Sigma lens opinion

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patel_sujit2002@yahoo.co.uk - 09 Aug 2006 19:06 GMT

I am an amateur photographer and am looking at Sigma 70-300mm APO DG
for Canon 350D. I do not intend to blow up the photos or worried about
absolute perfection. Will I be better off gong for the DG version only
which is half the price?

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default - 10 Aug 2006 06:13 GMT

This website makes a comparison of the APO and non-APO version of their
published MTF charts. The APO version is better over most of the frame, but
the improvement is largest near the edges of the frame which aren't captured
by the 350D anyway.

http://www.digitalsecrets.net/secrets/Sigma70-300.html

If you shop around though, you should be able to find the APO version for
not much more than the non-APO version. B&H sells the Sigma 70-300mm
f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro with a Canon mount for $199us and $139 for the non-APO
version. I think that for the price they are quite good.

I have the non-apo version and I find the image quality to be pretty good,
but not as good as my Canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM. However, the Sigma
reaches 1:2 magnification compared to the 1:4 of the Canon and you can push
a bit closer still with an extension tube or a +1 diopter filter. Going
stronger than this leads to poor contrast though. My Sigma doesn't have
zoom creep although the Canon does and Sigma includes a lens hood and Canon
charges a small fortune for theirs ($45us).

My Sigma 70-300 non-APO has a little bit of chromatic aberration that
sometimes is visible. Photoshop corrects it pretty well though with either
the raw converter or the lens distortion tool. It also loses some sharpness
as you approach 300mm. The focus hunts a bit sometimes and isn't super fast
but it is fine with a bit of practice. I have taken some very nice pictures
with it. I still use it quite a bit as it is smaller than the Canon and
focusses closer.

Photozone reviews the APO version here:
http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/sigma_70300_456/index.htm

The difference in price between the two versions of Sigma's 70-300mm lens is
only $60. I think for the amount of use it will get, that it would be
better to get the APO version as it is a little sharper and better optically
rather than getting the cheaper one and wishing it were a bit better after.
If I was aware that I could have gotten the APO version for only $60 more, I
would have definately got it instead although I am not unhappy with this
one. For the price it does very well.

>I am an amateur photographer and am looking at Sigma 70-300mm APO DG
> for Canon 350D. I do not intend to blow up the photos or worried about
> absolute perfection. Will I be better off gong for the DG version only
> which is half the price?

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AaronW - 10 Aug 2006 16:41 GMT

> I am an amateur photographer and am looking at Sigma 70-300mm APO DG
> for Canon 350D. I do not intend to blow up the photos or worried about
> absolute perfection. Will I be better off gong for the DG version only
> which is half the price?

Canon 70-300/4-5.6 IS is better. If they make a same lens without IS,
it will not be much more expensive than the Sigma, but the Canon will
still be optically better than the Sigma. IS is expensive, but it is
very useful on tele lens. You have to pay for IS in lenses, unless you
get AS in camera from Sony or Pentax.

http://digitcamera.tripod.com/#slr

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Pete D - 11 Aug 2006 08:06 GMT

>> I am an amateur photographer and am looking at Sigma 70-300mm APO DG
>> for Canon 350D. I do not intend to blow up the photos or worried about
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> http://digitcamera.tripod.com/#slr

Not sure what you are basing this on but I suggest you test the Sigma DG APO
70-300mm before you write it off, it is certainly one of the lenses that
Sigma has gotten right and is nice and sharp.

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AaronW - 11 Aug 2006 09:05 GMT

> >> I am an amateur photographer and am looking at Sigma 70-300mm APO DG
> >> for Canon 350D. I do not intend to blow up the photos or worried about
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> 70-300mm before you write it off, it is certainly one of the lenses that
> Sigma has gotten right and is nice and sharp.

According to PhotoZone's test, the Canon's resolution is 1746/1695
(center/border) vs the Sigma's 1676/955, at 300mm.

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/canon_70300_456is/index.htm
http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/sigma_70300_456/index.htm

http://digitcamera.tripod.com/#slr

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Pete D - 12 Aug 2006 04:54 GMT

>> >> I am an amateur photographer and am looking at Sigma 70-300mm APO DG
>> >> for Canon 350D. I do not intend to blow up the photos or worried about
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> http://digitcamera.tripod.com/#slr

I meant against the NON IS Canon lens, the IS lens had better be better at
three or four times the price but the Sigma is still a good performer
although I am surprised the performance is as bad as stated at the longer
sized, I have seen some awesome photos from this lens, perhaps the quality
of the Sigma lenses still does vary a bit, it is also possible the
performance varies on different cameras as I had only seen shots from a D70
and from a Pentax DS! Cheers.

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AaronW - 12 Aug 2006 07:22 GMT

> >> >> I am an amateur photographer and am looking at Sigma 70-300mm APO DG
> >> >> for Canon 350D. I do not intend to blow up the photos or worried about
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> I meant against the NON IS Canon lens

Currently there is no Canon 70-300/4-5.6 non-IS.

> the IS lens had better be better at three or four times the price

As I said, IS is expensive. But if they make a same lens without IS, it
would be much cheaper, close to the price of the Sigma. But the optical
performance of an otherwise same non-IS lens will be at least the same
as the IS version, possibly even better, thus also better than the
Sigma, but at a similar price.

Again, IS is very useful especially on long lens. So it is worthwhile
to pay for IS, unless you have AS in camera from Sony or Pentax.

http://digitcamera.tripod.com/#slr

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