Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300 Comparison

This article offers the reviews and comparison among the 4 zoom lens. They are all praised by the community as the good performers, but we are going to discuss in more detailed to find out who should use what. Let’s start to read this Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300 Comparison.

Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300

Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300

Reviews of 4 camera lens

Sigma 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 Macro DC OS HSM Review

The Sigma 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 Macro DC OS is an incredibly compact, lightweight, and an all-purpose zoom lens that is ready for just about anything. With the 13.8-time zoom ratio, it’s an excellent lens for enthusiasts and beginners as well as young families who want to catch all their special moments. With a single lens for maximum convenience and versatility, this is a lens that you can keep on your DSLR all the time and be ready for whatever happens next. Designed specifically for smaller chip APS-C DSLRs, this lens is compatible with many name-brand cameras, and comes with a three-year us warranty.

 

 

This lens is perfect in just about any shooting situation. At the wide end, it’s ideal for scenic landscapes and group photography, and at the longer end, it can be used for sports and wildlife photography and the parents know that magical photo moments with your kids can happen in an instance. It allows you to quickly zoom out and taking more of the surroundings or to quickly zoom in and focus on an incredible expression without missing a moment. So there’s no fumbling in the camera bag for a longer wider lens, which makes this an all-in-one winner for your family photography.

Another of the great features of this 18 250 mm zoom lens is its optical stabilizer system that allows you to handheld photography even in low-light situations without a tripod. Also, the hypersonic motor ensures quiet accurate and fast autofocus. The combination of aspherical glass elements and special low dispersion glass provides optimum color correction and sharpness.

Sigma’s super multi-layer coating controls ghosting and flare, which helps you get great looking images every time. This recently updated design features a macro function that allows astonishing close-ups down to 13.8 inches with the magnification ratio of one to 2.9. Thus, It’s ideal for photographing flowers details in nature or other small objects for an all-in-one lens that’s good anytime anywhere.

Nikon 18-200mm AF-s DX f3.5-5.6 VR Review

The second lens in this Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300 Comparison. It is a DX Lens, which means that while it still goes on your full frame cameras, it is designed for crop sensor Nikon DSLR’s. This Nikon lens is what we call a wide-angle to telephoto zoom lens. That is because it has such a long range from wide-angle for landscapes and buildings interiors, social photography. Also, it can zoom up to 200mm, which is great for portrait, even a little bit of sport, the kids running around, or just bringing anything up close.

Because of that range, it is ideal for the travel photographer and those who doesn’t want to take an 18-55 and the 55-200 as well. With this 18-200, you get it all in one. You could photograph the landscape and all of a sudden the bird lands on a branch next to you, zoom into 200mm and get a nice close-up shot. If you had a twin lens kit and the 18-55mm is attached, you may not have time to change lens is to get that shot. So this lens gives you the versatility and speed, you can shoot quickly without having to change lenses.

This Nikon lens is free from the risk of changing lenses. Normally, every time you do that, you risk getting dust in your camera and on your sensor. So again, one single lens does it all. The filter size on the Nikon 18-200mm is a 72mm and because of the large front optic, to get a nice UV or Protection filter to protect it. A filter also seals the lens against dust and salt and so on.

The 18-200mm is a VR Lens. VR on a Nikon lens stands for vibration reduction And again, it has an Image Stabilizer built to the lanes to help stop or prevent camera shake. That means you can use it in low light situations without having to use a tripod. So very handy addition. The VR does have two modes on the VR called normal and active. “Normal” is when you are stationary on the ground photographing a moving subject or stationary subject. And “Active” is when you are in a moving vehicle or boat etc., and that is what you used to for the difference then.

Last but not least, the auto focus switch. The lens has a little lock (stop zoom creep) which prevents the lens from zooming up. So when the lens is hanging from around your neck, it doesn’t just make it’s way out. You can lock it off. That’s a very handy feature as well. So as you can see Nikon 18 to 200 DX VR, a beautiful lens for the travelers if you don’t want to take 2 lenses.

Nikon 70-300 f4.5-5.6 VR II IF-ED Review

The third lens in Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300 Comparison. The 70-300mm VR is a great lens for any hobbyist photographer looking for a capable telephoto for wildlife photo hunting or sports coverage. It covers full frame as well so you won’t have to worry about getting a new lens if you move up to an FX body.

At 70 you can get the 4.5 and that’s the wide open. When you zoom this down to the 300f 5.6 that’s going to be the widest aperture you will get on this. It’s a little bit of a light hog but for shooting outdoors, wildlife, sports and just general day-to-day photography, this lens is a good performer.

It has the second generation Vibration Reduction system, so you get blur-free images even when hand-held. The Silent Wave autofocus motor is fast and quiet. The internal focus mechanism keeps the front element in place, perfect for use with filters.

Also, The circular aperture creates lovely out of focus backgrounds, ideal for standout portraits and the build quality is very solid, so this lens is a great investment. This lens is a very capable, well-built FX format lens when used on a DX body the range equates to 105-450mm in full frame format. At the short end, it’s ideal for portraits, and at the long end, it’s great for sports, wildlife, and fashion.

Adding to that, there are two extra-low dispersion glass elements. And they can reduce the chromatic aberrations across the zoom range making them more accurate images. In short, This is an excellent lens that you don’t have to worry about replacing if you move up from a DX to an FX body.

Nikon AF-S DX 55-300mm F/4.5-5.6 VR Review

The fourth lens in this Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300 Comparison. This lens is a superb telephoto zoom lens for any photographer with a Nikon DX camera. “DX” is for Nikon crop sensor camera. So it is designed for the Nikon D3000, D5000 and D7000 series cameras which are all crop sensor cameras. When you add the crop factor to have a 35mm camera equivalent, it will give you an about 90mm to 450mm lens, which is a huge zoom range.

 

 

It is designed to bring the closer. Suppose you have an 18-55mm lens, which is the standard lens that you might have bought with your camera. You might need more extended range as you want to photograph the kids playing sport, the birds in the trees or you want to go and photograph sporting events. Then you will need a longer zoom. Meanwhile, this lens has the 82.5-450mm effective focal length which makes it useful for sports like football where the action can move in close and then rapidly move far away.

It is called a “telephoto zoom” and it starts from 55 to 300mm. This lens is great for compressing perspective, which is very handy when you are taking photos and portraits. The compression gives a “thinning” effect when you take pictures of people, especially when you’re around that 70 to 100 mark, it is ideal for portraits. Besides being quality wise, it’s not really an expensive lens, and it is classified as a kit lens, but amazingly it does give good results.

This lens also comes with Vibration Reduction from Nikon. There is a bank of optics on a little gyroscope, which as you move, it will move with you and prevent shaky motions. Its second generation Vibration Reduction system can detect panning movements and switches off the dampening on that axis. That’s especially handy with long lenses like this when you’re shooting in the low-light condition. And your shutter speed may not be as high as you want, it prevents you from using a tripod or a monopod or a lot of the time.  It also has the fast and accurate Silent Wave autofocus motor that is very quiet as well.

It is astonishingly lightweight for a lens that is so long and versatile. The extra low dispersion glass elements correct the chromatic aberrations that cause purple fringing in lesser quality lenses. It is an impressive compact zoom lens with amazing reach. Also equipped with the latest Vibration Reduction technology, you can use it handheld to follow sports action or track wildlife.

The build quality is robust, so it’s a great investment for your DX camera kit. The high-quality glass delivers sharp in contrast images throughout the zoom range. At the short end, it serves as an excellent portrait lens creating beautifully blurred backgrounds. At the long end, it pulls in distant subjects for professional-looking photographs of sports action or wildlife.

The 55-300 has a filter size of 58mm and a metal mount. And the Manual Focus ring is right at the end. You can switch that on and off with your AF and that locks it in when you’re “A”. Having a little case and lens hood perfect for all the photographers with the small 18-55mm or even an 18-140mm and you want a more affordable option with a wide-telephoto zoom range, this is it.

Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300 Comparison

Criteria Sigma 18 250 Nikon 18 200 Nikon 70 300 Nikon 55 300
Basics Estimated price $280 $530 $490 $390
Type Zoom lens Zoom lens Zoom lens Zoom lens
Max format size APS-C/ DX DX 35mm FF APS-C/ DX
Focal length 18-250mm 18-200mm 70-300mm 50-300mm
Image stabilization Yes (4 stops claimed and auto panning detection) Yes (VR II, 4 stops claimed, auto panning detection and active mode) Yes (VR II, 4 stops claimed) Yes (4 stops claimed)
Lens mount Canon, Nikon, Pentax (KAF3), Sigma, Sony Nikon F only Nikon F (FX) Nikon F (DX)
Aperture Max aperture F3.5-6.3 F3.5-5.6 F4.5-5.6 F4.5-5.6
Min aperture F22 F22-36 F22-32 F22-32
Aperture ring No No No No
No. of diaphragm blades 7 7 9 9
Aperture notes Rounded blades Rounded blades Rounded blades Round blades
Optics Elements 16 16 17 17
Groups 13 12 12 11
Special coatings 1 SLD glass element, 3 asperical elements 2 ED glass elements, 3 aspherical elements 2 ED glass elements 2 ED glass elements, 1 HRI glass element
Focus Min focus 0.35m 0.5m 1.50 m 1.40 m
Max focus 0.34x N/A 0.25x 0.28x
Autofocus Yes Yes Yes Yes
Motor type Micro-type Hypersonic Silent-wave Internal Micro-type ultrasonic
Full time manual Yes Yes No
Focus method Internal Internal Internal Extending front
Distance scale Yes Yes Yes No
DoF scale No No No No
Physical Weight 470g 560g 745g 530g
Diameter 73.5mm 77mm 80mm 77mm
Length 88.6mm 96.5mm 144mm 123mm
Materials Thermally Stable Composite Plastic barrel, metal mount Plastic barrel, metal mount Plastic barrel, metal mount
Colors Black Black Black Black
Zoom method Rotary Rotary Rotary Rotary
Filter thread 62mm 62mm 67.0mm 58.0 mm
Hood supplied Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hood product code LH680-04 HB-35 HB-36 HB-57
Tripod collar No No No No

Some final thoughts between 4 lens

If you are an enthusiasts or beginner, Sigma 18-250mm should be a good choice. However, a serious photographer might want to of for Nikon 18-200mm or 70-300mm. And for those who are looking for a lightweight and compact lens, Sigma 18-250mm and Nikon 55-300mm are here to stay. Finally, to evaluate the overall performance, I personally recommend the Nikon 18-200mm and 70-300mm again. However, bear in mind that different people may have a different definition on “good performer”. Hope that this article may help you in choosing a lens that you should be in favor of using or purchasing. Thank you for reading Sigma 18 250 vs Nikon 18 200 vs Nikon 70 300 vs Nikon 55 300 Comparison post.