For those on a budget, the Sigma is well worth a look, with an average street price of £109, though the Nikon fit has a Hypersonic Motor (HSM) adding another £50 or so.

This lightweight lens consists of 12 elements in 9 groups, and is designed to provide optimum quality with APS-C sized sensors, hence the DC moniker.

Performance
The short grip of the zoom ring proves no problem to handle, though the zoom action is fairly the stiff. Conversely, the manual focus ring is deeper and looser than the zoom ring, Sigma deliberately making a point of the manual focus on the lens, which also has a distance scale.

We tested the Canon fit, which lacks the HSM drive but it’s still no slouch, and while it’s more audible than the Nikon and Canon lenses, it’s by no means the loudest.

The lens seems to perform marginally better at the telephoto end, though both focal lengths reach their very similar peak at f/11 and f/16. At the wider end of the aperture scale, the lens is poor to average but does redeem itself as the aperture is closed.