Review Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8 EX DG Review

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Sean
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First impressions:
"Wow, its heavier than I expected it to be!"
This doesn't mean that it is heavy. Not at all. Its one of the lighter lenses I have, but I've heard nothing but people saying that its light, so expected it to be featherweight. It extends by a small amount when zooming, and my copy's zoom ring feels quite light and not very sturdy, and when the lens is dipped, it can zoom out if you don't keep hold of it, but thankfully there is a lock ring to keep it at 24mm if you so wish.
The petaled lens hood could come in useful, mainly as protection, and I'll probably keep mine on, but it does obstruct the focusing ring if you choose to keep it inverted for storage. There is a little lens case supplied, as with all the sigma lenses, and it will come in useful when I go to New York, as I won't want to be lugging round a camera bag.

Now onto the performance.
The lens fits nicely on the camera, and feels quite balanced with my grip on.
The 2.8 is a nice feature, but I'll probably be stopping it down to about 4.5 to get maximum sharpness. Nice to know you have the option for 2.8 though.
These are a couple of 100% crops. I shot at a range of apertures and focal lengths, but the light wasn't great and I couldn't be bothered with a tripod, so I'll just show you the two that came out sharp as a nail.

60mm | f/2.8 | 1/320
crop4vp0.jpg


24mm | f/6.3 | 1/60
crop2kk8.jpg


The autofocusing was quick and mostly spot on (had trouble focusing on blacks, but I don't know if thats the camera or the lens), albeit a bit loud.

At 24mm, the distortion is quite bad. Here is a shot taken at 24mm.
img9389ef9.jpg


I know I was about 5 foot away, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. I can't see it being a problem when shooting, but its probably the only downside to the lens that I can find.

Best of all, the price was £45 for me, since I got it at discontinued prices from my work, PLUS staff discount :D Should find it on the net at around the £200 mark.

Overall, this is a fantastic lens from what I have seen, and I expect to be extremely pleased with it!
 
You seem to be able to get a lot of stock cheap from jessops, prehaps i should get a job there.

How long do you need to work there before you a discount? and can i ask what is the discount.
 
Yeah i would like to know how the hell you go it sooo cheap...! lol
 
i will willingly pay £50 for it :p
 
Get 10% discount on all stock, and then if the trade price is exceptionally low, we get that as well.
got a £65 rucksack for £20.

The job is completely **** though. wouldn't recommend it.

The lens is discontinued, and since there was only one left in the company, it was marked down to £50.
I got it transferred to our store, and then got the 10% discount as well.

If I find any cheap stock that I don't want, I'll definitely grab it and stick it up on here.

Sorry, I won't be putting it up for the price I paid for it, because I need money for various things, but I can guarantee you'll be getting it a damned sight cheaper than anywhere else!
 
Thats the economics of business, just make sure you dont get caught out doing it, as my company has very stern rules on this sort of stuff!. What you likley to get cheap?
 
There is nothing wrong with buying discontinued stock and selling it on for a profit, as long as I don't use my staff discount to do so!

Usually, old lenses, old camera parts, and occasionally cameras.
The Sigma sd-14 was going for £200 with sigma fit lenses at £10 and £5.
I bought 3 sigma fit lenses for £25, sold them on for £500 in total.

You know, that sort of thing :)
 
Sorry that they're small, I can do some 100% crops if you like?
I just don't like posting anything above 800px, and flickr automatically resizes images to 500px on the longest side. I don't have a problem with it. Keeps my image safe, but still allows them to be seen (y)
 
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