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Sigma DC Macro HSM 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 Review RSS Feed

Sigma DC Macro HSM 18-250mm F3.5-6.3

Sharpness 
 8.1
Aberrations 
 7.2
Bokeh 
 7.2
Handling 
 8.7
Value 
 9.1
Autofocus 
 9.1
Reviews Views Date of last review
22 91,228 Mon December 23, 2019
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
91% of reviewers $385.25 8.33
Sigma DC Macro HSM 18-250mm F3.5-6.3

Sigma DC Macro HSM 18-250mm F3.5-6.3
supersize
Sigma DC Macro HSM 18-250mm F3.5-6.3
supersize

Description:

The Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro HSM succeeds the Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM and features improved optics (including a macro function) as well as a lighter barrel which according to Sigma should not be as prone to expansion due to temperature as other lenses. Sigma has incorporated double-sided aspherical lens elements which helps make the lens compact.

This lens features silent HSM autofocus and has a minimum focusing distance of 13.7 inches (35 centimeters).


Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro HSM
© www.pentaxforums.com, sharable with attribution
Image Format
APS-C
Lens Mount
Pentax K
Aperture Ring
No
Diaphragm
Automatic, 7 blades (rounded)
Optics
16 elements, 13 groups
Mount Variant
KAF3
Check camera compatibility
Max. Aperture
F3.5-6.3
Min. Aperture
F22-45
Focusing
AF (in-lens motor)
HSM
Quick-shift
No
Min. Focus
35 cm
Max. Magnification
0.33x
Filter Size
62 mm
Internal Focus
No
Field of View (Diag. / Horiz.)

APS-C: 76.5-6.5 ° / 66.7-5.5 °
Hood
Included
Case
Lens Cap
Included
Coating
Multi-coated
Weather Sealing
No
Other Features
AF/MF Switch,Zoom Lock
Diam x Length
74x89 mm (2.9x3.5 in.)
Weight
470 g (16.6 oz.)
Production Years
to 2020
Pricing
USD current price
$499 USD at launch
Reviews
User reviews

Buy Lens: Buy the Sigma DC Macro HSM 18-250mm F3.5-6.3
Price: $349
Mount Type: Pentax KAF3 (in-lens AF only)
Price History:



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Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 1-15 of 22
Veteran Member

Registered: August, 2017
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 550

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: December 23, 2019 Recommended | Price: $200.00 | Rating: N/A 

 
Pros: Good Clarity for Price, Nice Range
Cons: Not quite at pro-level
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-50    Autofocus: 10    New Or Used: New   

This is my go-to lens that stays on my camera by default unless there is a specific shoot I'm working that requires something else (close up, macro, infra-red, etc). It has good enough optics for any 10-25 megapixel body and minimal aberrations. It has a smooth action and works well with the K-Mount Auto-Focus.

I know there are larger, more expensive options, but until I move to 30+ megapixels, this lens is a perfect all around "go-to" where you don't have to carry multiple lenses for 70% of shooting situations. I do have one or two attachments to it that I carry, but beyond this one, I only carry my close up 2.4 lens as it provides slightly better clarity for face shots.
   
Senior Member

Registered: June, 2013
Location: Storrs-Mansfield, Connecticut
Posts: 223

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: February 5, 2019 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Compact, quiet, macro, broad range, filter size, DURABILITY
Cons: A bit slow; not prime sharp of course
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-X, K-50, K-01    Autofocus: 10    New Or Used: New   

Bought this new for an Alaska cruise. It served very well. The only problem was that I didn't get to know the lens before I went and struggled a bit due to my lack of familiarity with it. To make matters more interesting, I dropped the lens out of my bag onto the floor of a bus! To my everlasting surprise, it left not a single mark and hasn't seemed to affect it at all--gotta love THAT!

For super-sharp pix I rely on my 15mm Limited, my superb 40mm XS or my old, generally-faster (manual) glass, but for convenience, this is my go-to lens. GREAT for travel and walk-around when I want super convenience.

It's not weatherproof like my kit zooms; I live in Connecticut with extreme weather. It doesn't have quick-shift focusing (which I would really love), but it focuses fast and reliably, so what's not to like there. I did wish, when we were tracking a mother bear with twins, that I had a faster long prime with me. But there wasn't really an opportunity to mess with all that at the time.


They told us on the ship that the bright colors of this wall were caused by soil that had migrated thousands of miles. This was the only place we saw such a spectacle. I kicked up the color a bit to compensate--such a gray day.





The most remote golf course in the U.S. Not a place for living creatures in the winter.



Pool cow--lazy lifeguard. This cow watched over the swimmers in the pool on the cruise ship. No further information on that. I don't know if the cow could swim, but most can.



Gold horizon, Inand Sea, Alaska. Taken from a cruise ship in 2013.
[url="https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/index.php?n=57036"]


All in all, for the price it's a very useful lens and I don't think I would sell it as it holds a special place in my collection that no other lens covers.
   
Loyal Site Supporter

Registered: August, 2018
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 2,098

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: December 21, 2018 Recommended | Price: $349.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Quality Build, Good AF for telephoto, Great Value
Cons: Slight softness of image

Light, fast, quiet and well built. Unlike others who had earlier copies (the reviews from 2014 on this thread complain about the images), my images are crisp and clean. I like the extended focal length (18-135 WR Pentax v. 18-250mm SIGMA) in a similar size package.


There is some softness, but the New Pentax KP is a super star on IQ and I can bring the ISO up to 12,500 and get excellent image quality. This lens is faster than the Pentax 18-135 and it has become my new walk-about traveller.


For $350, in Mint condition, this lens was a steal
   
Site Supporter

Registered: December, 2014
Location: Colorado
Posts: 497

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: November 10, 2017 Recommended | Price: $250.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Compact and sharp compared to other hyperzooms, HSM
Cons: Compromises made to make a 14X zoom
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 8    Value: 9    Camera Used: K-S1, K-50, K-2000    Autofocus: 8    New Or Used: New   

If you need a hyperzoom for convenience over absolute optical quality, this lens, in my opinion, is a great bang for the buck. In terms of optical quality, Sigma 18-200 C and 18-300 C may be better but they are more expensive. This lens based on dpreview is optically better than Pentax (Tamron) 18-270 and is not as expensive as the latter.

I bought this lens new at a good price. A good lens for casual photo taking. Silent focusing makes great use for video. Though resolving power of this lens is not as great as primes and short zooms, it is more than adequate for 1080p video.

Even for stills, its resolution is more than decent. I first used it on a K-2000, thinking that this lens is probably only good for 10mp. Now I use it on K-S1 an AA filter free 20mp sensor, and there is a noticeable increase in image quality. Autofocus is also significantly faster on K-S1 compared to K-50 and K-2000. I am very satisfied.
   
New Member

Registered: September, 2017
Posts: 11
Review Date: September 22, 2017 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: relative good for zoom
Cons: heavy, not so sharp
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 6    Handling: 6    Value: 7    Camera Used: K-5    Autofocus: 8    New Or Used: Used   

Nothing wrong with this zoom, but Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II is better performer. And lighter.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: October, 2014
Location: Washington
Posts: 2,176

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: December 1, 2016 Recommended | Price: $200.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: convenience
Cons: edges not sharp, vignetting and CA
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K3    Autofocus: 10    New Or Used: Used   

The center sharpness is fine but falls off on the edges. Overall I am quite happy with the lens. It will probably end up being my walk around lens on my K3, but the 35-105A will stay on my K5.
   
Senior Member

Registered: May, 2010
Posts: 106

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: May 30, 2016 Recommended | Price: $168.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Compact, quiet and fast focus
Cons: Not sharp except at f8
New Or Used: New   

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.
   
Forum Member

Registered: June, 2014
Location: Somerset, UK
Posts: 54
Review Date: March 14, 2015 Recommended | Price: $413.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Versatility
Cons:
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 5    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 9    Camera Used: K-3    Autofocus: 8    New Or Used: New   

I bought this as my first lens for the K-3. Recently I've wondered whether a different lens might be better?

The DXO results shown at dpreview show the following, which I'll put on a 'boilerplate' to get the best out of this lens (instead of staying at f/8 all the time)

Zoom Aperture MTF centre Sharp over
18 f/3.5 1800 2/3

28 f/5.6 1700 1/2
28 f/8 1500 2/3

35 f/5.6 1650 1/3
35 f/8 1500 2/3

50 f/5.6 1500 1/3
50 f/8 1500 2/3

80 f/8 1500 1/3

135 f/6.3 1400 1/3

250 f/8 1400 1/6

(f/11 is shown to be noticably worse)
   
Site Supporter

Registered: February, 2012
Location: Southeastern Connecticut
Posts: 816

3 users found this helpful
Review Date: February 1, 2015 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Very convenient, great range, good quality, affordable
Cons: For what it is, none

I should preface this by saying I haven't really spent much time analyzing the performance of this lens. I did, though, research the forum to compare it to the Pentax and Tamron "all in ones."

This is the lens I grab when I can only bring one or when I'd rather not traipse around with more expensive glass. For instance, I grab it for hikes in the woods with the family or maybe for a day at the beach.

I've been very pleased by its image quality and color rendition. While heavier than my old Pentax 50-200, it also has a good deal more range which means I've been able to sneak some great shots of unsuspecting brothers, nieces and nephews and some of our local shorebirds.

This lens is very good for what it is and for the purpose it serves. I would certainly recommend it if you need a good, convenient lens for travel or similar reasons.
   
New Member

Registered: November, 2013
Posts: 2
Review Date: October 13, 2014 Recommended | Price: $400.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Fast,quiet autofocus,good range,decent sharpness.
Cons: Distortion,a bit slow.
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 9    Value: 9    Camera Used: K-30    Autofocus: 9    New Or Used: New   

Ideal for travel with one lens,but a bit heavy .
   
New Member

Registered: June, 2012
Posts: 12

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: September 20, 2014 Not Recommended | Price: $490.00 | Rating: 4 

 
Pros: fast, quiet autofocus.
Cons: IQ, distortion, stiff zoom, exposure
Sharpness: 4    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 4    Value: 4    Camera Used: Pentax K-m    Autofocus: 9    New Or Used: New   

I wanted to like this lens, I really did. It was expected to be a replacement for my Pentax DA 18-55 II, and DA 55-300.
I expected some trade off in quality, being a 'super-zoom', but found the results just too disappointing, and after three days sent it back for a refund. (It pays to buy from an official supplier!)

Problem1- IQ, sharpness - not so much the hard edges of objects, these could be quite well defined, it's more to do with micro contrast I think. Surfaces and textures just lacked detail, somehow didn't look 'real'. At the wide end, not quite as good as my 18-55 II (especially with the distortion factor mentioned below), and at the long end not a patch on my 55-300, which never fails to make me smile.

Problem 2 - pincushion distortion, which sets in at about 30mm, is really severe up to 50mm, then gradually improves again towards 250mm. It renders interiors and architectural shots useless, pretty much anything with rectangles, or parallel lines. I know, I can correct it in PP, but do I really want to have to go through every shot?

Problem 3 - stiff zoom ring - starts easy, stiffens up around 50mm then eases off again towards the long end. This makes it virtually impossible to go quickly from a wide shot to a long shot. What else is a super-zoom supposed to be for?

Finally, exposure - I found it overexposed more and more towards the long end - up to 1.5 stops. Again, how can I go quickly from one end to the other if I have to stop to make exposure compensation adjustments on the way?

On the plus side, the autofocus is fast and quiet, and there was no dreaded zoom creep!

I don't think I got a bad copy of the lens, I'm sure it was performing to its specification, and if all you want is a lens for holiday snaps you'll probably be quite happy. But if, like me, you want shots with a bit of 'wow' factor, you may be disappointed.
   
Junior Member

Registered: January, 2014
Posts: 48

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: July 29, 2014 Recommended | Price: $400.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Tremendous range, quick AF, built like a tank
Cons: A little heavy. f2.8 would have been nice
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-5IIs    Autofocus: 9    New Or Used: New   

This was the first new lens I bought for my K-5IIs. I used it as my "one lens" recently during a European trip. I was very happy to have this lens and, after four months of ownership, I'm even more pleased with it. If I could own only one lens, this would be it. In 35mm terms, a 27-375mm zoom is mind-boggling.

The lens is extremely rugged. The old Rokkor lenses from my 1970's Minolta SRT were nowhere near as durable. I think it may be due to the thermoplastic Sigma is using; it seems to absorb shock better.

Unlike others, I'm not experiencing much lens creep at all even without using the zoom lock.

If I could order a re-design of this lens, I'd ask for a shift in the range; something like 16-200 (24-300mm in 35mm terms) would make the lens even more useful for me. Maybe Sigma could come up with a front-of-lens add-on that would provide a .85x shift without hurting IQ too much. (And I'd put it right next to my unicorn.)

Anyway, I don't want to give the impression that I feel there's any real downside to this lens. Sigma has done a heck of a job and I think I got every penny's worth of value from it.
   
New Member

Registered: June, 2014
Posts: 1

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: July 6, 2014 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros:
Cons:
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-5, K-3    Autofocus: 9    New Or Used: New   

I bought this lens for my wife to use while traveling with my K-5. My own travel kit is a K-3 with an 18-135 and a 55-300.

But the Siggy's sharpness and overall usefulness is really quite good, and I find myself grabbing it for all-day hikes and the like.

It's a tad heavy, but certainly much lighter than the 18-135 plus 55-300. If I know I'm not going to need the extra reach of the 55-300, I'll take it along.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: June, 2008
Location: Flyover America
Posts: 4,469
Review Date: April 5, 2014 Recommended | Price: $350.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Versatile
Cons: Some zoom creep
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K5    Autofocus: 8    New Or Used: New   

I won't bore you with all the details - suffice to say it works and it works well.

Compact, light, good AF, silent, close focus, sharp enough, reasonable price etc.
Within the limitations of a super zoom it's a good glass at a good price - buy it.

I'd post a pic but I can't figure out how....
   
Junior Member

Registered: March, 2013
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 33
Review Date: January 9, 2014 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Accurate, fast and silent AF. Good minimum focus dist
Cons: jerky manual focus
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Autofocus: 10    New Or Used: New   

Pro's

Great zoom range
Brilliant HSM
Really usable close focus distance
No zoom creep
Good center sharpness

Con's

Jerky manual focus
Softer ~200-250
AF/MF can be fiddly
No full time manual focus
Can over expose

I used this on a beach holiday and then of safari and the lens performed admirably. It did not suffer too much from the CA other people have mentioned. The AF was quick and near silent.

As I was able to get close to the animals on our safari I got some really sharp print worthy pictures. The shapness drops off towards the corners but if you don't print them too large then you wont notice.

I sold this lens when I got home and bought the 18-135 WR as (at home in N.E Scotland) I figured the WR would be more useful to me. I also didn't see too much gain between the 150-250 range in the Sigma so I didn't think I was losing anything by getting the Pentax.

I highly recommend this lens and would buy it again to use on holiday.



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