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Author
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Joe T
Forum Regular
Registered: March 2005
Location: Amersham, Bucks
Posts: 978
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Review Date: Thu June 8, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £140.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Cheap, range of focal lengths
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Cons:
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Soft much over 200mm, slow aperture
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For the money, this lens cant be beaten (well, according to the reviews I've read anyway!).
It is a great budget zoom, if you need the focal lengths.
The slow aperture can be a problem in low light.
It is really quite soft if you zoom much over 200mm.
I have heard that some copies are sharp at 300mm. I think there are quality differences between different copies of this lens. If you get a good one, you're laughing!
If you can afford it, I would recommend saving up and going for the Sigma 70-200 2,8, and maybe getting a 1.4 TC at a later date.
I hope this helps.
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Dave
Pixalo Crew
Registered: July 2005
Posts: 15465
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Review Date: Wed June 14, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £160.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Value for money, focal range, macro
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Cons:
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Soft images over 200mm also
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Joe T's review sums up my experience of borrowing this lens for a weekend. Had the same problems with soft shots over 200mm.
Saying that a cracking lens for the money.
Listed price of item at time of use.
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stupot
Forum Regular
Registered: August 2005
Location: Corfe Mullen, Wimborne, Dorset
Posts: 1397
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Review Date: Mon June 26, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £120.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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value for money
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Cons:
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hunts alot in low light
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I cant really add much more to what Joe and Dave has said. For the money this is a cracking lens. Joe is right in saying theres some sharp copies at 300mm out there i'm lucky enough to have one, here's a shot taken with my lens at 300mm and F6.3
http://www.pixalo.com/gallery/data/5...samali_ass.jpg
On the downside this lens hunts alot in low light and the build quility isn't the best, the zoom ring is stiff and jerky and the macro button is very stiff, these will no doubt loosen with use though.
The lens comes clomplete with lens case and lens hood. I paid £119.99 delivered and for that price i would highly recomend it.
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JMitchell
Feet under the table
Registered: January 2007
Location: London, England
Posts: 3655
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Review Date: Mon March 12, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £179.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Nice zoom range, good quality images, cheap, macro (2:1) capability
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Cons:
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Hunts in low light, autofocus slow-ish,
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I really love this lens, and even though I am a relative photography noob, I think it is a very good quality thing for its price. Some have complained about soft images over 200mm but I have not found this an issue to be honest, so maybe I got me one of the fabled 'good copy' lenses!
Yes the autofocus is noisy (very) and slow and hunts in low light quite a bit (but not all the time which is odd), but it's not the end of the world, and is quite easy to live with when you get used to the fact.
The macro capability is very good, cutting the shortest focussing distance from 1.5m to 0.95m (95 cm) (that's like 40 inches or so I think), which is good when combined with the 300mm zoom capability, allowing for nice close up / macro shots.
I haven't experienced any significant CA or distortion, but maybe that is to come....
NOTE: MACRO MODE IS ONLY AVAILABLE BETWEEN 200mm AND 300mm This is commonly overlooked.
The only cons I would mention is that it is quite confusing going in and out of macro mode, and there is no autofocus override like on my Nikorr 18-70, so to get out of macro mode and fully retract the lens, you have to switch to manual focus, increase the focussing distance to more than 1.5m, then switch the switch, and then zoom to below 200mm.
Also is not particularly fast glass but works fine in most light situations until it starts getting pretty dark, but this is to be expected from a cheap-ish tele zoom.
If I needed I cheap tele lens I wouldn't hesitate at all to buy this, because it is really a good performer, especially for the price. The macro capability is a big bonus as well. Plus, I bought it in Jessops, in an actual SHOP for this price :O !
Highly recommended.
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Adee
Getting Comfy
Registered: February 2008
Posts: 228
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Review Date: Wed July 30, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £159.99
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Quality results.
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Cons:
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Sometimes can't focus quick enough.
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I bought the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro DG (Canon AF) after buying the Canon EF 75-300mm f4/5.6 USM MK3 and having a really bad time with it.
I was surprised at the difference straight away.
The mortorised zoom seemed to be more sturdy and felt very acute when focusing in on things, the quality of it was far better.
High performance lens optimized for use with digital SLR cameras
Capable of macro photography, this lens has a 1:2 maximum close-up magnification at the 300 mm focal length.
It's the ideal lens for portraits, sports photography, nature photography, and other types of photography that frequently use the telephoto range.
It also has a switch for changeover to macro photography at focal lengths between 200mm and 300mm with a maximum close-up magnification from 1:2.9 to 1:2.SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass in this lens provides excellent correction of chromatic aberration.
Coating reduces Ghost and Flare
The multi-layer lens coating and lens design reduce flare and ghost, which is a common problem with digital cameras and also
creates an optimum colour balance through the entire zoom range.
SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass
SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass is used in this lens for correction of chromatic aberration. This also corrects for fluctuation
of aberration due to focusing. High optical performance is demonstrated throughout the entire zoom range.
Macro shooting with maximum magnification 1:2
This lens is capable of macro photography with a 1:2 maximum close-up magnification at the 300mm focal length.
The minimum focusing distance is 1.5 m at all zoom settings.
It also has a switch for changeover to macro photography at focal lengths between 200mm and 300mm with a maximum close-up magnification from 1:2.9 to 1:2 and a minimum focusing distance of 95cm. Without changing the distance between camera and subject, you can change the shooting magnification.
With this lens i have improved the quality of my photos and feel better in my self about the equipment i use.
The two example shots of this lens, one using the 300mm zoom and the other using 200 - 300 macro and great DOF are below.
Macro: 
Zoom: 
I hope this review helps someone not buy the wrong type of lens and make the mistake i did. Adee 
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