I'm using this lens on a Nikon D200. After destroying my 18-200mm Nikon VR I wanted a cheap "walkabout lens" that I could risk destroying as I do a lot of industrial shooting where it's easy to whack a lens.
I bought this lens despite some less than glowing reviews. I really liked the self-contained design where nothing changes length when zooming or focusing. I also liked the idea of it being f/2.8 at the wide end.
This lens has a boatload of chromatic aberration at wider settings which is it's chief drawback. I use Lightroom 2.6 and it's perfectly correctable which enhances its wide end sharpness as well. This lens is sharp enough at all zooms stopped down just a little. It's really quite a surprise. I wouldn't try to make billboards with it, but it should print up to 12x18 with a little care in shooting. The optical stabilization on mine is really very good and I'm impressed with how far it allows me to push the shutter speed on still life shots.
Like most inexpensive wide lenses, it shows corner softness and vignetting at wide settings but this can actually be used to push the viewer into the center of the shot, or vignetting can be corrected in post. Wide open at 50mm (it's full zoom limit) it's soft all over but sharpens up by even F/5.6 on my copy. Not bad since most lenses in this price range are already F/5.6 at this zoom and have to be closed further to get any sharpness at all.
I have a number of Nikon and Sigma lenses and this one sits on my camera almost all the time. I've grown to know and trust it in just the short time I've had it. The autofocus has been very good in low light -contrary to some reviews I've read elsewhere -and I have to say this lens is easy to like once you understand its limitations.
For the very low price this lens sells for and the features it has (non-rotating filter mount, internal zoom and focus) it's a very attractive lens for a shooter like myself.
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