| Latest Review Posted | Sigma DC Macro HSM 18-250mm F3.5-6.3
I purchased this lens in "excellent" condition from KEH. It arrived promptly and does look excellent. My most used lens for the last 10 years has been a Sigma 70-300APO DG. I love these lenses (I have two), but they are heavy, long and noisy when focusing. I was hoping to find something smaller, lighter and with greater range at the wide end, with comparable sharpness. This Sigma is all of the above, except the image quality is nowhere near as sharp. Even working with RAW, the images look fine when viewed and printed without cropping, but fall apart quickly with even a small crop. My walk-about camera is a Panasonic ZS-50, an excellent small sensor camera. The images from my k-x with this Sigma remind me of those from the Panasonic. I am told by an experienced Pentax user that my results are pretty typical of any super-zoom, I my investment is only $168, so I'll probably keep this lens, but I am disappointed.
I never gave up on this lens, and finally discovered that stopped down to f8 (maybe f5.6) it gives excellent results. This means this lens is useful only on bright sunny days, or at high ISO, low shutter speed, but still serves well as a walk around lens. For the price, a good deal. |
