Review Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro

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Having picked up my copy of this lens yesterday I thought that I would post a brief review, I will update it later with pictures of the lens and sample pics when I get a chance to use it properly.

The lens comes in a black ballistic nylon lens pouch that has a padded bottom and top. The top padding has a cut out for the lens mount to sit in so that it is held securely in the case. The lens is supplied with a petal lens hood, which to be honest doesn't look long enough for the lens.
The lens is not a small but balances very well on my D80 with the MB-D80 fitted. The lens is approx 90mm in diameter and approx 150mm long when at the 24mm end of its range and 125mm at the 70mm end of its range. The Nikon version weighs approx 700 grams and feels like it is built like a tank. It takes an 82mm filter which are not the cheapest to buy. The finish of the lens is a black "granite" finish which is the standard on the EX range of lenses. The lens is a fixed f2.8 through out its zoom range and has a minimum aperture of f32. and the minimum focusing distance is 40cm which gives a magnification of 1:3.8 so it is not what I would call a macro lens.
The zoom ring is at the rear if the body and is quite narrow approx 16mm but is very smooth to use. The af can be switched to manual on the lens by pulling the focusing ring back towards the camera body, This is all well and good but you will need to switch the body to manual focus as well.
Although the lens is not fitted with the HSM AF motor I have not found the speed to really suffer from this, The only thing is the lens is slightly louder when focusing, but not annoyingly so. I also found that it focuses well in low light. The only other things that I have found so far are
1. Due to the size of the lens it does block out half of the auto focus assist light on the D80.
2. you can not use the on board flash at the wide end of the focal length as the end of the lens casts a shadow.
As I said earlier I will update this with some pictures when I have a chance to photograph the lens and try it out properly.
 
Thats going to be my next buy,so i'll be keeping an eye out for results and comments(y)
 
I got this recent on the canon. been using it for a few things here and there and been reasonably happy.

However I took it out for the full month today.. a 10k road race.. lineup.. runenrs the lot..

It seems to be soft at 24 on the right hand side.. moreso than the left.. at anything else its very nice results.

Going to put about 100 pics from today online later.. all with the sigma 24-70
 
are you guys using this on a cropped body? If so do you think the wide end is wide enough to use for landscape?
 
I got this recent on the canon. been using it for a few things here and there and been reasonably happy.

However I took it out for the full month today.. a 10k road race.. lineup.. runenrs the lot..

It seems to be soft at 24 on the right hand side.. moreso than the left.. at anything else its very nice results.

Going to put about 100 pics from today online later.. all with the sigma 24-70


I have to confess that I took the first copy back as when I tried it it was soft through out the zoom range and at any aperture, the store had no problems changing the lens and the new one seems far better.
 
are you guys using this on a cropped body? If so do you think the wide end is wide enough to use for landscape?

I am using on a DX sensor, I do not do landscape work so do not know if it is wide enough or not. Sorry I could not answer that one for you.
 
Mines quite soft at 24mm wide open but stopped down it's OK. I used to love this lens but am begining to find it a little frustrating on a crop body. Fancy getting something like the the 17-55 f2.8 IS instead :)
 
wouldn't we all love one of them :p
What other alternatives are there? I'm looking for a kit lens replacement and don't think I could go with any f values higher than f2.8 as I take a lot of indoor and low lighting photos.
 
If you don't mind a prime lens go for a nifty fifty, can get them in f1.8 or f1.4 f1.8 are cheaper.
 
yep I have a nifty fifty but I find it's a bit too zoomed in (crop sensor) to use as a standard lens, especially for indoor shots as you have limited space.
 
have a look for a something around 30mm mark with the cropped sensor works out to be approx 45mm in 35mm terms
 
thanks for the recommendation, think I am just going to save up either for a EF-S 17-55 f2.8 or a EF 17-40 f4 L.
 
How are people finding this lens then?

I'm still debating buying one myself to replace my kit lens.
 
I've seen them go for as little as £150 on ebay,an awful lot of lens for the money...even if you go by weight alone:LOL:
 
I've been reading review of the lens vs the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 and it seems like the Tammy comes out on top each time for quality.
 
if you put 28-75mm on a crop sensor you'll lose out a bit. I think 24mm is already pushing it as majority of standard zooms start at 17/18mm.
 
Could anyone provide a couple of 100% crops from this lens? I have one and am starting to wonder if it is a little soft.

I possible some around f/2.8 at both ends and f/4-f/8 if possible?
 
I had some issues with soft images with my Nikon fit version, but I've found at f5.6 it's quite sharp on my Fuji S5, although it seems a little more softer around the edges.

Here are a few examples :

100% crop - Nikon D300 - 40mm - f6.3 - 1/60th - ISO200

4051176228_d61a090265_o.jpg


Full size - Nikon D300 - 40mm - f6.3 - 1/60th - ISO200

4051176584_cf657f2916_o.jpg
 
i've had this lens for a few weeks now, the af is ok in regular light, in low light it does take longer than an usm lens and rattles around like the village idiot is inside working it, but for the price i don't think it can be beat.
 
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