camera geeks! help!

[dakegra]

Oh lj photography geeks, I'm after some advice.

As I may have mentioned, next year is a Big Year in birthday terms. One of those with a zero at the end, if you get my drift. Kate has been cajoling relatives to donate towards a new lens for my camera.

I had been looking at the Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-5.6.

Pros:

• I don't currently have a zoom lens - longest I have is 18-55mm kit lens


• this is an all-in-one lens - 18mm for wide(ish) angle stuff, 200mm for zoom.


• relatively affordable


• decent reviews


• it would replace my 18-55mm kit lens, so would be able to use existing camera bag

cons:

• it's a compromise - jack of all trades, master of none


• it's a *lot* of money, even with donations from family/friends

Then I had a chat with new colleague (and photo geek) Rich, who suggested that I look at the Sigma 50-200mm f4.5-5.6 DC OS HSM DAF

Jacobs are knocking it out for £99 (down from £149), which is less than half the price of the 18-200mm lens

Pros:

• it's significantly cheaper than the 18-200mm


• performance is/should be better as it's covering a smaller zoom range


• K's dad has one, so I know exactly what I'm getting


• I could get that *and* a decent camera backpack to hold all my gear for less than the 18-200mm lens

Cons:

• it's yet another lens to lug about (though if I got the new bag too, it'd be less of an issue)


• it'd mean swapping lenses more often


• K's dad has one, so theoretically I could borrow his (however, this is unlikely as he's away quite a lot)

As ever, thoughts, comments and suggestions welcome!

Comments

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

the 18-200 would replace my 18-55 lens, so it'd be a direct swap. Same number of lenses in bag, keep existing bag.

:-)

I've pretty much talked myself into the 50-200, I think...