New lens.

Zoom Raider · April 14, 2006

I went to and just got back from http://superiorcamera.com. I've been wanting a Sigma lens for quite some time now, and they are the only ones that sell Sigma. Those at http://wolfcamera.com don't sell Sigma, even though they advertise that they do.:rolleyes

So I was wondering if you all could tell me how good this lens is and good of a deal I got. It's a Sigma DC 18-50mm F3.5-5.6 with a filter size of 58mm. I got it for $139.95.

Wolf had the supposedly Sigma made Quantarays 18-50mm for $10 more, but I hear much better reviews for Sigmas than I do for Quantarays. This Sigma even came with a decent sized plastic hood instead of a goofy small rubber one which are sold seperately.

The Quantaray doesn't come with one, unless you buy their bigger lenses, like a 70-300mm. I haven't yet taken any pictures with this new lens. I might hit the parks and lakes later, or tomorrow.

Thanks!

saurora · April 14, 2006

The best way to find out if you got a good deal on a lens, I imagine, is to get out and test it immediately. More important than price, is the quality. $139 seems reasonable to me. If it doesn't meet your standards, you may want to exchange it. When I asked my local camera store (Calumet) about Sigma lenses, they said that Sigma had a problem with quality control. He claimed 1 out of 5 was really good. I don't know if this was his sales pitch to get me to buy Canon lenses, or not. Anyway, I would test it and exchange if necessary.

Zoom Raider · April 14, 2006

saurora wrote:

The best way to find out if you got a good deal on a lens, I imagine, is to get out and test it immediately. More important than price, is the quality. $139 seems reasonable to me. If it doesn't meet your standards, you may want to exchange it. When I asked my local camera store (Calumet) about Sigma lenses, they said that Sigma had a problem with quality control. He claimed 1 out of 5 was really good. I don't know if this was his sales pitch to get me to buy Canon lenses, or not. Anyway, I would test it and exchange if necessary.

True. I've already tested it. To me, the shots look great, but since I dunno how to set all the settings on this D50.

Most of my pics are to sad to be in here.

I know I need to also use an editor like PS-CS2, but to always have it, I'd have to pay $649.

So I have the Nikon PictureProject 1.5 that I'll d/l soon. I gave up on the trial version of PS-CS2. I could never find the contrastor and some other funtion, and I forget what they call it.

Anyway, the Sigma DC seems to be working fine. Seems to be quicker focusing than the Quantaray 28-90mm aspherical lens that I use to have. I took some more pics, but nothing to write home about.

And yeah, becareful with those sales-people with their sales-pitches. Some care about your purchases, and some just care about their promotions, raises and benefits.:bluduh

-ZR-

swintonphoto · April 14, 2006

Sigma is probably the most respected 3rd party maker.

cmason · April 14, 2006

swintonphoto wrote:

Sigma is probably the most respected 3rd party maker.

Deal sounds ok. This one is $109 at B&H Photo. But, you still need shipping, and you would not have gotten it today

Zoom Raider · April 14, 2006

Only thing I was hoping for that it would be actually 18-50mm, but I'm now finding out it may be 28-80mm. Well, I must have misunderstood,`cos I thought if a digital lens is attached to a D/SLR, then whatever the lens says, then that's what it'll be.

And if an F/SLR lens is attached to a D/SLR, then there will be a 1.5% crop-factor (50%). So according to B&H, my new lens is not acting like an 18-50mm, but a 28-80mm. Which is okay, I was just really trying to get much more of a wide-angle than 28-50mm. Actually, 50% more is 27-75mm.:D

cmason · April 14, 2006

Zoom Raider wrote:

Only thing I was hoping for that it would be actually 18-50mm, but I'm now finding out it may be 28-80mm. Well, I must have misunderstood,`cos I thought if a digital lens is attached to a D/SLR, then whatever the lens says, then that's what it'll be.

And if an F/SLR lens is attached to a D/SLR, then there will be a 1.5% crop-factor (50%). So according to B&H, my new lens is not acting like an 18-50mm, but a 28-80mm. Which is okay, I was just really trying to get much more of a wide-angle than 28-50mm. Actually, 50% more is 27-75mm.:D

The lens is a 18-50mm. Because of the crop factor due to sensor size, your 18-50 depth of field on your dSLR is equivalent to 27-75mm depth of field, on a film camera. So, if you are doing comparisons, and trying to match what your film camera does, indeed 18 on your dSLR is the same as 27mm on your film camera. But if you are comparing 18mm on your dSLR to 27mm on your dSLR, of course you will notice a difference, and 18 will be much wider than 27.

TristanP · April 14, 2006

Any lens mounted on a crop factor camera will have an effective focal length of (crop factor * the listed focal length). It doesn't have to be a "designed for digital sensors only" type of lens.

For example:

Canon's 50/1.4 lens (works on both film and digital cameras) on the full frame Canon 5D will have an effective focal length of 50mm. The same lens on a Canon 20D will have an effective focal length of 80mm (50mm * 20D's crop factor of 1.6x).

What may be confusing is some lenses (Canon EF-S, Sigma DC, etc) are designed to only work on crop factor sensor bodies. They will vignette severely (assuming they'll mount at all) when used on full frame bodies - digital or film.

Liza · April 14, 2006

Another place to buy Sigma lenses is www.sigma4less.com. The drawback is that their lenses carry only a 1 year warranty instead of the usual 6 year warranty from Sigma. I've heard, however, if one complains loudly, the warranty is extended. And don't buy Quantaray. They're awful.

Zoom Raider · April 14, 2006

Liza wrote:

Another place to buy Sigma lenses is www.sigma4less.com. The drawback is that their lenses carry only a 1 year warranty instead of the usual 6 year warranty from Sigma. I've heard, however, if one complains loudly, the warranty is extended. And don't buy Quantaray. They're awful.

Yeah, Quantaray isn't what I really wanted when I bought my first-ever SLR a year ago. But that's what came with the N75... a Quantaray 28-90mm. They seemed to be good, but I tried to get a Sigma at Wolf Camera instead of the Quantaray, but they kept on saying that Quantaray is made by Sigma with the same quality, just half the price.

So being that I was new to the camera world, especially with SLRs, (F/SLR or D/SLR) I believed it. I think Sigma and Nikkor make some of the best, unless Schneider-Kreuznach and Carl Zeiss make lenses for SLRs, too. But, I now have a Sigma.:D

Liza · April 14, 2006

Wolf Camera employees always push Quantaray stuff because they make a killing off of it. They aren't the same quality. A good Sigma lens for a walkaround is the 24-70. I opted to purchase the Tamron 28-75, and am glad I did. The image quality is marvelous.

Red Bull · April 15, 2006

Yeah, never trust those employees. I had one try to convince me that Quantaray was actually Sigma with their house name on it.

New lens.

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