Sigma 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC

Review Date
June 4, 2009

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by
Franglais , Expert

Price Paid
$200.00 at Pro shop in Granada

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
This is a review of the 2009 version of this lens in Nikon mount version with the HSM auto-focusing. This means it’s compatible with low-end Nikons like the D40/D40x/D60/D5000

I bought the 55-200 to stand in temporarily when my Nikon 18-200 VR developed a fault while on holiday. I’m rather impressed with it and I’ve decided to keep on using it.

The lens is very small and light, with a big circular lens hood that is almost as long as the lens which makes it very efficient. For this price I was expecting a plastic lens mount but it’s made of metal. The zoom barrel is stiffer than on the 18-200 but it’s regular and stays put when set on a focal length (unlike the Nikon). Overall the Sigma doesn’t give the impression of being a cheap lens.

The Sigma has good performance. Generally it’s slightly better than the Nikon 18-200 but and slightly worse than my huge Nikon 28-70 and 80-200 f2.8 AF-S lenses. The photos are sharp and clear and I have found no cases of light falloff at the edges, loss of definition in the corners, etc. Same story with the autofocus – it’s faster than the 18-200 but slower than the big lenses.

The Sigma has about ½ stop greater maximum aperture than the Nikon 18-200 at most focal lengths i.e. at 105mm the 18-200 has a maximum aperture of f5.6 while the 55-200 is at about f4.5. If you need to freeze action this could be important

My impression is that the 55-200 is a good basic lens that gets the job done with no surprises for a very reasonable price. It feels like a natural partner for the D60. I’m not wild about it, perhaps because it’s not very exciting (unlike the 18-200).

Strengths
- Cost
- Size and weight
- Image quality
- Speed (and silence) of autofocus
- Maximum aperture
- Efficient lens hood

Weaknesses
Difficult to attach and detach the lens hood without turning the focus barrel which makes a grating sound

The zoom barrel is at the back of the lens instead of being at the front as on the Nikon lenses. It takes a little while to get used to it

No possibility of retouching the focus manually as you can on the (much more expensive) Nikon lenses

Similar Products Used
Nikon 18-200 DX VR
Nikon 80-200 AFS

Customer Service
Not needed

Review Date
March 15, 2006

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 7 votes

Reviewed by
drg , Professional

Price Paid
$0.00 at CAMETA

Photography Experience
21+ years , Other

Summary
This was part of the two lens kit that Sigma offered that combined the 18-50mm 3.5-5.6DC and 55-200mm 4-5.6DC lenses.

Perhaps expectations were unrealistic with this lens, after using the companion from the kit, the 18-50mm. The lens feels cheap, is not smooth and in fact, it binds at places in the zoom. This might be a convenient length, for the cost if nothing more, but recent experience with wide to telephoto zoom combos leave this lens as an odd man out.

The copy I received displays significant Chromatic Aberration under a variety, but not all, lighting conditions and for significant aperture ranges. It is prominent enough to eliminate this lens from most any use other than casual snapshots.

It has adequate AF performance. Outdoors under bright light with good contrasted subject, it still is not 'speedy'.

The lens produce reasonably sharp images with little corner fall off at the short end but more so towards the long end of the tele/zoom.

As part of a kit to get a longer lens for a Digital camera, it is only O.K. You might get a better copy than I did.

The hood is cheap plastic and started to warp a bit in sunlight after just a few minutes.

I can't really recommend this lens other than as starter for a short time. It will produce probably an equal photo to most point and shoot lens that are in the same zoom range. There is too great a possibility for disappointment in the resulting photographs produced with this lens. Save your money or purchase the 18-200DC lens that Sigma is producing.

Strengths
Good color rendition except as noted.
Metal mount.

Weaknesses
Chromatic aberration! (purple/colored fringing).
Zoom binds.
Plastic lens hood and awkward in design.
Corner Falloff that is erratic in intensity across the zoom range.

Similar Products Used
Recently used extensively Sigma's wide to telephoto zooms in these lengths
28-200
18-200 DC

Customer Service
Not needed for this product, but past experiences with SIGMA have been very positive and they respond well via email.

Review Date
November 10, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
2.00 of 5, 4 votes

Reviewed by
michaeljfox , Expert

Price Paid
$200.00

Photography Experience
21+ years , People

Summary
For such an inexpensive lens, it gives wonderful images. Not overly impressive build quality (what can you expect for under $200!), mine even rattles.

Strengths
Sharp, good color and fairly contrasty images.

Weaknesses
Not a high end build.

Similar Products Used
All pre-auto focus Canon lenses, except a nice cheap EF50mm 1.8 and a not so nice and overpriced 17-40 "L".

Review Date
September 18, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.67 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by
TomP , Intermediate

Price Paid
$109.00 at Photo finish

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Outdoor

Summary
I got one of the first 55-200's before it was even mentioned in the press. Checking it against a friend's Canon 75-300, it was significantly poorer, so I contacted Sigma UK who gave me a new lens 8 months after purchase ! This second lens was hugely better and matches my good copy of the 18-55 kit lens (which is better than my 50/1.8 prime) in quality.

The lesson, having tried also a very demo copy of the Sigma 10-20, which was also dreadful although a more recent copy was good, is that Sigma don't seem to get early production sorted out, but wait a few months and they are good value, but only 4 stars for the bad first copy.

Strengths
Price, weight, sharp, comes with a lens hood, focusses in poor light even with a 1.4x converter

Weaknesses
None at the price

Similar Products Used
Canon EOS 300d
Canon 18-55
Canon 75-300
Sigma 10-20

Customer Service
Excellent, no quibble and quick in changing my first lens

Review Date
August 25, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
ruiwei , Intermediate

Price Paid
$119.00 at EBay

Photography Experience
2-5 years , Outdoor

Summary
Great Value, Light Weight, Good Auto Focus, Average Quality but Sharp Image.

Strengths
Low Price, Good Auto Focus Speed, Sharp Imange, Light Weight and Compact Size

Weaknesses
Manual Focus Ring is too tight.

Similar Products Used
No, this is my first 55-200mm len.

Customer Service
Do not know