Ronkonkoma, NY—Sigma Corporation of America announced its 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM lens—a multipurpose zoom lens that offers optical stabilization (OS) and covers wide-angle and telephoto to macro photography.
The lens differs from Sigma’s current 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM lens because of its more compact size, its macro capability with a maximum magnification ratio of 1:2.9 and the use of Thermally Stable Composite (TSC) material currently used only by Sigma.
TSC, which is incorporated into the lens barrel and is often compared to polycarbonate, has a high degree of elasticity and exhibits little variation in its structure in extreme temperatures. This means that internal barrel expansion and contraction due to extreme temperature variations are less prevalent. TSC also contributes to the lens’s size reduction. The non-macro 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 without TSC weighs 22.2 ounces and is 3.1×4 inches in diameter, whereas the new macro lens is 16.6 ounces and 2.9×3.5 inches in diameter.
“We’re constantly trying to improve and expand our lens lineup, and this addition is no exception,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. “By redesigning the lens and adding TSC, we are able to offer this very compact, feature-rich lens that is flexible enough to tackle a range of photography, including landscape, sport and macro. This is key for the everyday photographer who wants to travel light but pack the punch of a complete camera bag.”
Sigma optimized the lens’s power arrangement by incorporating double-sided aspherical lenses and reexamining the design to achieve a more compact filter diameter. The lens has an approximate 13x zoom ratio with a filter size of 2.8 inches in diameter. Sigma’s OS system, one special low-dispersion glass and three aspherical lens glasses work to compensate for camera shake and enable correction of color aberration, respectively. The lens is also equipped with super multilayer coating to reduce flare and ghosting, a hyper sonic motor (HSM) to help ensure fast, quiet autofocusing, and a rounded, seven-blade diaphragm to create an attractive round blur to the out-of-focus areas. Also featured is a brass-made bayonet mount applied on the surface to reinforce strength for long-term use.
This lens will be available in Sigma, Sony, Nikon, Canon and Pentax mounts, starting with Canon mounts coming in July 2012. Pricing and availability for other mounts have yet to be announced. sigmaphoto.com
