Photography: Smile!
Mark Johnston goes travelling with a versatile camera lens.
What does the manufacturer have to say?
“This high-ratio zoom lens incorporates Sigma’s original OS (Optical Stabiliser) function and is exclusively designed for digital SLR cameras. It is perfectly suitable for low light conditions and telephoto range.”
What does this mean?
An SLR lens is one that you use on a camera that can switch lenses. “High-ratio” refers to its zoom range. You can take wide-angle shots (like the hockey team picture) or zoom in on things that are a bit further away. This lens can zoom closer than most. The advantage is that instead of carrying several lenses and constantly swapping between them to suit your subject, you can now rely on just this one to cover every scenario.
The “optical stabiliser” is a built-in device that cancels out the effects of camera shake. This means that you don’t have to lug a tripod around and you can shoot handheld at lower shutter speeds in dim light. In short: Your pictures will be sharper.
And in practice?
I took this lens on a recent holiday to Switzerland. Between the towering snowy peaks and chocolate-box Alpine villages, I had plenty of opportunity to test it. I used it with a Nikon D70.
The zoom range is amazing. One moment you can be on full wide angle photographing a breathtaking landscape; then you spot a bird or animal and instead of faffing in your camera bag for a telephoto lens, you simply zoom right in and get the shot. At maximum zoom, the stabiliser is especially useful because any shaking is amplified on those long shots.
Professional photographers believe it’s hard to build a lens that produces perfect images at both ends of the zoom, but I was pretty impressed. My photos came out looking bright and crisp.
Price: R5225 (Note: Price accurate in January 2009)
Contact: Tudor Photographic 021 424 2978
Mark says: Even though the “optical stabiliser” works well enough, it’s a good idea to buy a tripod if you want to shoot at a shutter speed slower than 1/60 second.
Submitted on 1 July 2010 | 10:12:57
Hie Sean Let me start by saying that photography is an art and though it uses "perfectly "and scientifically developed equipment it still remains overally an art. Among ither issues ths implies that the best lense is often determined by so many personal factors, much like there is bound to be conflict on who at their best was the best supermodel, Tyra or Naomi. So issues like your budget, what you intend to use the combined lenses for, the frequency of changes of your lenses and your annoyance levels for the changes are just but some of the factors. Obviously there are techniques of using even a 55-200 lense for potraiture, ant that highlights the issue of the techniques that you are using for your kind of photography. These are just but some of the factors and obviouslsy some of these factors favour a genuine Nikon 18-200mm while some of these factors favour a cheaper Sigma or Tamron version. Bu what you detect as conflicting conclusions is just different relevant significance placed by various reviewers on some of the factors. I would say that find reviewers that address your particular factors and like other choices that you have had to make so far you will find that the art of photography has so much subjectiveness though there are certain rules that "generally" make your choices easier. Finally I would add that it is often a general rule that more expensive equipment "generally" gives you much better performance if correctly chosen and rightly used. Hope this helps nudge you in the right direction while you make YOUR choice. Regards Calvin
Submitted on 9 June 2010 | 22:18:06
Hi Mark, I've **** a Nikon D5000 that I bought with the usual 18-55mm and 55-200mm packaged lenses. I love the camera, but I'm finding the constant switching between lenses a lot of work. So, I'd like to buy an 18-200mm. But I keep getting conflicting reports from professional photographers and photography enthusiasts that the actual manufacturer's lens (Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc) are in fact the best lenses to use for picture quality, etc. In your opinion, is this true, or can the significantly cheaper Sigmas do the same job or better. Regards Sean
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