Craig C123's reviews

  • Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF DX AF-S Nikkor

    7 out of 10 points and recommended
    Decent IQ, comparatively light, decent zoom range.
    Not stellar IQ

    Initially buying a Sigma zoom for my new Nikon D50, i quickly returned it and I traded up, paying a bit more to get this Nikon 17-70. For the money, i consider it a great buy. And it seems a fairly light lens for the decent quality it can deliver. It focuses fast and quietly. I've had good results with close up (though not macro) shots. Zooming out i haven't been so impressed, but i'm attributing this more to the D50's somewhat wacky color bleeding in brightly lit settings.

    reviewed January 1st, 2007 (purchased for $250)

  • Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC

    4 out of 10 points and not recommended
    Light and compact.
    Resultant image quality is shoddy at too many points in the zoom and aperture range.

    I bought this lens when i bought a new Nikon D50. I opted for it over the Tamron 18-200 mm zoom, thinking i would get sharper pictures given the narrower (but still broad) zoom range. Not so! I found it pretty disappointing in terms of sharpness through much of the range. My photo results suggest there are a few sweet spots of crisper focus in the midrange, but its too soft at the extremes and most of the inbetween spots to warrant keeping. I replaced it with the Nikon 17-70 mm, for just a bit more money, and got consistenly better pictures (though obviously losing some of the zoom range).

    reviewed January 1st, 2007 (purchased for $260)