sigma 18-250?

[mikehawthorne]

hi david kilpatrick
i have seen some old posts about the 18-250 sigma at first you did not seem very enthusiastic
about it but later you did a very positive reveiw, are you still positive about using it now after a year or so.
i have been reasonably happy with it although i find it gives much better results i good ligh with nice contrast than it does in dull conditions, but you say the same bout a lot of lenes.

mikehawthorne

[David Kilpatrick]

Mike, ours is now well worn and scruffy but turns in a great performance. Overall I still have not found a better lens of this type. What I have noticed is that at 18mm, you can go to wide open without worry; at 250mm, you can do the same with caution. But around 50mm-150mm range, where apertures around f/5.6 are wide open, it sometimes proves soft if used that way. Stopping down to f/8 or f/9 makes it hard to fault at any setting.

Here's a couple of Shirley's shots from Split last month, showing the range of the lens well -

split4-sk.jpg (94.93 KiB) Viewed 2159 times

split5-sk.jpg (119.74 KiB) Viewed 2159 times

It's just a great lens for being out and about and very sharp indeed on her Alpha 580.

David

[mikehawthorne]

Hi David
Thanks for reply the 18-250 is my maine lens i only have the 18-70 kit as standby now, the sigma has done me well i try to keep f8 and preferably keep iso no higher than 400(i never had faster than that when i used film any way). i have thought i could have nearly got the zies standard zoom but comments about the build of it and the old screw drive turned me off. thanks again.
mike hawthorne