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Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC lens review Gordon Laing, July 2006


 



 




Outdoor
/ Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

Geometry, wide angle, tested with Nikon D2X

To measure geometric distortion we photographed a test chart consisting of a grid pattern with perfectly straight lines. The lenses were tested at their widest focal length with an aperture of f8 using a Nikon D2X in Aperture Priority mode. The images were analysed with Imatest using 5th Order line calculation and the full areas presented here at a reduced resolution.

All three lenses exhibited roughly the same degree of barrel distortion at their wide angle setting, although the Sigma model managed the best result here.

Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC
Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200mm 3.5-5.6G IF-ED
Tamron AF18-200mm F3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD IF
Sigma 18-200mm lens wide angle geometry test
Nikkor 18-200mm lens wide angle geometry test
Tamron 18-200mm lens wide angle geometry test
18-200mm at 18mm f8
Distortion: 4.46% barrel
  18-200mm at 18mm f8
Distortion: 5.26% barrel
  18-200mm at 18mm f8
Distortion: 5.38% barrel


Geometry, telephoto, tested with Nikon D2X

To measure geometric distortion we photographed a custom test chart consisting of a grid pattern with perfectly straight lines. The lenses were tested at their longest focal length with an aperture of f8 using a Nikon D2X in Aperture Priority mode. The images were analysed with Imatest using 5th Order line calculation and the full areas presented here at a reduced resolution.

All three lenses exhibited roughly the same degree of pincushion distortion when zoomed-into 200mm, although in contrast to the wide-angle result, the Sigma scored worst here.

Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC
Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200mm 3.5-5.6G IF-ED
Tamron AF18-200mm F3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD IF
Sigma 18-200mm lens telephoto geometry test
Nikkor 18-200mm lens telephoto geometry test
Tamron 18-200mm lens telephoto geometry test
18-200mm at 200mm f8
Distortion: 1.76% pincushion
  18-200mm at 200mm f8
Distortion: 1.22% pincushion
  18-200mm at 200mm f8
Distortion: 1.19% pincushion


Sigma 18-200mm results continued...

Outdoor / Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

 
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