18-200 lens - a compromise?

spav

Hi

I have the Nikon 18-55 kit lens, and a Nikon 55-200 VR zoom. I was doing a little working out last night, and discovered that I could sell both on adverts.ie / ebay, and use the money towards a Sigma 18-200, without having to break the bank to cover the extra. I *think* I could get around €200-250 for my lenses, then buy a Sigma for around €350 (or €500 for the Nikon).

Obviously the benefits of this all in one lens are huge, but are there any major drawbacks (other than, I assume, weight)? Will it work as well at wide or zoom as the individual lenses would?

Any thoughts appreciated.

quilmore

is the sigma the OS version?
you'll really miss the VR function of your 55-200 VR if it's not

and a 200 estimate for your lenses seems a bit high to me

what's wrong with the lenses you have? you will be having less optical quality with the 18-200 than you have now
I know... you won't have to change lenses, but that's a little price to pay in my opinion

Ballyman

For a general walk around lens then the 18-200mm Sigma is your man.

On holidays etc. you don't want to be carrying around extra kenses when one will do the job. Obviously it won't be as good as primes or smaller zooms but to be fair, how many people are actually gonna notice when they look at your pics??

I have the Sigma 18-125 OS version as my walk around and I wouldn't swap it for the world.

spav

quilmore wrote: »

is the sigma the OS version?
you'll really miss the VR function of your 55-200 VR if it's not

and a 200 estimate for your lenses seems a bit high to me

what's wrong with the lenses you have? you will be having less optical quality with the 18-200 than you have now
I know... you won't have to change lenses, but that's a little price to pay in my opinion

Really? That's what I wasn't sure of, basically.

I'm very happy with my current lenses' functionality, but having to switch them over (and carry the spare) can be a pain, especially when shooting in a city. If the 18-200 would have restricted quality, however, then having to change the lenses is probably the lesser of two evils.

elven

I dunno about the sigma but I just saw a review of a tamron 18 270mm on one of my favourite blogs. Prolly not as easily available as the sigma mind you.

If you don't care about shallow depth of field and value not having to change your lens at all, this might be an option for you. Everyone's going to point out, quite rightly, that these mega zooms are never going to match primes or shorter zooms in pixel peeping quality but only you can decide if the convenience makes that a non-point in your own estimation.

CabanSail

The Nikon 18-200 VR lens is very good for general use. Being such a wide range you expect compromises, but they are less than you would expect. It is not too heavy & does well as a Jack of all Trades. It's the lens that's on my D300 the most.

zdooldreb

I only recently bought the 18-200mm VR Nikon lens and im very happy with it. It offers great flexibilty and avoids having to change lenses which can be a pain. I think the quality is very good but maybe if you are a pro you might spot some problems. Weight wise I dont notice that big of a difference between itself and the 18-55 kit lens. Having said that though when you hold it in your hand you know the build quality is better. Regarding the sigma, I have heard that the quality is not as good and has a problem with zoom creep. Thats why I decided to spend a little extra and get the Nikon. I got the lens and a remote release off warehouseexpress for 486 euro. They were out of stock when I ordered so it took about 2 weeks in total (it was just before xmas though).