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Archive for the ‘Camera Lenses’ Category

Since I’m all giddy about my new Sigma lens, I thought I would write a few notes about the 18-200 lens I bought a few months back and how’s it worked for me.

In the latter part of 2008, December I think it was, I decided to upgrade my everyday lens from the 18-55 kit lens that came with the camera to something a little bit better. The all-in-one lenses like the Sigma 18-200 or the Tamron 18-270 were all the rage and definitely had my interest. The Sigma version went on sale right when I was looking to buy so I grabbed one as my primary lens. I have not been disappointed. To put it simply, this is a great lens that is extremely versatile, produces very good pictures and I’ve had no regrets in buying it.

I haven’t taken as many pictures as I like with it, but I have been happy with everything I have been able to take. This lens stays on the camera 98% of the time since the range works well for so many situations. It works extremely well outdoors and I have had no problem getting 1/1000 sec or high shutter speeds. For indoor use the OS does work quite well, although you can’t always see it working in the lens. Unless you are zoomed in tight you may not notice it taking the shake away, but you can hear it kick in from time to time.

When I first got the lens the zoom was pretty tight. However, it has loosened just a little, so when you point the lens down it does begin to creep. It’s really not that big a deal since the lens does have the lock button to keep it in place. It’s just something that happens once it gets a bit of use.

If you don’t already have a lens with this sort of range, I highly suggest the investment in one. It’s great to be able to take a “wide angle” shot of a landscape or classroom and without moving, zoom in for a closer shot. For “sightseeing” trips, trips to the beach, and just general walking around this is the lens is very handy.

The only thing I would change is that right after I bought this lens, Sigma came out with the 18-250mm version. Not only would the extra zoom be beneficial, but it also has HSM which is certainly quieter and quicker than the non-HSM version. I’m not normally tracking fast objects and it only hunts in very low situations, but these two extras would have been nice. I don’t think this lens is loud, but compared to HSM, yes there is some noise. If only I’d known it was coming out!

I have no regrets though since I am nothing but pleased with what I have. However, I would grab the new version if I didn’t already have my copy.

Just this week Western Digital announced their 4TB My Book Studio Edition II.

The 4TB My Book sports two gigantic 2TB HDDs in RAID 0, and will work with both Macs and PCs. You’ll be able to connect this bad boy to your machine using eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 all while consuming up to 30 percent less energy. There’s also a fancy capacity gauge on the front that lets you see how much storage is available at a glance

It’s available now for $649.99.

After lusting after this lens for over a year, I finally broke down and bought it. The reviews seem pretty favorable and most people seem very pleased with the image quality and usability of it. So, with much trepidation I ordered it from Amazon and had them express ship it to me. The economy is poop, so buying big lenses may not be the best use of my money, but I’ve inching toward this day for months now, so it should all work out for me.

I ordered the lens on Friday and it just showed up a few minutes ago. I’m extremely excited to try it out, but the sun is starting to set so I really can’t get any good pictures with it tonight. However, I did do the next best thing which is to take pictures of me taking it out of the box and putting it on the tripod!

Just as a size comparison, here it is next to a bottle of Mt. Dew. No, that’s a 2-liter, not some 20oz shot of Dew! I’m not sure which one I like more! When fully extended it surpasses the 2 liter bottle. And with lens hood, it’s ridiculously long!

First off, this thing is huge! It uses and 86mm filter and seems to be nearly a foot long. It has great balance though. It doesn’t feel like it wants to tip forward or backward. In fact with the camera on there, it balances perfectly.

I did take a couple of quick shots to show off the zoom. The first one is just a shot of the pond from my patio. You can see the picnic table in the distance. The second picture is zoomed in to 500mm and you can see a lot of the detail of the bench. I know, it’s not a riveting picture, but it does show the range of this thing. That bench is probably about 200 yards in the distance.

And finally, here is the whole thing assembled and sitting on the tripod. Is it me or does this thing look like a small piece of munitions?

And here are a few other random shots to show this thing off. I’ll try to take some more pictures tomorrow, but the forecast is calling for rain so I might not have the best of luck.