High optical performance at all focal lengths, barrel mechanism is tight and well made. Very low price.

None

Purchased used at a store in mint condition for $50. I used on a Maxxum as a bang around lens. I found the images very fine in quality throughout the range, and the range of 24-70 is perfect as a travel lens. Only a tiny amount of distortion at 24mm with a tall post right at the edge of the frame close up. Completely acceptable. I have used very expensive Zeiss lenses that aren't giving better images. I have it on the camera all the time now. A better value can't be had, incredible that it features aspherical lens correction at this price. If it said Zeiss T* on it maybe it would have a better following. Slides and negs were examined with a Wild stereo microscope 6X-40X.

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

Contax G lenses, Maxxum lenses, Nikon lenses, Leica lenses.

Very versatile from 24mm to 70. Great to travel Asia with, from cramming buildings into frame in the Forbidden City to landscapes on the Mekong

No Macro feature

A great lense, recommended it to everyone I know with an SLR
Combine it with Sigma's 70-300mm and you have all the lenses the hobby photographer wants

Customer Service

Not needed to try it

Similar Products Used:

Canon 35 - 80AF

Extremely sharp for aftermarket lens, Perfect Range, Nice f stop for price paid, very light-weight and versitile for traveling,comes with hood.

f2.8 would be nice
could be just a touch sharper @ certain f-stops

Through out several expeiditions through the Amazon rainforest, as well as Cuba, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and extensive travel in the jungles of southern Mexico, this les has proven to be rather invaluable. with 24mm you can capture an entire room; with 70mm you can zoom in general structure, people etc. Slap on a 2x and you've got 140mm. For only $190 you could afford to drop it, I certainly wouldn't feel that way about my Nikon f2.8 180 EDIF... a great buy and good capability.

Customer Service

none, but sigma has an excellent response to those of you who purchase the USA Warranty. (good idea)

Similar Products Used:

Nikon f2.8 180mm EDIF
Nikon f1.4 35mm EDIF
Nikon FE2
Nikon F100
Nikon N6006

Very useful zoom range, lightweight.

Average performance, awful build quality

Dear oh dear! Don't buy this horrible lens! Mine has broken twice, and if I had had it repaired the last time it would have ended up costing as much overall as the vastly superior Canon lens. Build quality is not as good as the earlier 24-50, neither is image quality. DO NOT BUY IT!
The rest of my Sigma lenses, though, are great. Maybe a re-designed EX version is needed?

Customer Service

Bad - broke just outside warranty and they wouldn't do ANYTHING.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 24-50 (better!)
Tamron 24-70
Canon 24-85

Little distortion at 28-50 mm.

Dull imaging - detail worse than their 28-70uc. Focus/zoom rings uninformative, need effort to operate (maybe will soften with age). Too much flare, even with shade. Odd filter size

The only reason why I bought it - I needed a short zoom to replace a worn out Sigms 28-70 which I use for technical photos transferred to Web images, so low distortion was significant, not sharpness, neither contrast or flare. And the chice of MD-mounts in my place is 'challenged'.
My 3 star rating is based on 60 USD price, not list. Unless you need the 24mm capability in a zoom for peanuts - look elsewhere. For a short zoom, old Minolta 24-40 is hard to beat.
Interesting, why they changed filter mount from 52 to 55mm? mechanically, 52 mm will fit just as well. I had four small Sigmas, all where 52mm.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28-70/3.5 uc
Tamron 28/200
Minolta 24-40 (dream lens!)
all these with Minolta x700

Clear aspherical glass.
Nicely dampened zoom ring.
Snappy autofocus (Pentax FA-compatible mount)

55mm filter size; in an effort to save money, I bought a step-down ring to use my existing batch of 58mm filters. Unfortunately, when this lens is focused to infinity, the step-down ring interferes with the zooming barrel at about 50mm. A minor inconvenience, but one worth mentioning.

Perhaps I'm not experienced enough to be as demanding as some of the naysayers' previous posts on this lens, but I think it takes great pictures! I've been shooting through it for about a month and every image that comes back is clear, sharp, and beautiful. Maybe there's a quality control issue at Sigma and I'm just not one of the unlucky folks who ended up with a Monday morning after Superbowl lens.

Where else can you get a wide angle (24mm) zoom with aspherical glass for only $150?

Anyway, this is a great lens for the beginner/intermediate photographer. Combined with my Quantaray (Sigma) 70-300mm macro zoom, I've got a lightweight, no-hassle combo that goes into my backpack on every backcountry trip I take.

Just buy it!

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax 35-80mm f/4-5.6
Quantaray Tech 10 AF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 MACRO SUPER

Compact and very lightweight. Very sharp with good detail. Exceptional value.

As with most AF lenses, there is some play on the front focusing portion of the lens.

I am surprised by the poor reviews several photographers have given this lens. My pictures were tack sharp with great detail. F5.6 at 70mm is somewhat slow - I feel Sigma could have made it f4.5. Still works after falling from a horse - the lens hood broke and I bought replacement from Sigma.

Customer Service

Excellent. Got quick response when I emailed Sigma USA. Needed replace lens hood which broke - fell from a horse.

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 28-105mm f3.5/4.8 manual focus.

Sharp,

Practical range,

Minimal flare.

None experienced.

Just got my first 3 rolls of film back. Bought this zoom while waiting for my Tamron being repaired. The film I used was two Fuji Reala 100 and a Kodak Supra 100.
I can read small writing on bottles and books in enlarged prints, (shot a beach in Denmark at 24-28 mm. My girlfriend, just a detail in the corner of the shot is reading a paperback with the writing visible.) I always use f8-f16 when I want those crisp shots. But I cant find any complaints on the portrait shots with f/3.5-5.6 either.

The 4 mms down from 28 really feels alot which gives you more creative freedom shooting views. The 50-70 mm range is perfect for portraits.

I did a few shots directly towards the sun, both sunsets and afternoon sun. Almost no flare. (one shot in ten or something had a small flare)

Customer Service

Never used.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 28-105mm.