- Messages
- 141
- Name
- Oksana
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Hello everyone
Very happy and excited here as my new lens has arrived today. It's on, it has been tested, and it has made me one content girl (for the time being, anyway). So I thought I'd share it with you, in case anyone is considering one like it or has any experience to share back with me.
After much deliberation, consideration, and contemplation, I updated my kit lens (Nikkor 18-55mm f 3.5-5.6 VR and all that) to Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. (Oh! That makes me realise I haven't tried its Macro yet. I'll post this and go outside to find some bugs.) It wasn't just a new lens I was looking for, not just something that's "better" than the kit lens, and not something bigger than my mates have. There were good reasons for choosing this particular lens and it seemed like the best option for my needs and my budget.
So I needed something all-purpose, that would go longer than 55mm. And, understandably, sharper. (The OS is on!) And I wanted to spend under a hundred (Yeah, right!). Initially, I wanted 70-100mm, which I could get for £80, but it wouldn't give me wide angle, and I don't fancy having to go outside each time to change lenses. My dad said NO, it'll be a waste of £80, and he said it was not the right lens for me. By that point, I forgot everything he taught me previously, and we again had to have a long talk about focal distances, cropped sensors, and apertures - and, again, I feel like I understand all this stuff again! Anyway, he hung up to think and rang in 20 minutes with Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. He was very particular that I should get the 2012 model (the one with Macro in the title) and not the 2009 one, as the 2012 one is lighter, better stabiliser, made differently inside, better plastic on the outside, and it has enhanced macro capability. (He is convinced I will love using macro. Can't wait to try!) So went and got it straight away and it arrived today.
I had a huge bout of doubts the day after I ordered it and had to ring my dad again for reassurance Didn't I just get the same lens as I already had, just a bit longer on the long end? He was like... err... why do you think it's the same? I said it seemed very similar to me, the apertures at the focal distances and hit him with other jargon which I didn't even know how to use correctly in sentences. He reassured me hugely, removed all my doubts, sent me reviews, and said it will be a nice, easy one for me, something I'll never have to take off.
I used the blower tool (???) as he told me and changed it outside to avoid rabbit dust getting inside. BUT before I did it, I sat in the conservatory, set the camera on aperture F8, exposure 1/250, ISO 100 (it was sunny) and took three photos of some picture frames that were piled up on a table opposite: one at 18mm, one at 35mm, and one at 55mm. Then, I washed my hands, hair, and wiped all dust off myself and changed the lens outside while holding my camera pointing down (and holding my breath too!), and excitedly hopped back in to take three of the same photos with my new lens. (All in RAW, of course!)
I compared the shots in Lightroom, using the comparison view, and - INDEED - they ARE a lot sharper. Quite noticeably. At 18mm, the chromatic aberration (I compared around the edges of the photo and around areas of dramatic light change, like around conservatory roof beams and curtain edges)... so chromatic aberration is a lot less for the Sigma lens. On Sigma, it's just a slight pink tinge around the dark, while the Nikkor lens gives me a bright violet halo. Then I went outside and took a photo of the neighbour's new fence at 250mm, to assess the distortion. What can I say... it's minimal. Even with something as straight as fence panels (and his are straight) I wouldn't have noticed it unless it was pointed out to me. I wish I also did this on 18mm on both lenses and did a comparison, but going outside to change them again (twice!) does not appeal, and I am pretty convinced that, yes, I got myself a better lens.
Oh! And I thought the focus was pretty fast on the Nikkor lens, which it was, which was the main reason for my getting a DSLR because rabbits don't generally pose and sit still looking cute for longer than a second or two. But Sigma's focus is startlingly faster. I am sure I'll get used to it but, at the moment, it's a bit shocking because it beeps far before I have sufficiently gathered my thoughts and am ready to press the shutter button. It's lighting fast!
So yes, I know that you are all generally against these superzoom walkabout multi-purpose lenses, but it seems to be indeed just what I require for my particular needs. And if at some point I have a studio set up where I can put the buggers on the table and tell them to sit there until I say go, with lighting, backdrop and two helpers to keep them in the centre, I'll get myself a nice 100mm lens just for those photo shoots. For now, I think I'm all set! Veeerrrry happy! VERY!
And another thing is, the build quality is fantastic. Love the feel of it, the weight. But the main plus point is, of course that it looks nice: it is big and chunky and comes out quite far on full zoom, which, I hear, is quite fashionable at the moment.
Your comments (I hope they will be congratulations) are very welcome. And I hope it helps someone whose needs are similar to mine.
Oksana
Very happy and excited here as my new lens has arrived today. It's on, it has been tested, and it has made me one content girl (for the time being, anyway). So I thought I'd share it with you, in case anyone is considering one like it or has any experience to share back with me.
After much deliberation, consideration, and contemplation, I updated my kit lens (Nikkor 18-55mm f 3.5-5.6 VR and all that) to Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. (Oh! That makes me realise I haven't tried its Macro yet. I'll post this and go outside to find some bugs.) It wasn't just a new lens I was looking for, not just something that's "better" than the kit lens, and not something bigger than my mates have. There were good reasons for choosing this particular lens and it seemed like the best option for my needs and my budget.
- I take a lot of bunny photography. I have to be quick with it - if Rusty's sitting pretty or eating cutely, I have to grab it and snap it. So no time for changing lenses. (And, honestly, with rabbits in all rooms and the messy mutt that I am, my house is SO DUSTY that I had to go outside to change it. Impractical.)
- A lot of it is done while lying on my belly. The 18-55's range was limiting. If I was fully zoomed in, I had to crawl closer if a bunny walked away or crawl backwards if they moved towards me.
- The sharpness just wasn't there in my photos. The kit lens gave me awful, smudged whiskers and fuzzy fur. (I keep my lenses very clean and look after the well , but only today did I realise that I had stabiliser switched off on it all along! Doh!)
So I needed something all-purpose, that would go longer than 55mm. And, understandably, sharper. (The OS is on!) And I wanted to spend under a hundred (Yeah, right!). Initially, I wanted 70-100mm, which I could get for £80, but it wouldn't give me wide angle, and I don't fancy having to go outside each time to change lenses. My dad said NO, it'll be a waste of £80, and he said it was not the right lens for me. By that point, I forgot everything he taught me previously, and we again had to have a long talk about focal distances, cropped sensors, and apertures - and, again, I feel like I understand all this stuff again! Anyway, he hung up to think and rang in 20 minutes with Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. He was very particular that I should get the 2012 model (the one with Macro in the title) and not the 2009 one, as the 2012 one is lighter, better stabiliser, made differently inside, better plastic on the outside, and it has enhanced macro capability. (He is convinced I will love using macro. Can't wait to try!) So went and got it straight away and it arrived today.
I had a huge bout of doubts the day after I ordered it and had to ring my dad again for reassurance Didn't I just get the same lens as I already had, just a bit longer on the long end? He was like... err... why do you think it's the same? I said it seemed very similar to me, the apertures at the focal distances and hit him with other jargon which I didn't even know how to use correctly in sentences. He reassured me hugely, removed all my doubts, sent me reviews, and said it will be a nice, easy one for me, something I'll never have to take off.
I used the blower tool (???) as he told me and changed it outside to avoid rabbit dust getting inside. BUT before I did it, I sat in the conservatory, set the camera on aperture F8, exposure 1/250, ISO 100 (it was sunny) and took three photos of some picture frames that were piled up on a table opposite: one at 18mm, one at 35mm, and one at 55mm. Then, I washed my hands, hair, and wiped all dust off myself and changed the lens outside while holding my camera pointing down (and holding my breath too!), and excitedly hopped back in to take three of the same photos with my new lens. (All in RAW, of course!)
I compared the shots in Lightroom, using the comparison view, and - INDEED - they ARE a lot sharper. Quite noticeably. At 18mm, the chromatic aberration (I compared around the edges of the photo and around areas of dramatic light change, like around conservatory roof beams and curtain edges)... so chromatic aberration is a lot less for the Sigma lens. On Sigma, it's just a slight pink tinge around the dark, while the Nikkor lens gives me a bright violet halo. Then I went outside and took a photo of the neighbour's new fence at 250mm, to assess the distortion. What can I say... it's minimal. Even with something as straight as fence panels (and his are straight) I wouldn't have noticed it unless it was pointed out to me. I wish I also did this on 18mm on both lenses and did a comparison, but going outside to change them again (twice!) does not appeal, and I am pretty convinced that, yes, I got myself a better lens.
Oh! And I thought the focus was pretty fast on the Nikkor lens, which it was, which was the main reason for my getting a DSLR because rabbits don't generally pose and sit still looking cute for longer than a second or two. But Sigma's focus is startlingly faster. I am sure I'll get used to it but, at the moment, it's a bit shocking because it beeps far before I have sufficiently gathered my thoughts and am ready to press the shutter button. It's lighting fast!
So yes, I know that you are all generally against these superzoom walkabout multi-purpose lenses, but it seems to be indeed just what I require for my particular needs. And if at some point I have a studio set up where I can put the buggers on the table and tell them to sit there until I say go, with lighting, backdrop and two helpers to keep them in the centre, I'll get myself a nice 100mm lens just for those photo shoots. For now, I think I'm all set! Veeerrrry happy! VERY!
And another thing is, the build quality is fantastic. Love the feel of it, the weight. But the main plus point is, of course that it looks nice: it is big and chunky and comes out quite far on full zoom, which, I hear, is quite fashionable at the moment.
Your comments (I hope they will be congratulations) are very welcome. And I hope it helps someone whose needs are similar to mine.
Oksana