Sigma 18-125mm 3.5 - 5.6
 

I am thinking of buying this Sigma zoom.Does anyone own one and what do they think of it.They sales guy in Jessops today advised me it was just as good as the Nikon 18-135mm.He suggested I save myself some money and get the Sigma !!!!!!
Any comments please.
Horace

Be wary of sales advisors, it might be the Sigma carries more margin then the Nikkor which means more commission for them. I would search the web for reviews and make the decision myself. Take your time but with lenses you really do get what you pay for.

Could you borrow one from Jessops and decide after say, a week?

A review of the lens

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/len...3556/index.htm

As Stephen has said I would take your camera in and take some test shots and examine at home before buying. (especially at the long and wide ends of zoom - include a door frame in the shot to check for degree of barrel & pincushion distortion)

Out of the 30 or so members of Jessops staff I've dealt with over the years I would say that only 2 of them were photographers and actually knew what they were talking about.

In recent years Sigma have pulled their finger out on the EX range but the cheap range mainly suffer from slow AF and poor build quality.

Personally I would question the logic of putting a x7 or x10 zoom on a DSLR. You can pay a high price in terms of image quality and distortion to get a wide zoom range. But if you must have a wide zoom range so be it.

Horace,

I would suggest taking your camera to the shop and asking if you can take sample pics with each lens from the doorway.

One at 18mm another at 50mm and lastly at 135mm.

As this will include buildings, signs etc you could compare them at home on your PC. Check for barrel and pincushion distortion, and general sharpness.

If the sales guy is so confident he should not have a problem with that.

Don

Thankyou gentleman for taking the time to reply.I have found a site that reviews Nikon lens that maybe of interest to other users of the Forum.
www.kenrockwell.com/nikon

Ken Rockwell does more than just Nikon, but be warned, the general consensus is that his stuff is very lightweight and he lacks credibility. Worth a visit, sure, but there are other places that you would take a lot more seriously.

Here is one of the most respected Nikon reviewers, Bjorn Roslett.

http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_surv.html

I've edited Tannin's post slightly to tease out the relevant information a little more clearly. ;)