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Doesn't work with Eos 20D or Eos 1D mk2

I thought I had found a great deal - Mint condition. The Shop said it wouldn't work with an EOS 20D. I said I was using an Eos 1D Mk2. Sadly - see other postings - It will only work at f4. If you set any smaller aperture the shutter opens and freezes. An error message appears on the LCD top screen and you have to turn the camera off and back on to get the sutter to close. I returned it to the Leamington Branch of LCE today. I'll just have to wait for a Canon 300 f4 L IS

Fast, silent focus, equivalent to Canon's USM Extremely well built. Price Very sturdy feel when mounted on the tripod Excellent sharpness at f/8 or smaller No visible chromatic aberrations

VERY soft at f/4 (but not totally unusable) a bit heavy to use handheld

If you stop down this lens to f/8, you get excellent results. However, wide open it is terribly soft. My Canon 70-200L with a 2x converter on, wide open is sharper than this Sigma wide open. If you can't afford the Canon equivalent and can live with shooting at f/8 or smaller, then this lens is an excellent value. Personally, I buy an f/4 lens to SHOOT at f/4....so looks like it's back to Canon L glass for me. On the plus side, the HSM focusing lives up to its hype....absolutely as quiet and fast as their canon USM counterparts. As I said...if you can live with f/8...this is a good lens.

Customer Service

not needed.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 70-200 F/4L Tamron 28-200 XR Tamron 75-300 LD Macro

Optically very Good,
Half the price of Canons own version,
Compact size, HSM fast and accurate

Quite heavy, Need to buy a bigger camera bag,
Tripod collar awkward to use, especially with a quick release tripod head.

At half the price of a Canon equivalent this lens delivers superb optical and build quality, Fast hunt free focusing and compact dimensions make it a winner.

Customer Service

Not required yet

Similar Products Used:

Non HSM version
Tokina 300 ATX

Fine optical performance – slightly soft wide open, but critical by f5.6;
“Macro” (really close-focus) capabilities a great asset;
Fast, accurate HSM focussing;
Very well made; and,
Effective, built-in lens hood.

Slightly soft at f4 – not altogether a bad thing for portraiture; and,
Whilst the capability is excellent, to call 1:3 reproduction “macro” is pushing the term somewhat – IMHO close-focussing is the more appropriate term.

This is a fine lens. Based on various reviews it is not quite up to the Canon EF 300 mm f4 L, but real close.

At the time I bought mine (two years ago) the Canon was twice the price and it was an open and shut choice. However, with the introduction of the IS version Canon cut the price of the non-IS substantially - and once stocks ran out dropped it from the line. If you insist on Canon, it will now cost you USD1 200, for, by all reports, slightly worse optical performance than the non-IS version. I (almost) always use the Sigma on a tripod and, for me, IS buys very little.

Additionally, I find the “close-focus” ability very handy - something not offered by the Canon.

Customer Service

No experience.

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[1] I use a range of fixed focal length lenses.
14mm - 10%
28mm – 10%
50mm – 15%
135mm – 35%
300mm – 20%
100mm macro – 10%.
[2] Various comparable lenses – notably 300 mm f4 SMC Pentax.

Like a prime should be

No depth preview using Elan 7e

The lense can not stop down to show the depth of field on my Elan 7e(no idea as to other cameras). There is no depth of field scale on the barrel either. So it's very hard to have any idea about what your photo will look like if stop down from f4. Optics and construction is first class. With 1.4x convertor, results is good to my eye, but no autofocus though it's still f5.6. It worths recommendation regarding to its price.
I computed the depth of field data for this lens from 4 feets to infinity. Anybody who want it can email me.

Similar Products Used:

None

Well built, nice optical performance, cheap in this catergory

Compatibility Problem

For f4 and f5.6 on my Elan 7e, results are really impressive(when scanned use HP s20 at 2400 dpi), It looks even better than canon 100-400 IS at 300mm f5.6. However, I stop it down beyond f22, the slides all got washed out. Guess why, the lens can not step down its aperture on Elan 7.
Sigma states clearly on their website that this lens is fully functional on Elan 7. What?
Anyway, a nice lens, I will continue give sigma credit even though I was cheated(not intentionally I guess) and have to wait maybe two months to really get this lens work.

Customer Service

I send two lenses to them for upgrade with Elan 7: 50 mm macro EX and this 300 mm HSM. 50 mm was returned within one week and works great. But they told me to wait 1-2 months to get the 300mm updated, wow....Be careful to buy this lens if the compatibility is a issue you'd concern, for Elan 7 and/or future New EOS cameras.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 100-400 4.5/5.6 L IS