This Sigma Lens is GOAT! for Sony FX30 ZV-E10 & a6000 series

This is the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 lens for the Sony APS-C A6000 series cameras. And the reason why this little lens is such a big deal is because up until now, there hasn't been a super portable constant f2.8 aperture zoom lens that offers this amount of range. Others that have come before it are great, but some might find them just a tad bit too big. And for the price of just $549, it's hard not to check out what this tiny but mighty lens can do. We're currently in London right now, so let's go ahead and see what we can capture with this cutie right here. Let me tell you guys this. We've been here for nearly two weeks now, and quite frankly, I've been pushing to make this video at the very last minute, desperately waiting for some sun. The weather has been a brutal here. Apparently London is no stranger to gray weather, which makes it difficult for me because I'm a sunshine and rainbows and unicorn type of photographer. I just feel better having some vitamin D in my photos, you know? But as a photographer, you got to adapt to your surrounding, make the best with what you got, and that's what this lens is all about. 18-50 is quite versatile for any situation. If we think in terms of full frame, we're really getting a 27-75mm, which is a pretty standard mid-range zoom lens, ideal for landscape, portrait, street, etc. Pretty much anything and everything. But what truly makes this lens special is the size and the range and the aperture value that you're getting from this 18-50mm f2.8. Prior to this, we've only ever seen kit lenses that are usually supplied with the cameras. An upgrade to that would have been one of the few f4 zoom lenses, which are great lenses by the way, but you know, they're f4. It still leaves a lot to be desired by folks who are looking for a faster aperture zoom lens. However, in the recent years, we're beginning to see some constant f2.8 aperture zoom lenses. The first one being from Sony, the 16-55mm f2.8G, and later Tamron came out with their own 17-70mm f2.8. Now both lenses are excellent by the way, but none of them come close to Sigma's little offering. And I say that very positively by the way. Of course, there are a few drawbacks. The Sigma does start off a bit narrow, only 18mm. And when you compare it to other zoom lenses, particularly the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8, or some of the other f4 zoom lenses that have reached beyond 50mm, then yes, the Sigma does fall a bit short. However, I argue Sigma's little offering is actually pretty enticing. Only 290g. This is a very small and light lens. Casual, travel, and vacation photographers especially are going to love carrying this around. It's not going to stress out your backs or your shoulders, and this can be the one and done zoom lens. Hell, if you want multiple lenses, you'll have some room in your bag to carry a few extra small primes, like the famous Sigma 1.4 Trios for APS-C. Not just for photos, but for the video shooter inside of me. Sounds a little bit weird, but I really appreciate how lightweight and small this lens is, and it just really packs a punch. Again, if we think in terms of full frame, we're getting a 27-75mm, which is a standard mid-range zoom lens, so we can get lots of variety of different shots, wide, medium, and close-ups. It is excellent for balancing on a small gimbal like the new Zhiyun Crane M3 that I have right here, and this is a pretty gnarly setup. This is the Sony A1, put into crop mode, use it with the Sigma 18-50, and boom, I have a 4K 60, and I can take advantage of the full spectrum of this lens right here without stressing the motor. What a fantastic setup. Speaking of videos, we shot a majority of the B-roll of the Tamron 35-150 review, you know, this hunk of a big bad boy right here in Paris, with the tiny but mighty Le Sigma, and while both lenses are incredible for video work, we'd much prefer to carry the Sigma around. Sure, the Tamron 35-150 is a full frame lens with full frame advantages, i.e. the low light, the bokeh, etc., but we just find the Sigma can do everything that we need it. Let's move on to the autofocus tests. I was just about to say I find the video autofocus with the Sigma 18-50 looking to be very smooth, which it is on the Sony A1. When I tried it on the A6600, however, it seems to have a habit of going past the mark. What I mean by that is, as it's grabbing focus on me, it would get me in focus, but then post a little bit too much where I get out of focus for a split second, and then it puts me back into focus again, which is odd. When I compare the autofocus with the Sony 16-55G lens it did not have the same issue. So here's what I speculate. Because the A1 has a more advanced autofocus system and more focus setting controls over the A6600, it's able to control the Sigma's autofocus pull a bit better. So when Sony comes out with a new APS-C body with the updated autofocus technology, the Sigma should work like how we've seen it on the A1. For now, it's not too bad on the A6600, and when it's tracking a moving subject towards the camera, it keeps up fairly well. And I suspect that to be the same with the A6100, 6400, and the ZV-E10. Now, for those of you who want to pull focus manually, the Sigma has a pretty fine control. Very responsive. And looking at the edge of the frame here, the focus breathing is quite minimal. Not very noticeable, so that's great. But I gotta say, I really missed the oomph of the 16mm. The 18mm here is decently wide, but when you compare it to other similar zoom lens with a 16mm, even though it's just two millimeters apart, it is a significant difference. Of course, to include a 16mm f2.8 would mean a bigger barrel size, so I guess that's the trade-off right there. Thankfully, when it comes to APS-C, we can pick up another smaller lens to pair up with the Sigma. Something like a Sony 10-18 or the latest Tamron 11-20 would be a great complement to cover the wide end of things. But what about those who wanted a 16-50 with the f2.8? Well, we do have it. The 16-55 f2.8G from Sony, which has been out for a few years now. It is bigger and heavier compared to the Sigma, but in the realms of APS-C, it's still considered small and light, and a majority will still find it incredibly manageable. But for almost three times the cost over Sigma, is it worth it? Let's take a look. Sharpness-wise, Sony comes out a bit sharper overall, both at f2.8 and f9. When examining the corners, Sony has better corner sharpness despite having the wider end and less vignetting compared to the Sigma. In terms of chromatic aberration, it is apparent on the Sigma as we can see traces of bluish and greenish tint in certain areas. Now, I do want to emphasize that distortion, vignetting, and some chromatic aberration can be corrected in your editing software, so it may not be a huge deal if you do do some post-processing to your photos. Personally, I don't mind the vignetting too much. I personally add a little bit more to my photos to place more emphasis on my subjects, but some people would prefer to have no vignetting at all. Bokeh on the other hand, it's decently nice and smooth. Very round balls from the Sigma. Actually, when you compare it with the Sony, the Sony looks a little bit rougher. Now, when shooting directly at the sun, there's a very apparent octagonal shape that appears on the screen. Usually, if there's a good flare control, it would be at least circular or very minimal at the very least, but this octagonal shape can be distracting for some, especially if it isn't being used intentionally. Starburst, on the other hand, at f9 looks a bit interesting to me. With the Sony, the shape looks nice and pointy, but the Sigma looks like it's got some fan blade action going on. Personally, I prefer the pointy ends from Sony, just something that I'm used to seeing from years of lens reviews. The Sigma to me just looks a bit odd. The minimum focusing distance on this lens is crazy, crazier than Sony's, so if you love getting close to something like this juicy burger right here, well, you can. You can get as close as 12.1 centimeters but you can't get closer than us because we be the ones doing all the munching all up in here. Moving on. Keep in mind, none of these lenses here have built-in lens stabilization. Not a big deal for photography, but for videos, do be careful. If you're using an APS-C camera without in-body image stabilization, you will see a lot of shakes, especially if you do a lot of handheld video work. Consider using a tripod or a gimbal with this lens. Now, for cameras with IBIS like the a6600, this would not be a concern. However, if you do often shoot a lot of handheld videos but are not looking to upgrade to a body with in-body image stabilization, then I would urge you to get the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 instead. That one does have lens stabilization built in. Have I already talked about how small and light this lens is? Only 290 grams. Well, 290 grams by itself with the lens is a different story, but the lens itself weighs less than a pound. Now, if you're coming from one of many Sony zoom lenses, do note that the Sigma zooms the opposite direction clockwise, so it might throw you for a loop. Now, the focus ring is actually on the bottom of the lens as opposed to being on the front. That's what I'm used to, but because the lens is so small, it's going to be very easy to adapt. But also, because of the size of this lens, it is missing an autofocus manual focus toggle. Not a big deal for long-time APS-C shooters as most Sony APS-C lenses tend not to have them. But if you're used to having them, just make sure to set one of your custom buttons or quick function menu to have the focus toggle instead. Though it's unclear how much weather sealing this lens actually has, I have been in light rain here in London and this lens is still working A-OK. For filter size, it is 55 millimeters in diameter, just in case you need to pick up some ND filters or polarizer filters or getting some adapting rings to adapt to whatever current filters that you have. And finally, price. 549 US dollars, which is excellent, excellent, excellent pricing for the amount of range and the aperture value that you're getting. Plus, as we've seen throughout this entire video, you're getting some really, really good quality with the Sigma 18-50 F2.8. However, what is my verdict? If you're coming from a kit lens, the standard kit lens that came with your camera, and you're relatively new to photography or videography, I honestly wouldn't recommend the Sigma just because you're not going to see that much of a difference between this lens compared to the one you already have. They have very similar focal lengths. You're likely not going to see why this lens is such a big deal. So I would recommend getting some prime lenses first. The Sigma 1.4 trios are going to be excellent to start with, and I'll have the link in the description box below. The 16 1.4, the 31.4, or even the 56 1.4 is going to give you a tremendous difference from the results that you're getting from your kit lens. But for those of you who have a decent background in photography or videography, you know what to do. This is a fantastic small and versatile zoom lens that you can pick up for a lot of different things, as we've talked about in this video. Now, some of you might be asking, should I replace my Sigma 1.4 trios, or should I get this zoom lens first before getting the Sigma 1.4 trios? And to that, I say, honestly, the zoom and the primes here, they're a perfect complement to each other. You see, the 1.4 from the prime lenses are going to be very, very useful in a lot of situations, especially for portrait shooters. You're going to love that 1.4 for that creamier, melted background blur for your subject. And especially for low light situations, the 1.4 is going to get you out of that mess, as opposed to this F2.8 zoom lens right here. However, for situations where you want that versatility, you know, you don't want to keep constantly changing out your lenses, that's when the 18-50 will really shine for you. Plus, with everything being so small and compact, it really doesn't hurt to pack the zoom and a couple of primes when you go out. However, if you're asking if you should start off with the zoom first or the Sigma trios first, I would honestly say start off with the trio prime lenses first, just because again, they offer a tremendous difference in the results that you will be getting. What about the Tamron 17-70mm F2.8? Should you get that over the Sigma 18-50? Well, the Tamron does have a couple of advantages. One, it has a 70mm reach on the tele end and it has image stabilization built into the lens. Although it is bigger, longer, and heavier compared to the Sigma, it's still not that bad. I argue it's probably one of the best one and done zoom lens for APS-C if you don't mind the size and the weight. So if you're thinking you might need that 70mm on the long end a little bit more often, I'd say go for the Tamron instead. What about the Sony 16-55mm F2.8G? Well, we have that 16mm advantage, plus we have the better image quality, the better build quality, and 100% compatibility with Sony systems. To some people, that is worth paying two and a half times more for, for all those benefits. But to most, the Sigma 18-50 is going to be way more than good enough for a lot of us out there. Let me know in the comments down below, is this going to be your next lens? And if you've already gotten it, share your experience in the comments down below to help others make a decision on whether or not they should get the Sigma 18-50 F2.8. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe if you guys enjoyed this video, and we'll see you guys in the next video. Peace! Vivian and I always strive to bring you guys the best and most unique image and video samples whenever we talk about cameras and lenses. And oftentimes, we have high production costs to make this all happen. It's sponsors like Squarespace that help fund our production budget so we can keep bringing you guys more high-quality samples. So the best way to support us and to help us continue to do what we do is to simply check out how Squarespace can help you. Link down below. Squarespace is an all-in-one platform to create beautiful websites. No coding knowledge whatsoever. Perfect for people like me because I just want to make YouTube videos for you guys and not have to worry about coding my entire website. Simply just select one of their templates to get started. Every aspect is easily customizable with their drag-and-drop feature. Whether you're in need of a portfolio, an e-commerce store, or even a simple blog, design it with Squarespace. Use my link down below to test it out, and when you're ready to launch your first website or domain, use my code jasonvong to save 10% off. Guys, thank you so much for watching. I'll see you guys in the next video. Peace!