Sigma 70-300 f4 - 5.6 APO DG MACRO any good?

[rgrebby]

Is this any good, also what is the usual price for these, new and second hand?

Thanks

[stephenb]

Great lens for the money, I got mine new for £119 from onestop-digital. Reasonable build, nice and light and pretty sharp too until you get up to 300mm.
Took this yesterday, hand held at 149mm and 1/400 f4.5 to give you an idea. (I added the vignette).
Hope this helps you.

http://i.pbase.com/o3/27/725027/1/89363466.yHDBRV8u.IMG_6855.jpg

[Jimmy_Lemon]

wow that a damn big pic stephenb

as said though you get what you pay for, if you want to play around with a zoom lens but dont need really sharp shots then for go for it :) If you are planning on using the shots for anything usefull though then you might be slightly dissapointed at how soft the lens can actually be :(

New tend to be from £110-160 new / Second hand £90 ish at a guess

[rgrebby]

Thanks for the info, are there any other lenses around this price range that are better? + £50 or so

[rgrebby]

for example the CANON EF [ 75-300mm NON-USM ] F/4.0-5.6 III LENS

[Jimmy_Lemon]

annoyingly there doesnt seem to be :( or not that I have noticed. I must admit I have decided to splash out and go from the sigma to a nice Canon L 70-200 when I can afford it so didnt pay a great deal of attention to anything slightly higher. I seem to remember when I was looking for a cheap zoom that this and the similar canon (I think 75-300) are pretty much in there own little cheap (soft) zoom section :(

[rgrebby]

im almost tempted to just stay with the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC Macro Lens I just got and use it for a bit until after xmas and then look for a longer lens

[Steven001]

This sounds stupid, but, should this lens only be used for extreme close-ups? Or would it also be good for shotting animals or a football match, for example.

[Jimmy_Lemon]

it should in theory be good for both Steven001 - and it can be if the light is good and you can find some good settings. I have got some lovely sharp shots at 300mm before but all outdoors in blazing sunshine.

[wobblebottom]

Its a good lens for the money..It wont Auto focus on D40/x though...Ive used mine for allsorts

Example shots HERE:thumbs: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wobbs_work/sets/72157600207114298/)

[Steven001]

Seen like a good lens for the money! Pity about the auto focus though. I would really like to take some shots of my mate playing football, do you think it would be hard to get some decent ones using manual focus? And blazing sunshine isn't something were likely to get very often, here in Scotland.

[Jimmy_Lemon]

I do manual focus a lot with mine and it does autofocus on the Canon 350, it just prefer to manual focus with it.

[richie]

i have been pretty happy with mine and got some good results,

http://www.countryladpics.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/forum%20pics/Gazania2.jpg

http://www.countryladpics.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/forum%20pics/Baby%20Robin.jpg

[Bunk]

I use mine on a d70 and i love it, although it can be abit slow to focus in low light! but i would definatley recommend it for the price!!

[Steven001]

I might look into getting one of these. They don't have VR, do they? Is that a big draw back for such a high zoom lens?

[wobblebottom]

No I dont personally think so, it does what it says on the tin, and the affordability factor makes it a great buy.

Nikon do a 70-300 VR which will Auto Focus on the D40/x, but its pricey.. Roughly £309:thumbs: