Hi everyone,
I'm considering a number of potential kit lens upgrades and was hoping for some insight as I'm a bit stuck, budget wise £300GBP (so around $480USD).
So far I'm actually thinking of getting the Tamron 17-50mm non vr, because from what I've seen it has the best IQ to price, but I know little about the Sigma, so thought it would be worth asking
The Sigma lenses I'm considering are:
1. Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro - cheapest but used only as it was discontinued
2. Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro HSM OS - apparently worse IQ than the older version? But has HSM
3. Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8-4.5 DC HSM OS -
I'd be most interested to hear about this the most, as there isn't much written about it online. It's quite unique in that it has bothInternal focusing AND
zooming - smaller and lighter weight - although not macro it focuses very close 20cm i think? Cheapest of the lot new.
I'm not considering the Sigma constant f/2.8 zooms as they quite pricey, and the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 non vr version seems to be better optically than sigmas equivalents for around 1/2 price (atleast in the UK). I'd love the WR of the pentax but again too pricey :'(
I'm not too bothered about distortion and CA (corrected in post), and I'm not too much of a pixel peeper - though the lenses have to be better than the kit lens sharpness wise. I'm more interested in knowing about things which are seen and 'felt', such as colour, contrast and 'character', do any of these lenses 'draw' nicely? or just 'feel good'?