Sigma 18-50/2.8 vs Fuji 18-55/2.8-4

Triumph of hope over experience?

I see the Sigma 18-50/2.8 praised on forums, but the only head-to-head optical test is at imaging-resource.com (though the Sigma is an earlier model) showing the XF 18-55 to have much better edge sharpness across its range.

www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/sigma/18-50mm-f2.8-ex-dc-macro/review/

www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/fujinon/xf-18-55mm-f2.8-4-r-lm-ois/review/

Sigma 18-50/2.8 purple fringing is quite bad, as shown here, however DxO PhotoLab can largely correct it by clicking everything in the Chromatic Aberration group.

www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/3747293391/sigma-18-50mm-f2-8-dc-dn-sample-gallery-dpreview-tv/6207343905

The XF 18-55 costs less when purchased with body. Weight is about the same. XF 18-55 has OIS. Seems like an easy choice.

Chris and Jordan did a comparison of these two on DPReview TV I think, might be worth looking up.

Their conclusion (as I remember it) was that they were both good, the Fuji had the edge in some cases and if you owned that lens you probably wouldn’t want to swap it, BUT the constant aperture of the Sigma did mean much better subject separation at the long end and that might be worthwhile to you, depending on what you want to do with it.

Thanks. Here's their video review. The section on chromatic aberration seems wrong, because out-of-camera JPEG samples from the XF 18-55 show very little purple fringing, compared to the sample I posted above. Jordan's sharpness tests show that the new Sigma 18-50/2.8 has vastly improved corner sharpness over previous models.

www.dpreview.com/videos/1608043508/dpreview-tv-sigma-18-50mm-f2-8-dc-dn-vs-fujifilm-18-55mm-f2-8-4-lm

There's also a DPreview forum thread about these lenses mounted on X-S20, however nobody remarked on how well, or how poorly, camera body stabilization works in concert with lens OIS.

It's true the Sigma gives more subject separation at the long end, but the DOF difference between 50/2.8 and 55/4 at 10 meters is only .92 meter. As the video shows, Sigma has better corner sharpness at that focal length.

I recently purchased Sigma 18-50/2.8 and have been using it on X-S10 (IBIS) for two weeks now. I am very satisfied with the lens. It shows almost no chromatic aberration. I have uploaded some images into the following gallery in highest resolution. The images were taken as RAW and have been processed without sharpening in Darktable.

redbrook.smugmug.com/Miscellaneous/Pictures-to-share/n-hzkBCX

They were not taken to show any strength or weakness of the lens. The pictures only give quality indications from the everyday situation.

The lens has also macro feature. The last image is a macro shot at 18 mm/2.8.