Episode 009: Testing the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8

Have you ever owned something you liked, but it just sat in a drawer? That’s how I was with the Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8. I really love that lens, but I never really used it. So, I thought maybe I’d sell it to someone else, and when my friend Sean hit me up, I sold it to him. Won’t you know, as soon as I sold it I was offered a photography job where I needed a standard zoom lens. Since I didn’t use the Tamron one that much, I figured I’d pick up the cheaper Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 instead. It’s smaller and about $200 cheaper too.

The Sigma is a cheaper feeling lens and has a shorter range than the Tamron; however, it’s also smaller and lighter. That’s basically the main difference, but this isn’t about the Tamron, it’s about my last week with the Sigma. So let me just say from the jump, I love it. I think it’s a great value that renders colors and scenes beautifully. It’s also easy to tote around and fits nicely with the X-T4. Honestly, it’s getting pretty hard to buy a “bad” modern lens.

What I like the most about the lens is the softness it has, which isn’t a feature Sigma probably had intended on advertising. It is almost like the lens has a CineBloom filter on it even if it’s just a 5% one. That softness is what makes the lens so appealing to me. When it’s mixed with the scenes I like to shoot and the colors I like to go for, it works really well. It’s kind of hard to explain, but hopefully, you see it in the photos.

Another reason I love the lens has nothing to do with the lens at all, and it’s the fact that I’ve been liking what I’ve been photographing lately. To be honest, I think that is a lot of it. I have shot 98% of my photos since 2020 with the Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4, and only using that focal length is making things more exciting for me. I know you’re thinking, “Well, you already had something like the Tamron,” and this is true. However, when I was using that and the 11-20mm from them, I was shooting for them and not myself. They are wonderful and like my “style,” but they don’t want photos of the backs of stores or abandoned cars.

To cap this little impression or review, whatever you’d like to call it, the Sigma 18-50mm is a lens that I really enjoy. It is probably going to live on my camera for a while. Especially since I need it for “work” if you can call it that. It opened my eyes to the 28mm and 35mm focal lengths that I thought I didn’t like. When this project is over there are two things that are going to happen. Either I’m keeping this lens for the foreseeable future or I’m buying a 23mm f/1.4 Fujifilm lens. I’m starting to love that length a lot.

Here are some more sample photos:

Before we end this, I want to highlight Brett Wood’s new book, A Different Light. He has a Kickstarter up now with preorders for the book. If you’re interested, you can find it HERE.

A Different Light is a premium coffee table photography book that boasts 69 images created by Brett Wood from in and around the city of Brisbane. It will be produced as a spiral-bound book, wrapped in a satin and scuff-free cello glaze cover, and will include the following details:

• A4 landscape

• Color process, double-sided on Photographic pages: 72 leaves printed CMYK single-sided, printed 4 color process double-sided on 170gsm satin

• ISBN 978-0-6485752-1-4

Forewords are written by award-winning painter, Robert Brownhall and award-winning photographer, sculptor, and artist, Chris Bennie.