I purchased this lens as an upgrade for my Canon 400D 17-55mm kit lens about 6 months ago. I am glad I did! It’s a little gem, that seems to get over looked.
I did plenty of research before parting with my cash, and had my eye on the Canon 17-85mm EFS. However, I stumbled upon a review of this lens and gave it a look. Found one second hand from Misfuds, and £160 and a few days later it was on the front of my 400. Image quality is a huge step up from the kit lens. It works best when stopped down slightly from wide open, and the image is crisp right across the field of my images. Sure, its not in the same class as an L series equivalent, but its not far off. And for a lens costing 4-5 times less I can live with that! The range is good (27-112 in 35mm terms) and is suitable for most applications. I shoot mainly landscapes, and its fine for that.
Another little tricj it does is pretty decent macro. Again, its not a dedicated macro lens, but at 70mm its 1:2.1 ratio is very good. Coupled with the 2.8-4.5 aperture, you can get dome really shallow DOF shots.
It comes with a petal lens hood (Canon's don’t!!) and has enough weight to it to make it feel solid. Its not a plasticky lens, and is built well. Only two functions on the lens itself - AF and MAN, and also a lens lock to prevent lens creep when carrying - however, in practise its not needed as the lens is pretty tight. If you are looking for an upgrade from you kit lens, and are on a budget then you could do a lot, lot worse than to get this Sigma offering. Even new it’s a bargain!
(Written by: Nige76)