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I just got the Sigma 18-200mm OS lens, Amazon shipped it to me overnight and true to their estimate it got here the next day. I haven’t had a chance to do anything with it yet, I’m heading out of town this weekend and hope to get some use out of it.

I took a few quick shots to show what the lens looks like in regards to the standard 18-55mm lens that comes with the camera. While it’s not tremendously bigger, it is significantly heavier. The kit lens has a 58mm lens fitting while the 200mm has a 72mm filter fitting.

While they look somewhat similar to start off that changes when the Sigma hits the 200mm mark, it nearly doubles in size. It’s kind of attention getting and certainly more substantial than the original lens.

Here are two simple shots I took at the 18mm and 200mm setting. I have to say the first picture has plenty of color and contrast in it. I don’t have a polarizer for the lens yet (perhaps this weekend) so it looks pretty good. The second picture looks a little flat, but then again, the grass really is dormant and brown and the water is pretty murky. But the zoom is pretty impressive, the bench can’t even be seen in the first picture, yet in the second picture you can see it easily. Not too shabby on the zoom front.

I haven’t done anything with the OS setting yet, haven’t had a need, only taken 4 shots with this thing. There is a small switch to turn it on or off, a zoom lock to keep the lens from creeping and of course the MF switch. One thing I learned is you need to make sure the OS is off before disconnecting the lens. And when the OS is on, it’s draining the battery, so those are interesting things to note.

And here is final picture of the camera and lens together. It actually makes it quite a bit heavier and certainly bigger. I’ll give some more details on how the camera works after this weekend. Not sure what kind of pictures I’ll take, but I should have a better idea of how it works.

Many people believe that Sigma, a third party photography manufacturer merely produce lenses that are inferior to brand name such as Canon or Nikon lenses. While some of them are true, but there some Sigma lenses are better in term of built quality, optical quality and zoom focal length.

Radiant Lite Photography: Sigma Lenses vs Canon Lenses

This article does bring up some interesting questions. Personally I own Sigma lenses and haven’t used any of the Canon offerings. However, there is a lot of commentary out there saying that if you’re serious about your pictures you need to use Canon, regardless of the lens type. And of course there is no substitute for “L” glass and everything else is just crap.

I’m not sure where I stand on this one. Reading reviews is as subjective as anything else. Some people love the “EX” version of the Sigma lenses and say they are as good as the “L” series, others say “EX” is just as good as “L”, while others say “L” is just hype and a way to mark up lenses.

I have two “EX” lenses (105mm macro and 70-200mm) and have been very happy with both. Again, I have no basis of comparison, but I have certainly seen pictures taken from the higher priced Canon lenses. I have to say that I have seen some shots from top dollar glass that is breathtaking and some that looks like crap. So while the lenses can certainly help or perhaps hinder a photographer, there is still just as much to the photographer’s skill and understanding as anything. A great lens doesn’t compensate for a poorly lit subject or harsh contrast or a poorly framed composition.

There is no doubt that “L” glass is good and expensive and “EX” glass is good and expensive, I judge lenses more on the focal length and aperture rating than simply the price. Of course when two lenses are the same, it comes down to price and image quality. And again from the samples I’ve seen of similar lenses I have a hard time telling which is which, the images look excellent to me.

So when comparing apples to apples, for example the 70-200 from Sigma and Canon, is there a clear winner? Or are they both excellent lenses?

The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new large aperture 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM standard lens.
Large aperture, standard prime lens has superior peripheral brightness and corrects sagittal coma flare.

• Standard lens with large maximum aperture of F1.4
• Creates sharp images with high contrast and ensures superior peripheral brightness
• Incorporates molded glass aspherical lens, perfectly correcting coma aberration and creating superior image quality
• Super multi-layer lens coating reduces flare and ghosting
• Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) ensuring silent, high-speed AF

This is a large aperture prime lens with a standard focal length of 50mm, ideal for all digital SLR cameras. This lens has superior peripheral brightness even at the maximum aperture and corrects a possible sagittal coma flare. This lens is perfectly suited for a wide range of subjects enabling outstanding, sharply defined images against a nicely blurred background. The fast, F1.4 aperture makes this lens desirable for use with Digital SLR cameras. This lens effectively becomes an 80mm medium telephoto lens on digital cameras with APS-C size image sensors. The optimum optical design and molded glass aspherical lens elements provide excellent correction for all types of aberrations. The super multi-layer lens coating reduces flare and ghosting. Superior optical performance is also ensured throughout the focusing range. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 45cm (17.7”) and has maximum magnification of 1:7.4. It creates a very attractive blur, even when a small aperture is used.

This lens incorporates HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), which ensures a quiet and high-speed AF as well as full-time manual focus override.

50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM

Fittings: Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax*, Sony*

*If the camera body does not support HSM, auto focus will not be available.