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I 've had an XTI with the kit lens and an EF50 F1.8 , and now looking for a budged , compact and light weight tele photo zoom.

I have just narrowed it down to just 2 lenses :

1 just add a Tamron 55-200 to the kit and cover 18-200 focal length that is almost equal to 29-322 in 35 film term .

2 buy a Sigma 18-200 , I like Tamron 18-200 better than the Sigma but Sigma is significantly cheaper in Singapore , Thailand and Malyasia .

I like the idea an 18-200 to cover almost all focal length I 'll ever need and just very rarely change it up with the EF50 F1.8 when I shoot my students' paints or like that in low light ....my class room is dark , really dark that requaires me to shoot at 800 ISO without a tripod . .

But the Tamron 55-200 looks better at 200mm when I was comparing those samples of the Sigma 18-200 against those photos of the Tamron at flickr place .

Also ephotozine.com and bobatokins.com both seem raving about the Tamron so highly ...

The price of those lenses in Sigapore and Thailand are :

The Tamron 55-200 SD300(5800baht) about USD160.

The Sigma 18-200 SD 640(12500Baht) about USD320.

The Tamron 18-200 Sd 860(16800Baht) about USD450


BTW, a Canon EF-S 70-300IS is about SD2200(41000 baht) USd1100.

So I can not get this one , although I know this one beats the others I mentioned hands down .

How in real life situations , the Sigma 18-200 compares with the Tamron 55-200?

Being a 11x len like the Sigma 18-200 means compromising a lot more of optical quality than a simple 4x zoom like the Tamron 55-200 ?


I think I am really really becoming frustrated and confused , so any help would be greatly appreciated ...

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best regards.

Hi Derek, I haven't tested the Tamron 55-200mm, so can't comment on it.

Generally speaking though, the longer the zoom range, the harder it is to correct for it, so shorter zoom ranges normally perform better optically. There are exceptions though - some extra long zooms can be superb, like the Canon 28-300mm, but these are seriously expensive, not to mention big and heavy.

At the lower priced end of the market, it's normally a case of weighing up quality against convenience of a longer zoom range.

Gordon

I thought your site is from London .

But well, you are from Australia ?

Any way, I thank you for your taking time to answer this kind of silly questions .

I do really appreciate that.

One more question , if I buy a sigma 70-300 , how can I carry it ?

Do I have to carry it separately or just put it on my Canon body ?

Is that really a big deal to change a lens when I am out?

Yesterday , I changed my lens, detached the Kit lens and put an old EF 50mm F1.8 and took a few indoor shots .

Well, it is much shaper than the kit , but it was so difficult for me to put the kit lens back on the rebel XTI.

I thought it would be so hard to change lenses in a field and want to buy a Sigma 18-200, but I saw my friend's photos with the Sigma 18-200 and they were horribly dim.

So I know what you meant by weighing up quality against convenience of a longer zoom range.


Plus , it seemed like many Sigm lenses have a serious compatibility issue with an newer kind of EOS system.

My friend's EOS 30D was hunting too much , even at 18mm F5.6 when the Sigma 18-200 was used.

Thanks for your comment .

I will shop a lens tomorrow at my local shop .

PS. the Tamron comes with the 6 year warranty.

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best regards.

Thanks for your help and kind comment .

I made my mind , last night read your review on the Sigma 18-200 again and I think that one is ok for me , at least for now.

I do think it is kinda too risky to change lenses here in BKK , so crowded and polluted here.

So I think buy it and put it until I use my camera in low light such as my class room for my kids.

Thanks for your advice .

best regards.

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best regards.

Hi DerekI, it takes a little practice to change the lenses, but you should be able to do it in a few seconds after a while! It's all about knowing where to line up the lens on the body and which way to turn it.

On Canon bodies, EF lenses will have a red dot and this should be lined-up with the red dot on the body. Then with the body and lens facing you, twist the lens clockwise. EF-S lenses have a white mark, which should be lined-up with the white mark on compatible bodies like the XTi.

It's not a big deal to change lenses when you're out, although obviously you'll need somewhere to keep the second lens. And always make sure you fit the rear lens cap on the unused lens and also the body cap on your XTi while there's no lens on it. Dust getting into the bodies of DSLRs is a big problem when you change lenses, so always be careful!

This is why many people prefer zooms with long ranges as it means less changing and less chance of dust!

Gordon

PS - as for me, I'm British, but relocated Cameralabs from London to New Zealand last year! I reckon our current test view of The Remarkables Mountain range with Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown in the foreground stands up pretty well against our old test shot of St Paul's Cathederal!

I am now trying to swap the lenses I have in my room with me ; EF50mm , EF-s60mm macro , EF-s18-55.

It is not so tough , I changed my mind , I think I will try to get two lenses either the Sigma 18-200 and Sigma 70-300APO or Sigma 17-70 and 70-300APO.


This moring , I went down to a store , but could not make my mind .

And after reading what you siad here , I think I want to buy many lenses , other wise , why do I need an SLR ?

Yeah , as for your test shot location , I liked the London city scene better , though there are many people prefer the Queen's town better .


I like your reviews cause you compare many models at once dpreview.com does that too but not in real use of those models , plus they never review any lens or group.

It seems like usually many of British sites are more serious or profound than the american sites besides imaging-resource.com .


Any way , thank you for your assistance and I will try something different than what I orignally try to do with this lenas shopping(I found that I do not use tele end of my digicam and needed more wide angle and macro for flowers and street shots).

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best regards.

Hi DerekI,
If you're more likely to use the wide end, go for the Sigma 18-200 and if 18 (=27mm equivalent on 35mm film) is not wide enough complement it with the Sigma 10-20mm. See a review here: http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/tes ... est_id=362

The factor 1,5x you gain with a x-300mm is certainly not enough to invest in...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I appreciate that , I saw many pics from the Sigma and Tamron 18-200 and I honestly thought they were under rated , maybe worse than L lenses but not as bad as most of people give them credit for .

but after having seen , the Sigma 17-70 and its photos at flcikr, I think this one is sharper and I may get this one .

I originally thought this Sigma was out of my budget so never considered it seriously.

Since I am a Canon user , the 1.5 crop rate does not apply to me and so the 18-200 or 18-55 is actually like 29.2 -324 in film term?

So now , I am interested in 2 walkabout lenses :
1 Sigma 17-70(about 330USD).
2 Canon EF-S 17-85 IS(about 500USD).

I like the Sigma better because its much shaper and contrasty than the Canon , with less distortion , though it lacks USM.

I do not care about the IS , cause 85 or 70mm is not too long to requaire IS , plus I always carry my tripod .

In door , I just use my 50mm lens .

Also, the 17-85 IS has shown me more serious CA problem than the Kit .

If the Tamron or Sigma 18-200 were 17-150 , I would definitely like it more.

For Nikon people it is a good lens covering 28-300 but for Canon 1.6 crop rate cameras , it is a quite strange focal range.

I do not really care about increased length of tele end of that , but care about wider end since I like to shoot street scenes and landscapes , I am not into birds or nature shooting .

I will see what I can get within 500USD , my original budget was 250 though, since I think I need a lens that is sharp enough to shoot some serious landscape and Cambodia street scenes , I will spend more than I have planned originally.

Any way nothing will disappoint me cause I came from Panny digicams(FX07 and FZ7), which I still have .


Thanks for the link and I appreciate tombomba2.

PS. the kit lens is not so bad optically for the price though , its build quality is just terrible , so I just wanna keep it in side of my room.

If I could re-start again , I would buy a D80 and a Nikkor 18-200VR with Nikkor AF50mm F1.4 and something for wide .

But I already bought an XTI , EX220 (flash), 3 lenses , and hoods for those lenses (Canon sells hoods separately).

I wish Canon makes EF-S17-200 IS like the famous Nikon AF-S18-200.

Or just get a Nikon ..I really like the Nikon D80.

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best regards.

I completely agree Derek - Canon desperately needs a quality 18-200mm EF-S lens with IS. The 17-85mm and 17-55mm options are really nice, but the flexibility of that bigger range is highly valuable.

It'll be interesting to see what Sigma's new 18-200mm with stabilisation will be like, but I hear the build, mechanical and optical quality will be pretty much the same as the exsiting model. Now don't get me wrong, the Sigma 18-200mm is a fantastic lens for the money, but Canon owners really also need a premium alternative like the Nikkor 18-200mm VR to consider.

Lets hope Canon makes some lens announcements for PMA in the next week...

Gordon