350D and Sigma 18-135 f3.5/5.6 DC

Hi

I am looking at this lens to replace my kit lens. I am on a limited budget and would like the 18-135 (understad the 1.6 crop factor). Intend to use this lens as my overall lens. I take family, travels, general landscape purely as a hobbiest.
Does this lens go well with the 350D. I read somewere that there maybe pop-up flash issues with a non canon lens. I have the 430ex flash.
Any help would be much appreciate. Been reading so much from this forum I am even more confused
many Thanks
Pat

Dispite what everyone here usually says about the 18-125mm Sigma hyper zooms (28-200mm eq. 35mm) I love the thing as a general use lens. Infact I love using it indoors with the 420EX speedlight as well.

The build is superb for the price, leaps and bounds above the kit lens. The barrel extension are even metal not cheap plastic and the lens is an all metal mount, very solid piece. It's quite weighty for it's size too.

I love the balance on my Drebel (300D) used it plenty of times as the only lens on vacation trips.

The lens has 2 downfalls, I find the AF noisy, but appears to focus as fast as the non-USM kit lens. And the glass is multi coated for digital so it's a tad darker then the kit when view through the view finder.

Else the lens works great, you can even use the pop-up flash in the Rebel as long as you remove the Sigma included lens hood.

Thank you.
Why does the Sigma included hood prevent the 350D pop-up flash from working? The hood would be used under sunny conditions so the flash would not be used? Is that correct? Unless it's for daytime fill-in flash?
Would I be able to see some pictures taken by this lens?
Any difference between this and the new Sigma 18-200 apart from the focal length?
many Thanks
Pat

Hi MrChad
Is the above a good or bad thing? What's the benefit of multi-coated lens?
Thank You.
pat

You can fire the flash all day with the hood but it will leave a shadow at the bottom of your picture on the wide angle shots, so you remove the hood to prevent this.

I think multi-coated for digital is an ok thing, but they don't sell a non-coated so who cares.

Do you like pictures from your kit lens? This lens will look exactly the same except you get to take shots from 55-125mm as well.

I have no clue about the 18-200mm lens, but if it was my only lens, I'd want the extra reach. The Sigma and Tamron 18-200mm lenses have had lots of reviews check the web.

Many Thanks

Out of curiosity, is there a Canon 18-125 equivalent?

Thanks
Pat

Not really. Canon have a EF-S 17-85 IS which is meant to be a fantastic lens, but it's also about twice the price (Here in Australia atleast).

My friend uses the 18-125 on a D70s and the photos that come out from it seem to be quite good, especially considering the price of this lens. You can also have a look at fstopjojo's lens tests, he has the 18-125 in a few of them. http://www.pbase.com/f​stopjojo/lenstests

I have this lens and I like it I was however considering changing it for the Tamron 18-200 but after trying it out in the store on a D20 the focus is very slow compared to my sigma. Only thing I don't like about me 18-125 is it goes dark in he corners when wide open I think they call it vigating of something like that. I find thet it works really well with the external flash focus assist light. I was taking picts it almost the dark the other night and it was focusing great.

Multi-coating, done properly, improves light transmission by reducing reflection at air-glass interfaces. If your image is dimmer with the Sigma than with the kit, it's more likely that the effective aperture isn't what it's billed as.

Well the lens has a coating on the front element it's a purple darkish tint, you can see it near the edges of the element, I figure that's the digital coating. The lens has a tad darker cast then most other lenses like it, otherwise it's a fine optic.

The aperture could be falsely calibrated but I don't see any reason for them to lie about that, it's not a fast lens to begin with?

I have this lens and have got some good results, the focus can sometime be a bit off, but I have found using just one focus point helps. I also just stake more shots just in case.

I use it with the 430 flash and it works OK, if the hood is on using the lens at around the shorter end you do get a bit of shadow from the hood. But it removes quick so not much of a problem.

If it reported to you,and the camera, that it's an f/4- f/6.3 or so, you wouldn't get AF at the tele end on anything les than a 1D series. Remember, the 350D won't AF with anything slower than f/5.6.

Yes, but Sigma and Tamron have been able to lie to the AF system for years without lying to the user. Most of the longer hyper zooms all report 6.3 in the viewscreen.

I had a Tamron 28-200mm at one point 3.8-6.3, I don't own any camera's the ever read that lens at f3.8 either (always f4), but it would AF at 6.3 since I assume it lied to the body, but not the read out.