Sigma Imaging (UK) Ltd

	Digital Camera ‘The Sigma 18-125mm is wonderfully compact, and at just £240 it’s also the cheapest lens in the group. Along with a very high standard of finish, the lens features Sigma’s latest four-stop OS (Optical Stabiliser) system, which works a treat, as well as super-quiet and reasonably rapid HSM (Hypersonic Motor) auto focus. There’s a lot to love here. Unless you really need the extra telephoto reach offered by the bigger lenses in the group, the Sigma 18-125mm makes an excellent choice for a wide range of camera makes and models. A highly accomplished lens in all respects.'

	PhotoPlus 'You still get a respectable 200mm effective focal length at the telephoto end and there are some big attractions, including Sigma’s fast and near-silent HSM autofocus system, which proved deadly accurate in our tests, wrapped in a compact and lightweight package of very good build quality. Other plus points include excellent sharpness and contrast, the lens producing punchy image quality throughout the zoom range, even at is largest apertures, while distortions are less noticeable than with most other lenses on test.'

	Amateur Photographer ‘For example the camera body-fitting flange is stainless steel rather than the engineering-grade plastic of the Nikkor lens. Zooming is smooth but firm with little creep, although a lock is provided when working at 18mm. This is a very able lens that should prove capable and durable over a long working life. The main difference is in the build quality where the comparison goes entirely Sigma’s favour. The Sigma zoom is highly competitive and its low cost is helped by a sales potential across six DSLR brands rather than just one.’

	What Digital Camera ‘Sigma specialises in lenses that have a wide range of focal lengths and despite being a 7x zoom this is actually fairly modest by the manufacturer’s standards. The 18-125mm also features two hybrid aspherical elements, a third moulded glass aspherical element and a fourth element that uses super-low dispersion glass. Sigma makes much of this zoom’s close-up capability, which provides a generous maximum reproduction ratio of 0.38x.'