Hi everyone.

I'm sure that if this is the wrong place to request opinions of the following two lenses, someone can either berate me or move it to the correct place!

As the title says, I'm new to photography. I've taken pictures before but never have I taken pictures with a purpose. I just got a Nikon D80 with a Nikon DX VR 55-200 F4 -
5.6G IF-ED lens. I'm looking at getting another lense and was wondering if anyone could compare the following:

Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 G IF-ED AF-S DX Nikkor Lens vs. Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 EX DC MACRO HSM Lens

I'm in Canada and right now there is about a $750-800 difference between the two. Anyone know what the pros and cons of the two lenses are? I know it looks better to have all one brand (I try to do that with my golf clubs! lol) but does it matter as much to the "purists" of photography?

If as a beginner the Sigma is still going to look like the cats meow to me, is there something (a third lens?) I should consider here with the rest of the money? Or pocket it for now until I become more experienced?

I'll be getting a SB-800 speedlight rather soon too, so take that into consideration.

Thank you for the opinions and again, sorry if this is in the wrong section.

Fally
aka Scott

Nikon D80
Nikon 55-200 F4-5.6G IF-ED DX VR