Sigma 18mm - 200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS (Optical Stabilizer) Af Lens Kit, for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras with Tiffen 72mm UV Wide Angle Filter, Professional Lens Cleaning Kit

2010-03-09T19:00:00

I've had this lens for a couple months now, and have been taking pictures of sunsets, people, sporting events, and random things like dimes. I have found that it is significantly heavier than the kit lenses (18-55mm non-IS and 70-300mm non-IS Canon kit lenses), but since I've been keeping this on the camera I've gotten used to it. I found that the optical stabilization really helps with increasing the amount of pictures that I choose to keep! I can have clean photos that are like 1/4sec! Although generally I like to use a shutter speed faster than 1/8. I keep the OS setting ON all the time. I really like the zoom range, as I don't have to keep changing lenses for each shot I want. But the only issue I have with this lens is the auto-focus. Seems to be pretty slow, and also just gives up in low-light. I generally use manual focus for low-light indoor shots if I don't want to blind people with flash, or if I want to conserve a little battery. And it's not too quiet either. For absolutely quiet focusing, use manual focus! ;) Since I got the lens as part of the Lens Kit, I found that I don't really use the UV filter because the lens cap does can't be used while the filter is on. I usually use a circular polarizing filter (not part of the Kit), which accommodates the lens cap too. Another sidenote, since this is my first lens with a lens hood, I realized I needed to turn the hood all the way till I heard the 'click!'. Before this realization, I kept thinking the lens hood was a little lopsided....

amartolos