Sigma or Canon Lens?

[Kudos2Fly]

I will be getting a 20D soon. I was planning on buying one of the packages on the web. I know the Canon would probably go with any canon camera I get in the future. But what about Sigma? I don't know anything about them, but have seen them in some of the packages. Does anyone have Sigma lens and how are they as far as taking pictures?

Kim

[rdenney]

I will be getting a 20D soon. I was planning on buying one of the packages on the web. I know the Canon would probably go with any canon camera I get in the future. But what about Sigma? I don't know anything about them, but have seen them in some of the packages. Does anyone have Sigma lens and how are they as far as taking pictures?
Canon has three lens lines, generally speaking. Their consumer lines usually have slow and noisy focusing, plastic lens mounts, and generally decent optics. Their professional line has USM focusing, metal lens mounts, more robust construction to handle high duty cycles, and superior optics. Some of the pro lenses are "L" lenses that include special glass, but not all pro lenses are L's. Then there are the middle lenses, in the prosumer class. They generally are not as fast as the pro lenses, not quite as rugged, but have excellent optics.

Sigma also has several lines, but the distinctions aren't quite as obvious. Their "pro" line is the Sigma EX, and I would put it between Canon's prosumer and professional lines. Their other lenses range lower. Price is a good guide, when compared to other lenses of the same focal length and speed.

So, the better Sigma lenses are much better than the consumer-grade Canon lenses, generally speaking. But they are not quite as ruggedly made and consistently excellent as the professional Canon lenses.

There have been problems in the past with Sigma lenses not working on later Canon models, but I don't think that has been a problem since about 2001. As I understand it, Sigma at that time started paying Canon's licensing for the mount, but that may be just a story. In any case, Sigma has been quite good about repairing their lenses to keep up with Canon models. They rechipped two lenses for me when I bought the 10D at no charge.

I have done lots of work with a Sigma 12-24 EX lens, and I think it's excellent. It's not as rugged as an L-series Canon, but the image quality is quite good, especially considering the rather extreme optics of that lens to achieve full-frame coverage. I also have a mid-grade 28-70/2.8 zoom, and it works quite well--about what I would expect from a mid-grade Canon lens (it's one of the lenses Sigma rechipped for me).

Rick "who also has some Sigma (and Canon) stinkers" Denney

[ron chappel]

I've only seen several package options on the web so it's easy enough to go through them one by one i think

Canon have two kit lens choices that i know of.
There is the basic 18-55 lens, -it may have the usm focus motor but it's nearly irrelevant to focus speed because it's not REAL usm .So don't worry too much whch version you get.
Personally i would avoid this lens anyway.Putting it nicely it's frustratingly average
The other one is that 17-85 IS lens.This one is excellent but does cost a fair bit.
Most owners report great sharpness across the zoom range.
It's a very handy length plus it has image stabilization! Oh-and it has the good version of USM focus,that means it's very fast,near silent and allows manual overide anytime

The sigma kits i've seen are usually the 18-50 + 50-200 zooms .I've heard varying reports on these but generally the 18-50 should be a little better than the canon 18-55 while the 50-200 should be 'pretty ok'
I've also seen kits offered with the sigma 70-300 LD macro lens.This one isn't the best consumer zoom they offer and it has a dodgey reputation- probably best to avoid it unless you get it real cheap

In fact any of these kits are worth getting at a given price-you can very easily sell lenses on ebay these days so you don't lose much.


oops-forgot another kit i've seen. Some are selling cameras with the sigma 18-125 lens.This one gets some pretty good reports from owners.
From the various comparisons i've seen,it fits somewhere between the canon 18-55 and canon 17-85 in overall image sharpness

[condyk]

Personally, I would go with a body only version, unless the kit is very, very little extra OR it includes a great lens that you know you will use at a great price (there are great lenses on offer that you may NOT ever use, so why buy one?)

A good place to check out reviews of many current lenses is:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/

Unless the lens you are offered scores 8 or more I wouldn't bother. Rather, consider exactly what you want the camera for and buy an appropriate lens or lenses. By shopping around for a body only and a separate lens you can certainly save a good sum, perhaps more that the kit you are being offered.

Remember too that there are good and not so good lenses in every market segment, from every brand. If you consider the kinds of photography you are primarily interested in then the people here will certainly offer suggestions as to which lenses to consider.

[mblanton]

I'm a purest...so it's Canon all the way.

Mike

[Kudos2Fly]

Thanks for the replies. I'll look at that comsumer report web sit..


Kim

[condyk]

I'm a purest...so it's Canon all the way.

Mike

Do you mean brand name beats image quality? :lol: :lol:

There are Tamron or Sigma items occupying the same price point as some Canon lenses and they are general felt to offer better image quality.

[ScottE]

I'm a purest...so it's Canon all the way.

Mike

Why does that make you a purist? It sounds more like you are a victim of advertising hype.

[MrChad]

If you're just starting out I'd get the Canon Body with the Sigma 18-125mm DC lens.

With that said the rest of my lenses are Canon, unless you plan to purchase EF USM lenses (ringtype), IS USM, or f2.8L/f4L "L" glass from Canon I'd look at third party glass.

Canon's lower consumer lenses just are an insult IMO. I was very leary of a 3rd party glass but I've loved my Sigma 18-125mm lens on my Drebel.

[Steve Parr]

If you decide to go with Sigma, beware.

I tried out a Sigma on my 300D, and got an error reading. Had I purchaed the lens through the mail or over the internet, I'd have been screwed, because it just didn't work.

My understanding, though, is that the lens was an older model, and these problems are not uncommon with those. Still, I don't think I'd be buying a Sigma unless I could actually try it on the camera first...

Steve

[raylks]

Sigma has recently updated all the lens range. Unless you pruchase second hand lens which may be of older version, compatibility is not an issue.

Take your camera when you buy the lens at store. This is the way to assure compatibility.

[Kudos2Fly]

I was already thinking that. I was looking in to the Sigma 18-125mm for right now. The type of pictures I take is just the lens range I like. Plus I checked on that consumer report 13 out 14 people like it. I think it will do fine for right now. Has any one bought through Cameta Digital Camera on line? And if you have how was the service?


Kim :D

[kotam]

I will be getting a 20D soon. I was planning on buying one of the packages on the web. I know the Canon would probably go with any canon camera I get in the future. But what about Sigma? I don't know anything about them, but have seen them in some of the packages. Does anyone have Sigma lens and how are they as far as taking pictures?

Kim

I personally own a Sigma 70-200 2.8 EX lens and have used a Canon 70-200 2.8. IMHO, the Canon glass is sharper in resolution. I could not tell a difference in the color representation or focusing speed.

How much sharper? It is a subjective call but typically when I was shooting a soccer player at about 30 yds, I could enlarge the photo (using a 10D at Large -3072 X 2048) enough to read the logo on the ball. With the Sigma, the logo is fuzzy at best.

The Sigma is ok for most photos, but if you really need the detail or if you have to crop and enlarge a lot, I would spend the extra for the Canon L glass.

BTW, the Sigma cost me 698.00. The Canon lens would have run 1200.00.

Peace

[MrChad]

I was already thinking that. I was looking in to the Sigma 18-125mm for right now. The type of pictures I take is just the lens range I like. Plus I checked on that consumer report 13 out 14 people like it. I think it will do fine for right now. Has any one bought through Cameta Digital Camera on line? And if you have how was the service?


Kim :D

Ummm, I haven't found too many places on the net I dare trust for camera gear.
I almost exclusively purchase from www.bhphoto.com
else I hear www.adorama.com is good too.

But I've come to love bhphoto, and they seam to tolerate returned goods well.
I think the $260 bhphoto wants for the lens is a great deal, I paired mine with a Tiffen UV filter and circ. polarizer. I love the polarizer, but beware stacking more then 2 filters on the Sigma lens will result in vignetting thanks to the designed for crop factor nature of the DC lenses, I'd assume this is true of the EF-S lenses to some extent too. Not a big deal I only use one filter per time on the Sigma.

[condyk]

The Sigma is ok for most photos, but if you really need the detail or if you have to crop and enlarge a lot, I would spend the extra for the Canon L glass.


I think you are making a fair subjective point in relation to the specific 70-200's but it's stretching it to then generalise this finding to whole ranges across the two brands. There are good and bad in both. I would agree that an L lens would normally be a safe purchase, but there may still be a specific item in a competing brand range that is even better. The key is to compare specific lenses across brands that are suited to the specific need.

[rdenney]

I tried out a Sigma on my 300D, and got an error reading. Had I purchaed the lens through the mail or over the internet, I'd have been screwed, because it just didn't work.

Before you give up on the lens, send to Sigma to be rechipped. They did two of mine for free.

Rick "thinking you weren't screwed unless the seller claimed it would work on a 300D" Denney