RocB4889's reviews

  • Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary

    7 out of 10 points and not recommended
    FOUR super low dispersion glass and THREE aspherical elements. Macro capabilities. OS very good. Compact. Light weight. Sharpness very high.
    Very slow AF Busy bokeh, AF/manual focus ring rotates under your fingers during AF Awkward for manual focus

    This is the fourth iteration of this 18-200mm lens by Sigma since the first reviews in 2005 (?). In the intervening years Sigma has made many improvements and added FOUR super low dispersion glass and THREE aspherical elements along with macro capabilities to this updated version that ultimately make a discernible difference in terms of sharpness, chromatic aberrations and distortion. I could not see any CA.

    Sharpness was high at center and at the edges shooting wide open at 200mm, and the Macro focus bolstered by the Optical Stabilization of this lens is impressive to say the least.

    Is it a perfect lens? No. While it is impressive in terms of sharpness and color rendition, the image stabilization (OS) in the lens is nowhere near the IBIS (in-body-image-stabilization) of an Olympus E-M1 or more recent cameras. To make the most it it requires a body with stabilization as well to work in tandem. I used it on a Sigma SD Quattro that has no IBIS, and while the OS in the lens is a big help you will not get 4 stops of stabilization (or more) that is now typical with so many other systems where lens OS is aided by IBIS.I was surprised that the OS worked as well as it did with the Sigma SD Quattro.

    Beautiful, very sharp, image stabilized, and well balanced, the Sigma 18-200mm had a couple of deficiencies that made it completely unusable for wildlife shooting, which was my intended use. On the Sigma SD Quattro, its very slow AF in combination with the Sigma SD Quattro added up to nearly a 2.5 second delay from AF acquisition to actual capture. Additionally, the narrow AF/manual focus ring at the snout of the lens actually rotates under your fingers during AF travel (IN AF MODE!), which means you have to adjust your grip on the camera to avoid disrupting its auto-focus function. Manual focus is difficult and awkward due to the short Macro-to-infinity travel distance of the ring. Macro to infinity ring movement is just One-and-one quarter inches (8cm) in length.

    Another issue is the bokeh, the out of focus areas in the background lack smoothness, and are very busy and distracting, especially in the highlights.

    Overall the lens is well built, and compact. Although it is somewhat light in terms of weight, one can assume a good deal of plastics rather than metal (or brass) has been used, but this seems to be standard in terms of production costs and savings. Image quality was excellent. If AF had been very fast I would been temped to keep it due to its excellent image quality.

    reviewed January 2nd, 2022

  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Very fast and silent AF, Sharp, excellent zoom range, superb handling.

    The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM has very fast and silent AF. It is not a small lens but handles with excellent balance and very smooth zoom action.

    This is a medium weight lens. It weighs 1.5 lbs (750g) and can be awkward in small hands because the lens diameter is 3.1 inches. It balances well on the Canon R7. The manual focus ring at front focuses with a smooth action although it is not a mechanical linkage, it is focus-by-wire.

    Bokeh is excellent at all focal lengths. As a full-frame lens it renders sharp images at wide open aperture on APS-C sensors.

    As you zoom to longer focal lengths there is a change in aperture. Aperture shift while zooming is as follows:
    At 70mm aperture is f/4.
    At 78mm aperture is f/4.5
    At 106mm aperture is f/5.0.
    At 176mm and on onwards f/5.6

    This is an amazingly well built lens and a superb performer regardless of the price. That Canon can sell it at such a reasonable price is very surprising. It is an amazingly good deal.

    reviewed November 18th, 2022