Sigma has announced the 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM with optical stabilization. The new lens will be available for Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Sony and Pentax mounts. Combination of a 13.9x zoom with Optical Stabilization and Hypersonic Motor will surely attract lot of users. Well Tamron 18-270mm VC is still the Zoom king of the DSLR superzooms but Sigma is getting closer with this attempt.

One thing I wonder is that if the Optical Stabilization will be offered with the Sony and Pentax mount versions, because as you know these bodies already have their own in-body stabilization system and the 3rd party lens manufacturers did remove this feature on the previous models in the past due to this reason. The next question would be what happens if in-lens stabilization and in-body stabilization can work together? Lets wait and see...

Sigma 18-250mm DC OS HSM Specifications and Press Release:

January 14, 2009: The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of new SIGMA 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM on March 10th, 2009.

The SIGMA 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM incorporates Sigma’s original anti-shake compensation function, with a 13.8 times zoom ratio. As opposed to having an anti-shake function in the camera body, this lens’s Hybrid Optical Stabilizer provides not only an anti-shake function for the camera body, but also compensates for image shaking in the view finder as the Optical Stabilizer is built in to the lens.

Incorporating four Special Low Dispersion glass elements and three aspherical lens elements provides excellent image quality throughout the entire zoom range.

This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 45cm (17.7 inches) at all focal lengths and a maximum magnification of 1: 3.4 reproduction ratio, making it ideal for close-up photography. An inner focusing system eliminates front lens rotation, making it suitable for use with circular polarizing filters and the supplied petal-type hood. Incorporating super multi layer coating reduce the ghost in the backlight photography.

Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM specifications
Maximum format size APS-C / DX
Focal length 18-250mm
Diagonal Angle of view 69.3º - 5.7º (1.7X APS-C)
Maximum aperture F3.5
Minimum aperture F22
Lens Construction • 18 elements/14 groups
• 3 aspheric elements
• 4 SLD elements

Image Stabilization Yes
Number of diaphragm blades 7
Minimum focus 45 cm
Maximum magnification 1 : 3.4
AF motor type Hyper Sonic Motor
Filter thread 72 mm
Supplied accessories • Front and rear caps
• Lens Hood
• Soft Case
Weight 630g (22.2 oz)
Dimensions 79mm diameter x 101mm length
(3.1 x 4 in)
Lens Mount Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sigma, Sony

---