after having ordered it on Friday afternoon; Amazon comes through again with simply great service!

I purchased this lens for my Canon Rebel XT.

I ordered this lens after reading all the reviews here and a few other places. This was a replacement for a Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD I received last Friday. The Tamron 18-270 sounded like exactly what I was looking for, the mechanical properties of the lens is horrible. Some had said how the lens would get tight while zooming in or out, mine didn’t get tight, it flat out stuck and I didn’t want to try another one.

Although I am giving up 70mm on the long end I don’t feel this is anything to bother me. I bought this lens in anticipation of a family trip out West and I think the 200mm will get me close enough just fine.

I have walked around here today and already taken about 70 pictures with it. The clarity of the pictures is more than someone of my abilities really wants or needs. The pictures I have taken throughout the range of this lens are fantastic. The lens that stayed on this camera is a Canon 28-135 IS lens and after playing around with this I seriously doubt that lens will ever go back on the camera.

The OS works very well. In taking some handheld shots around our manufacturing plant I tried close ups and some distance shots involving various items with text on them. Each time I would take two shots, one with the OS on and the other with it off. The difference between the shots is, as they say, night and day. The OS seems to work just as well as the IS on my Canon lens.

There is no lens creep on this lens right now but of course it’s brand new, I’m sure that over time with use it may develop some but this doesn’t bother me as that is what the lens lock is for.

The lens has a very good feel to it and the build quality for what I can see looks very good.

This is my first Sigma lens and from what I see with this one I wouldn’t hesitate to order another lens made by this company, great stuff.

Sigma 18-200
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
All around travel lens, saved alot of weight by just having one lens, not as sharp or fast as the other Canon lenses but for the price it’s well worth it.

Excellent for the price!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens to go with my d40 and it worked without a problem. I have since gotten the d90 and use the lens with that body again, with no problem. This could be the only lens you ever need since it does everything! This lens replaced the 18-55 and 55-200 I was using previously. The only time I change lenses now is to my 50mm f/1.8 for certain shots, otherwise this lens is always on my camera.

Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch since this lens does have a few(minor) problems. It has dark corners but it does not bother me one bit! A little adjustment in lightroom and all is fixed. It loses a LITTLE sharpness along the very edges but again, is no problem. You can not tell unless you below the pictures up to HUGE sizes on your screen. These are things that guys who only shoot test charts worry about. Just use it, take great pictures and fix any little problems in post production.

So to wrap up, I recommend this lens unless you are made of money then go with the Nikon 18-200mm .

Pleased overall with lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was looking for a good all-in-one lens and the Sigma 18-200 has met my expectations. Picture quality has been very good. The lens also seems to be built very well. My only complaint is that it takes a bit longer to focus, especially in low light circumstances. However, I have only compared it to the stock 18-55 that came with my camera.

Best bang for buck at this price point
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens about a month ago and it has not come off my camera since. the OS function works wonders and I love the range. I have gotten extensive use of both wide angle and telefoto focal lengths and it hasn’t disappointed at either range. I have taken this lens around SE Asia and the colors that come out when shooting in sunlight was much better than I originally expected. I’ve even taken some nice portrait shots with this.

My one annoyance would be the loud autofocus but you get used to it and I haven’t been shooting in conditions where absolute silence was needed, such as a ceremony.

This lens came out for canon bodies since at this price point canon doesn’t have something that rivals the Nikon 18-200mm VR.

My travel lens kit now consists of:

1. Sigma 18-200mm OS

2. Canon 100mm 2.8 USM Macro

3. Canon 50mm 1.8 (better for lowlight)

If I’m not taking macro shots specifically, the Sigma is on my camera 99% of time during the day. I absolutely feel that it is the best value you can get for a Canon body in terms of a walk-around lens at this price point.

Lens faults
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I purchased this lens to attach to a Nikon D-60 SLR camera. It was to be used in my many excursions with a travel/exchange group. This year we went to Turkey. At first I was satisfied with the lens but it commenced to give me camera errors that read sort of,” Lens not fully attached to camera”. To correct I locked the lens and tightened. This happened approximately 15-20 times in an eighteen day period. Also, the lens developed numerous spots. In handlind the lens while on the camera I either put the lenscap back on, or cupped my hand over the lens to prevent burning, and was in a very dry area. I would try another one in the future if I can be assured the manufacturing and quality assurance has improved. I am NOT an expert in lens quality, but believe this particular lens is and was faulty.

Sigma AF 18mm-200mm review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great lens. My wife is a newspaper photographer/reporter. She uses this lens as her primary walk-around. The 18mm-200mm range gives her a great deal of flexibility without having to carry extra lenses and go through the lens changing dance. Imagery with this lens is first rate. The optical stabilization works like a charm. We use it on Canon 30D and 40D bodies. You can find some low-res images here:

[...]

Great lens for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens for my son’s wrestling tournaments and was not disappointed. Even indoors without a flash it was fast enough for great shots when they weren’t moving too fast. Reviews said the Canon and Tamron superzooms have better IQ, but they cost $200 more, and I wasn’t ready to spend that.

I’m keeping the lens on the camera more and more, only changing for my 50mm 1.4 for portraits or when I need the best IQ.

For a single walkaround lens, for the money, I don’t think it can be beat.

Perry

From a complete Amateur: I like this lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Though I’m still learning the SLR ropes, I’m a very plodding, picky buyer, and I don’t buy anything over $30.00 unless I’ve done research. Yes, I’m “One of those.”

I wanted to find a good all-around lens for a Rebel XTi: I spend time at a remote lodge in Alaska, and the Central Valley of California. My wife and I like to travel. I don’t like carrying around a lot of stuff. I want quality glass, but I know that I don’t need professional gear. These are some of the things I knew going into this.

Round one of research had me reading a LOT of reviews. Here. Photography sites. Blogs. Anything Google could pull up.

Round two of research involved me bugging all of my photog friends, professionals and hobbyists.

After comparing cost, specs, my eventual use patterns, and recommendations, I chose this lens (One professional photog friend flat-out told me to buy this lens, too).

Final thoughts:

1. This is totally new to me. I used to be a waterproof, point-and-shoot guy. This lens allows me to take pictures that I only dreamed of taking, before. I know that Ansel Adams could take a better pic with a disposable -compared to what I compose- but I feel more confident in my ability to capture something I want to remember.

2. 200mm is great. 300mm would be awesome, but I understand that I would then have a much bigger lens swinging from my neck. Not fun when hiking in Alaska… or just about anywhere, really. I am an amateur. I will handle the loss of 100mm. I also like having the wide angle, as Alaska wilderness and California farm country screams for big shots.

3. The stability is nice, when I need it. I’ve found that I don’t use the stability very much, but when I do, it’s GREAT. When confronted by a cow moose and two calves at 2am in Alaska this summer, the stability option was the only tool that gave me anything resembling a pic in such low light, with the lens fully extended (even though it was blurry, I wanted proof that they were on the lawn). I will not post this pic because it’s simply horrible, but please trust me that I’m telling the truth. If I’d had a tripod or a tree handy, the shot would have actually worked.

4. As others have said, the zoom and focus rings are quite close. I make it a point to tell EVERYONE that handles my camera to be cautious when the lens focus is on auto.

5. The lens focuses quite quickly. Some in-laws have a standard, no-bells 200mm Tamron. The Tamron is slower than this lens, and theirs seemed to search more in dappled or lower light (they have the same camera). This lens can search in low light where there’s not much contrast, but pulses from the flash seem to provide the ability to focus immediately.

6. The little lock on the lens seems like a total drag, at first, but I’ve gotten used to it, and don’t even notice it’s there: My fingers automatically hit the lock and the camera’s power switch at the same time.

7. This might sound silly, but I liked getting a hood with the lens. I actually used it in Alaska, to good effect (lake shots, animal shots).

CONCLUSION: A good lens for a good price. It doesn’t have 300mm, and it’s not a 2.8, but it does what it’s meant to do very well. A great all-around.

EXCEPTIONAL Customer Service !!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this lens used about 7 months ago. I have been loving the photos that i was getting both macro and portrait but this review is about outstanding and exceptional customer service. I’m going to have to sacrifice a little pride now and admit to something pretty careless. I was constructing a flash modifier and of course it involved a little gorilla glue among other things. I worked on the modifier most of a saturday and left it to dry while i went out on Saturday evening. When i came home i was pretty anxious to see how the modifier was shaping up so i whipped out my flash, mounted it on a bracket on the camera and slipped the modifier on over the light. After a few minutes i noticed a drop of glue on the floor and then realized that there was also some glue on the barrel of my Sigma 18-200mm lens. I fetched some goof off and cleaned like crazy and thought for sure i had everything removed. I drew the lens barrel back down and put it all away and went to bed. Well you surely know the outcome of this little tale by now. Yes, the next day the barrel was glued solidly closed. I worked and worked to free it up and only managed to break the zoom gear on top of having glued the barrel down. This stupid little mistake has been haunting me for weeks now.

Well i sent the lens off to Sigma for an estimate in mid early October. I called in mid-November and was told that the lens had been recieved and was in the queue for examiniation. Well, low and behold (its Christmas time so that seems like a particularly appropriate phrase) this morning a Fed Ex truck pulls up and delivers a small box. I flip the box over and quickly note that its from Sigma. Well all i can think of at this point is that it wasn’t repairable so they have sent it back. Then what to my wondering eyes do I find? The lens has been 100% fully repaired and the enclosed ticket is marked “replaced main barrel unit courtesy n/c” Its even marked checked all – in good working order.

I just couldn’t let this act of customer support go unnoted. Sigma, you rock…

Zoom creep a problem
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this as my first upgrade lens for the Canon xti. As a new user, it is hard to tell if the OS actually works, because on or off it takes pictures with less blur than the standard 18-55mm lens that came with the camera.

The zoom is very un-smooth in the amount of twising force required. I wanted to take picures of some birds in trees, but when pointing the camera upward, the zoom tends to automatically move from the 110 to the 35mm position. I read here there is a zoom lock, but it only locks in the 18mm position, and is useless for zoom creep.

I like it.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am not a professional. I searched around for a lens that I would not have to be changing and does well in low light conditions. This lens is doing a very good job for both. It is a little heavy but not that bad. Very nice lens for the price.

Great lens, except for an Err99 message.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens as a Christmas gift for my wife to use with her Rebel XTi about 4 months ago. When I got it, I was extremely happy with the quality and build of the lens. It has a nice matte black finish, and feels extremely rugged and sturdy.

The OS worked great too, reducing blur in handheld situations up to 3 stops for me, maybe more for someone who can hold steadier than I can.

My wife LOVES the lens, since her shooting patterns entail her shooting at wide angles (landscapes) and then she may suddenly switch to shooting at moderate to high zoom (abstract images of objects etc), and then back again.

Before this lens, she would have to constantly switch from her 18-55 kit lens to her Canon 70-300 IS USM lens and back again, or just miss the shot because it wasn’t practical to switch at the time.

The Sigma changed that. Now her kit lens is practically obsolete, since this lens has the 18-55 focal range, AND it has optical stabilization, which her kit lens doesn’t.

Some of the reviews of this lens mention aberrations, pin cushioning and light falloff at extreme focal ranges, but we saw no signs of that. In fact, the images at 18mm on this lens appeared sharper and brighter than with the Canon kit lens.

As a serious hobbyist, she couldn’t be happier with the lens.

However, after using the lens for a couple weeks, she began getting an occasional “Err99″ message on her camera. We isolated it to the lens, since she had 4 other lenses – the 2 Canons and 2 Sigmas (a 55-200mm and a 10-20mm), and in the 15 months she owned her camera, she never got that error with any of the other lenses.

I wrote Sigma about it and they were very apologetic and helpful. They said it sounded like “the FPC aperture issue”, and recommended I send it in to them for repair, as it was still under warranty.

I don’t know if it’s a common problem with the lens or if we just got a bad copy, but I didn’t see this problem on any of the other reviews I read here for this lens. That error message was the only blemish on a lens I don’t regret buying. If it’s any indication, my wife loved the lens so much, that instead of getting a refund for it from Amazon and purchasing another brand/type of lens, she opted to send it in to Sigma for repair so she could keep it.

Apart from this, the zoom and focus rings are very close together as others have mentioned, but we both got accustomed to it after just a few uses.

3 stars out of 5, because of the error message.

Great alternative to Nikon’s version and great OS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is amazing and has a great price!!! I’ve used this lens a lot since I bought it because it is just so versatile. It’s focus is fast and positive but sometimes hunts (but still not a problem). This lens handles beautiful. The only thing that this lens could have to make it even better is manual over-ride. This lens, for the price is sooo much better than Nikon’s version. The glass is excellent. It is really top quality. All I have to say is buy this lens over the Nikon’s version. The OS is great (almost as good as VR) and the lens works very well (even in tough conditions). Great lens for a great price.

Price is this one’s winning feature
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I wish I could re-rate this as 3 stars.

I have to say that over time, this lens has worn out its welcome. When I got it, it was a thrill to use, its zoom range and price were its main points for me. However, I would argue that at this price, consistent results are an issue.

Lets looks at this lens’s aperture, its not bad wide open at 3.5 but when you use the far zoom side, f/6.3 is exceptionally slow and all of a sudden shooting is blur-tastic.

Aperture aside, when you start looking at your shots at 100% magnification, a lot of the shots will turn out to just be disappointingly soft. The kit lens is sharper in the same range.

Over the past year the “superzoom” range of lenses has exploded. Tamron, Canon, Sigma all have lenses in this range. Sigma’s is the cheapest, so if you simply MUST have a superzoom and can’t handle the bite of better lenses, this is the choice. However,I would recommend either the Tamron or Canon models over this now.

this lens is big
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I use this lens on my Canon Rebel XTI as a replacement for the EF-S 18-55 1:3.5-5.6 II that come with the kit. I am generally impressed and satisfied with my purchase.

I am not qualified to discuss every aspect of the optical performance, but I can point out a few negatives that would concern the amateur:

1) It is huge! holding the camera makes my wrists sore, and It no longer fits in the carry case I use. The lens attracts a little more attention than I would like.

2) It makes a very faint high pitched noise. The noise goes away when I press the depth of field preview, or when the camera goes into powersave mode after a few minutes of inactivity. It is unaffected by the image stabilization feature. It is not loud enough to bother anyone, but when I hear it, I think of the battery getting eaten away.

3) The lens cap is difficult to put on / Easy to drop.

4) It is just a travel lens. Professionals hate that these are so popular, because they compromise optical perfection for extreme zoom range.

Good price and quality. Soft focus.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is an universal lens. When you put in your camera you don’t feel to change it.

Pros:

1. Tele zoom. You can catch people without being noticed.

2. Wide angle. You can take photo of your large family and firends.

3. Decent quality.

Cons:

1. Soft focus. When you take photo at full zoom the soft focus is mostly unavoidable.

2. There is defocus to the corner of the lens.

3. Heavy.

Could be a great lens, but…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I use a Canon 40D and have a number of lenses includeing the Canon f/2.8L 70-200 IS, the Canon f/4.0L 70-200, the Canon f/3.5-6.3 10-22, and the Tamron f/3.5-6.3 18-250, all purchased for specific reasons. Recently I bought the Sigma f/3.5-6.3 18-200 OS specifically for the optical stabilization. After repeated handheld tests I can not find a diffence between using the OS and not using it, which leaves me frustated since that’s why I bought the lens with the range it has. Perhaps the OS just doesn’t work on this lens and a new or repaired lens would solve the problem. So, if anyone has had a similar experience or can suggest a test that will verify whether the OS works I would appreciate your input.

Comment: On a more positive note, a week ago I was in Monument Valley in Arizona, armed with all the lenses noted above plus a Canon 30D as a backup camera. I had limited time in the park and the views change rapidly from great long-distance shots to a need for a wide angle and a minute later something else. So I was shooting with different lenses on the two cameras but as time was running out I switched to the 40D only with the Sigma lens since it gavde me the most versatility without changing lenses (I could have used the Tamron 18-250 but light was fading and I wanted the optical stabilization I thought the Sigma had). Point being, despite all the other quality lenses I have, I went with the Sigma at crunch time.

But, I suspect now I would have ended up with the same results using the Tamron 18-250 (no stabilization)since I don’t believe the OS on the Sigma kicked in.

Final question: I keep looking at the Canon f/4.0L 24-105 IS for the same

purpose as the Sigma 18-250 OS. Price is double and the lens has less coverage at both the low end and the high end but I suspect the quality would not an issue. Any comments on this?

A bargain superzoom lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Compared to Canon’s superooms this a very inexpensive lens. The optical quality is really excellent, just a shade below the pair of Canon lenses it replaces. My only negative comments are minor: the zoom contols feels a little “sticky” in mid-range; the focus ring is too prominent and could lead to damaging the autofocusing motor. For a walk-around lens this is ideal — not overly heavy, great zoom range, reasonably fast autofocus and effective image stabilization.

Awesome Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Lens is great. Can hand hold 200mm focal length at 1/30th sec shutter speed(without camera blur),when using the optical stabilizer. Would higly reccomend this lens. Rarely comes off my camrea. With 18-200mm focal length and the OS it is pretty much the only lens you will ever need!!

SIGMA AF 18-200mm
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I HAVE BEEN USING MY NEW LENS FOR WEEKS AND AND ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THEM IS THEIR “GREAT”!!! I’VE SHOT CLOSE-UPS AND DISTANCE (ONE WITH TWO BUCKS FIGHTING-HORNS LOCKED) AND THE IMAGES HAVE TURNED OUT SUPER. MY FRIEND HAS THE TWICE AS EXPENSIVE NIKON EQUIVALENT AND WE ARE SHOOTING PRETTY MUCH ON PAR. I AM USING THE NIKON D90 AND LOVING IT. MY ONLY CON ABOUT THE SIGMA IS THAT IT IS A LITTLE BULKIER LOOKING THAN HIS NIKON 18-200mm BUT THAT IS ONLY COSMETIC AND I CAN LIVE WITH THAT AND THE PRICE DIFFERENCE!!

GREAT SHOOTING TO YOU ALL!!! RR OF COLORADO

Excellent solution for many Photographers.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This was shipped to my office yesterday, so I naturally had to play with it. I have an old Nikon D50, and had gotten use to the kit lens that was on it. This Sigma is CONSIDERABLY larger and heavier. I expected that of course, and maybe I’m just getting old, but IMO its a pretty hefty lens.

I bought this lens expressly for the Optical Stabilization, so that was the first thing I tested. My office has a logo painted on the far side, so I handheld, indoors, at 200mm and focused on one letter. The lens setting was f6.3 at 1/30 sec. Looking side by side at the OS and non-OS shot in the camera lcd screen, they looked almost identical.

However, puting them in Photoshop and blowing them up revealed a whole other story. The non-os picture was blurred – and no amount of sharpening in Photoshop could correct it.

The OS picture was sharp. I’m not easily impressed, but I was really surprised at how well it worked. When I enlarged it to 200 percent in Photoshop, it seemed to be a bit soft, so I applied a small bit of sharpening from the software – and ended up with a photo that looked like

it had been shot with a macro lens from 3 feet away on a tripod. It was outstanding.

I bought this lens for 2 reasons.

First I am a Realtor. All of my listings need indoor shots, and I stay away from flash if I can – natural light seems to create warm home interiors. Problem was, most of these shots ended up in the 1/8-1/15 range – so I packed a tripod around. This lens should be far more convenient.

Second, I am a photographer. I shoot a lot of weddings and reunions, and I often try to drag the shutter, especially in churches or large halls, where I want some ambient light to fill in the background. This lens will allow me to shoot all day at 1/15 sec. with a TTL flash, and create some nice balanced portraits without the background blur found in most of these sort of images from the slow shutter speed.

I have read in other reviews that this lens is slow. It is. If it were a straight lens with f6.3 at 200 mm, I wouldn’t even consider it. However, the OS allows you to handhold safely at least another 2 fstops slower, so IMO, that makes up for the slow speed of the lens. Besides, it’s ridiculous to compare a $500 lens to a $1700 lens in the first place.

The lens also has a bit of distortion. If you primarily shoot architecture, and don’t want to correct all of your images, this isn’t the lens for you.

I haven’t noticed any lens creep yet, the zoom ring is pretty stiff, but that may change over time, and there is a lock, anyway.

One major complaint I have about this lens: the focus ring is prominent, and easy to grab. TOO easy to grab. Sigma warns against turning the focus ring when you are in autofocus mode, for fear of damaging the lens. I trained myself after about 15 minutes to keep my hand off of it, but I noticed that anyone that picked up the camera had a tendency to want to turn the focus ring, thinking it was the zoom ring. If you hand this lens to someone to take your picture, be sure to instruct them how to handle it, or risk damage to the lens.

The focus mechanism and OS are a bit noisy, but mostly because my ear is about 4 inches from the camera when it operates. I care very little about the noise factor.

Overall, this is a great lens. Inexpensive, will probably be on your camera exclusively, and allows you to handhold the camera in low light situations. I never got to test it against Nikon’s version, but the difference in price made the choice easy. I recommend this lens highly.

It’s ok
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Not spectacular for what I expected… Just Ok….

Slower than my stock lens in low light….

The lens really creeps if you hold it vertically and the lock only works when it’s fully retracted for transport…

The zoom wheel is really stiff and crampy..

Still haven’t found a true benefit with OS, but I may not have been in the perfect situation…

Makes a little more noise than others..

On the other hand, for what it was made for (walkaround lens).. It does the job. I haven’t used my stock or 70-300 since getting this one. It compromises only minimally on quality etc.

Great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is great just started using but so far it does just what I want.

Sigma Zoom Lens for Canon SLR AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS (Optical Stabilizer)
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great lens! It blows away the standard lense that comes with your Canon SLR. The zoom allows you to get those close up shots without a tripod because of the stablilier. The lense is heavier than the standard 55mm lens but is great to have and it is lighter than the Nikon 18-200mm Lense with OS. Anyone who loves to take pictures I would say must get this lense it will make a huge difference in your photos. Well worth the money.

Good lens for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I buy many products based upon reviews from other users. That is also the case with this lens. I bought my Nikon D40 about 3 months ago (after 10 years of using point and shoots, including my treasured Canon S2is super zoom), with the kit 18-55mm lens, plus I bought a Nikon 55-200mm VR lens. I love the VR lens, but traveling through Europe for 2 1/2 weeks proved to me that I HATE changing lenses. It’s inconvenient and potentially contaminates the inside of the camera body. So, I started looking around at something that I could use as a single walk-around lens. I love the wide angle perspective of the 18mm end, plus needed at least 200mm for the telephoto end. I liked the idea of Tamron’s 18-250mm, but it’s not image stabilized, which is really essential at the telephoto end. So, back to the Sigma. I read Camera Labs review of the non-stabilized Sigma 18-200mm, and it was favorable. So, I figured that the new stabilized version would be at least as good, and probably better.

I have not used this lens much over the past couple of weeks, but have found that (with a couple of exceptions), it focuses at least as quickly as the 18-55mm Nikkor kit lens, if not faster. The OS works great, making hand-held photos rock solid at 200mm. The only thing that I haven’t spent a lot of time doing is taking indoor photos with it. I have taken indoor photos with the onboard flash, and they seem to work fine. I have not had much luck getting sharp photos at the telephoto end indoors, but admittedly have not tried very hard. I’ll update this later, as I get more experience. Based upon what I know now, I am NOT AT ALL SORRY that I bought this lens. I was really having a hard time choosing between this and the [MUCH more expensive] Nikkor 18-200mm, but this lens seems like it is well worth the money spent. The focus/OS noise does not bother me at all (In fact, it’s reassuring to hear that the camera is trying to focus, etc…). The only thing I wish Sigma had done was to make the lens Auto/Manual focus without having to move the switch from Auto to Manual, which the Nikkor can do. However, if it auto-focuses reliably, I guess it won’t be a big deal. The zoom ring is a little tight right now, but I imagine that it will loosen up over time (hopefully not to the point of requiring the lock to be engaged). I also like the large manual focus ring; the Nikkor’s is much smaller. Don’t be put off by the 72mm diameter (which I was initially). It’s not a big deal. Yes, it is quite a bit heavier and larger than the kit lens (or even my 55-200mm Nikkor), but not overly so. In fact, it makes the camera easier to hold, since I think the D40/40x/60 grip is just a little too small. I was concerned that the onboard flash will be blocked by the lens, but it seems to have no effect. I’m not seeing any shadowing. I’ll keep you advised on how my ongoing review is going.

Happy shooting!

Update: Sept 19, 2008 – I continue to love this lens. The ONLY thing that bothers me about it is (as someone mentioned in another review) that the zoom and focus rings are too close together. When I hand this to my wife or son, I have to remind them which one is the zoom ring, and not to touch the focus (BTW – It makes a gears-are-grinding noise when you move the focus ring without moving it to manual – Not good, although it does not seem to have hurt the lens). There is a slight amount of shadowing the on board flash when you are at any zoom over the 18mm. However, I rarely if ever use the on board flash. I have a Nikon SB-400 flash that is absolutely essential inside, where you can bounce it (read Ken Rockwell’s review at http://www.kenrockwell.com). I have not put the 18-55mm kit lens back on this camera since I have had the 18-200, and probably won’t. I have a very old Nikon G model 50mm f1.8 that I can use (no metering or autofocus) on those low-light non-flash indoor shots, where the Sigma is not at it’s best (although it’s still very good).

Sigma AF 18-200mm
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Best walk around lens you can get for the money. Pictures from my XTI come out in HD clarity. OS is a must, works very well. Wish I would have bought it sooner. Perfect!!! Well made, could not be happier with the product.

OS Rocks
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great lens for the price… can’t complain about this lens. I got it over the Nikon due to pricing, and I am satisfied. I haven’t had any lens creep yet (which is pretty much the only thing that I am worried about) but I keep it locked whenever I’m not zooming around with it.

The OS is perfect allowing you to effectively shoot at 200mm… it eats up a little bit of extra battery, but definitely is working.

If you can afford it, go for the Nikon, but if you dont have the extra dough to throw around I would pick this up no sweat. Excellent walk around lens…

Excellent “walking around” lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been using this lens almost exclusively during the past month on my Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. The focus is slightly noisier than the Cannon lenses and perhaps a bit slower, especially indoors in dark light. However, picture quality is excellent, OS works great, and having the 18-200 range is fantastic for taking a single lens on short trips. This is a great lens for the money.

excellent lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have tried many lens with my 40D. I like the 18-55mm IS kit lens. It’s probably the sharpest standard lens that Canon ever made. 28-135mm IS is also good, but lack of 18-27mm zoom. I sold it and bought the Sigma 17-70mm and Sigma 18-125mm OS. I returned 17-70mm because I have shaking hands and most of my photos are indoor. I also returned 18-125mm because it produce very very soft and lack of contrast. Almost like older P&S digital camera. I then bought the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. Hoping the f/2.8 will help with my shaky hand and indoor situation. I return it after compare to my 18-55mm IS. Not worth the extra $300 for Tamron for the same zoom. Finally, I decide to buy the Sigma 18-200mm OS after reading many positive and negative reviews. To my surprise, 18-200mm is very sharp lens in ALL ranges. I read that lens can be soft at certain zoom. I have tried for a week to try to find the soft spot, I can’t find it. The only thing I noticed is the “strong” OS motion. I can really see the OS kicks-in. I was surprised that I got almost all keepers in my “walking” shots. Highly recommended. I don’t know if any lens in this range can be better, especailly with OS.

$[...] cheaper, same specs as Nikon equivalent, that’s too much value.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is worth the trade down to Sigma, which has been making decent lenses for years. $[...] bucks, it’s crazy insane not to buy. With the savings you could buy a decent tripod or the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens, excellent for low light and some lens filters. I read the reviews for this 18/200mm lens and too many people liked it for the value and quality and I agree. This is the best walking around lens especially at the zoo, you get the tight head shot or the wide shot. Best general lens, jack of all shots.

Amazon should not be selling this Lemon Product
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I purchased this lens thinking it was a good value, and I got disappointed when the lens completely failed in the middle of a trip after getting the famous error message. Since I was within the 30 days purchase, I got it replaced by Amazon. The replacement started failing this morning… same error. I did some research, and apparently 30-40% of this particular sigma lens are lemons (google it!!).

Unfortunately, this happens after taken about 200 shoots….. if you are beyond 30 days of purchase when the lens start failing AMAZON DOES NOT REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE PRODUCT, despite the one-year warranty. Sigma customer center sucks, and they make you pay for a secure back and forth shipment.

I STRONGLY recommend this product. The price is very attractive, and you might find the lens you get is a not a lemon (btw, the lens takes wonderful pics!!)…. if you wanna give it a try… i would recommend NOT TO GET IT IN AMAZON, but in a local store you can return the lens within the one-year warranty offered by the manufacturer….

AMAZON told me I have to eat mine now….

Sigma 18-200mm Image stabilization, for Canon
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought the lens to give me more range without changing lens. Does the job. I bought it right before I went on vacation. Took a while to get use to it. Makes very good pictures at all ranges. I found that I didn’t need the 200mm, except for rare occasion. The Image Stabilization was what I wanted since I could not use a tripod on vacation. Only a few pictures showed movement. Even used it in helicopter ride. Got some good pictures.

The only problems I had were the weight. It is heavy for me. Carrying it all day gets tiring. The barrel is quite big, but know it is the I.S. There is some lens creep, had to use the lock. One thing that was hard to get use to was grabbing the focus ring with it in auto focus. The ring is too easy to find.

Overall, it is a good lens. Picture quality is good, and price is good. Good general use lens.

3.5 Stars might be more accurate
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
First impressions after having the lens for 1 week, using with the Nikon D200 (upgraded from Nikon 24-120mm VR):

1. It is loud. When auto focusing or engaging the OS function, the lens makes a chirp sound. Doesn’t really matter from a performance perspective, but it is annoying.

2. Auto focus in the dark takes longer than the 24-120mm Nikon. Not sure if this is the camera or the lens, but the lens just doesn’t seem happy to do the nighttime auto focus.

3. Range is amazing. From full tele to full zoom, the photos look great.

4. OS stabilization seems to work just as well as the Nikon 24-120mm VR’s did.

4. For just over 1/2 the price of the Nikon 18-200 VR, no matter how much quieter/faster the Nikon is, this seems like the better value for the buck.

Outstanding Lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I don’t know alot about lenses but my wife wanted this for her birthday. I purchased off of Amazon and my wife loves it. The only drawback is she says when she’s taking pictures in public it makes her look like she knows what she’s doing. HAHA!

Great walk around lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great walk around lens. With this lens I am able to shoot at a shutter speed of 1/25 of a second and get sharp pictures most of the time. My only complain is that I did get error message from my camera (Canon XTi) like the other guys several times due to poor contact between lens and the camera body. I cleaned the contacts with eraser and alcohol two times.

Latter, I simply rotate the lens against the body without taking it out.

It’s been working fine ever since.

wide range but just so so image quality
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I have owned 4 SLR cameras and a number of advanced point and shot camera. If you are willing to sacrifice inconvenience to carry an SLR with all the lenses, you must expect something in return. Right? To me, I expect better picture quality (e.g. better sharpness and color). I bought this lens (Sigma) for my Nikon D80. I have two kit lenses came with my Nikon: 18-70 mm and 70-300 mm. To my surprise, for general photography purpose (I am not talking about portraits and in extreme light and moving conditions), my Sony DSC V3 (I paid < $600 for it 4 years ago and it is now sold at amazon.com for $999) advanced P&S gave me much better picture quality in terms of sharpness and depth of field than my Nikon kit lenses. For this reason and for convenience, I bought the Sigma 18-200 after spending a lot of time reading reviews from several different sites. I was hoping the Sigma would be at least as good as my Nikons. I took a lot of picture using the Sigma side by side with my Nikons at the same focal lengths (18 to 70 mm and 70 to 200mm). Unfortunately my Nikons produced much better pictures (sharper and better color saturation) than the Sigma.

Sometimes I find it difficult to get useful information from the web reviews because different people have different expectations. Some people can be happy easily with whatever they get. I think I am kind of picky with high expectations. One should really know what they are looking for (features? quality?). At the end, if a SLR lens cannot beat a P&S, one should seriously think about why you spent more $ to buy and more effort to carry an SLR and a whole bunch of lenses. I am now thinking about getting a “high zoom” advanced P&S, such as a Sony or Panasonic with 12x or even 18x lens covers 30 to 500mm, as a walk-around because these type of camera can usually give you the same or sometimes even better image quality as the SLRs. I will use my N80 only at specially situations (e.g. difficult light condition, sport, etc).

OS is very useful!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
For the price, this is a very good lens. My hands are a bit shaky, so the OS is very helpful. It’s noisy, but mostly I do nature photos, so who cares! I like the wide field of view at the front end also. It’s now my everyday lens.

Winner
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is phenomenal. It is the perfect walk-around lens. 28-300mm lenses don’t compete, as I find the 18-28mm range to be far more useful than the 200-300mm range for APS-C sensor cameras like the Rebel and 40D. Sigma has an 18-250mm lens, but its lack of image stabilization is a deal-breaker. This lens isn’t too heavy, isn’t too large, and it zooms like a bastard. If I had to have one lens for an APS-C sensor camera, with cost as no object, this would be it. Second would be Canon’s 10-22mm. I would pay big bucks for a faster version of this lens.

New to DSLR’s and this lens is a perfect 1st step
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m new to the world of SLR’s. I’ve been using point and shoot for years but broke down and bought a Canon dSLR a few months ago. I found the stock lens limiting so I bought this lens to supplement my shooting. I’m glad I did – it is moderately priced and you get a lot for your money. It works right out of the box and takes great pics!

Perfect walk around lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love the performance. Best fits wedding shoots. As an amatuer, with one body, it lessen the time of changing lensen, unless very neccessary. for me i love it.

Sigma AF 18-200mm Lense
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I like it! I am not a pro – my son recommended this lens for my Cannon 20D. I will probably never take it off the camera. It gives me the flexibility I need without a lot of hassle. It responds quickly and smoothly, especially when I need it for pictures of fast moving 3 year old grandsons!

Sigma 18-200 OS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Got this as a travel lens for Disney. Wanted 1 lens solution and this will fit the bill perfectly. Used the Tokina 12-24 with Canon 28-135 IS last trip, and while I got good shots, 24mm was too short on the Tokina and 28 not wide enough on the canon. Had to change lenses too often. Other than when I want really wide landscapes, I should be able to use this 90% of the time. I will still supplement with my Tokina for wide angle + small p&s when I don’t want to use the DSLR.

So far, I’m really pleased with the sharpness of the Sigma and the range is great. Compares well to my sharp 28-135 in image quality. Images are sharp, although don’t have as much “pop” but that can be fixed in post. Overall, I’d recommend for it’s versatility and generally good image quality.

A fantastic lens for the prosumer. We highly recommend this lens for the money!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My wife and I purchased this lens prior to our trip to Germany. After great debates and hours of research we decided that this lens offered the extensive features that we wanted within the budget we set. Upon arrival I was amazed from the moment I took the lens out of the package. After reading reviews and debating between this lens and other more expensive alternatives I was expecting something with lower quality. I was very happy to see that this lens was built with terrific quality and was very stout. We are using it with our Canon Digital Rebel XTi and we couldn’t have been happier with the performance. This is our first telephoto lens that we have purchased so please know that we don’t have much to compare it to. However if you are like us “prosumers” on a budget and hunting for a nice lens in this price range, look no further.

Sigma 18-200 OS, One of Several Very Good, All Purpose, Walkabout Lenses
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so, I think, is one’s opinion of a camera lens. I’ve learned over the years that lens reviews are helpful, but they are just opinions. Yes, for sure, you generally get better optics with more expensive lenses, but it’s certainly not a guarantee. And for reasons one can only wonder about, oftentimes two copies of the same lens will produce very different results. For example, my friend Sara, who is as nuts about buying (we’re like compulsive buyers) and using Canon lenses as I am about buying and using Nikon ones, has a Canon EF-S 18-55 kit lens that produces images so tack sharp through its whole range that would make you cry.

And so it goes with super zooms, these wonderful lenses that go from pretty wide to very long. If you look at the reviews of any of them, some people claim horrible results, while others scratch their heads, because they’re just loving them to death.

My first superzoom was a Sigma 18-200 which I got about five years ago and I was blown away with what I could do with just one lens. Plus my shots were pretty darn sharp. The lens was more expensive then, than it is now. It’s still a good lens, it weighs a couple ounces less than a pound and if I only could have been satisfied, I’d have saved a bundle of money. Ah well. Anyway, I had an opportunity to try out the Tamron 18-200 as well back then, but I decided on the Sigma. It was a coin toss. At the time I thought both lenses would be good general, all purpose, walkabout lenses. They wouldn’t be as sharp or fast as primes and wouldn’t be as light as shorter zooms, but heck, one lens which went all the way from 18 to 200mm (okay 27 to 350mm in the real world), such a deal.

Both lenses were five star lenses as far as I was concerned, both still are, because they are what they are, a very good compromise. If you’re expecting a lens that will reach out across a dark night and grab a shot of lovers making out by the beach, then you don’t want these lenses, but if you’re looking for a good general walkabout lens, both will suit you and they won’t break your bank.

But they don’t have image stabilization and when Sigma came out with it, I had to have it. So I shelved the Sigma zoom I had, (thankfully I didn’t sell it) and bought the Sigma 18-200 OS and Sigma’s Optical Stabilizer worked great. I got sharper handheld shots in lower light, but they came at a price, almost half a pound. It doesn’t sound like much, eight ounces (7.6 to be exact), but try carrying it around on your shoulder all day long. I really noticed the difference, especially when I was shooting.

I probably wouldn’t have gone to that auction site with my fairly new lens, if it hadn’t been for Tamron. They came out with their Tamron 18-250 and I had to have it. A bigger reach, the heck with image stabilization. Not only could I go all the way from 27 to 375mm in the real world, but I got back a bit over six ounces, the lens was lighter. So now I had two super zooms, which was good, because I go out people shooting with my sister a lot.

So one would think I’d be satisfied, but when the Nikon 18-200 came out, well Nikon optics in a superzoom. I had to have it, so the Tamron went up for auction (because I just loved the Sigma, even though it didn’t reach as far). The Nikon lens focused faster, but not that much faster then the other two, had image stabilization and was faster at the long end and it took great shots, but it weighed more than the other lenses, coming in at a whopping 20 ounces and it was creepy, creepy, creepy and with no zoom lock. The other lenses had almost no zoom creep and they had a zoom lock, which I never used. Very annoying the zoom creep was, still, great shots from a great lens.

Satisfied, well for awhile, then came 2008 and the Tamron 18-270 with their VC version of image stabilization and up for auction went my expensive Nikkor lens. Yeah, I still hung on the my first super zoom, the Sigma. For sure the Nikkor was a five star lens, but a girl can’t justify more than two super zooms at any one time.

The Tamron lens actually weighed a fraction less than the Nikkor it replaced. It was a bit slower on the long end, was a bit stiff in the zooming, but easy to get used to and almost no, sometimes no, zoom creep and it has a lock. It’s just simply one heck of a lens. Sometimes it’s a bit slow to autofocus in lowlight, but still I think it finds its focus faster than I would, but not as fast as the Nikkor.

I should add here that Nikon has upgraded their 18-200 adding a zoom lock. I’ve played with one and not only have they added that zoom lock, but it doesn’t seem to creep nearly as much, but that could just be the copy I used. I should also mention that Sigma has come out with their Sigma 18-250 OS which I was lucky enough to use for a month. That is just one super fine lens. It focuses fast and I think it finds its focus better in low light than the Tamron 18-270. Also this new Sigma has a super quiet motor, though I’ve never really been bothered by the sound of a focusing lens.

By reading other reviews of these lenses, I’ve learned that they are all subject to zoom creep, so I suppose in the main, I’ve been lucky. All of these lenses are very good, at least all of the copies I’ve used. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of them. However, if you go with Nikon, you’re going to be paying an awful lot more. You get a slightly faster lens on the long end and you get Nikon quality, but Sigma and Tamron give quality as well and Tamron warranties their lenses for six years, so they’re pretty confident that they’re building a great product (and now they’re part of Sony).

So through my whole super zoom experience, which one do I wind up using the most? You guessed it, that Sigma I bought five years ago. Like the proverbial Timax, “It takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’.” If the day is bright and I’m going people shooting it’s the one I put on my camera, because it’s light and it’s images are true.

Good but not the best
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had this lens for about a month. I bought it for the image stabilization, so I could carry one lens instead of two (18-55 and 55-200), and the savings over a Nikon lens.

It’s all right. Keeping in mind that I paid about $[...], it’s a very good buy for an avid amateur like myself, but it does have its flaws.

It can be very slow to focus, so much so that I’ve had to move the area of focus to kind of “jog” the thing to work.

I’ve seen some noticeable barrel distortion, but haven’t paid enough attention to be able to say at what focal length. Sorry. This is the most disappointing problem with the lens.

There has been some lens creep, just enough to be annoying but not the most horrible problem.

I think it’s the tiniest bit soft, but have no real proof of that. I do believe that the 18-55 kit lens that came with my Nikon was sharper.

However, having said all that, it’s just fine for the money. If I’d paid Nikon prices for this lens I would be very unhappy, but I didn’t. And the image stabilization has allowed me to take handheld shots that never would have been possible otherwise.

UPDATE October 2009:

I’ve now used this lens a LOT and am seriously thinking about selling and replacing it with primes. It is very soft at longer focal lengths, the barrel distortion makes me crazy, and the lens creep is maddening. Who would ever think a lens would creep outward when the camera is pointed UP? It would be great if you could lock it at any length but the lock only works when it’s fully retracted. Also, the focusing ring has virtually the same feel as the zoom ring, and since it’s either manual or auto focus as opposed to manual/auto, you run the risk of damaging the focus ring. I’m still in love with my Sigma 10-20 but admittedly haven’t used it as much as this one. Nikon primes, here I come.

I haven’t taken it of the camera yet!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was looking for an all around lens that was versital enough that I could use it in a lot of different picture situations. I was always having to change lenses constantly between a telephoto lens and a wider angle lens for family events. Ever sence buying this Sima 18mm-200mm lens I really haven’t taken it off my Canon T1i. I haven’t noticed the dark corners like some have said. I still have a lot to learn as far as useing it the best way with the camera but it’s been a blast so far. I love it and haven’t had any problems what so ever. I really like the wide angle with it retracted and it has a pretty good zoom to get you close up. I would sudgest you always get a UV filter to protect the lens because it is so worth it. Good luck and have fun with this lens.

great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been using this lens for the past month, I love it and find it to be as good as my Canon lenses. Great lens for the money.

Sigma got it right
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
We’ve been using this Sigma AF 18-200 lens for a couple of months now. Recently we compared the Sigma with Canon’s 28-135mm image stabilized lens on a Canon 30D. We shot side by side photographs at 28mm & 135 mm both, set to ISO 100 with camera in Program mode. Our lenses were set to autofocus with image stabilization on.

The good news which I really didn’t expect was to see both lenses produce images that were nearly identical– I thought for sure Canon’s optics would far surpass Sigma’s. Color saturation, light exposure through the lens, and detail were indistinguishable. The autofocus worked equally well on both. Both weighed about the same and were about the same size. The Sigma has a 72mm diameter aperture which I liked (so does the Canon). Of course the Sigma is 18-200, and at this time Canon does not have a competing option in the same digital SLR lens class with image stabilization.

The only aspect of the Sigma that differed significantly from Canon’s lens was the noise of Sigma’s autofocus motor. Sigma produces noticeable motor noise, though it wasn’t overly loud. Still if you were shooting in a spot where silence was critical such as a ceremony, it may become an issue but probably not. In comparison, the Canon autofocus motor is silent and fast every time.

Sigma places a locking mechanism on the lens barrel to eliminate any possibility of lens creep (lens extending when pointed down). I doubt this would be a problem with the Sigma anyway. The zoom ring is a little stiff, but not too stiff. The manual focus ring is designed to be used with AF set to off to avoid manipulating the motor when focusing.

The image stabilization works well allowing you to shoot lower light photos without a tripod. I was quite satisfied with Sigma’s newest effort here.

I’d say this Sigma makes a great choice for amateur photographers like us looking for a single lens option on Canon digital SLR cameras. The only dissuading factor ‘might’ be the motor noise if you hope to match Canon’s silent motor system. Until Canon produces the same class of lens at a competitive price, Sigma has this round sown up.

———————

UPDATE: “LENS CREEP” September 18, 2007

We did just notice the Sigma lens starting creep for the first time (extend while pointed down). So apparently while the zoom mechanism starts off stiff enough to hold the lens in position, over time it will loosen up enough to move on its own with gravity assisting. Still love the lens though.

Sigma all-around lense
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
So far images are very good, functionality is very good also. This is a good “can take only one lense” on a trip, etc. I will be using this at Disney World after Thanksgiving…

excellent quality lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
this lens is great. i have trusted sigma lenses for years because you know you are getting a great quality lens for a great price. the optical stabilization works great and the automatic focus is nice and sharp. this is a great lens to add to your collection. it sure beats having to switch from an 18-55 to a 55-200!

Disappointing, but maybe a bad copy
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I already had the Sigma DC 18-200 non-OS lens and was very pleasantly surprised with the overall balance of versatility vs. image quality.

A review in Popular Photography stated that the OS version was optically superior and the OS very effective. So I bought one.

It just didn’t deliver.

At first, I thought it was the low cost UV filter I put in front of it. I bought a B+W filter and while that made a significant improvement, it still didn’t seem as sharp overall as the non-OS version.

I’ve now shot some tests at various focal lengths and apertures on a tripod and the newer lens is decidedly softer than the non-OS version, particularly so on the right side of the frame(in landscape format).

I was able to sharpen the pictures I took with this lens enough to salvage them for friends and family, but deep down, I knew this was a troubled lens.

What I don’t know and can’t say definitively is whether the lens design is faulty or just that this particular example wasn’t so hot. I lean towards the latter, since the softness was so asymmetrical.

Otherwise, the lens is spectacular. The build quality feels very solid. The zoom control is very smooth. The stabilization is very effective. I don’t understand the comments about it being noisy. Compared to the shutter of a Canon 40D, the lens is not an issue.

I really wanted to like this lens. But it hasn’t even matched the image quality of its predecessor.

Pretty good, be careful with soft focus. I expected more.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I have a Nikon D-80 and somehow it’s pretty hard to get the right focus. Also, If I set the focus in TELE and pull back to wide angle or midle range, the focus vary . Sometimes you cannot tell by looking in the camrea’s screen but when you have it in the computer you see the no focus picture. I expected more from this lense.

Excellent
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
this lens is very good. I had this lens for a week and i’m satisfied. But little noisy when the OS and AF were on. For this price is worth it.

Great Everyday Lens!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great lens for 90% of every-day shooting. Only complaints are very heavy and bigger diameter than comparable lenses. I compared the MTF and lateral color side-by-side with Tamron’s 18-250mm lens at 5 different focal lengths and same aperture on a Canon 40D. They were very similar overall. Some people complain about the AF noise – it is a little bit louder than Tamron’s, but it’s essentially insignificant unless noise is a key concern for your shooting conditions. After shooting this lens for about a month I can say that for me, the benefits of the OS system far outweigh the slight drawbacks – I’d get the same lens again.

Very Disappointed
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I read review after review, did my research and was very excited to receive my Sigma 18-200 in the mail, but was very disappointed in the overall crispness of the images I took with my Canon EOS 40D.

The lens feels solid and well made. I love the fact it has OS and a barrel lock. But as a a professional photographer who does a lot of indoor events, this lens did not work for me. This lens is slow. I specialize in candids and would lose many shots waiting for the AF to clue in. The image quality was sporadic and mostly soft.

I have a Sigma wide angle 10-20 that I absolutely love, so this is nothing against Sigma. This lens may work great for someone who does a lot of outdoor photography, but it did not fit my needs.

Upgrade rating to 4.25 (Original review title: 3.5 would be more accurate)
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I have had this lens since 9 July, and used it without incident until 25 July, when the OS failed. Up to that point, I would have given this lens a five-star rating without the slightest hesitation. The distortion control, as well as the sharpness on the first sample were excellent. Furthermore, the focus was accurate to a T in all situations, including very low light.

The replacement lens, which I have now used for about a week, does not have nearly the same sharpness at the edges. It is fine in very bright light, but in dimmer situations, both the sharpness, and the focussing ability, are not up to the standard of the first sample.

I also find that the OS on this sample does not give the same f-stop compensation as on the first one.

This said, the lens remains a good one, and I would still recommend it for use with the Nikon D40.

Whether or not I will retain this one, or again request a replacement based on the less than stellar focussing ability in low light/low contrast situations remains to be seen.

UPDATED 9 September 2009

I did replace the lens a second time — under the 30 day exchange policy of Amazon. The replacement was, and is, considerably more like the first one — with generally fine, fast and accurate focus across the range. There is a slight amount of softness, on the right-hand side.

I now use this lens with a D90, as well as with the older D40, and the upgrade in camera does not in any way reveal any additional flaws in the lens.

I continue to recommend this lens — provided the sample received is a good one.

Great lens… for the short time it lasted
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Loved this lens when it worked… however now, only one year later, this lens doesn’t work! Short circuits new Nikon D90 camera and won’t AF on D50. I can’t afford to be buying a new $500 lens on a yearly basis – I’m extremely disappointed in Sigma’s longevity.

An Excellent Buy
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens will be on my Nikon D40x permanently. Ease of use, quality of results, flexibility – landscapes, family portraits, it ticks all of the boxes. I’m a very satisfied customer.

Autofocus is not accurate
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought the lens. Most of the reviewers in this series are right. I just want to emphasize one thing. It’s hard to get the autofocus right with this lens. The autofocused point is near than the desired distance. I’m using a Canon 40D. Most of the shots with autofocus are soft. Otherwise, it’s pretty good except with some chromatic aberration occasionally. I don’t what I should do now. Anybody has any suggestion?

amazon buyers beware
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I just got this item and took some pics. Picture quality looks ok to me – but, I am just an amateur, what do I know?

I just wanted to let you know that within a week of purchasing the lens from Amazon, the price got reduced on Amazon website. And Amazon refused to adjust my purchase price stating Amazon does not provide price guarantee (not even with their own price !!!!).

value for your money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Hi,

this is my 3rd Sigma lens, and it look like Sigma read some of the reviews and got this model even better, trying to over come some minor problem.

with great size and weight for 72mm lens, OS that helps in the low light and 200mm picturing, great lens.

i gave it 4 and not 5 stars since the zoom is not moving smooth enough in my opinion.

enjoy,

Motti

Good walk-around lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I followed my 2 grandsons while they were visiting for a week with this lens. I did notice that there were some situations when the auto focus did not produce a sharp image. I had previously done resolution testing (I always do this with a new lens) and found that the Sigma was not as sharp as my Canon 24-105 L. Of course, this is like comparing apples and oranges. In these lens tests, I mounted the camera (Canon 40D) on a tripod and turned off the image stabilization. However, I decided that there was still a possible slight camera shake while on the tripod and in a second series of images made with the Sigma lens, I used the self timer to start the exposure and thus reduced finger motion from causing any residual shake. These new images from the Sigma lens were not blurred as in my first test. I also used both manual and auto focus in this series and I could not discern any differences, so I conclude that the auto focus does work, but not as fast for action type images that I had experienced with the rapidly moving 4 and 6 year-olds. I will take this lens with me on two overseas trips, but will be careful to use it stopped down from the maximum aperture.