Buying A Used Lens - Sigma 70-300 f4-f5.6 APO

I am buying this lens used (from another forum) and just had a couple questions regarding it.

I thought there were two versions of this lens, the APO and non-APO. Is the APO DG a third version? If so which version is it I want? (I have a Rebel XTi)

The seller sent me pictures of the lens and box, the box is brown cardboard with red lettering that says Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 II APO Macro Super, but in the For Sale forum here I found another of these lenses that is in a black box and has DG listed with it.

If someone would take the time to set me straight on this it would really help out my first lens purchase.

Thanks,
Kurt

I think DG would be the newest one and the one you want.
Now how much is he selling it for. I think brand new they are pretty cheap under 200
this is the one you would want
http://www.sigma4less.​com …2B%3D28SG70300F​4ADCA%3D29

make sure its the APO one and no just the DG one

From B&H website: "Sigma's 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO DG Macro is one of several tele zoom lenses. It is a compact Apochromatic tele zoom lens incorporating two Special Low Dispersion glass elements in the front lens group, plus one Special Low Dispersion glass element in the rear lens group, to minimize chromatic aberration.

This Tele-Macro Zoom lens is capable of focusing down to 1:2 (half life-size) reproduction ratio at 300mm focal length with superb optical quality. It also has a switch for changeover to macro photography at focal lengths between 200mm and 300mm. The lens materials used in this product are lead and arsenic free ecological glass.

The improved DG lens design corrects for various aberrations. This lens is specially coated to get the best color balance whilst cutting down on ghosting caused by reflections from the digital image sensor. "

Supposedly, the DG versions of Sigma lenses have been "optimized" for digital sensors. The non-DG will work, however. This version is $219 USD new at B&H.

Well the seller wants $240 Canadian (roughly $215 USD) shipped. The cheapest I have found the 70-300 APO DG version new in Canada is $298 CAN which would probably be around $350 after taxes and shipping.

On the sigma website, they only have two versions listed, one with APO and one without:

70-300mm F4-5.6 DG MACRO
70-300mm APO DG MACRO

Kurt

WOW that seems really high for used. post up a pic of the lens pics he sent you..the way you said it sounds like he is trying to sell the non APO one wich is even cheaper.

Well please remember things like this cost a lot more in Canada

Here's the pics:

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HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

Hmm looks like the APO with the redline...but is this the NON DG...if so I would say see if you can get the newer DG version from sigma4less and what it would cost to ship to you.

Well I'm completely confused now. Sigma only lists DG versions for this on their site, did they even make a non-DG version of this lens? I dunno, this is $240 CDN shipped, I think I can get one sent here from the states for around $300 CDN so maybe I should go that route?

Anyone else want to weigh in on this one?

Buying lenses is hard,
Kurt

I dont really know much about the lens. i never looked into buying one before.

There are 2 current versions of this lens.

70-300mm F4-5.6 Macro DG
This is the cheapest of the two and is not APO and is not recommended

70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro DG
The APO version of this lens and the more expensive. Build quality is acceptable for a consumer lens. Check http://www.pbase.com/l​ightrules/70300s for a comparative review of this lens.

The lens which you show a picture of is the earlier non DG version of the 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro DG and is the 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro II Super.

I have a copy of this lens ( 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro II Super ) and it is a good consumer lens . It will hunt for focus in low light and appears slightly soft at the 300mm end of the range. In good light and stopped down slightly it is a very good lens optically. A strength of this lens is the weight, It is light enough to keep on the camera when walking around. The 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro DG is supposed to be slightly better.

I also own the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 but have just ordered the 70-300mm F4-5.6 Macro DG as it is good enough for a general walk around and is far lighter. I would not use this lens on a paid job were the features of the more expensive lenses are usually required but for something to stick on the camera which will give me a good picture if I work within its limits it is a useful lens. I'm actually going to try it on a 5D as a daylight walk around, should be interesting

Hope this helps.

i own the sigma 70-300 APO DG version. this is the latest version of this lens and is superb (in my case).
you unfortunately got the non dg model, this is the older of the lot.
unlucky man

well he didnt by it yet..that was a pic the seller sent him.
So its the non dg..I say look elsewhere then..especially the price the guy is asking

Twitch1977 wrote in post #2200496
Well I'm completely confused now. Sigma only lists DG versions for this on their site, did they even make a non-DG version of this lens? Kurt

If you go to the "Lens Chart" section of their site, you will see a red hyperlink that says something like "To see a list of recently discontinued lenses, click here". The version in question is listed there.

Another point, I have read that some older Sigma lenses must be "re-chipped" to work properly with Canon digital cameras. I'm not sure that this applied to the lens model in question. Before buying (if you decide to buy it), you might want to confirm with the seller that it is compatible with your camera.

Alright thanks a lot guys, I will avoid this lens, maybe I can get a new one sent up from the US for cheaper than I can buy it locally.

Thanks a lot for all your advice and for helping me figure this out.

Kurt

I know this doesn't help twitch, but if anyone else is in the market for this lens Target.com has the APO version on sale for 139.99 with 9.99 shipping. You just need to be patient as they are back ordered and won't ship for 2-6 weeks.

http://www.target.com …1?ie=UTF8&asin=​B000ALLMI8