Sigma Lens 70-300mm

[dyrer]

I have a canon 300D and intent to buy these lens from ebay
SIGMA 28-80mm Mini Zoom Macro Lens and SIGMA 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DL Macro Super Lens SET
What do you think? Am not a pro am just want a good set of lenses

[leo11877]

I have a canon 300D and intent to buy these lens from ebay
SIGMA 28-80mm Mini Zoom Macro Lens and SIGMA 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DL Macro Super Lens SET
What do you think? Am not a pro am just want a good set of lenses

Hi
I have a lens for sale in this forum.
http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49178

this is a far better then the 28-80 lens.

For telephot i would suggest you TAMRON 70-300mm AF LD lens. Very sharp lens. See samples at
http://www.photosig.com/go/photos/browse?id=27302
you will find this lens on ebay for 129 something.

[Headcase650]

Look Here
http://www.photographyreview.com/pscLenses/35mm,Zoom/Sigma/PRD_83601_3128crx.aspx
And here
http://www.photographyreview.com/pscLenses/35mm,Zoom/Sigma/PRD_83596_3128crx.aspx

[elbirth]

Are you sure that 70-300mm lens isn't actually 100-300mm? I have a set that is the 28-80mm and the 100-300mm. The 100-300mm is a decent lens, I haven't had any problems with it, and images come out decently sharp. I initially had a soft focus issue with the 28-80mm on my 20D, but after a firmware upgrade, it seems to be lessened. It's still not super sharp, but it's a decent lens.

[ron chappel]

It sounds abit like you have little choice of picking and choosing because these two come together as a 'bargain pack'.

The 70-300 LD macro super is a decent enough budget telezoom (and has a very usefull 1:2 macro ratio) But the 28-80 zoom is not a favorite of mine by any means -i've never seen a third party brand normal zoom that i like (they all have strong colour and contrast but low sharpness....see below for more on this)

The tamron that Leo recommends is a near identical spec to the sigma you are considering and would also make a pretty good choice if it were offered to you in a kit. (i.e similar price)
I must dissagree about it being very sharp.Like many consumer zooms it uses strong colour and contrast to make up for lack of sharpness.
i.e it looks pretty sharp to most people but is not really close at all to the sharpness of the better lenses.
Please don't let that worry you though! It's a technicallity -like i said,most people like it like that.


The sigma 100-300 Elbirth mentions is the cheaper 100-300 DL. As he says it is indeed not too bad for an ultracheapie (and it is the cheapest around)
Here are some pics i took with one of those.
http://members.dodo.net.au/~l8r_ron/index_6.html

So what would i recommend?
The canon 75-300 is a definite OK lens.Not alot better than those but "good enough" in my opinion. A reasonable percentage of the shots i get with it are very good

http://members.dodo.net.au/~l8r_ron/

Above that there are lots of more expensive lenses you would
like but the canon is the one that has a very good price performance ratio :)

[lensmen]

You have to be careful on this particular lens with the 300D

My friend tried to sell me his 2yr old lens. Took it for a few days and played with it. It happened that everytime after a few series of shots, I get a Error 99.... !!! the whole camera freezes, like the infamous MS bluescreen... had to remove the battery to reset the camera...

called Sigma the next day and they told me that the lens may need to rechip and if it is not that new, have to pay for it!!!

so....

SIGMA 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DL Macro Super

[ron chappel]

That's normal with all old sigma lenses.A current version of that same lens will work perfectly but MAY not work on new cameras as they come out in future.

[dyrer]

As I told am new to photography what should I buy Sigma or Tamron (Canon Lens are too expensive) and what kind (75-300 etc) for general circomstances

ps I have Canon 300D with 18-55 EF-S

[Headcase650]

Check out B and H and Adorama for prices befor you buy off ebay, Many times they are nearly as cheap and for the few extra you spend with them you will get the worlds best customer service, If you have any problems you can just send it back no questions asked. You wont find that off most Ebay auctions.

[ron chappel]

If you allready have the 18-55 kit lens then you may not even want a normal zoom (28-80)
Most people worry about the gap between 55mm and 70mm but in practice it rearely if ever becomes anoying :)

....that's more $ you can put towards a good telezoom or other stuff!

[dyrer]

Thank you for tour advices but can you tell for 70-300 len TAMRON or Sigma is better choice

[mdude85]

That's normal with all old sigma lenses.A current version of that same lens will work perfectly but MAY not work on new cameras as they come out in future.

I bought recently a Sigma 70-210 UC II lens that had to be upgraded to work with digital SLRs... the upgrade was free even though I got the lens (new) off Ebay.

Just a thought ...

[Miika]

Forget the 70-300 DL version and get the newer

70-300 APO Macro II

This lens got a great review in "Photography Monthly" a couple of months ago. They made an extensive buget telezoom test.

Miika