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

[sugar-shrapnel.livejournal.com]

Surely 'it's yet another lens to lug about (though if I got the new bag too, it'd be less of an issue)' and 'it'd mean swapping lenses more often' count against the first lens as well as the second...?

On the other hand go with the one you'd have got most use out of this year if you'd had it with you on hols and for lunch hours. :)

[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...