Introduced in 2008, this lens is a step up from a kit zoom but still has much in common with the kit glass from Canon and Nikon. Like the big guys, the Sigma offers image stabilization, a near-silent HSM focusing motor, and a street price of around $200.Sigma’s 18–50mm does them better, however, on several fronts: It’s faster, with top-drawer glass (three aspheric and two low-dispersion elements), a stationary barrel, and metal lensmount. It scales up to a 29–80mm equivalent on our test Canon, to 27–75mm on other APS-C bodies.