ANOTHER Lens Question, Sorry!

[annnewjerz]

So, per my last thread I am trying to save as much money as possible on my lenses, while still getting all of them that I hope to purchase sometime within the next year or so.

One I have been looking at is the 18-200mm VR Nikkor, which is about $660 brand new and I have also found reasonable prices for used 18-200mm VR (between $550 and $600 used). However I was looking at the list of compatible lenses for the D60 today and saw that Sigma has an 18-200mm called the "Sigma AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS (Optical Stabilizer)" which is only $420 BRAND NEW.

Just need some opinions on what to do. For such a large price difference, would you save the money and get the Sigma...or spend the extra and get the Nikon? Would one be a better investment over the other (not sure of the life of the lenses)

I know nothing about the quality of Sigma lenses compared to Nikon, but apparently people like them...do you think one brand is going to be noticably better in quality than the other for someone who is just starting out?

Thanks again to all of you DISers for all of your help. I would be lost without you!

 

[mrsbug]

Spend the extra and get the Nikon. I spent weeks comparing lens and from my reasearch it seemed the Nikon beat the Sigma in image quality and performance. I got the Nikon 18-200 and love it! It literallyy has not come off my D60 since I got them both a couple months ago and the pictures are awesome! Totally worth the extra money.

 

[YEKCIM]

I have two Sigma's, the 10-20mm and the 150mm f/2.8 macro and both are good lenses. I read a lot of forum content on the internet which discusses "sample variation" concerning Sigma and the consensus seems to be that Sigma does, indeed, make some very good lenses, *but* it's sometimes a roll of the dice as to whether a particular example of one of their lenses is a "good" sample or a dud. In other words, their QC is perhaps not as tight as it could be. I have not read anything about the particular lens you refer to, but suggest you read a review or two and maybe peruse the DPReview Nikon SLR lens forum and see what you can find out.

~Ed

 

[Quicklabs]

I have two Sigma lenses and the Nikon 18-200 (as well as the 50 1.8) My Sigmas are nice, but I love that Nikon lens. I use it far more than anything else in my bag, so the extra money was well spent. It is a wonderful all purpose lens! If you can swing it, I'd recommend going with the Nikon. Yes, do check out the reviews as YEKCIM suggests, (I read lots of them) but you'll find that just about everyone has nothing but praise for the Nikon.

 

[DebºoºS]

Not much help, sorry. I also have two Sigma lenses and the Nikon 18-200VR. Wow, the price has dropped like a stone since I got it! The Sigmas have performed beautifully never a problem with quality. The Nikon stays on my D200 and it too performs beautifully. As was suggested I'd do a side by side comparison to see which will suit your needs best.

 

[thomas998]

honestly it just depends on you. How picky are you about the quality of your photos... some people aren't as picky as others and aren't bothered by a bit more distortion or wowed by a bit more contrast... When your using film I think the lens is more important... but a lot of the things people pick on one lense for over another with a digital camera seems a little silly to me when photoshop can minimize the distortion or tweak the contrast.... I think if it were me and I was on a budget I would get the Sigma. I'm guessing 99% of the people looking at a photo from a nikon lens and one from a sigma couldn't tell them apart, especially if the photo was photoshoped to maximize how it looked which you'll likely do with digital regardless of the lens.