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Photographer Dustin Abbott compares the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 DN with the Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 VC to determine which makes more sense as a third party standard zoom on Fuji X. Visit the galleries on dustinabbott.net: http://tinyurl.com/18-50DNvs17-70VC
Sigma 18-50mm X-Mount Review: http://tinyurl.com/18-50Xreview
Tamron 17-70mm X-Mount Review: https://bit.ly/17-70Xreview
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0:00
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott
0:12
Fuji's new 40-mixel sensor in some of their new cameras, including my XH2, has been a wrecking ball in the sense like no sensor I've ever seen before to the older catalog of a company's lenses
0:26
I've reviewed a lot of transitions to ever higher resolution points, but nothing that quite equates to this
0:34
and that you have to understand that for this kind of resolution on that small of a sensor
0:38
it's the equivalent of over 90 megapixels on a full-frame camera. That camera doesn't exist at this point
0:44
In fact, that's 50% higher than the highest resolution full-frame cameras at the moment
0:50
So obviously, this is a massive amount of resolution, and as a by-product, it is really killing
0:56
the overall look of some lenses that people initially thought of at lower resolution points
1:02
as being really, really sharp lenses, and then as the resolution has creeped up from 16
1:08
megapixels to 24 megapixels to 26 megapixels, and now 40, these lenses are looking
1:14
worse and worse. I've been spending some time with some of the mainstays of the Fuji
1:19
catalog, including the kit lens 18 to 55 millimeter, F2.8 to F4, OIS, the six
1:26
16 to 55 millimeter F2.8 premium lens in the class, and then also a newer contender from a third party
1:35
which didn't exist a few years ago, and that is the Sigma 18 to 50 millimeter F2.8
1:41
So the question is, are any of these lenses equipped to handle this high resolution sensor
1:48
I'm going to give you, and I've been spending a lot of time, doing all of these comparisons
1:52
really trying to deep dive in both chart tests, but then also real world scenario
1:56
trying to determine which of these is your best bang for your buck
2:00
At this point, if you're considering ever upgrading to the 40 megapixel resolution point on some camera
2:07
So to give you an idea of price, this is MSRP prices in the US
2:11
The Sigma is $549 US. The 18 to 55 millimeter is 699 US, though there is an asterisk there
2:22
and that it can be had in a kit, if you happen to buy it with a camera body
2:26
as little as 400 US dollars. And any time you have a kit lens means that there's going to be a fairly robust used market
2:35
for them as well. So that represents maybe the highest price point, probably more than what most people
2:41
ended up paying in real world actual usage. The most expensive guy here is the 16 to 55 millimeter and it's going to come in at a whopping
2:50
$1,200 US dollars. So I'm going to spend a couple of minutes with each one of these lenses kind of breaking down
2:56
the primary strengths and weaknesses of build and design. For the Sigma, obviously, the negative
3:02
here is that it does have the smallest zoom range. It has eight less millimeters of zoom range
3:08
on the telephoto end compared to the 18 to 55. And of course, it has an overall 7 millimeters
3:14
less compared to the 1655, not only losing that 5 millimeters on the telephoto end, but probably
3:19
even more important, the 16 to 55 millimeter goes 2 millimeters wider on the wide end, which is
3:26
going to be really useful in a lot of situations. And again, on a higher resolution body
3:30
you can always crop in to get more zoom, but what you can't do is crop wider. So while this has
3:35
the smallest zoom range, it is also the smallest of the lenses in terms of the dimensions. It's
3:41
a little bit narrower, and it's a hair longer than the 18 to 55 millimeter. You zoom the lenses out
3:46
however, and that advantage disappears, and the 18 to 55 is actually a little bit longer. The big
3:52
difference here, though, is the weight. The Sigma weighs in it, two, 285 grams, that's 25 grams less than the 18 to 55, but a whopping 370 grams less than the 16 to 55 millimeter
4:06
Now, the Sigma, it kind of splits the difference between these two other lenses and that it does have a gasket at the lens mount, but it has no internal seals
4:15
The 18 to 55, no weather resistance at all, and the 16 to 55 has full weather resistance
4:23
The Sigma lacks an aperture ring, something that is pretty much a standard on Fuji lenses
4:29
Both of the Fuji versions have an aperture ring of some kind
4:33
As far as the feel of the lens, the Sigma feels tighter and more modern
4:38
You know, it's even simple things like the zoom action just feels more refined and then what it does
4:43
on either actually of these other zooms. It just feels, and of course it is tighter
4:48
This is a fairly new lens compared to some lenses that have been, you know, probably in Fuji's
4:53
review circuit, sample circuit for a while, and so they feel a little bit loose by comparison
4:59
So maybe not a completely fair comparison. But even if you take away the wear and the tear, just by the overall modern feel of the lens
5:06
and the design, the Sigma feels a little bit more contemporary. It also has a higher magnification level
5:13
You can get closer in focusing on actually both ends, but particularly on the wide end
5:18
you can get in and get a higher magnification level. So just one extra bonus that it has there
5:23
Now when it comes to 18 to 55 millimeter, it is the shortest lens here, very slightly shorter than what the sigma is
5:30
It's considerably shorter, obviously, and smaller than what the 16 to 55 millimeter is
5:36
It also is the only one here to have a variable aperture for the aperture iris starting at F2 but it shuts down to F4 by the time you get to the telephoto in And by the way the aperture closes fairly quickly By 23 millimeters you already down to F3 and so on and so forth And so that a pretty serious disadvantage
5:57
It makes up for it by being the only lens here to have OIS, or in-lens optical stabilization
6:03
And so if you're shooting on one of Fuji's older bodies that does not have in-body image stabilization
6:08
obviously that is going to be a significant factor. And it's one thing that actually made me enjoy using the 16 to 55 millimeter more on my XH2
6:16
than my previous review on the XT3 that had no embody M stabilization
6:21
That gives a little bit of an advantage to this lens here. Now, it does have an aperture ring here, but it is a shared ring
6:28
You share between aperture and manual focus ring. So you do lose a little bit in that tradeoff, namely that there is actually no markings
6:36
And so if you typically use an aperture ring to where you have a quick reference of
6:41
where aperture is at when you're looking down at the lens, you lose that on this particular lens
6:46
So it's a little bit compromised in that regard. I also note that it has the poorest execution
6:52
of a manual focus ring. It's just this tiny ring here at the front
6:57
It's not necessarily easy to find and it's only separated from the zoom ring
7:01
by the smallest of margins, about a millimeter separating it. So if you're using gloves, for example
7:06
it's almost impossible to get just the manual focus ring itself. It's poorly executed
7:12
As an aside, I will note that unlike the two Fuji zooms, the Sigma has two differences here that are going to be ergonomic potential challenges
7:20
if you're typically shoot Fuji stuff. Number one, the focus ring is actually the closer of the two rings
7:26
Number two, this actually zooms in the opposite direction than what Fuji lenses do themselves
7:31
So, you know, a little bit of quirk there. Now, when it comes to the 16 to 55 millimeter, it obviously has the best zoom range here
7:38
And that is incredibly important, particularly, with the 2 millimeter on the wide end
7:43
That allows you to get a full frame equivalent of 24 millimeters
7:46
as opposed to a full frame equivalent of around 27 millimeters. That makes a significant difference when it comes to what you can get into a shot
7:57
And so that is incredibly important. It has the most professional build here
8:01
in that it has thorough weather ceiling throughout. It's made of the most premium materials
8:07
It is the only one that has a fully functional aperture ring with actual dedicated clicks and markings to show you where you are in the scale
8:16
But on the negative side, it feels unnecessarily large and heavy. When you consider that, yes, it has a little bit more of a zoom range on what the sigma is
8:25
but it is literally twice the size of the sigma. And the sigma also has that maximum aperture of F2.8
8:31
And as we're going to see in just a few moments, the sigma holds up just as well optically
8:35
And to give a point of comparison, Sony's 16 to 55 millimeter
8:40
G lens, F2.8G lens, it weighs 160 grams less. So it has the exact same zoom range. It's
8:47
professionally built like this lens and yet it is significantly lighter. So I think Fuji can
8:52
improve on that point. This lens also feels too expensive when you're comparing at the modern
8:58
market and now that there are third players on the platform like Sigma and Tamron. I think that
9:04
Fuji needs to be maybe a little bit more aggressive in their pricing. So each one of these lenses has some
9:09
strengths and weaknesses relative to the others. It really kind of depends on what your personal
9:13
set of priorities are. So I also spend some time doing autofocus test. In real world situations
9:20
I tested focus for stills, for video, and so I'm going to rank in my one, two, three here in order
9:27
This is autofocus for stills, and we'll get to video in just a moment. Now what's interesting here
9:32
is that both of the Fuji lenses have LM, or a linear focus motor. That is the premium focus system here
9:38
whereas the Sigma is rocking an STM focus motor, that on paper it would seem like the Fuji lenses have the advantage
9:45
But the problem is that this isn't linear motors in the sense of something that Fuji is released in the last year or two
9:52
but rather both of these lenses are showing age at this point, about a decade old
9:56
And as a byproduct of that, I'm finding that even though they have linear motors
10:00
the focus tech is starting to show its age. So actually, the best lens here for still's auto focus is the sigma
10:06
It has less pulsing and settling when it comes to actual focus acquisition, and so it's a little bit more confident
10:14
You can see that it makes those transitions nice and quick, both indoors and outdoors
10:19
It doesn't really slow down much indoors. I also found that it has not only faster speed for autofocus, but the feel of the manual focus ring is better
10:30
So the manual focus simulation, it's more of a smooth actual focus action as opposed to a visible
10:36
stepping, which unfortunately is the case with the Fuji lenses. And so you can see in all of these
10:42
tests that the Sigma actually does really strong in all of the stills. And in real world shooting
10:47
it just gets the job done. Number two is the 16 to 55 millimeter. It does have good focus speed
10:54
However, you can see that sometimes there's less confidence. There's a quick, maybe nine-tenths of the way
11:00
and then a little bit of a settle before it locks on. I found that it was better outdoors than what it was
11:06
indoors when it came to that. I also found that the manual focus felt very stepped, and so it was
11:12
like literally little notches moving manual focus forward, not a smooth simulation of manual focus
11:18
The 18 to 55 millimeter is in third place, and I think it shows its age the most. It has the
11:23
least focus confidence and speed in my test, and particularly indoors, I found that it was
11:29
hampered by having that dimmer maximum aperture and that slowed things down just a little bit further It did there was the most marked difference between indoor and outdoor performance but it just means there going to be a lot of situations that you going to be working with
11:44
reduced light, and the focus system just isn't confident enough that aging focus technology
11:50
isn't as confident even on, you know, even though with all the helps of a great focusing body like
11:55
the XH2. Manual focus also feels very, very stepped as well. And so I was surprised by my results here
12:03
but I definitely preferred the Sigma of the three. It's the newer technology that wins here
12:08
Now, when it came to video, things weren't quite as clear there
12:12
So my number one was actually the 16 to 55 millimeter, though none of them are particularly impressive
12:18
and it's in part because still video auto focus on Fuji is not topped here
12:23
So I did find that the 16 to 55 millimeter did a good job in confidence
12:28
in making my focus pulls, one to the other. you can see that there's a nice smooth and quick transition without a lot of settling around
12:37
I also found that it did a good job with my hand test, and so good transitions from the eye to the hand
12:43
and back there. So it did quite good with that. I also found that when zooming while shooting
12:50
video, that there is the least amount of warping that you can see along the edges, and that will
12:55
if you don't know what that is, you'll see it more in some of these others, unfortunately. What I did find as a big negative is that when I needed to just shoot static shots where I wanted to just keep a subject and focus
13:06
I found that it was very prone to pulsing. And so you can see in this shot of these flags, focus is just coming and going, and it did a lot of that
13:13
It just wouldn't settle down. And so it's the best, but it's not fantastic
13:18
Number two is I'm going to call it a tie because there's some strong strengths and weaknesses with both of the Sigma 18 to 5050 and then the food
13:27
18 to 55 millimeter. So when it comes to the 18 to 55 millimeter, it did a, again, pretty good
13:33
job when it comes to the focus pulls. And I found that there was smooth and good confidence in
13:39
that. The hand test was just a little bit less responsive. It made the transitions back and
13:44
forth, but you see there is a pause before it reacts in a way that I didn't see with the 16 to 55
13:50
millimeter. The unfortunate thing here is that not only does it do some of the pulsing and not holding focus of the 16 to 55 millimeter, you can definitely see that warping as you zoom in and out. And so that's something that's really annoying if you're wanting to do zooming shots because it's not smooth and it's very obvious. Now the Sigma, it didn't do quite as well when it came to the kind of going back and forth with the focus pulls. It's just less confident and there's some visible steps that time
14:20
On the other hand, it did really good with my hand test, and it was also by far the most stable for just holding static shots
14:31
And so I appreciated that, but unfortunately, it very obviously warps probably the most when you are zooming in and out
14:38
And so that warping is really, really annoying. And so none of them are great, unfortunately, but I would say the 16 to 55 has the least amount of flaws of the three
14:48
So how about some image quality comparisons? I have done a ton of various tests along the way, and for the sake of time, I'm just going to give you summaries of what I found
14:58
I'll break it down in different categories. We're going to start with Vignette and Distortion
15:02
So I'm going to give a tie between the 16 to 55 and the 18 to 55 from Fuji here
15:08
The 16 to 55 millimeter has a little bit more distortion. I used a plus 22 to manually correct, and it did leave a mild mustache pattern behind
15:18
but vignette is the lowest of the three here. It's only a plus 48 under two stops
15:24
That wide diameter pays off here. The 18 to 55 millimeter has a little bit less distortion
15:31
It doesn't go quite as wide, so it's a plus 19 to correct. But the vignette's a little bit heavier at a plus 59
15:38
The sigma is worse at both of those things. It needed a plus 24 to correct, and all three of them, there is still a mild mustache pattern left behind
15:47
But when it comes to the vignette, that tiny diameter here really, really gives us a hit
15:53
It is a plus 92 to correct for that, almost maxing out the slider in lightroom
15:58
And so obviously that is a negative factor there. How about chromatic aberrations
16:03
Number one, once again, is the 16 to 55 millimeter. It does a really, really strong job of just avoiding aberrations
16:12
And so here I use the side of a classic lens because that
16:17
imprinted white areas really shows that fringing. And you can see that there's just a little bit of fringing
16:22
after the plane of focus, not bad here. Second is the other Fuji, the 18 to 55 millimeter, though
16:29
There's a bit of an asteris there in that it has at 55 millimeters
16:34
it's at F4. So there's less depth of field there. And so a little bit less opportunity to see the fringing
16:40
but it definitely was better controlled both before and after the plane of focus
16:44
than our third place, which is the sigma. and it definitely showed the strongest fringing both before and after the plane of focus
16:52
So we've got some clear wins for the Fugis here to this point, but things are about to turn around
16:58
When it comes to resolution, surprisingly, the smallest, lightest, least expensive lens here is the best lens optically
17:06
And I was really, really surprised by this outcome. I found that both on my chart test and in real world results, of which I shot a lot of controlled comparisons
17:16
that it was just the winner It was better in the chart test more consistent wide open at 18 millimeters and at 50 millimeters And it just had better contrast it had better detail more consistency across the frame But then also when I did these real world results
17:36
I found that shooting these tests side by side by side that I consistently saw better in results
17:43
from the sigma, better contrast, better detail in real world results. Even in the real world results
17:49
looking at 200% magnification, you can see that the sigma holds up better. I also
17:54
found that at the telephoto end, even when it stopped down to F5.6, you can see in these comparisons
18:00
that there's no question that the Sigma is the better of the two lenses at F5.6 for both
18:06
and as we're going to see, this is the last place by a pretty good margin. And so this is the more
18:12
competitive. The 16 to 55 is the more competitive of the two Fuji lenses, but the Sigma is definitely
18:17
better. So in second place is the 16 to 55 millimeter. It shows better contrast than what the 18 to 55
18:24
millimeter does and a little bit better detail though not as good as the sigma the 18 to 55
18:30
millimeter is way back because above all it has the lowest contrast it shows visibly lower contrast
18:38
throughout the zoom range and also you have an aperture disadvantage that starts as early as 23
18:44
millimeters where it is f3.2 versus the others and even when you stop it down it never really
18:50
catches up. I also found in these comparisons here, the Sigma shows better contrast on textures
18:58
either wide open or stop down. And you can see side by side that it definitely best, you look at
19:04
those ropes, there's more texture showing on the Sigma versus the 16 to 55 millimeter. And so a pretty
19:10
clear win here for the Sigma. Here's a few different shots side by side, within a couple of minutes
19:16
of each other. And while, you know, if I was to sit there and to think
19:20
long, long, and hard, I might say, yeah, I think I like the Fuji color a little bit better
19:25
As you can see, it is so close that the difference is negligible, and so it's kind of a wash
19:31
Finally, when it comes to bouquet, the Sigma actually takes a win here
19:36
The bocha is a little bit smoother, as you can see in this comparison, that in the out-of-focus area
19:41
doesn't do anything weird with the specular highlights, and the overall blur is not bad
19:47
the 16 to 55 millimeter and the 18 to 55 millimeter are again a little bit of a wash the 16 to 55 millimeter it has really it has the busiest bouquet of the three and that surprised me because I feel like I typically like real world shots but when I actually break down the bowcat there's a lot of swirls and onion looks going on in there so I didn't love that but while the 18 to 55 millimeter is a little bit smoother it can't produce as much of the bowcat. It's a lot of the bowcat. It can't produce as much of the bowels
20:17
boca. And so there is your trade-off. Backgrounds are going to be less blurred
20:21
using this lens. And so the Sigma does the best job of balancing
20:25
those things. It has the F2.8 aperture, even on the telephoto-M. And also the quality of the bocha is a little
20:31
bit smoother. So in conclusion, after all of that, I would choose the Sigma if I
20:37
were looking for the smallest and lightest lens with the cheapest MSRP. It is
20:43
the most modern lens. And so it feels like it's got a few more years of life
20:47
in it compared to the older Fuji lens, it has the best auto focus for stills, and it has
20:52
the best rural world image quality on the higher resolution sensor. And so those are some very strong reasons to consider the Sigma, particularly when it is
21:03
so inexpensive. I would choose the 18 to 55 millimeter only for a couple of reasons
21:08
If you have an older camera and you don't have in-body image stabilization and a lower resolution
21:14
point, I would still consider this lens. It can be a good value, can be had it in a kit as a
21:20
cheaper price, and having that optical stabilizer can make a huge difference for video capture
21:26
I would choose the 16 to 55 millimeter if your priority is having the most professional grade
21:32
and more importantly, it's really important to get that wider zoom range. It has the best
21:38
zoom range, but the ability to go wider, I think, is probably the most compelling reason to consider
21:43
it also has the most functional aperture ring here. It has the lowest amount of fringing
21:49
and it has the lowest amount of vignette here and it's very close in the lowest amount of
21:56
distortion. Obviously it's showing its age somewhat when it comes to the sharpness and the
22:01
bouquet and these things are just kind of betrayed a little bit more on the higher resolution body
22:06
but it still has some compelling things going for it. The Sigma wins a lot of these comparisons
22:12
I think in large part because it's a more modern lens. And these Fuji zooms are really starting to show their age
22:18
in some key areas. And I think it's very likely that they will be replaced soon
22:23
There's already been rumored that a 16 to 55 millimeter F2.8 to F4.8 WR lens is on the way
22:31
I don't know if that's a replacement just for this lens or considered to be a replacement for both
22:35
I don't know. But clearly Fuji, I'm sure, is aware that these lenses are aging
22:40
and they need something new that's ready to handle this 40 megapixel sensor
22:45
I'm Dustin Abbott, and I hope that this deep dive into all of this
22:50
has helped you to maybe see things a little bit more clearly, and if you're in the market for one of these lenses
22:55
to maybe have some more clear direction on making that decision. You can find links to my original reviews of each one of these lenses
23:03
in the description down below, as well as buying links for all three of them
23:07
Thanks for watching. Have a great day, and let the light in