How bad is this lens? (O better still... How good is this lens) I'm looking for a general "1 lens to carry round the park" lens. My expectations... "better than say the kit lens that come with the Canon Rebel (18-55, 55-300) but obviously not in the L series class (That would be a nice trick). Am I going to eb happy or disapointed? Any thoughts?
I absolutely love my 18-200 (nikon). Forget about the people that bash this lens. They probably have never used it. It is very light to carry around all day and small and compact. It is extremely convenient in Disney. You can carry a very small bag or no bag at all. Its only shortcoming, if this even counts, is it is not fast enough for ride pictures. (All this opinion is based on the Nikon brand) This lens stays on my camera at least 90% of the time.
TempoNZ how fitting you ask this. I just rented this lens. I posted a review of it here: http://www.themagicinpixels.com/forum/h ... ic.php?t=2 I also posted the pics I took with the lens, here: http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f154/ ... ey%20Trip/ I hope this helps, let me know what you think of these.
PolynesianMedic - cool pics... Your little boy is too cute! I bet he had a blast. I can't wait until my daughter is older and I can take her...she's only seven months now.
Thanks! Why wait? This was his third trip already. He was 15 months I think for the first trip and I would have gone sooner if our schedule allowed. He was different after the first and second trips. It was like he had this realization that there was a whole entire world out there just waiting for him to explore. I am a big fan of taking kids early and often. The "too young" excuse doesn't fly by me. I think others here feel the same way, but that's my interpretation.
I agree! My son's first trip to Disneyland was at 9 months old. We didn't do much, just let him take things in. He's been going - and wanting to go! - ever since and his 19-1/2 now.
Like Craig, I own the Nikon 18-200VR lens and can tell you the range is great at WDW and most every place I've gone since I've gotten in the spring of this year. Only took it off when I was using the Tokina wide angle lens I rented a couple of months back. I have owned Sigma lenses in the past and have always been satisified with them. They are good quality lenses at a good price. Based on the review by PM, I wouldn't hesitate to get this lens if I hadn't already gotten one like it. ;D
I bought the Sigma 18-200 OS lens about three months ago and love it! It's not without it's shortcomings, but it is close to being the perfect walkaround lens to take to a theme park. The combination of the wide angle with a long zoom is wonderful! The convenience factor alone has made it worth the money I spent. As far as performance, it's not the greatest lens for action shots. And I would guess the quality of the Nikon 18-200VR would trump this Sigma. AF time seems just a touch longer than with my Sigma 17-70mm. I've had a higher number of 'misses' with this lens when taking pictures of parades and shows, especially Block Party Bash and High School Musical2--and to a lesser extent, the Parade of Dreams. Those first two parades/shows have such frenetic choreography and movement and I love to capture the energy in my photos. Don't get me wrong, this lens still takes great photos, but it was a noticeable difference from the Sigma 17-70mm and Canon 70-300mm IS lenses that I used predominantly before this one. However, *not* having to change lenses to get a different composition is truly a wonderful thing! It makes a huge difference.
poly, I think the tamron does not have VR/IS/OS. My opinion: The VR would be more valuable than the extra 50mm
That would be the Tamron 28-300 VC. http://www.tamron.com/lenses/prod/28300_vc.asp Now we've got to put VR/IS/OS/VC? Any other optical stabilization system out there? Tokina? (oh yeah they go for speed)
Darn, I was hoping that it had the vibration control. I liked the idea of the lens due to it's great range. Oh well, I guess I might have to do some more looking to see what I can come up with.
There is a new version out that has the equivilent of IS / VR: Sigma 18-200mmf3.5-6.3 DC OS Only got the non-OS myself, although I prefer the Canon lenses for quality (but it was a good all-rounder)
