[lolyton]

I'm looking to buy a new decent quality lens, does anyone have any knowledge of either of these two lenses? The canon 70-200 f4 L or the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX DG / HSM.
I think the Canon one is slightly cheaper and am unsure whether the advantage of an extra stop would be overly beneficial to me, but thought i'd ask the question of how they perform in the field. I've read reviews mostly on the Nikon but no real user experience.
Any info you guys have would be good.
Cheers!

[stepheno]

Personally I can't help you as I've not owned either but have you checked our Equipment Review section. They are both given hands-on reviews in there.

[lolyton]

I have checked the pages out and they were very informative. I've kind of made my mind up to go for the canon, just wanted to hear if there were any comments that may put me off or encourage me a little before i tapped in my credit card details. Just now having a hunt for the place thats going to give me the cheapest lens with the most freebies.....so any suggestions as to that end would be nice too. I tend to have a lot of dealings with Digitalrev the Hong Kong guys and have been more than happy in the past, so they may well be getting more of the easy earned!

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by lolyton

I've kind of made my mind up to go for the canon, just wanted to hear if there were any comments that may put me off or encourage me a little before i tapped in my credit card details.

Hi Lolyton, have a read here:-

Example shot taken with Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM

[lolyton]

I've had a quick look at that page and have seen quite a lot of Dod's work already and he does do a good job. But i think i'm now staying put with the Canon....I used to work for a sporting image library and have decided that sports images are not my sort of thing (i can appreciate them but i'm not cut out for taking them unless i enjoy the sport). So for me the 2.8 would be not useless but a luxury i would pass up for possibly better build quality with Canon.
Cheers for pointing out the examples.

[Dave]

Always nice to stick to same brands if the wallet allows

[dod]

Thanks for the kind comments mate

I've had the Canon F4 as well as the sigma. The build quality of the sigma is fine, it's just the stupid coating they put on it. Having said that it's actually a lot nicer without it, nice gunmetal blue/black

[asd]

hi there,

Never owned a sigma lens so cant compare to canon's own(not much in it quality wise from reports ive read). I have the canon 70-200 f2.8L IS. I believe they have just released an imaged stabilized version of the 70-200L f4 which would be useful if you dont like tripods like me.The faster the lens is, the more versatile it will be in photographic situations, as to where to purchase......i bought mine from Onestop Digital in hong kong and saved £350, a lot of people buy from local shops for easier returns/ after sales etc. If i have to return my lens to hong kong for any reason it wont be as easy as returning it to jessops, but you's pays your money and takes your chances

hope you enjoy whatever you buy

asd