Sigma 70300mm f/45.6 DG APO Macro Telephoto Zoom

I love this lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love this lens. It is a little light-hungry, but as long as you’re using it outdoors during the day you won’t have any problems. For the price, it can’t be beat. Solid construction and tactile feeling to it. I never go anywhere without it in my camera bag.

Well worth the price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This was my first lens after getting started with the world of SLRs. Initially as a novice, I was much apprehensive on seeing such number of available lens but the reviews here helped me choose this one and I am way happy with the results I am getting.

So how do i feel about it? Let me summarize it in a line. For money’s worth this is a real good starter Telephoto lens.

Its tack sharp. Some of the photos I have taken recently on a trip are way better than expected. Many of them are on 300mm and so tack sharp! Even the Bokeh looks nice

For Telephoto: Its a perfect amateur lens that one can take to the zoo or outings. The DOF is just right and captures things real well. Though the zooming and focus might take some used to.. Zoom out, focus and then Zoom in. Well you cannot USM like performance from a $200 lens. In good daylight (around sundown) this can still well work in a hand-held mode for taking photos with a shutter of around 1/50

For Macro: A valued Added feature, but many times i have to wrestle the button to change from Macro to Normal, but the lens is sturdy to handle it. I haven’t tried it extensively for Macro as I seem to have to back up a bit to get subjects into perspective (200 to 300 mm range). And it seems that the DOF is a bit thin for the macro range.

So will i buy a new telephoto lens? Unless you are considering a 70-200mm 2.8L(1200$, into wildlife photography or need ultra fast focusing) as your next choice this is a much versatile and did i say well-worth-the-money lens.

Disappointed
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I found the lens to be unacceptably noisy in zoom operation. Also did not like just how much the zoom extended.

Great lense hands down
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had this lense since I started shooting. I love it! Shoots amazing modling and nature shots! Picture quality is very well. Clear lense. Not the greatest in low light since it is an f4-5.6. If you shooting out side during the day no problems or inside with good lighting its great!

70-300 Zoom Lens for Canon Rebel XTi
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I picked out this zoom lens after much research. I’m still in the learning stages of digital photography but find this zoom to do a superb job. I have some issue stabilizing the camera when the zoom is open to 300 but I think that’s more me than anything else. I have taken crystal clear pictures of wildlife (birds, squirrels, etc.) and am very pleased. The zoom lens was purchased to take baseball pictures of my son and I’m anxiously waiting for spring to get here.

I’ve tested the macro feature and have been pleased with the results at 200-300mm. At times I’ve had trouble turning that feature off but again think that’s something on my end not the cameras.

Outstanding lens, Great price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Bought this lens for my Canon Rebel XTi and am extremely pleased with the picture quality of this lens. I highly recommend this lens, great quality and great price!

REASONABLY GOOD LENS FOR THE PRICE
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
First impressions with the lens:

1. Manual focus ring action is very smooth, but unfortunately, this is not an internal-focus lens (my own fault for misunderstanding the specs), and the front of the lens barrel turns about 30 degrees lock-to-lock with the focus ring. This will be a minor inconvenience when I use a polarising filter.

2. Zoom ring is a little stiff, but not the worst I’ve encountered on 70-300 telezooms selling in this price range.

3. The lens comes with a case (cheap but better than none at all) and a lens hood. The hood is very deep and has no cutout for accessing a polarizing filter, as the Pentax-brand lenses do.

4. The Macro mode is simply an implementation of close-in focusing at 200 to 300 mm zoom. The minimum focus distance is about 3.5 feet even in macro mode so you can’t get really close to the subject. Maximum magnification is 1:2, so this isn’t really a “dedicated” macro lens like the Pentax 100mm (prime) Macro, which lets you get within a few inches of the subject and has a 1:1 magnification. On the other hand, the retail price of the Pentax is almost four times what this Sigma costs.

5. With the lens mounted on my Pentax K20D, the image in the viewfinder throughout the zoom range is surprisingly bright and clear. I had a Tamron 70~300 that I sold last month: the viewfinder image through that lens always seemed dark, even in full sunlight. The optics on this Sigma seem noticeably better.

6. The autofocus motor is quite fast and not as noisy as the motor in my Tamron 70-300 (see #5 above). In Normal mode, autofocus seems pretty reliable, but in Macro mode at close distances the autofocus hunts a lot and often fails to lock. This could also be the fault of the camera itself; the K20D is by no means the class leader in autofocus, as many reviewers have commented. I was hand-holding the camera for this test; the autofocus probably performs better in Macro mode on a tripod. Of course Manual focus is always an option and could be a better choice for Macro shots to begin with.

7. This lens is heavier than I might have expected at this price. This could mean that more of the parts are made of glass and metal instead of plastic, compared to other telezooms in this price range.

8. This lens has a manual Aperture ring. There’s no way to use it on my Pentax K20D, which has only electronic full-automatic aperture controls, but I suppose it’s there to allow the lens to be used with older Pentax models (film cameras?), that have a mechanical DOF preview button.

9. At 300mm the lens gets pretty long, yet the extendable front section of the barrel still feels well-seated and has only a slight amount of “wiggle”; less than my Tamron 70-300 did at any rate. The zoom ring is stiffer than I’d like, but on the plus side this could mean less “zoom creep” than a lens with a looser or smoother zoom ring action.

10. The internal stop point for the focus ring seems to be actually “beyond” Infinity focus. Be aware of this when manual focussing.

Preliminary Conclusion:

This Sigma 70-300 seems to be a step better in overall quality compared to the Tamron 70-300 (which costs about $40 less). I expect to shoot several hundred images with it over the next couple of months, and will expand this review with image quality comments next month. For $210 I don’t expect quite the level of overall brilliance that one gets from a Canon “L” series lens, but if the image quality matches the apparent build quality, I’ll be happy with this as a “walk-around” lens that won’t break my heart if it gets damaged somehow. By comparison, the nearest equivalent Pentax brand lens is the DA 55-300 zoom, 58% more expensive than the Sigma at $330. The Pentax DA does not have an Ultrasonic focus motor, or internal focus optics (so the front of the barrel probably rotates), so the Pentax has no immediately obvious functional advantages over the Sigma. And the Pentax has even less Macro ability than the Sigma, with a maximum magnification of only 1:3.57 (0.28x). So unless the Pentax has substantially better optical quality than the Sigma, I think the Sigma may be a better value. One could take that $120 price savings and invest it in a 50mm f1.4 Prime (always a nice lens to have on hand for low light or portrait situations where you want as shallow a DOF as possible).

Of course if you have really deep pockets, you could spring for Pentax’s premium DA-Star 60-250mm telezoom, for $1308

Great product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My review cannot be very objective. This is my 1st lens telescopic lens. I have nothing to compare this lens to.

Pros:

1)Just under $XXX from amazon (including shipping)

2)Images are crisp and sharp. No noticeable chromatic aberration and vignette. Focus is good. However, I am not a pro-photographer who can catch these minor abnormalities.

3)Macro images are also pretty good. Better than I’ve expected

4)Lens hood and carrying case are included.

5)Not that big. It is actually smaller than my Sigma 24-70mm EX lens.

Cons:

1)The macro/normal switch is a bit tight.

2)Rotating front element making it harder to use a polarizer on it.

I use this budget lens to take outdoor vacation photos. I don’t know if it’s good enough for serious photographing. [...]

You get what you pay for
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The auto focus hunts and very noisy. I found it almost impossible to use the auto focus on my Canon 20D. However, I like the Macro feature

Good for the price, but leaves you wanting more
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had this lens since September 2007, and have used it with a Digital Rebel XTi. I don’t have any regrets about buying since I couldn’t (and can’t) afford either a better long telephoto lens or a better macro lens.

However, it’s limitations become apparent in short order. The zoom action is a little awkward…sometimes too stiff, sometimes with too much slippage. It’s annoying have to manage the macro switch, which can only be engaged at certain zoom and focus ranges.

This lens produces sharper photos than my previous camera, a Canon PowerShot S2 IS. However, it usually isn’t quite sharp enough to take full advantage of a 10 megapixel sensor; comparing apples to oranges, it’s somewhat less sharp than the 18-55mm kit lens at 18mm. Without image stabilization, it’s also a tough lens to keep steady. On just about any shot except in full daylight (and sometimes even then), compromises have to be made between ISO, shutter speed (and the risk of motion blur), and aperture. Don’t expect to use this lens indoors without a flash or a good tripod.

All that said, it’s a versatile lens in daylight, for costing what it does ($177 when I bought it). Anyone shopping for this lens should absolutely own the ($80) Canon 50mm f/1.8, if they don’t have any primes in their bag.

Nice lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Nice lens for the money. Great for a general hobby user. To see better performance requires spending twice as much money. I am very satisfied and the lens seems to be very well built. I believe that it should last a long time!

Great Telephoto for a Beginner
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens after much debating. I was considering the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM and this lens. I finally decided to purchase this lens because of the lower price and the macro mode. For me (a new Dslr owner) this lens does all it needs to do. I don’t miss the IS feature at all, because I usually use a tripod. If you don’t regularly use a tripod or monopod, this lens might not be right for you. Quality wise, it seems to have the same build quality as the kit lens on the Canon XSi. I haven’t had any problems with focus rings being too loose or tight. Coming from a point and shoot, this lens has all the sharpness I need. When used with a tripod I can get tons of great pictures that are really sharp. I even blew some up the other day and they looked great. Yes the AF is kind of slow, and yes this lens probably isn’t as nice as the L series, but you could have figured that out by the price. All in all, this lens can take some great pictures and I have love the extra range it has provided. If you are looking for a cheaper telephoto option, this is a great deal.

300mm on the cheap
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was looking for a 300mm lens that would allow me to take pictures of my family when they were on a field or long distance sporting events. I’m not a great photographer by any stretch, but I’ve received my praises here or there. I’m a very good amateur picture taker without knowing all the terminology. I read all the reviews from others and was a bit worried about the speed and noise of this lens but I wasn’t going to get anything else at this price range so I made the order. Was I glad I did. This lens may be noisier and slower than a genuine Nikor lens, but it does a great job and clear as a bell at half the price. Locks in for a shot and works perfectly with my Nikon D40. Those with more experience may want more, but I don’t think at my level, I could get any better at this price. Now if only I could find a bag to fit all these lenses.

Sigma 70-300 Zoom Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
only had lens a short time. it has takes night pics without flash. which is a plus at sporting events. have not used all feaures of lens , but overall i am satisfied with the performance.this lens will see alot of use in the future for diffrent photo applications. does not add alot of weight unlike my 35mm slr lens did to the canon t-50 camera.

Works well with D60
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m no expert, but this seems to work well with our D60. Comes with case and lense cap. Needs a 58mm filter.

Pick up a used MF Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 70-300 for half the price
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens for the auto focus, not for me but for my wife who wants auto-everything. My intention was to replace my Tamron lens with this one provided the performance was similar. First the good news: on a tripod using mirror lock-up at f8 and 300mm results can be quite good. Sharpness not as good as the Tamron lens but surprisingly better than some older primes I tested it against. The APO designation shows with a bright subject too – I tested it with pictures of the moon and while the Tamron produced the most detail if the exposure was pushed in post processing an obvious blue halo appeared around the moon in the Tamron shot where there was absolutely no such distortion at all on the Sigma lens (note that the halo was not visible on the Tamron pic at normal exposure though). However, you don’t buy this lens for tripod use, you buy it for casual use and the 300mm length is utterly useless for this in my opinion. I found it impossible to get a decent shot at moderate shutter speeds. The lens is very difficult to hold steady because it doesn’t have ENOUGH weight to counterbalance a hand underneath and is incredibly susceptible to vibration as a result. The image wide open in bright sunlight was so soft that I had to switch to MF because I was convinced the AF wasn’t working. In doing that you find another problem – there’s virtually no damping at all on the focus ring, making manual focus trying at best. Contrast all of this with the stately and criminally ignored Tamron lens which handles like a dream and is very sharp throughout its range. With its perfect balance and solid build I can shoot as low as 1/125 at 300mm and still get a good shot. The Tamron’s achilles heel is in very high contrast areas, but I can live with that thanks.

Buy the Sigma if you are on a very tight budget and have to have auto-exposure or auto focus, there’s really no competition then. Just don’t expect greatness (or much at all handheld at 300mm) and you won’t be disappointed. Btw I’m not a Sigma hater – I have an Sd14 which is a great *photographer’s* camera and the 15-30EX is a very good zoom lens, but the consumer end of the Sigma range is a bit hit and miss. I’d take an 18-50DC over the 70-300.

surprising value
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I mainly shoot at wide angles on my 1.6x rebel xt and didn’t have much of a need for a telephoto. However, I wanted to start playing with a telephoto lens and didn’t want to splurge the 600-1500$ for a f/2.8 or large zoom telephoto lens without first getting comfortable photographing in the telephoto range. I already had a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and was used to excellent sharpness on my photos and fast performance in low light. I researched quite a bit on the Sigma, Tamron and Canon 70-300 for a <200$ lens to fit my low budget. There was no decisive winner amongst the three, and I decided to go with the Sigma because it seemed to have more owners and reviews than the Tamron. The Canon didn't have macro which was a drawback. I found this lens to be a very surprising value and very usable as long as you don't expect too much. I was searching for a low-cost telephoto lens with high IQ sacrificing speed and low-light performance, which is exactly what this lens is about.

Some Pros:

~~~~~~~

a) AF is reasonable for such a large zoom (I guess not fast enough for moving objects). I guess people who complain of slow AF must be comparing it to some f/1.2 lens.

b) Works very well indoors using a canon EX 580 II flash (with gold diffuser and tungsten WB) and ISO 1600. Using this combination I am able to get shutter speeds as fast as 1/160 at 300mm. Noise at ISO 1600 is surprisingly low and non-distracting. I was able to use Lightroom to reduce the noise and retain good sharpness.

c) Images were reasonably sharp (my Tamron might have been a wee bit sharper, but you are not going to see that difference in 4×6 or 5×7) both at center and edge at 300mm (newspaper test). I can’t imagine getting more sharpness from a zoom lens at this price.

d) Macro mode significantly reduces the minimum focusing distance.

Limitations:

~~~~~~~

a) Photos typically will require some post-processing. Purists will not bother looking at this lens. I had to twiddle with the color of the images, but the detail was there in the picture. Once fixed, the photos often gave the impression of having been taken with a top quality lens.

b) 8*10 quality photos will require a little bit of work depending on lighting conditions.

c) large minimum focusing distance.

This lens more than served my need for a beginner telephoto lens and will likely stay in the camera bag unless I go in for one of the $$$$ telephotos.

Cheap but pretty cheap.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great for the price, but save your money and get a real lens.

Lens is very slow and soft.

I bought a Canon 70-200mm F/4L for $500 and its 1000x better.

Grate lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I would rate it 5 stars but I think that 5 stars are for “L” lenses so only 4 for this one. I bought it from amazon and it shipped in 2 days. The quality of the photos taken with this lens is very good, very sharp and nice contrast and colors. I use it on a 350D and the focal length is actually 112 – 480. It is really nice in telephoto and I got really nice close-ups. The only thing that might let you down is the focusing. In daylight it works excellent, a little bit noisy but great. In low light conditions you have to use the manual focusing if you want to take any photos. If you use an external flash unit the focusing problem goes away almost 100%. Overall it’s a great lens and for this amount of money I think it’s a really good deal. It’s also small and compact, a bit heavy but you’ll get used pretty quick. If you need a telephoto and you do not want to spend a fortune on L lenses, get this one and you will be more than happy with it.

disappointed with auto focus
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
When I manually focus the lens the picture is of very good quality but the auto focus does not work very well at any distance

Got a budget? Well save for more, ohh you cant justify spending $400 even if you do save, then buy this.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Keep it out of 70 and 300, and you will be fine. The lens produces some decent images from 80-280.

The construction is ok, no seal at the back of lens, but what cheap sigma does? The barrel is much better than my kit lens, but still leaves something to be desired in comparison to the higher end Sigma lenses.

The focus is slow, painfully slow, but that greatly depends on what focus mode you use. I changed my focus mode, and I have never had a focusing problem with this lens(still slow). Its naturally fairly soft in comparison to say my 50mm prime, but what do you expect.

So you get what you pay for, and in this case I think a little bit more.

Josh

If youre on a tight budget. expect bad lens like this
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
To be plain and simple, you can set this camera up on a 300 dollar tripod, with no wind, pointed at an object which doesnt move at a relatively fast shutter speed, and you will still see blur. I did this all the time, and eventually got fed up with it and bought another lens.

The quality of the pictures are terrid to say the least, and the build quality is decent, but not amazing. It makes weird noises after using it for more then a week, and in the dark it can and will focus for an eternity.

Don’t buy this lens, instead, save up some more money and buy a canon lens.

Great inexpensive zoom telephoto lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
While this lens is not a pro lens by any means it does absolutely what you will need it to do in a variety of photographic situations and settings. No hand held telephoto lens will ever give you crisp clear shots (a chief complaint made in other reviews of this lens), but a serious photographer using a telephoto lens knows it has to be stabilized with a tripod or monopod to prevent camera shake and fuzzy pictures. For a $200 lens in the 70-300mm range this lens beats its Canon name brand equivalent with ease. Construction of this lens is better than the Canon and the Macro feature is something that the Canon lens lacks. I’ve used this lens in a variety of situations – sports photography, portrait photography, and landscape/nature photography – and it’s never disappointed me. Another thing that impresses me with Sigma is that they include a lens hood and lens case with every lens they sell – Canon won’t do that!

EXCELLENT lens for the price!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I never use auto focus or image stabilization and get great shots. After reading these reviews I bought these lens and was very pleasantly surprised. As with ANY brand name lens of this long focal range there are greater chances of blurring not because of the build of the lens but because the longer and greater the zoom the more magnified the effects of camera movements resulting in blurred or soft pictures if you don’t brace yourself while shooting. I have many images at the longest (300mm) range for this lens that are sharp and beautiful that I didn’t expect after reading the rest of the reviews. I completely recommend these lens and I would buy them all over again.

A great pro-sumer lens, bargain price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is not a professional lens. It’s not an L-series lens. But it’s a great pro-sumer lens. If you’re a serious amateur without a lot of money, this is an absolute bargain and it gives you a great range with good quality. If you need to get all the way up to the 300mm range and only have $200 in your pocket, this is absolutely the way to go!!! Sturdy lens (feels way sturdier that the comparable Canon lenses), comes with a hood and a case (Canon charges you about $25 for a lens hood and a similar amount or more for a case!). Buy it!

Sigma 70-300mm, Great buy for the money!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I took a chance on this lens and am so happy that I did. The macro function works very well. I bought a used Nikon 105mm macro for $600 and the Sigma lens is sharper in many instances. It’s very lightweight and small which is good for all day shoots. I don’t like carrying around a tripod so I usually hand hold my camera with a mini tripod attached that I place against my chest for support. The results with this cheap $200 Sigma 70-300 lens on my Nikon D90 have been fantastic in bright light. In dim light however, there the images are too soft and the lens hunts a lot. I’m so pleased with this lens that I’m going to invest in the Sigma 50-500mm when I have an extra thousand to spend.

Great for the price….
Rating:5 out of 5 stars

I looks very cheap, but… It’s a great lens!!!

I got this lens to replace my Nikon 55-200 VR which was not sharp at all and with

soft colors. I was adviced to get this lens and was concerned because it does not

have Image Stabilization.

Well, this lens looks very cheap because the exterior coating its like a black

glittery velvet and makes it look like a toy, but thats it. The colors are vivid,

the pictures are amazingly sharp! The lens is a little heavy but does not creep so

that’s a good thing and the macro is helpful but you need a tripod for that, it lets

you get so much closer to your subject (about 3.5 ft) and since it works only in the

range of 200-300mm it lets you get very good close ups.

I am very happy with this lens and specially with what I payed for it, definitely

recommend it to anyone looking for a good telezoom at a low price.

For the price, this lens is amazing!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Considering how much more you have to pay to get a better quality lens at this focal range, this Sigma 70-300mm is incredible. The macro feature is one of my favorite things about this lens, but my absolute favorite thing is the quality images it can produce. sharp, colorful, and impressive. Again, there are better telephoto lenses out there, but not at this price.

I’ve posted a couple sample pictures. I think they will tell more than my review can. A lens can have a lot of specs, but the pictures are what really matters. I’ve upgraded now to the Canon 70-200 IS f/2.8 L lens, which is over 8 times the price, but is it 8 times better? Probably not. I guess that’s the law of diminishing returns. My point is that this is a great lens. I totally recommend this lens over the 70-300mm canon lens in this price range. A much better lens, in my opinion.

Sigma 70-300mm. Worth every buck.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this from USA. Half the price from Sweden.

Great pics, zooms in with high quality.

Only problem, need a bigger bag.

I recommend it. Easy to switch back and forth between lenses.

(Im a not an expert, only newbie when it comes to cameras but even I can use it.)

Possibly my best, sharpest lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro Telephoto Lens after a lot of research. I read reviews and discussion on many online forums. This lens is incredibly sharp. Definitely sharper than my Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Standard Zoom Lens. The macro capability is awesome. I can grab super-sharp macro close-ups at 300MM from about 10 feet away. Excellent for wildlife, etc. Lens build feels solid. Focuses fast.

Here’s my equipment: (All purchased from Amazon.com)

Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens

Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Standard Zoom Lens

Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro Telephoto Lens

Excellent lens for that price!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Hi, I was looking for a new tele zoom lens for a long time… finally I decided for this lens. Because I am a student and I dont have money for the brilliant branded lenses… And this lens looked to me all right. Reviews were good and mainly the price was unbeatable. I was little bit worry about hand shake and focusing and shooting in bad weather and light conditions…

Finally I have got the parcel and I have tried it on my Canon XT. It looked really good, better than on the photo and with the hood is giant. Of course the weight of the SLR became higher. It is good to shoot with tripod but iven without it you can take good pics in daylight. Focusing isnt the best but I have expected it. It is better to focus manually. I recommend it! I was I was nicely suprised with the macro mode. You can click the button on 300mm and focus for closer objects!!!

I am definitely satisfied with this lens.

It is a great deal. thanks for yours reviews which helped me. so I hope I help others.

good one
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is better than I imagined before. Really sharp and focus well at low light. The only unhappy thing is the mechanic sounds and its shape. But as many users feeling, this lense is good one for a beginner.

great lens! Awsome quality! Especially for the price!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
not much to say. Only two hundred and I get birds wake boarders and tiny flowers and bugs

Awesome lens for the price and size.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a very light weight alternative to some other much more expensive zooms. Although it may not out perform the more expensive lenses it does hold its own quite well. It produced some stunning images for me–that quite frankly I did not think it could do for the price I paid.

Overall it is a great lens and even better at the $140 price I paid. I would pay $200 for this lens as well as it is listed on most sights.

It should be noted that my copy of the lens had a Macro Button that was tricky to switch on an off. I will probably use it less for macro but the function is not always needed to get good close ups of bugs and flowers.

Very versatile, user friendly, great pics
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been using this lens for about a year now. I have no real complaints. The pictures look great and the macro option is a wonderful feature. At times I do have to flip from auto focus to manual focus to take the camera out of macro mode, but once I figured that out I haven’t had any other issues. LOVE it!

Compare and contrast vs Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I own both the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L and this Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro for use on my Canon XTI. While it may not be fair to compare these lenses as the Canon is in a different price range, many potential buyers look for comparisons between the two.

In my experience, the Canon lens gives me better images overall. The Sigma gives me images better than the Canon when used in Macro mode on a tripod. The Canon focuses much faster in auto whereas the Sigma tends to hunt a bit. The Sigmas focusing ring is smooth but very stiff and reverse twists. A bit confusing at first when you are used to Canon lenses.

Macro mode annoys me because the switch locks itself. When it is on, the lens views only 200-300mm and the switch locks in the Macro position. I have to flip from manual to auto to manual to unlock the switch. While this may not bother many people, when I am shooting wildlife and it moves, I waste time switching over so that I can use a shorter focal length (below the locked 200m-300mm).

The quality of the Macro mode though “seems to” exceed that of the L lens for several reasons. Firstly, my L lens views 70-200mm and the Sigma views at 70-300mm. As I mentioned, the Macro is used from 200-300mm. When the L lens is used at 200mm I get a slight abberation and it takes a bit longer to focus in very bright or even slightly dim light. It also tends to underexpose, which I compensate for both in camera and post processing. The Sigma at 200mm isnt even breaking its stride, because it is not at max range. It doesnt get any color distortion yet and remains very crisp. But even in Macro it still tends to hunt a bit in auto. Therefore, the Sigma when used 70-200mm cant hold a candle to the Canon as far as color/tone, sharpness, bokeh, etc but shines when used 200-300mm in Macro.

As far as build quality, the Canon does beat the Sigma in my opinion. The Sigma has a texturized plastic housing which has a fine sandpaper like feel that irks me. It does help for grip but just feels weird. Other than that the zoom ring is very tight but the focus ring seems too loose. I do like that they kept the lens black rather than the gaudy offwhite of the Canon L lens which does not match the camera body or hood. Speaking of which, the Sigma does come with an okay hood and a very nice fitted nylon case. The Canon lens came with a very nice hood but a cheap cloth floppy drawstring bag.

Phew, okay after all that I have to say that its hard to compare these two lenses because its really like apples and oranges. Id say get the Canon if you plan to shoot using the whole range of 70 to 200mm. Get the Sigma if you want to use it for the Macro 200-300mm or because it is much more affordable. Good luck and happy shooting!

Great for camera for price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Pros: I took it out to photograph birds and it did wonderful. The lens has the distance’s as well as the focusing numbers written out to take the guessing game out. Also the lens came with its own protective case. I have a cannon zoom lens EF 75-300, and the sigma lens has already impressed me more then the cannon.

Cons: I got the camera for the macro, and you can only use the macro between 200-300 mm.

Over all, if you have the money to buy a high quality telephoto zoom lens and a macro lens go for it, but this lens has given me good quality for a lot cheaper then those routes. I highly recommend this lens to any hobbiest or aspiring photographer who is just starting out.

For the Price, Fabulous
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Worked better than I expected it to. All you need is good lighting and you’re set.

(Canon EOS 30D)

Good lens for price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great Telephoto lens,(for the price)

Pros:

Far zoom

good price

good quality images when there is good lighting

Cons:

horrible auto focus when zoomed in all the way. esp in low light..

doesn’t feel like its well made.. sometimes when focusing it, it feels like its going to break (though it hasn’t)

fine telephoto lens for the price, if you can afford more… then go for more. it is my least used lens, is fun sometimes tho and usefull

Great lens for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
After much flip-flopping over my desire for perfection and budget restraints, I thought I’d gamble $200 and try this lens. I was extremely pleased with my Sigma 105mm Macro lens, so I gave them another shot. While I found some unacceptable CA in 300mm in, of course, high contrasting borders, mostly I have found some pretty sharp and fine images. This lens is well worth the money, and if you can’t afford the $450 for ,say, a Nikkor 70-300, then take the plunge and you will not be disappointed in adding this lens to your arsenal.

This Sigma lens sucks – for Canons at least
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought this and it didn’t work properly out of the box. Attached it to my Canon 20D and right away got an error message. When I looked it up it just said you’ll get that w/non Canon Lens. I don’t even know if the lens was faulty or not, but it didn’t work well w/my particular Canon model.

On a sidenote, I want to add about the company, ACE Digital, I would NOT do business w/them again. Like I said, I had a faulty lens, or rather, I had a lens that did NOT work right out of the box. I decided I wanted to return it fully and not exchange it. ACE Digital charged me a 10% restocking fee and would not refund me the original shipping charge. Let me remind you they sent me a product that didn’t work. I paid $30 to Ace Digital for a product that didn’t work, and when I called them and told them I wanted a full refund, they basically told me to go EFF myself. There’s no reason a reputable company should make you pay any amount at all for a product that doesn’t work.

I would recommend to anyone buying cameras/equipment thru Amazon to skip right over Ace, it’s just not worth the hassle this shady company gives you. I’m surprised that Amazon even lets them be an official merchant.

Just got it and trying it out — fuzzy at full 300 mm zoom
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

Primary purpose of the camera is to photograph my daughter playing high school soccer.

PROS

The price is right on this “prosumer” lens. You really can’t complain about 70-300 lens for $200.

Closeup / macro shots of flowers are excellent.

Outside 200mm zoom shots are crisp and look great when you load the pictures on your PC and zoom in tight with your favorite digital imaging computer program.

CONS(300 MM telephoto use for sports):

Full 300 mm zoom the picture quality is not what I had hoped. It is best described as soft focus.

Here were the cirumstances where I found the problem. I took 112 shots yesterday. Conditions were daylight and overcast. About 80% of them were at 300 mm zoom. At the 300 mm setting the pictures have a very “soft focus.” You can’t see it is the display panel on the camera. You can see the “softness” or blurriness when you load the picture into your favorite software and zoom in tight. The softness is over the whole image. I don’t think it’s a focusing issue. If it was out of focus on the primary subject you’d expect some part of the photo to be in focus, but nothing looks like it’s crisp and sharp. It’s equally bad across the image.

Yes, I am using a monopod and I know how to release a shutter. Film speed was set to 1600. I had the XT in Sport mode which forces the shutter speed to 1600. It still operates in auto focus and auto aperture in that mode.

No, I wasn’t shooting in a fog or a mist.

CONCLUSION:

With less than one week of shooting on this lens I am not yet willing to say it’s bad at the full 300 mm zoom setting. I will give it another try at a upcoming soccer tournament this weekend. This time I will force the Rebel into targeting its focus on one and only one point in the lens. I hope that improves the non-macro 300 mm zoom performance. If not, I will send it into Sigma service for them to check it out and repair if needed.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

They answer their phone quickly and are very polite.

When I called Sigma customer support they were more than willing to look into the problem. I have send it in for them to check it out and repair (if needed). Too bad, they don’t exchange, they only repair. So, I will be without the lens for 2-3 weeks. I will probably have to take some photos of the same object at 300 mm and then at 200 mm and show them the difference in the picture quality.

I will keep this review updated.

**UPDATE**

I have shot well over 2000 images with it now with most of them being at soccer games. Image quality is excellent. This lens likes bright daylight to produce its best images just put the light at your back. I do find I often enhance the constrast in my photo editor, but I wouldn’t attribute that to the lense. That’s a function of my photographic skills.

I adjusted the Canon focus to one one point and it’s really improved the issue I talked about above with the soft look of the pictures at 300 mm.

I have concluded that this lens would not be a good one to use at night time sporting events. The F4 lens just doesn’t let in enough light.

Autofocus sometimes is a bit slow to lock in on an object.

All-in-all, for $200 you cannot go wrong.

Go for the Canon. This is cheap, cheap, cheap.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Based on the reviews here at Amazon I bought this lens. Within 5 minutes after it arrived it was out of the box and I was shooting, but I was extremely disappointed. It looks cheap and feels cheap. The zoom operation is stodgy and for the life of me I had a hard time getting nicely focused, hand-held pictures. I knew every time I used this lens I’d end up hating it, so I wrapped it back up and ordered the Canon. That arrived last night and there is absolutely no comparison. The IS USM version costs a little over $500, but it’s worth it in my book.

Amazing budget lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
CONS-

If you’ve read more than 2 reviews you know this lens does not do well in low light, the macro is not true macro and you will need a tripod to really get the most out of this lens. A lot of users also say that the macro switch sticks, which I found to be true, unless I zoom down to 200mm and the switch will work perfectly. The lens is also a little heavy and extended hand held use may be hard for some.

PROS-

All of the cons are acceptable for this price and don’t really take away from the great value of this lens. I was blown away after a few minutes. It is my first lens beyond the kit lens for the XSI and maybe that’s why. For anyone looking for a lens in this range (both price and zoom)this cannot be beat. I have crystal clear action shots between 200-300mm in sunny conditions. Someone with a steady hand can still get nice shots without a tripod low light although they may need some touching up. I prefer manual focus for most situations so the slight hunting and noise produced during auto focus do not bother me. The bag and hood that are included are also a plus. In my first session with this lens I came out with about 20 out of 50 shots I was really impressed with and this was just from walking around my neighborhood and a nearby river.

Highly recommend

Excellent “pro-sumer” zoom
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have been extremely pleased with this lens. While I agree with the below review that it does not beat out Canon’s L series zooms, it is at least $400 cheaper than the closest L – this lower cost earned it the extra star in my book. At 300 on a 1.6x camera, this is truly a long lens, requiring a tripod for non-blurry shots, even at high shutter speeds. But the optics are fantastic, there is little CA, no vignetting. Do not overlook this lens as a fantastic landscape lens.

The construction feels solid and the lens has held up well backpacking to excursions in Alaska as well as air travel. The AF has not been noticably slow for me, although I shoot landscapes with it so I have not required extreme speed.

The macro feature is truly great and allows exploration of the “mini-landscapes” in everyone’s front yard. Although I have not used the non-APO version, because it lacks the macro function, I would encourage you to spend the extra $60 and get the APO version if for no other reason than the macro function.

Good for beginners
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I purchased this lens in 2007 when I started getting interested in photography and had gotten myself a Digital rebel XT with the kit lens. About a month after I got the camera I saw the need for a zoom lens and at that time the only other option, within my budget, was the Canon 70-300 and many forums and people i spoke to warned me not to get the Canon 70-300 (bad quality, slow ….). So I was left with going for the sigma 70-300.

Since then I have moved to a 40D and got a 24-105mm L F/4 and that simply sent the sigma 70-300 crashing down my list from a ‘good lens’ to ‘yuk this lens sucks’. Agree it’s not fair to compare an L lens with a $200 lens but that’s what happens when you get your hands on an L. I began to notice that the sigma 70-300

1. was too slow

2. focusing was too noisy

3. IQ wasn’t as good

4. the lack of IS meant that I need the tripod more often

So I sold my lens and am planning on a Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS (when I’m not sure, may take a few years). So bottom line, get this lens if you are just beginning and on a tight budget. If you have a little more money to spare get yourself the canon 70-300 IS USM. Once you get a little serious into photography you are very soon going to realize that this lens isn’t adequate. The resale value on this isn’t as good as the canon lenses so if you want to replace too soon you’ll lose more than half its price.

Great Lens for the money, but….
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Pros:

Great color

Great contrast

Great bokeh

Good sharpness

Great bang for the buck

Light weight / small in size

Great lens hood locked in place easily

Great Portrait Lens at 70mm F4 to F5.6

Sharp pretty photos between F8 and F22

Quick accurate easy to use manual focus

Auto focus is slow but accurate in bright sunlight

Cons:

Cheap plastic feel

Auto focus pretty noisy

Auto focus is pretty lousy

Macro Switch hard to move

Photos a little soft when Aperture wide open

Auto focus does not work at all in very dim light

Lens changes length when zoomed and focused

The copy I had would manual focus past infinity!

Auto focus sometimes refuses to refocus from infinity

Auto focus is very slow but accurate in bright sunlight

Some loss of sharpness as you zoom out approaching 300mm

Zoom is slow and catches especially between 200 and 300mm

Cheap and I mean VERY cheap build, feels like it could fall apart at any time!

Now for the good:

I borrowed this lens from a friend as we were both curious how it would stack up against my Canon 70 – 200 2.8 L lens.

I mounted both on my Canon Rebel XTi on a tripod and left it at the same settings for both lens and took photos of a color test card at 100 ISO.

Then at 400 ISO I did some hand held shots of birds and my dogs in the back yard, some portrait shots of my daughter then some shots in the house with the lights off.

We were both very surprised to see the photo sharpness, color and contrast right up there with my Canon L lens when the Sigma is at F8 and above. Was the Canon L sharper? Yeah a little bit, but not much. It was hard to see which photos were taken by which lens when looking back and forth.

That makes this Sigma lens a very great buy for those on a budget who want to take some great looking photos.

And it makes a pretty good Portrait lens as well with great bokeh and a good soft look at F4 70mm then sharper at F5.6 70mm

When using the manual focus mode I found the focusing to be very quick and accurate in all situations except infinity (more on that below). The auto / manual focus switch was small but easy to use.

I got some great photos of the moon at ISO 400 1/10 second F22 zoomed to 300mm mounted on a tripod using mirror lockup and a remote release.

And the not so good:

This is a budget lens, and as such if you love to shoot birds in flight with a lightening quick auto focus like you can do with the Canon L then the Sigma 70 – 300mm is not for you.

The auto focus is pretty slow, about what I used to get out of my old Minolta 70 – 300 mounted on my Minolta 5D. It’s pretty good in bright sunlight when you are focusing on brightly lit high contrast still objects. When trying to use auto focus in servo focus mode on moving objects it just couldn’t keep up.

Inside in dimly lit rooms it could not focus at all where in the same light the Canon L Lens would focus in a fraction of a second. That’s when the great Sigma manual focus could be used to take over.

One thing to note on the manual focus was the copy I tested would manual focus past infinity. What does this mean? If you rotate the focus ring to infinity it’s actually past infinity and as a result when you go to shoot anything on the horizon or in the sky like the moon it will be out of focus so you have to rotate the barrel back just a little.

Also the zoom was really hard to operate one handed requiring me to take both hands on the lens to zoom especially from the 200 to 300 zoom setting where it really seemed to catch and become harder to turn. Maybe I’m being too hard on this lens because I’m used to the silky smooth Zoom operation of my Canon L lens but I think they could do better or maybe this is just a bad sample.

The switch for the macro mode will only operate between 200 – 300mm settings and even when between those settings I found it hard to switch between the two.

Conclusion:

I gave this lens 4 stars because it takes such great photos for the money and is a lens I would recommend for photographers on a budget and / or who don’t need or worry about the auto focus speed or the two handed zoom operation and or going to be in a situation where they need a disposable lens (rock climbing etc.) and don’t want to carry an expensive lens.

Bottom line if you are on a budget and don’t need lightening fast auto focus or a smooth zoom I recommend this lens.

Lenses I currently own:

Canon EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS Ultra sharp, great colors, great low light, poor zoom action

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Rebel XTi Kit lens Muddy, slow, pile of junk Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Fantastic colors, sharp zoomed 17 to 24mm, ultra smooth zoom action, light weight

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L Fantastic colors and contrast, sharp zoomed 40 to 70mm, zoom a little stiff at first, heavy!

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Good budget portrait lens, light weight, disposable, sharp from F/2.5

Canon EF 85mm F/1.2 L II The best portrait lens for female and children clients, buttery smooth Bokeh, heavy and expensive it shares sharpness with 135mm

Canon EF 135mm F/2.0 L The best portrait lens for males and tied with Canon 85mm F 1/.2 for sharpest lens I own, buttery smooth Bokeh

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L fantastic colors, sharp for a zoom, very versatile ego boosting and attention getting and heavy! My favorite zoom lens!!!

Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L great IS, super colors, sharp for a zoom, extremely versatile, variable Bokeh, even more ego boosting and attention getting when extended and 400mm reach!!

My next lens purchase I’m saving for right now: _Canon EF 300mm F/2.8 IS L the finest lens ever

Great value lens.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Pros: Cheap, 300mm zoom, macro feature.

Cons: Very soft on 300 end, build quality isn’t the greatest, loud focus.

There isn’t much to say about this lens. You get exactly what you pay for. It’s quality is perfectly acceptable up to 200mm but at the 300mm end you notice a big difference. It uses 58mm filter thread which is nice because that’s the same as canon’s kit lenses.

Great lens! Great buy! Great price!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a awesome lens.. great shots (uploaded 4) and very impressed. When getting it, pictures are blurry, so switch it to Macro on the left side of the lens.

I recommend this lens to anyone who is a on a budget, or anyone who want a great lens! A++

Sigma 70-300 DG APO
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great lense for the price. Works as advertised and I have no complaints about the sharpness or contrast. The macro works fine but with very limited depth of field.

Best telephoto lens at $200!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The lens offers superb sharpness and colors at the 70mm end, but when it goes to 300mm, it starts to have some minor sharpness issues around the borders as well as some chromatic aberrations. But none the less, this lens’s sharpness and speed definitly exceed its price(totally). The lens’s Macro feature is also a nice addition.

*ALERT to canon users: The lens i got started to make “error 99″ issues on my Canon XT after 20-30 days of purchase(although it produced some amazing pictures within that time period…). I think the problem originated when I switch a Canon lens (while it’s set to a very low f-stop) to this Sigma lens(which has f/4-5.6). Anyways….Be careful when you switch alot between Canon and Sigma lenses, because someday this lens might fail on you….

This may be that I got a bad copy of the lens…or just that I messed up my camera somehow..But the extraordinary performance of the lens(as well as the price) definitly deserve its 5 stars rating!

Perfect for the money and for the job…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Not much to say actually… buy this lens, you won’t be sorry… it’ll do the job, and you won’t spend a lot

good for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a good lens for the money. It’s not fair to compare it to $600.00+ lenses, but it works well for the money. As has been stated before, it performs best in open daylight or well lit conditions, especially at it’s max range of zoom. The macro feature is nice and I have used it more than the telephoto with some nice results.

Not a good experiance
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is my first 70-300 mm range lens.

I am using it for canon 350d camera.

I will not say that its bad lens neither its perfect.

It was the most reasnoable price lens in its range for me but I encountered few problems:

- The autofocuse is very bad. Whenever I am trying to autofocus, it take very long time and in 80% it does get it correctly.

- I don’t know why but the photos sometimes appers pinky !!!.

- Actually the lens was heavier than what I was expecting. When I bought it I didn’t see anything regarding its weight but it came to be heavier than my expectation and I have some difficulties in keeping my hand still sometimes and the lens always driving the camera in downward direction antriorly.

-Unfurtionatly one month after I bought it due to its heavy weight it was broken after fall down from low height.

Nice images, but a little clumsy
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve only started using this lens, but so far I am happy with the results.

Pros:

1. Nice zoom range covers portraits through sports shots, plus quasi-macro 1:2.

2. Fairly light for its bulk.

3. Affordable.

Cons:

1. Not particularly sharp, especially past 250mm.

2. Images have low contrast, so you’ll need to bump it up in-camera or in PP.

3. The “macro mode” requires a switch and only functions in the 200-300mm range. I have difficulty getting the switch off the macro mode in most cases.

4. Fairly noisy operation in AF mode.

5. At the 300mm range and close focus, the mount-to-lens hood length is over 10 inches.

6. Sigma recommends setting the lens in manual focus mode while attaching or removing the lens hood, so there is more switch sliding.

7. Can’t manually tweak focus in the AF mode (as some Pentax lenses allow).

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ve posted a couple images in the Amazon collection.

(The lens developed a problem with a broken aperture blade in July 08 and is “retired”.)

Powerful Zoom
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is served me well with my Canon EOS 40D. The image is very faithful and sharp, and aberrations are non-visible. Despite it being such a powerful zoom, it is surprisingly light, silent and fast. The zoom ring has a substantial grip while the improved focusing ring has a crisp feel about it. The quick and precise Autofocus more than makes up for the price. Overall, a good buy and great value for money!

The best lens in this price range…hands down.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
First of all I must tell you that I was dragged kicking and screaming into the world of digital SLR photography. Not because I had a love of film on the contrary I hate film photography, it was more like I hated the thought of lugging around lenses and all the other stuff. I managed to build my business and reputation using fixed lens “Pro-sumer” cameras. Long story short what made me move to SLRs was performance, speed, quality and lenses like this one.If you have ever read any of my other reviews you already know I am a terrible gear head and often tend to trick out my cameras to the hilt! I was buying lenses for a rebel XT when I bought this lens on a whim. To start 70-300mm is nothing earth shaking every lens maker in the business has at least one model in this range, but the real kicker with the Sigma is the macro feature, that in a word is simply amazing. The macro feature can be switched in at 200-300mm and is tack sharp for everything from flowers, to coins to whatever!! And considering the focal range this is a relatively fast lens. In a normal capacity its dead sharp in all applications no matter what your light conditions inside or out. I have even used this lens for wedding portraits and got great results. As with all Sigma lenses the build quality is excellent as is the glass giving it the feel of a lens costing a whole lot more. As for accessories I would reccomend both a UV filter as well as a good CPL. Size wise it is what I would rate medium sized (as opposed to my Sigma 50-500mm) this makes it easy to manipulate and use in the field. If you are a Nikon user remove the lens hood and you will get amazing results using your pop-up flash! (Canon doesn’t do as well with this.)

Now. If you are into pictures of the great outdoors the next thing I would add is a 2x teleconverter, Sigma claims this lens is not compatable with them and in a sense its not. But if you are willing to manually focus, and adjust the F stops your self you can pump this baby up to a 140-600mm super-telephoto!! I have one of these lenses for both of the SLR’s I use (Canon 20D & Nikon D200) and with both using the teleconverter I do have to focus manually but they will meter light! Be prepared however results may be different on your camera. So bottom line is your looking for a great quality lens at a price you can live with? This is it. Are you a new or about to be new digital SLR user? This should be your first lens no question. Canon and Nikon lenses do focus faster and quieter, but what are you doing with that camera that you need to be so fast and quiet anyway? This lens is on either one or both of my cameras all the time, and when you shoot pictures for a living that says alot. Until next time be well and happy shooting!

SiNMiN

FANTASTIC LENS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I received this lens literally hours before I wrote this review, and I must say that it has more than exceeded my expectations. all I can say that i have a bit of a problem with, is the switching from macro to telephoto.

My brother and I sometimes work together for photo jobs and once I got the chance to rent an 70-200mm L series for a wedding shoot, The difference? the sigma lens is lighter, has a greater range, and macro. Yes the L series has a faster AF, and yes the Sigma does not have image stabilization. But you won’t care about those things once you’ve practiced keeping a steady hand for a bit, then looking in your wallet to see you’ve saved a bucketload of cash.

recommended

good job sigma!

Very Good Lens for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a very good lens for portraits. However, it can be a bit noisy in AF mode and will make nature photgraphy with small animals difficult.

Great lens for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens looks and feels very solid, with a nice matte finish. The zoom seems to do really well up to 250mm, and then does okay up to the 300mm. If you got more money go with something that has image stabilization, if not this is a great lens for the price. And using a tripod with a wireless remote will prevent any blurring or shake at the higher ranges, and get the sharp image you want. The macro seems to work well – some people have complained of it locking in that mode, but just read the directions and it should work fine. This is better than a non-APO lens… worth every extra dollar. Comes with a lens hood and case to boot.

Would get 5 stars if not for some autofocus problems
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
A great macro lens for the money. Without a tripod, you’ll have issues in the macro range if there isn’t a strong light, but then if you were super serious about macro, you’d be using a tripod anyway.

I’ve noticed some autofocus problems with this lens when trying to shoot stuff that is farther away. Even if you make the subject rather large in the viewfinder, often I find myself still having to use the manual focus. This adds a bit of frustration when trying to capture action from a distance.

Great Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This Sigma zoom lens is a very good lens for the money. I haven’t had the chance to use it a lot yet but what I have done is wonderful. Images are sharp and the color is excellent. It zooms smoothly and the focus is fast, sharp and quiet. It interfaces with the Canon Digital Rebel XT perfectly, no problems there. Unless you REALLY need Image Stabilization for a lot more money this is the lens for you.

It’s OK
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This lens is ok for the price. It has a nice zoom, but the autofocus is kind of squirley. It’s loud adn it never seems to want to stop focusing. It really doesn’t compare to any of the canon lenses that I own. The “MACRO” feature is not really macro at all. It basically allows you to focus on a subject slightly closer than you could without the macro switch. If you are looking for a lens to do macro photography I would suggest saving your money until you can buy one that does it at 1:1 – I do feel like this is a good alternative to a costly zoom lens for someone who would like to have one in their bag, but doesn’t spend majority of their time at 300mm.

Good Telephoto Zoom Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve been using this lens for a week now on my Canon 40D. I have not travelled with it as yet, but the results thus far are pleasing. I made the decision to buy it based on budget constraints, and the reviews on this site, as well as Fred Miranda and others.

The IQ and color balance are good, sharpness is surprisingly good for a lens of this price range. The build quality is solid. Had a small problem with enabling and disabling the macro lock (200-300mm ONLY)at first, but now am used to it and have had no further issues.

As with any lens of this length, hand holding it and getting a sharp photo at the far end is a challenge. Better to use a tripod. Otherwise, I recommend this lens for us amateurs, and anyone who wants the reach but has a budget constraint.

Great lens for the price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens for the Rebel XT. After looking at a few macro lenses, I finally decided to purchase this one, since it was cheaper and according to the reviews had pretty good quality.

So far I don’t have any complaints. It works very well for my needs. I use it pretty much all the time in macro mode for nature photography.

I use it during the day, with a lot of light, so images come out pretty sharp without a tripod (I uploaded one into the gallery).

Some things to note are:

1. This is my first SLR camera, thus the lens is unusually large and heavy, it does not bother me, since it is also very solid and well build.

2. It takes some time to focus when the starting positoin is far off (it does have a long focus range). But once in the approximate focusing range it is pretty quick. Not a problem with continuous autofocus when shooting moving objects.

Overall, it is a pretty good lens for the type of photographs that I use it for.

Given the price Excellent!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
There are a lot of differing views on this lens. Thats great. Everybody’s thoughts were very helpful to me in deciding to buy this. I’m glad I did.

For the Price it is hard to get a better deal. A lot of reviews complain about it not being faster or this or that. The fact is all the things it lacks only come in a far more expensive price range. If you have more money to spend and want something better then certainly it exists and you should buy that. If you only want to spend a couple hundred dollars and get a very sharp, versatile, multi-use lens then there is not much that can compete.

In the last month I’ve shot a lot with this lens and continually been impressed and happy with it considering how much I paid for it. I’ve used the macro mode and shot beautiful shots of insects, moss and water droplets. I’ve used the long end of the zoom to shoot surfers, sunsets, fisherman, ships, kids playing on the beach and a wedding. Whether in bright sunlight or dim twilight, all of it is quite sharp and exceeds my expectations for any lens at this price range.

Sigma 70-300 for Nikon
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I really like this lens. Like a lot of people, I was torn between this and the Nikon 70-300 VR. I’m not very frequent with telephoto imagery, so even though the Nikon isn’t blindingly expensive, I needed to be practical about how much I was going to use this focal length range, irrespective of the cost. I read a fair number of reviews and comparisons online before deciding to plonk some money for this one.

The only thing that I’m not happy about is the really loud focus motor noise. Apart from that, and the fact that it gets slow at the long end (but I knew that beforehand), this is a great piece of kit for a shade over $200. The construction is very good, and gives me no cause for complaint. Focussing is accurate, zoom action is smooth, and the macro mode at the long end is quite useful. Not to mention the light weight, which allows me to carry this easily with an 18-55 mounted, and an 11-16 in the bag along with this lens for a really light vacation kit.

I’d definitely recommend this lens to anyone looking for a relatively cheap way out of the telephoto lens choice dilemma, and would encourage you to identify how much your tele-usage will be. If it’s similar to mine, which isn’t very often, then there’s no better option available. If money is no concern, or if you use telephoto focal lengths a lot, then by all means the Nikon might be a much better option.

Great Lens – I now won’t settle for less magnification
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I really like being able to have the extra 100mm focal length beyond the traditional 200 or 210mm. I have used it numerous times in conjunction with the image stabilization of my Sony A100 to get some shots I could not have previously obtained (including shots of Alaskan whales). Also, the lens survived landing on asphalt with its UV lens protector becoming history. I removed the protector and was amazed to find that the lens still worked perfectly!

Excellent beginner telephoto, macro function decent
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I purchased this a few months ago and have been playing around with it in a variety of environments. It’s fairly lightweight, the pictures come out well, and the macro mode does let you get closer to what a true macro lens would give you (obviously not quite as good). The only real problems I’ve found, and they are minor, is the autofocus being a bit slow or inaccurate (but not terrible) in moving object situations and the fact that when you’re finished with macro mode, you need to switch to manual focus, twist the front in, switch the macro off, and then put your autofocus back on. It’s not that big of a deal, really just a bit of a hassle, but it seems tedious. Overall I’ve been very pleased with the performance and it’s been a great first telezoom for the price.

Great lens for half the price!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was looking for a newer, replacement lens for my Canon digital SLR, and stumbled across this gem. Half the price of the equivalent Canon brand lenses, it immedaitely caught my attention. Once I satisfied myself that it would indeed be compatible with my camera, I bought it and tried it out. Not only did it work, it was easier to use than the lens I had bought it to replace! I highly recommend this lens to any Canon owner looking for a telephoto lens, whether they have a digital or print camera.

Excellent in its class
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Performs well for this class of lens, and really can’t be beaten for the price. Fine for macro work when you can be a meter or so from your subject (you’ll need a tripod or steady hands + image stabilization); sometimes this is actually a plus (i.e. for subjects that you can’t or don’t want to get close to like easily frightened insects). AF tends to hunt a little but is very useable except in low light.

The combination of image quality, wide range, and macro capability at THIS PRICE is why I would rate it 5 stars. I’m pleased with my own results, and after reading tons of reviews of this and its competition, I’m convinced there is no better deal if a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 is what you’re looking for.

No bargain!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Well built, quick to focus, quiet but not quite what I expected. At full zoom, picture is washed out. With MACRO pictures, center of picture is out of focus while periphery is in focus.

very satisfied customer
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was looking for an AF lens a bit less expensive than the actual canon lenses. I am a casual picture taker, and the response from the lens is better than I was expecting given the price differences from the “name” brand. I have actually been looking at other sigma lenses first now.

Excellent Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is excellent for close up photography and distance shooting. I love animal photography and am often far away from the subject.. not with this lens. Am able to get wonderful closeup shots.

This lens also allows for Macro shooting as well. So having both options in 1 lens is perfect. It also comes with a lens hood which was not expected. Very nice touch

Would highly recommend the Sigma products

great lens for the price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
i use this lens in the 70-200 range for portraiture or general telephoto photography, in the 200-300 range for near macro photography, and at 300 with a 50mm lens reversed onto it for extreme (6x’s lifesize) macro shots. in all instances i’ve been generally pleased with the quality. it’s a little soft at 200-300mm for telephoto work.

bottom line is if you’re on a budget, you can’t go wrong with this lens.

fyi: sigma has a couple versions of the 70-300 in circulation. this APO version is reputed to be sharper than the newer, non-APO version.

Excellent Picture Quality Highly Recommended
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great lens in it’s class, I’m glad i bought it. Great range, excellent picture quality, also great with macro, and for the price, nothing can’t beat this. Thanks to Amazon and 47th Street Photo. You can see some of the photos I’ve taken using this lens on my website at http://www.dailytechlog.com under the My Gadgets category or search on sigma 70-300mm.

Sigma’s great buy for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was in need of a more powerful lense to compliment my 28-90mm lense when I found this. Though it was realitively inexspensive it surprised me in it’s clarity /sharpness. Yes there is a bit of a halo at 300mm but not that bad. The auto focus isn’t that great but is just ok. I use manual focus most the time anyway. All in all it is very good for most work and you can’t beat the price. It is heavy enough to require a monopod for steadiness to aquire the sharpest shot. Good purchase if on a limited budget like myself.

This lens take incredibly sharp vibrant pictures
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens is incredible. Regardless of price, this lens takes beautiful pictures. When you look at the price it is just that much more impressive. I’d heartily recommend this lens to any beginning to advanced amateur photographer. Heck a pro could probably really put this lens to use, but there are too many other fantastic L series lenses out there for Pros to play with. For the rest of us, this is how we roll.

Good lens for a tight budget
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve been very happy with this lens. The macro ability is very cool, the overall sharpness is very good, and auto focus is, while not as fast as some, is still pretty quick. I wish it had image stabilization, but for this price, that’s a bit unrealistic. It get’s quite long at the 300mm end (especially in the macro focus mode) so be prepared.

One of the two best lenses you could ask for, starting out.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am quite new to photography–at least “serious” photography, but as much as I tend to go overboard with new hobbies, I knew that I had to put certain restrictions on myself when buying gear. There was no way I was going to spend 1500 dollars on a Carl Zeiss lens in the vague expectation that I would find it useful. So, along with the 18-55mm zoom that came with my a230, I bought a 50mm 1.4 prime, and then, after a bit of internal debate, decided I really needed a good telephoto zoom to get me some reasonable range on photographic outings. I finally decided on this 70-300mm zoom, and fortunately, I had just read a passage in a photography manual mentioning that apochromatic correction was a really nice thing for a telephoto lens to have, and could make the difference in whether or not a shot would be seen as successful to a trained eye.

My results so far have been outstanding! If I can figure out how to provide images from my flickr account, I’ll put some into the customer images section here. I’ve seen some reviews elsewhere criticizing the lens for being slow. Well, it’s a 200 dollar lens. If you’re a professional sports photographer, or professional nature photographer for that matter, go buy the 8000 dollar Zeiss lens that has a max aperture of 2 and speed on loan from God. If you are like me and you simply want to be able to take a hobby seriously without constantly running into the frustration of needing to be closer to something without being physically able to stand there, then this lens is a good idea.

And a word about the macro setting: outstanding! Often, I just don’t have the patience to set up a tripod to take flower shots, especially if I’m some place where photographing flowers is not the sole aim. So, many of my macro shots with this lens have been hand-held, and I have STILL gotten good sharpness. It’s true that I don’t always get sharp focus when my subject is moving (bees, for instance), but my suspicion is that this is more my not fully understanding the a230 yet, rather than the lens itself (for instance, I know that “continuous focus” is supposed to be something the camera can determine from what the subject is doing, but I’m not always sure that is what I am getting there).

So yes, this lens is highly recommended here. Oh, and by the way, the dealer I got this from shipped it with a lens case. That’s an extra 40 or 50 bucks that I’m not having to spend (it’s a Sigma case, so maybe Sigma is just classy enough to send their stuff in lens cases anyway).

Excellent and versatile lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I purchased this lens as a potential lightweight replacement for my old Minolta 75-300 (the big beercan). I shoot with a Konica Minolta 5D. The Minolta is an excellent lens, but heavy and lacking some sharpness beyond 250mm. The Sigma is at least the equal of it in picture quality, it’s much lighter, and it adds an excellent macro capability…1:2 magnification at 300mm. The only drawbacks is that the zoom ring is rather tight and tends to stick, and the lens can hunt for focus in dim lighting (but so did the Minolta). This lens, coupled with a standard zoom, like the Minolta/Sony 18-70 kit lens, the Minolta 24-85, or the Sigma 17-70, makes an excellent, inexpensive, lightweight, 2 lens kit that provides coverage from 17/24 to 300mm with excellent macro capability to boot. Highly recommended.

Pretty darn good!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Wasn’t really expecting much from a 70-300mm zoom at this price range, but was pleasantly surprised with the results. Comes with a lenshood and nice carrying case.

Very good contrast and sharpness. I’d say that this is a “sunny day” lens, but it has also performed admirably during heavy overcast days.

Doesn’t have the fastest AF, but more than up to the task for my needs. AF is on the noisy side (sounds like Robocop!).

At this price, this lens delivers more than I expected.

Wonderful
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I suppose it depends on how much you’d use the lens. I, personally, use it at least one picture a day. My mentor, though, uses his about once a month. And my associate uses his for at least (on average) three hours a day – he’s a photographer at a lot of sporting (action sports, as well as football, hockey, and wrestling) events.

I love the lens. I wish it cost less, much like all of my photography equipment, but it is what it is. I’m outside a lot, so I make use of my filters. I am not as much of a nature photographer as I could be, but it’s definitely my choice when I go on certain photowalks and such. A good macro telephoto to round-out your pack of lenses.

Very, very good with an affordable pricetag
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens when I was clueless about what I should be looking for for my Canon Xti. I basically just knew I wanted something with this much range. I was pleasantly suprised at the results this lens gets, however, and while I’ve upgraded some Canon lenses that I started with, I’m keeping this Sigma. It gives great results and I have no gripes whatsoever. I also own the Canon 28-105 which was my upgrade from a kit lens, and even though that lens is more expensive, this one has a lot better image quality. Also, as mentioned by others, this ships with a lens hood and a nice case, accessories that Canon makes you buy separately and at a premium.

The macro feature is also really nice to have. Highly recommended!

Sigma 70-300mm DG APO Macro Sony @lpha
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This my first review on amazon and for a good reason, this lens is worth every penny, just look at the sample images left by others. The Build quality is superb, the glass not being top notch (you would pay hundreds more) is also very good. You want regret it. Bought it a few months and been using since than, no problems so far. Give it a shot.

Excellent For The Money
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I don’t think anyone could find a lens for the same price that works as well. Of course the expensive Canon lenses are going to be better; that’s just a given. There isn’t any point giving this lens a bad review because it’s not as “good” as its more glamorous cousins. No IS (image stabilization) as has already been covered so many times before, so if you absolutely need IS this is not the lens for you, but if you’re like me and are already accustomed to using a lens without it it won’t be too big a deal. You do have to compromise a little. This is a budget lens after all, so you will have a work a little harder to make up for it’s shortcoming, but in my opinion it’s shortcomings are few and far between.

If you’re a budding photographer by all means get this lens to try it out and if later you want to move on to the more expensive ones these sell on eBay very well (just please make sure you don’t pass on something broken on eBay! That is very annoying.)

HERE IS MY IMPORTANT NOTE: You should be careful where you buy your camera equipment. There are many companies out there that are less than reputable. And some “reputable” companies that just have horrible customer service. A couple years ago I bought a Tamron lens from 47th St Camera that came broken and they gave me a terrible time about returning it and were very rude on the phone. They even called me a liar right to my face. I can’t remember if they charged me a restocking fee or not. IF they didn’t, they at least wanted to. They accused me of breaking it and made the whole thing a nightmare. So be careful if you are dealing with them.

Lots of lens for an affordable entry fee
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had this lens for over a year now and just recently found no need for it only after upgrading to 70-200L F2.8 (well still missing the macro capability of Sigma). That should tell you enough about the lens. It provides good reach with good results. Images have good bokeh even @ 5.6 and bokeh for Macro is creamy and nice.

It makes an excellent lens for portrait at around 100mm to 180mm.

In short here are list of pros and cons:

Pros:

Cheap!

Macro capability

Good reach

solid built

comes with hood and back!

works well for portrait

Cons:

lens extends too much when zooming

noisy focus

relatively slow focus

gets soft after 200mm

Over all it gets a 5 star regardless of the Cons.

- Happy shooting

a Great lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
i purchased this lens two years ago and i can say now that it has not disappointed me.. for a lense at its prices it is a good deal.

contrast and saturation are really good … little or none chromatic aberation .. very nice bokeh specially at longer focal lenghts…

very sharp in the neighbourhood of the 100-150 mm .. quite soft at 300mm, not a big problem if the subject is filling the frame .. when stopped down it produces sharper images as with any lens…

if you’re buying this lens for an APC sensor like the rebel XT, you will enjoy the lens sweet spot .. i havent tried it on a full frame but i don’t think it would be impressive there… then again if you can afford a full frame body, why buy a budget lens.

sterdy .. good feel… a bit noisy and slow. hunts in the dark… but all in all it is a great telephoto lens.. suitable for street photography, wild life and portraits…

i use it indoors when the light is good …

a nice move from sigma to ship it with a carying case and a lens hood..

one thing tho.. the lens hood looks like an ice bucket .. i rarely put it on cuz it looks ridiculous … i’m sure its practical, although i never had any flare shooting without it …

a great purchase

For the price, very pleased
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m a professional wedding/portrait photographer, but bought this lens for lightweight backpacking trips. (I cannot allow myself to just bring a point and shoot!)

The construction seems fine, although when in manual-focus mode the switch is sometimes fickle about being moved back to autofocus. Figured out it was my method, but it’s not the most straight-forward design.

I’m satisfied with the image quality for the price.

[...]

Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m really happy with the result I achieved with this lens. Every shot is sharp. The only issue is the macro switch which is difficult to move at times.I tried shooting at f4 and the result is not as sharp but at f8 is where this lens shine. The lens feel is quite acceptable for it’s price. I reccomend this lens because of it’s value for money and acceptable performance.

Returngin my 70-300 Sigma
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I recently replaced a broken Nikon 70-210(gorgeous lens and photo quality) with this Sigma.

Although it is sharp and is a good lens for the price, it just doesnt have the umph I expected, and was used to with my Nikon.

Ergonomically – the zoom ring tends to sick right around 200. Makes working with this piece rather annoying.

Good luck.

Owner/user for 7 years – non-professional (duh!)
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Attached to a Nikon D70 – purchased with a Nikon N80 in December 2001 for use at the 2002 Winter Olympics in SLC. I had it on the D70 at John Mayer ([...]) and it peformed in a way that was as enjoyable as the show.

I wish is opened at to f1.8 – but you can purchase 10 of these lens for the price of 1 f1.8. It’s a matter of getting used to knowing when to shoot fast with low light and correct with your photo software – pretty easy to add lighting – or shoot numbers on – and hope that there isn’t much movement or you get the blurs.

It’s been packed throughout Southern Utah’s redrock country, numerous sporting events – and it’s an outstanding value for outdoor shooting with adequate light. If you link to the flickr site you’ll see some pretty good detail on John Mayer’s tatoos – shot in the dark – about fifty rows up. You’ll not get image stabilization, or HSM, but you’ll get zoom results once you get used to this lens!

Great Lens for its money!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens for a back up because I have to send my main lens Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM in for repair. At first I did not like it because I was used to the IS feature and the camera shake was horrible. But after attaching it to a mono pod and actually taking it out for a real test drive I was simply amazed. This lens is really really nice. And you can’t beat the price. Have only had it for a few weeks and finally can control the camera shake a little while holding hand held. The camera that I use is the Canon 40D so the two combined it works wonders.

I read the reviews in here first before I purchased the lens and a lot of people complained about the auto focus. Well the reason why you are having problems with focusing is because you are to close to the subject. Its a macro/telephoto lens. You don’t have to stand on top of the subject to get the shot. If you back up a little or till the point it will focus you will get a clear shot. It just takes time and patients.

This lens also makes a good portrait lens! It has become my every day lens here of late! Highly recommended it! Forgot to mention the colors are amazing. I have noticed since using this lens I do very little editing in CS3. Hopefully one day amazon will allow me to upload pictures. Keeps saying they are having problems. You can view the pictures I have taken with this lens at my better photo site. http://www.betterphoto.com?sadonna

Works, but only in daylight.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This lens works with a tripod and clear daylight. If that’s what you are interested in, you should go for it.

The shots of the moon, I took turned out to be disappointing. I did use a tripod, but it doesn’t seem to work very well at night.

Good budget zoom – but needs tripod for tack results
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Lets face it: how many budget zooms are out there which let you take decently sharp zoomed in pictures?

This lens is a very good alternative to the otherwise expensive (but amazingly performing) white beasts from Canon (yes I am talking about the Canon 70-200mm L series). I owned it for about 10 days, only to return it. Not to say that I did not have fun with it, but I had to work very hard with it to get what I had bought it for: good zoomed in views of birds etc.

This lens has its limitations in terms of chromatic aberrations (noticeable more at high contrasty edges), softness beyond 200mm or so (and I really mean softness due to the optics and not camera/lens shake because I tested with a tripod and timed shutter release etc.), slightly faded warmer colors, etc. But it is still very good if you want to start experimenting with mid-tele zoom lenses.

In short,

Pros:

- Unbeatable price

- Will let you take decent zoom pictures, but with some work

- Decent (pseudo) macro capability, enough to let you experiment with it and figure out whether you like it or not.

Cons:

- Soft at high focal lengths

- Such high range definitely needs a tripod or image stabilization. If you have a camera with liveview, you can see how much the image jitters when zoomed in all 300mm. Its near to impossible to get a tack sharp shot of a moving target unless you have a tripod handy.

- Macro isnt real macro… it just allows you to get a bit closer to the targets as compared to other zooms.. but the DOF is so narrow you cant focus in correctly without a tripod/stabilization.

Its actually not a bad lens for beginners. In fact I would highly recommend this lens for beginners, so they can work it out without image stabilization and solid built and high quality optics.. it really made me appreciate how much old school guys worked to get decent zoom images without all the IS and VR gadgeted lenses.

Good luck, and happy imaging!

Broken within 3 months
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Purchased from 47th Street Photo on 4/6/09. I would buy from them again, the shipping was super fast.

However, after only having the lens for a couple of months, I must report that the lens no longer autofocuses! I was at the RI Air National Guard Air Show yesterday, 6/27/09, and the lens just stopped focusing. I tried everything under the sun to get it working, no dice. When I swap to my kit lens, autofocus works, therefore it is the lens. I must mention that the images that I took, handheld in sports mode on a Nikon D80, came out awesome! Image quality is fine when there is a good amount of light in order to take fast shutter speed images. Now I have to look for a means of getting the lens repaired or replaced. Bummer =(

I did a search for AF issues for this lens and it seems common because of the cheap white plastic gears Sigma uses for the AF mechanism. I can report that my AF doesn’t work, but I can’t confirm what’s wrong.

FYI- I normally don’t review unless there is something wrong with a product or if I have a good luck with a product that has lots of negative reviews.

Very nice
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I really like this lens…i agree with almost everything oin the previous post, especially the part about the marco switch. That switch is the only real negative side to this lens. Don’t know why it keeps getting stuck?! It always scares me when it happens.

Overall a really nice lens though. Smooth and rather fast operation.

Great lens for the money
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have experienced some impressive results with this lens. It does not have image stabilization, but you would not expect that for this price. Macro feature is very nice. Use a tripod and it will perform well.

Awesome
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If I had the money I’d still buy this lens

Why well it does everything a thousand dollars lens does and more:

Its affordable…

Great for the money!!!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
i not a professional photographer, but this lens really does the job! can get really far pics with good image and no problems to focus on the specific target either!!may be if you are a professional photographer this will not work but for me is really Kool! and cheap too

Telephoto lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have just started using this lens. It seems pretty good for now and especially considering the price. If you’re not planning on professional photography or spending around $500 for a Nikon lens then this does a really good job.

Excellent lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is an excellent lens – very sharp at all extensions. I particularly like the macro function at 200-300mm – very sharp, very cool, and good stand-off distance in macro. Of couse use a tri-pod in macro. The lens has returned excellent pictures. The lens is fully compatible with my Knoica-Minolta 5D in all its functions. I usually carry just two lenses, this one and the Sigma 18-200mm lens, plus a 1.4x converter, but am thinking about adding the 10-20mm Sigma as well. These are all good lenses, and I certainly do not feel “under-gunned” with this kit. I am very happy with this purchase.

Not bad…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I would say this lens is “not bad” for the money. It’s certainly no professional lens but it’s worth what you pay for it.

I purchased this lens for my Canon XD. It works fairly well on the camera. It’s a little slow focusing. Indoors it focuses poorly in moderately low light. Photos taken outdoors with this lens are fairly sharp all the way out to 300mm.

I really regret buying this lens. It’s practically useless indoors at 70mm on the Canon XD since that equates to over 100mm with the XD. I wish I had purchased an 18mm to 300mm lens. They cost a little more but are certainly more versitile.

The macro mode works OK with a tripod. I really can get better close-ups with my 50mm prime lens.

Very Pleased!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was leery about purchasing this lens. I am just entering the world of semi-professional dslr photography and this was a big jump for me. The major complaints I read were that the focus was fuzzy at 300 mm and that the motor was a bit on the noisy end. I haven’t noticed the fuzz but the noise is noteworthy, probably not enough to spook a bunny if within a ten foot radius.

As mentioned, this lens is also not for low lighting without a tripod. But I was able to get a lot of really clear pictures of still life set ups in my living room, handheld only. So for moving subjects, like weddings or small children, a flash is a necessity.

I would say I am very pleased so far with the performance and durability of the lens. It feels well made, though the primarily Japanese manual was a bit of a set back. There’s English on it, just hard to find it. I also had a bit of difficulty getting it to snap on to my D40, compared to my traditional slr, in which switching lenses is a breeze. There was a lot of fidgeting to get it to fin correctly.

However, the image quality was outstanding for the price. A must for a starving college student. Literally-I skipped buying food this week so I could get the lens. This lens will pay for itself with one shot though in my opinion.

great
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
being a novice, I love this lens. It is priced right and has some great features including the macro. Would definitely recommend this lens to anyone.

Poor packaging
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This lens was not packaged securely and was knocking around during transit in an oversized box. Very dissapointed and now worried if damage was done and will this lens last long. Never again with this place.

For handheld shooting, go with the Nikon 55-200 VR instead
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars for this. It might not be fair, but while on it’s own it might rate 4 or even 4.5, given the alternatives–specifically the Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX for ~$20 more–I have to go with 3.

I’ve been shooting snapshots and kids sports on a D40 and D60 with the Nikon 55-200 VR for a few years, but was looking for something with just a bit more reach. I have the Nikon 70-300mm VR on my wish list, but at $400+ I can’t really justify it at the moment so I thought I’d give the Sigma a chance. It only took a few hours and some test shots side-by-side with the 55-200 VR to decide to pack up the Sigma and return it.

The Sigma is heavier, longer, and louder than the 55-200 and unlike the 55-200, the filter and front of the lens rotates and extends in and out while focusing. I might be willing to live with that if the Sigma let me get a bit closer. The thing is, shooting handheld and comparing the results I realized very quickly that 200mm with VR cropped down yields photos at least as sharp as 300mm without VR… and that’s just shooting against stationary objects.

I can imagine if you were shooting stills with a tripod or wanted the “macro” functionality for insects or other small subjects the Sigma might be the way to go, but for the average soccer mom/dad whose main use for a telephoto getting closer to the action, just grab the Nikon 55-200 VR.

Meanwhile, I plan to use the credit from returning the Sigma to get a head start on saving up for the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR.

An excellent value lens for the price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I gave this lens five stars on the basis that it’ a very good budget lense. It provides good sharpness and a lot of benefits for this price range. A pro could use it if he doesn’t brag about it. If you’ve got the bucks buy the Canon lenses. If not, this is a good package. There’s something called a throwaway lens. It does the job, doesn’t cost too much and if for some reason it disappears through theft, etc., it doesn’t break the bank.

I bought this as a temporary replacement of a Canon lens, i.e. the 70-300mm DO. Ihad a confidence problem with that lens whciih lost sharpness without any good reason. I got the Sigma lens the day before leaving. I did some quick tests and it look okay. So I took it. Real time use proved it could fill a hole in my kit. The first day’s images from the lens were checked on the laptop I travel with. They looked good. There are instances where the contrast is a bit week. I’ve dialed that up in the camera settings and it at least looks good in Canon DPP.

The build quality isn’t as obviously good on the surface as Canon. It’s more utilitarian in appearance. But form does follow function for the most part.

The front section of the lens rotates while focusing. if you use filters where orientation matters, you’ll have do a workaround or do it in photoshop.

Switching to macro mode and back out of it is somewhat clumsy. Offsetting that is that there is a Macro which I find very useful.

.

Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great lens. I love the fact that you can still take close up shots without the blackout that usually occurs when you put a lens that doesn’t start at a low distance setting. I love Sony cameras and thought that this lens may not work well with my Sony DSLR but boy was I wrong. This lens has so many features it’s unbelievable. The images that were captured with this lens are so amazing and perfect. The features are very easy to understand and I love the fact that you can change from manual to automatic focusing.

Great photos
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I used this lense with the Rebel XTI and it takes incredible photos. This is a great lense for the price.

Nice images, little slow and heavy, weird macro switch
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The picture quality is good, the macro mode is great despite a really weird macro switch… It’s hard to switch off the macro mode, you have to play with the zoom first (macro works only from 200 to 300).

The lens is quite heavy but it’s OK for such a zoom lens, autofocus is not the fastest especially in low light but works fine for the price!

Be careful not to touch the AF hood when using it in AF or you’ll be scared by the noise…

A good lens overall.

excellent
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
EOS xti, I have this almost 1 year, and it excellent pictures, crystal sharp outdoor. In door in sometime the focus (autofocus) take awhile to turn.

The switch button from “M” to “Auto” when use for macro stuck sometime.

Sigma Zoom for Nikon
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Received when expected, got what I requested, well packaged, etc. AF works with my D40 as they indicated.

Nothing beats a Sigma 70-300APO for the price.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Sigma 70-300mm APO is a solid lense that is great for Zoo Trips and Macro Photography. It does a fair job in moderate light and has difficulty focusing in low light situations but what lense does?! Looses one star for a noisey focus motor but if your looking for a great Outdoors Lense, look no further and buy this lense!

Sigma lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Read multiple reviews for this lens before purchase. The first lens I received was DOA but was promptly replaced by Amazon. Second lens worked fine. This is a good cost effective way to get good quality telephoto pictures, but a tripod is almost a must for long shots. I would reccommend this lens for all but the most discriminating. I am using this lens on a Canon digital Rebel XTi.

Lens revies
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I really like this lens. The only reason I gave it less than a perfect score is that it is a biot soft at the 300 end. Other than that it is great.

Best Lens for the Price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned this lens for several years now, and I’ve used it on both 35mm and digital SLR’s. I have to start off by saying that it’s a wonderful lens for the price. People who claim the lens isn’t sharp might be referring to the non-APO version, which is about $100.00 less. This version, I have found, is tack-sharp between 70-200mm, and still very sharp from 200-300mm. The macro feature gives a 1:2 reproduction ratio, which is more than sufficient for most subjects. Keep in mind, on a digital camera with an APS-sized sensor, this lens is really a 112-480mm lens, taking into account the 60% crop factor. If my math isn’t fuzzy, that should also make the reproduction ratio 1:1.4 on a digital SLR. That’s pretty darn good for a consumer-grade lens. Sure, it’s not “L” Series glass, but you’re not paying over a grand for it, either. For someone on a budget, this lens is as good as it gets.

Terrific buy for your first telephoto lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve been using the 18-55 kit lens on my Rebel XT for over a year now and picked up this telephoto lens. Since there are hundreds of reviews on all aspects of the lens I will not repeat a lot. To summarize, I found this lens VERY easy to use and the pictures extremely sharp. Worked out of the box perfectly with my Rebel XT. The focusing motor is a bit buzzy but not much to bother about at all, zoom ring is easy to use and I did NOT find it hard to turn all the way to 300mm as some were saying.

Autofocus does NOT hunt and is NOT particularly slow..it’s about the same as the kit lens, not sure what people are talking about, perhaps they are unfairly comparing it to a ultrafast professional grade Canon lens 5 times the price which is not exactly a fair comparison. After reading reviews I was expecting very poor autofocus performance but I was pleasantly surprised because indoors with minimal light I was able to autofocus just fine with zero issues! Bokeh at 200mm was quite nice!

Quality and finish are very nice and the bag it comes in is a bonus! A word of caution, you should switch the lens to MANUAL FOCUS before you attach the lens hood because otherwise you will turn the focus motor manually which could damage it.

It’s a beautiful little unit and highly recommended! I am extremely happy with my purchase. I think it’s one of the best buys in it’s class/price point and the perfect choice for a first telephoto lens.

this the right lens for the d70?
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Hi all.

I see that this lens says it’s ‘motorized’ but is this the one I want for a Nikon d70? I looked on the Sigma site and the motorized and non-motorized lenses have the same specs for this model.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Worth far more than you’ll pay!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned this lens for about a year and use it on a *istDS. Used in good light, the focusing is quick and accurate. My pictures are sharp wide open or stopped down… doesn’t matter. I just returned from a vacation where I took many bird pictures and I can’t see how the definition in the feathers could be any better.

No, it isn’t an f/2.8 lens, so don’t expect miracles in low light. Still, it does an acceptable job here, too. Macro function is good, but the switch can be difficult to move back out of macro mode.

The size and weight are reasonable. It is well worth the weight, space and effort to take on multi day hikes in the deep woods. Been there – happy I had it. Zoom in on the big animals far away or close in on the bugs and flowers.

I’m sure that there are slightly better lenses out there, but not for anywhere near this price. To me, it’s easily worth twice what I paid for it. I’m extremely happy to have this lens in my bag! For the function and price, easily 5 stars.

Understand What You’re Getting
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
When evaluating the various telephoto zoom lenses in the consumer price range of $150-$250, this APO Sigma is the overall best option. The build quality is quite good in comparison to its competitors, and the same can be said about image quality as well. In addition to those qualities, it also offers the pseudo-macro function which although is not a true 1:1 macro, does offer some additional versatility.

But having said all those nice things, you still need to keep in mind what you’re getting. The auto focus leaves quite a bit to be desired. While it is fairly accurate once it finds a point of focus, its often very slow to find that point. It’s extremely noisy as well.

I’ve also noticed that it’s a little soft towards the end of the focal range from around 275-300 unless you stop down to f/6-6.5. To compensate for that you need to either use a tripod, bump up the ISO, or have great lighting conditions.

Of course those issues could be addressed with a USM motor or IS capability, but then it would no longer fall into the $150-$250 consumer category.

In summary, this is a solid lens that out performs its immediate competitors in terms of image quality and build, but it’s also not without its flaws. You can produce great results with this Sigma, but you just might have to work a little harder to get them. So keep your expectations reasonable, and you’ll be happy with this lens.

Great lense
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is my first zoom lense and I am very impressed with the photo quality with my canon slr. I use it for taking photos of homes for sale around the lake and family sports. I was able to take quality photos at maximun range. Seems pretty well built, came with lense caps and a storage case.

Sigma lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love my new sigma 70-300mm lens for my Canon Rebel. I can capture alot of animal shoots with good quality results.

Good telephoto lens if you’re on a tight budget
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I disagree with Jeff Kershaw’s review for the older version of this lens (Sigma 70-300mm APO Super), in that it’s very unfair to compare this lens to a L series lens, as those lens start at over $500 due to it’s very specific high-grade optics manufacturing process. To compare this lens to a lens that starts at over 4X the price is like comparing a Honda Civic to a Porsche. Like the civic, this Sigma lens is well rounded, good for beginner and consumer SLR photographers, and maybe some “pro-sumer” on a tight budget, or even students. For the price, this lens is a bargain, as I’ve been doing a lot of research before buying this lens (price range in the $130-225 for telephoto). What I liked most about this is the APO lenses, which prevent reflection inside the lens which creates “ghosting” (inverted light ghostly shadow that appers on your image) which is usually apparent in nightshots. During the day APO lenses decrease those “purple fuzzies” (chromatic aberration) you see against high contrast (like a bird’s wing against the sky). Granted this lens is no Porsche like the Canon L series, but for the price range, may hit the spot for some folks. I mainly use this camera for macro photography and taking photos of the Empire state building from my roof, which is 24 blocks away. This lens is definitely better quality than the Canon 75-300 USM III f/4-5.6 which is usually considered the benchmark for this price range telephoto.

Also note that there are different versions of these lenses (despite close naming), so be careful about what you buy. The is a APO DG version with Macro specifically made for digital SLRs which is what is listed here (the “official” name of this lens is: 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro), and a non APO version of this lens which is a bit cheaper (but not worth it at all). Also there’s ones listed as APO II which is the “older” version, which I don’t know the quality of, but know that it is older than the model listed here.

Summary: If you’re on a tight budget this is as good as it gets in this price bracket. The next tier where there’s significant gains in lens imaging doesn’t even start until you start spending in $600-1800 range.

Good quality, but lacks some features
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens does everything it advertises. It takes sharp macro shots and works superbly as a telephoto. As with other telephotos, you’ll need a tripod to make use of this lens.

My only complaints are the lack of IS and the tight aperture. At 300mm it only opens to f/5.6; this does limit your ability to shoot in low light, but can be mitigated with a tripod. Don’t plan on night time action shots, though.

Given the choice, I’d buy it again. For the price this is an excellent lens that fills two slots in my bag. It’s worth noting that the lens comes with a protective carrying bag and a lens hood.

Great performance. Great value.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Sigma 70-300mm lens combines great performance with great value.

Pictures are sharp and crisp. The price is unbelievable.

The lens even comes with a case!

Sigma lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Love it, love it, love it. Having a blast taking photos with this one. Excellent guality lens. Much more than I expected.

A Really Great Deal
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens was cheap compared to it’s Canon counterparts and I’m really plesad with the photos.

The Macro feature is very good as well.

I hand-hold for almost all my shots and I haven’t really missed image stabilisation.

Great Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The lens is a good value. I like the photos that I took with it. It is not too large to carry in a standard bag, but you DO need a shorter lens with you. This is too powerful for many routine shots. It is not quite to the “must have tripod” power, but it is nice to use one if you have the capability to lug one along.

8 months later
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had this lens for over 8 months, and although it does have its flaws it is still worth the money if you are looking somewhere to start. You need to understand something first though. Your first pictures are going to look like crap. Its true. Even the ones you think are good are crap. Practice. The more you use it, the better you will become. At 480mm on a cropped lens, you are dealing with alot of range and it does take practice. Now that is out of the way…

The macro feature on this lens has been my favorite feature. It takes alot of practice to get used to this focal length, and I highly recommend using it together with a monopod if not a tripod. Your pictures will look so much better. Trust me.

Feeder shots. Birding can’t get any easier than feeder shots. I had over 35 pictures of a Golden Finch and not one was as sharp as it should have been. It was mixed with over 100 other pictures taken that day and out of the whole batch maybe 15 to 20 were good enough to save. Only 3 or 4 of those were good enough to print. None were tack sharp though. Again, a tripod is a must. Otherwise you will run into the same thing with this lens. Even with a tripod or monopod some of your shots will not be as sharp as you would like.

Now, the point I am trying to make is this. This lens is great if you want to shoot butterflies or flowers up close. For birding its just not going to produce the results you expect. I do not regret this purchase at all, even with the many shots it missed. Yes, the focus hunts like a rabid dog and even then sometimes its off. When you throw in a moving target forget it. Its just the way this lens is. You can offset it though, with little adjustments. Have your camera focus on only one (the center) focus point, or use the manual focus. It, again, takes practice to get right.

So, look at your needs. If you are serious about birding then go ahead and get a lens with IS. If you don’t mind carrying a tripod around with you then get this. It is a nice lens for the money. Like I said, I don’t regret it, but you will reach a point where you will want more. Took me eight months. For the price, eight months is acceptable to me. Think about it before you buy.

Excellent len for agood price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
i bought this len from this seller their service is excellent, very fast shipping, item as decribe, i tested this len with canon Eos 350D and the picture turn out great, very clear and sharp ( i used sport mode with full automatic)very easy to use and have great result with low price if you compare with another tele at this zoom size

Excellen Lens – Sharper than My Old Minolta 100-300
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Although somewhat larger and heavier than my 20 year old Minolta 100-300 zoom lens, the Sigma was exactly what I hoped for when I ordered it. At 300 mm on a tripod mounted Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D, I was amazed at how the Sigma lens was noticeably sharper on my test subject (the front page of our daily paper) than the Minolta lens. I have had good results when photographing butterflies and similar small delicate subjects.

focus questionable
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
My reservations about this lens is that the focus seems soft even with a steady tripod. And because it does not have image stabilization (VC in Sigma speak), it is almost useless when used free hand. I am having a hard time getting a good picture with a monopod at the long end of the zoom, so unless you can use a tripod at all times, this lens is not a good choice. If I was to make this purchase again, I would look for a Canon IS lens with similar range.

Good Deal on a Telephoto Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I recently picked up this Sigma to complement the 18-55mm lens on my Canon Digital Rebel XT and have been very happy with it so far. Most images look great, provided the shutter speed is fast enough and other settings have been dialed in correctly. The lens has no image stabilization, of course, so anything with a shutter speed slower than 1/100 sec or so will require a pretty steady hand or a tripod in order to produce sharp photos.

The AF works well in general and the focus ring is smooth and easy to rotate, but occasionally it has some trouble with fast-moving objects and can be a bit slow and noisy. I love the macro feature; it has allowed me to get some great wildlife photos with impressive detail from a good 3-5 feet away from the subject.

Finally, I like how Sigma has included both front and rear lens caps as well as a hood and even a soft case for this lens all in the package. Though it definitely lacks the quality of a Canon L-series lens or an IS model, this lens was a great choice for me and I would recommend it to anyone on a budget who wants a good-quality telephoto and macro lens.

Excellent Service
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Wasn’t sure how this would work out, took over 600 pictures with this lens on my Canon SLR EOS Rebel. Was shooting a Hockey Tourney over the very weekend I got it, Every picture was great, The delivery was the as usual 2 day service from NYC NY. to PEI Canada. Will be using this company for all my future online shopping needs.

Excellent
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I rarely write reviews for stuff I buy on Amazon, but I felt I needed to share my thoughts on this lens.

Sigma has always been a better “out of the box” experience than Canon, which unfortunately does not see fit to ship a $6 hood for a $600 lens. Sigma gives you a carrying case and a hood. The “feel” of this lens is excellent. It’s tight (no focus creep), and a sort of rubberized matte finish that just screams “pro”. Top marks here.

From an optical standpoint, the lens is incredibly good, considering the price. I fired off about 70 shots outside to test the aperture at the different focal ranges. Yes, there is some softness at 300mm, but this can be mostly offset by stopping it down to 4.0. The rest of the focal range is fine. I used my Rebel XT and a Canon UV filter (50mm) for the tests. In the macro mode, there’s excellent contrast and saturation, and very good bokeh.

Focus is a little slow, but then maybe I’m spoiled by the Canon glass, which focuses like nothing else. Still, there’s very little hunting here, except in lower ambient light. This is not an indoor lens, nor is it a walkaround utility one. But for telephoto work and even a bit of macro (as it were), it’s an extremely good deal.

All in all, I’d highly recommend getting this, especially as a first-time telephoto for people who are getting into DSLRs. The closest Canon equivalent is about $100 more expensive, and I don’t believe it comes with a hood or case.

Sigma 70-300 ups and downs
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This range just does not seem to have a really good lens on the market right now and hopefully one of the companies who makes K mount lenses will do something about the problem. If I had it to do again I would buy a fixed lens at 300 or 400 in a manual focus lens.

great deal…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Very good lens for the money. I’m using with a Sony A-100 and have had no problems. Occasional ‘focus hunting’ in lower light and maximum zoom situations due to the f5.6 aperature. Usually backing off on the zoom allows the camera focus and maintain focus as I zoom in again. The macro feature is very nice. I think they offer a similar lens without this feature but it’s well worth the small difference in price.

If its lacking something then…its color reproduction
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I did not expect this lense to perform like nikon 70-300..But still still its a good lense for beginners..its hungry for light..so forget about low light shooting with this..low exposures with this lense is not as good as Nikons..

but day light shooting is very good..sharp and clear..but somehow I feel the colors are not well reproduced..i took the same shot with same settings..and found Nikon the best in colors..so I am happy with its price but thinking of getting the nikon one..

A very good low cost zoom len
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a very good zoom len that less than $200. For a len has a zoom more than 4x, you cann’t really expect a superb image, but you get what you pay for.