350D + Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC

[ibarbar]

After a lot of digging I've come to this setup:

Canon Eos 350D body kit + Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC (around 400$)

Do they match ? Are there any problems with this setup ? Did anybody test this combination ?

Is there a 62 mm diam. close-up lens that can get me closer than 40 cm (the limit of this lens) ? Sigma, Canon or other brand and how much is it (aprox.) ?

Actually the lens will be an equivalent of a 29-320mm one on the Rebel XT and the DC means that it's made especially for D-SLRs.

Thank you.

[Bluedog]

Should work very well for you. I haven't seen any users with that Lens coupled to an XT just yet but I have their 18-125mm DC Lens that preforms quite well for the price it cost.

[speaklightly]

ibarbar-

I just came back from a three week trip to China and was using a Pentax 1stDS and the Sigma 28-300mm lens. I found it to be an excellent combination and the lens is reasonable in price. I took over 1,000 shots with it.

Here is a sample digital photo taken hand held from about 100 feet.

Sarah Joyce

[Rhys]

Let's just hope the Sigma 18 - 200 is a ton better than their 55 - 200 (sold as Quantaray).

I think you might struggle with f6.3 though. It's a bit on the dark side.

My personal opinion is that dSLRs are at their best with lenses in the range 16 - 150mm. Anything beyond that is going to have to be very fast and hence very expensive.

Better to buy a single good lens than several mediocre lenses because you'll be disappointed by the results and will want to buy a better lens later anyway.

[ibarbar]

Another thing I've been wondering, using the Sigma lens on 350D will allow me to use the 350D just as if a Canon lens would be mounted on ? I mean, there aren't any restraints like "works only in MF mode" and other things like that ?

Thank you for your time and help.

[Rhys]

Another thing I've been wondering, using the Sigma lens on 350D will allow me to use the 350D just as if a Canon lens would be mounted on ? I mean, there aren't any restraints like "works only in MF mode" and other things like that ?

Thank you for your time and help.

Nope. If it's designed to mount the Canon then it will work with it. There might have been issues with independent older non digital lenses though. It's not like Nikon whose MF lenses just won't work on their digital bodies unless you buy the D1/D2 for several times the price of a D70.

[ibarbar]

I could buy instead the Sigma 18-125mm F3.5-5.6 DC lens (which is cheaper, around 290 $), which on the 350D would be a 29-200 mm lens, which would be quite enough as a zoom lens, but is the difference that big ? Concerning speed and diafragma numbers ?

[Rhys]

I could buy instead the Sigma 18-125mm F3.5-5.6 DC lens (which is cheaper, around 290 $), which on the 350D would be a 29-200 mm lens, which would be quite enough as a zoom lens, but is the difference that big ? Concerning speed and diafragma numbers ?

The Sigma 18 - 125 has a good reputation although for me, anything darker than f4 is too dark.

Personally, I advise against zooms. I'd say get a good fixed focal length lens such as a 28mm macro lens and then work your way towards getting 18, 50 and 18mm lenses later - as and when you can afford them.

[ibarbar]

I'm sorry but I don't agree with you. I hate changing lenses and I know how awful it is not to have the right lens on at the right time (I've worked as a sports photographer and had only a 28-80 and a 80-200 mm lenses on a Eos 33, and more than often I had to quickly change lenses which of course made me lose the shot).

Plus I don't live in the US, I'm in Romania, where it is quite difficult and expensive to buy lenses and so since someone will go to the US this summer I have to know exactly what to order :D. Zoom lenses are better IMO for all purposes and also when you have a strict budget.

Thanks for you adivice though.

[TheObiJuan]

primes will be very expensive for someone just getting into digital slrs, Rhys.
I don't know if there is a canon mount 18mm prime lens. I know there is a tokina 17, sigma 20, 24, canon 20, 24.

I have nothing but praise for the 18-200 lens, for the money, quality, and range, it is an outstanding lens.

[Rhys]

primes will be very expensive for someone just getting into digital slrs, Rhys.
I don't know if there is a canon mount 18mm prime lens. I know there is a tokina 17, sigma 20, 24, canon 20, 24.

I have nothing but praise for the 18-200 lens, for the money, quality, and range, it is an outstanding lens.

True, primes are expensive. My personal preference is for maximum quality and zooms will always be a compromise.

[jeisner]

Let's just hope the Sigma 18 - 200 is a ton better than their 55 - 200 (sold as Quantaray).

In my experience the 18-125 is much sharper at matching focal lengths than the 18-200 as is the 55-200 (when compared to the 18-200)...

So personally I would advise against the 18-200, the 18-125 is much sharper...

EDIT: I just found some samples, unfortunately the review is in japanese but the sample pics (click to see full size) speak for themselves.... http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/review/2005/04/07/1335.html

[TheObiJuan]

The 18-125 and 18-200 are about as sharp as you can get for cheap consumer lenses. Wide open atleast. The tamron 18-200 is very soft in this 100% crop of a brick wall that was borrowed from the jap site. I did make a post comparing the three but it seems to have dissapeared??

http://www.styleandspeed.com/theobijuan/pics/lens_tests/3lenstest80.jpg

[speaklightly]

Jeisner-

Here is a smple photo done with my Pentax 1stDS and the Sigma 18-125 lens that I took this afternoon. It had to be done inside because it was pouring down rain all day here.

Sarah Joyce

[jeisner]

Jeisner-

Here is a smple photo done with my Pentax 1stDS and the Sigma 18-125 lens that I took this afternoon. It had to be done inside because it was pouring down rain all day here.

Sarah Joyce

Nice photo Sarah, it is a little hard to tell quality from a web resize. But I can certainly confirm from my own experience with this lens, for a 7x zoom range it is surprisingly good quality.. Better than I expected...

[novon]

Here are the results from my trip down the Oregon coast with my new Sigma 18-200mm and Rebel XT setup, overall a very nice lens! A few distortions here and there, but saves a lot of time on the road do to its versatility. This was my first time with a DSLR and I had to do a lot of experimentation, but I managed to get a few shots I liked.

Sample Tele Photo (http://www.gentlesea.com/p2.html)

Direct link to photoset:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/novon/sets/483526/

All the photos are with the Sigma/Rebel except the ATV/Dunes which are with my Canon A95, and the one with me next to the tree which is on a Sony P&S.

My next lens will be a Sigma!

[ibarbar]

Great photos novon, just great !

Too bad you don't have at least one large pic to see the actual quality of the pics. They look great though even at that size.

Guess I'll have to decide finally between the 18-125 + close up lens or the 18-200.

I still got time to decide.
Thnkx everyone who posted here and I won't mind if you continue with the tests and recommandations.

Iancu.

PS Novon, are all your photos from the site taken with the 350 D ? And all with the 18-200 ? And if not, what other lenses do you have ? For instance, for the macro photos what lens did you use ?
10x

[Bluedog]

Here are the results from my trip down the Oregon coast with my new Sigma 18-200mm and Rebel XT setup

Those are nice but even nicer if you could supply at least 800x533 samples and the EXIF data.

[speaklightly]

BkueDog-

How about this. Becuse I do in, reality, live on the Oregon Coast, here is a photo for you. It is right off our back deck.

Sarah Joyce

[novon]

Email me if you'd like full-size samples.

Thanks

[ibarbar]

No, thanks, Novon, don't need the samples, there were enough already here to see the quality of the lenses in question.

What I would like is for you to answer my questions above please.

Here they are again:

are all your photos from the site taken with the 350 D ? And all with the 18-200 ? And if not, what other lenses do you have ? For instance, for the macro photos what lens did you use ?

10x

[Bluedog]

Sorta off topic: I guess that is why I prefer PBase to most of the other hosting sites as the camera, lens and EXIF data can easily be depicted below each image.

[novon]

...are all your photos from the site taken with the 350 D ? And all with the 18-200 ? And if not, what other lenses do you have ? For instance, for the macro photos what lens did you use ?

10x

Please see post:

...new Sigma 18-200mm and Rebel XT setup, overall a very nice lens! ... This was my first time with a DSLR and I had to do a lot of experimentation, but I managed to get a few shots I liked.
....

All the photos are with the Sigma/Rebel except the ATV/Dunes which are with my Canon A95, and the one with me next to the tree which is on a Sony P&S.


Also...

Sorta off topic: I guess that is why I prefer PBase to most of the other hosting sites as the camera, lens and EXIF data can easily be depicted below each image.

Those are nice but even nicer if you could supply at least 800x533 samples and the EXIF data

I used SimpleViewer because it pre-loads the galleries and it sizes the photo on the fly according to screen size, and I like the design, but I'm working on another site for some photographers that will use Coppermine, which will show exif and 750pix wide images. Unless you are targetting only 1024X768 users, you may want to resize you photos to less than 760pix so it will fix into a browsers window on a 800X600 screen (the extra pixels are taken up by the scroll bar and browser elements).

[ibarbar]

Thanks Novon. Great pics you have, got to say it again.

After more reading through the net for a few days I've come up with another lens that seems nice:

Canon Zoom Super Wide Angle EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Lens

it has USM and IS which is a very appealing thing, it is a Canon lens which should mean quality, it is around 500-600 $ but it doesnt have enough zoom. Only 135mm equiv. Should I buy a tele converter and go with this one ?

Another interesting choice would be the

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens

which also has IS and USM, it's a bit cheaper, around 500 $, it has telezoom around 200 mm but it's not "wide" enough at around 40 mm equiv.

and of course, the Sigma 18-200 and 18-135 are still on the 'menu' :D

Anyone know if there are some Canon EF 18-135mm IS lenses ? I've read bout it somewhere but can't find much on amazon or bhphotovideo.

Very tough choice.
Any comments ?

[NeoteriX]

Yeah I believe the 18-135 lens you refer to is the 28-135 you've just mentioned.

[paulrmc]

Even though a have a few other lenses (Canon EF-S 10-22, EF 28-135 IS, EF 70-300 DO IS), I'm very happy with the Sigma which I bought to replace the kit lens as a "walkaround" lens. It's better in all respects and nearly as compact. For what I've seen at most forums, it scores better than the Sigma 18-125 and there seem to be way less quality control issues with it.

Below are a bunch of samples (some comparative to kit lens & other):

http://www.pixagogo.com/0280105208
http://www.pixagogo.com/6255155219

In any case, the combination 350D & Sigma 18-200 is a very compact, very powerful package. Recommended!

Paul

[DaBigKahuna]

Thanks for all the information everyone.

Can you recommend a place to get the 350D Body in Black with this Sigma 18-200 lens? Price and a no hassle return policy are the most important factors for me.

Regards,

DBK

[Bluedog]

If your gonna order it online I've had good experiences dealing with Adorama or B & H Photo. Both have a 14 day return policy with Adorama not requiring you to get an RMA for returns.

Good Job Paul on the sample test images.