Stuck between two lenses!.. help me decide

[MrcinaGTI]

Hello everyone. I'm new here and have a question.
I'm going to Costa Rica with my gf in few weeks and I want to pick up a new lens for my sony A200. I don't need anything too extreme or fancy. I'm trying to not go over $250. I've narrowed my choices down to:
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8-4.5 DC OS HSM Zoom For Sony A200 ($200)
- or -
Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Sony A200 ($230)
I like Sigma bc it has a lower f-stops but it only goes up to 50mm... and I would like to have all in one lens, like this Tamron that goes up to 200mm. Now, most of the pics i shoot are outside. I use it most for portraits, landscape, cars etc. I also have 50mm f/1.7 that I use indoor with low light, but would love to have a fish eye sometimes soon. Also have stock lens 18-70 sony lens, but its getting very boring.
Tell me what would you rather have and why.. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Sigma

Tamron

 

[Goontz]

Of those two choices, and for an all-in-one walk around lens, the 18-200 is better simply because of the range it provides. If using it mostly outdoors, you probably wouldn't miss f/2.8 much anyways. Like you say, the 18-50 does have a larger maximum aperture, but would be even nice if it was constant f/2.8 through the entire zoom range instead of being variable.

 

[robertwsimpson]

get the tamron 17-50mm f/2.8... it costs a little bit more, but it's an amazing lens!

 

[TJ K]

For 250 dollars my advice would be to go here and rent some nice glass probably more than one lens for 250 and you will be able to take awesome quality shots instead of using a lens that covers everything and will give you pretty bad quality and all those problems. Renting is an awesome choice when on a budget. GL

 

[islaguy]

Personally I would go for the Sigma. The lenses with large zoom ranges tend to be not quite as sharp and are often slower. Sigmas are very impressive quality in general, I have 4 of them and have been very happy.

 

[Brick]

Having looked into both those lenses (but not actually owning either) I'll say that the reviews for the sigma 18-50 are better than the 18-200 (in terms of sharpness), but I've also read better things about the 17-50 Tamron than the 18-50 Sigma. Again I own none of these, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

[Lazy Photographer]

get the tamron 17-50mm f/2.8... it costs a little bit more, but it's an amazing lens!

ditto...

 

[Goontz]

Of course the pro-level, constant aperture builds from either manufacturer are better than what was linked, but the question was specifically asking between those two. Not to mention that "a little bit more" is nearly two times what the target cost was.

 

[Derrel]

Tough choice,really. The Sigma has the wider aperture which would make give some advantage in indoor or low-light, non-flash work. The Tamron has a much,much wider range of focal lengths. I thin k since you already have a decent 18-70mm kit lens, that it would be better to go with the 18-200mm zoom, since you want to have an "all in one" zoom lens, and the 18-200 qualifies as that more than an 18-50mm lens.

 

[table1349]

While I agree with the concept that Darrel is speaking of, I would recommend that you go to a good photography shop, (surely they have one in Atlanta) and try out the 18-200 and see if you are satisfied with the image quality you get.

Zoom lenses, even the best zoom lenses are a compromise between convenience and quality. The wider the zoom range, generally the larger the compromise. That is one reason I am not a fan of the all in one lens concept.

Something to think about would be having a two lens kit and finding something in say the 70-200 range to go with the lens you have now. I don't know what is available for Sony since I am a Canon shooter but it would maybe be worth checking into. Good luck with what ever you decide.