Sigma C 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM review - Distortion

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Sigma C 18-300 mm f/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM

28 February 2015

Arkadiusz Olech

6. Distortion

The chart below presents a comparison between the distortion results of the tested lens, both Nikkors 18–300 mm and the rival Tamron16–300 mm f/3.5–6.3 Di II VC PZD MACRO. Still you must remember two things: the Tamron features a wider focal range so the distortion correction, especially at its wider end, is much more difficult in its case. On the other hand the Tamron was tested on a tad smaller sensor of the Canon 50D (1.6x) so it is very probable its results on a 1.5x sensor would be a tad worse.

	16–18 mm	35 mm	50 mm	100 mm	200 mm	300 mm
Sigma 18–300 f/3.5–6.3 OS	−3.98%	+1.97%	+2.25%	+1.63%	+1.19%	+1.10%
Nikkor 18–300 f/3.5–6.3 VR	−4.81%	+2.24%	+2.71%	+2.10%	+1.54%	+1.46%
Nikkor 18–300 f/3.5–5.6 VR	−5.32%	+1.60%	+2.03%	+2.64%	+2.20%	+1.94%
Tamron 16–300 f/3.5–6.3 VC	−4.68%	+2.17%	+2.50%	+1.97%	+1.45%	+1.36%

Sigma knows how to correct distortion in lenses with wide focal range and with their newest lens they proved it again. Only the more expensive Nikkor fares better in the 35-50 mm range but it is a pyrrhic victory as, because of it, the deformations on both ends are definitely more distinct. Praising the Sigma you should remember two issues, though. Firstly the Tamron’s task was a bit more difficult because there is a huge difference between the 16 mm and the 18 mm focal length. Secondly the Sigma features a bit of moustache distortion at 18 mm and it helps to get a better result. To sum up: both lenses from independent producers prevail here and the Nikkors clearly lose.

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