covers a wide range

Read the summary

I purchased the sigma 28-300MM lens about one month ago thinking that it would be a good all around lens. Well I was wrong. It was performed well under what I would expect from a sigma product. The color match to the subject matter is poor to be nice. I tried other lens and they were fine. I tried all kinds of light too and it did not matter. The image quality was also lacking at the 200-300mm range. At first I figures it was me not holding the camera still enough. So out came the tripod and 50 pictures later the verdict was in. It’s not me. The pictures are soft and blurred. No the top of the cake comes yesterday when I was taking pictures of my kids on the beach and I noticed the lens move in a way its not supposed to. When I checked it out I noticed that the plastic that holds the mounting ring was split. That could have caused the trouble from the beginning. I have only had this lens for a few weeks now and I sent it back to sigma as it has not been dropped or miss used in that short time. They have informed me that its not covered. Great. Well at least I only lost $250.00 on this. In closing I have to say it has been a let down since I have other sigma lens that have performed beyond what I was expecting, but not this one. Stay away from this one.

Customer Service

Poor, very disapointing

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-135mm

Wide range of zoom - can't overestimate this value Nice optical quality

Weight Barrel and pincussion distortions closer to 28 mm and 300 mm ends, allthough quite bearable. Moderate corner softness

I'm quite pleased with contrast and sharpness this lens delivers. It is obviously not all-purpose (not suitable for macro, for example) but highly versatile and comfortable, I keep it on my camera most of the time.

Customer Service

Haven't used yet

Similar Products Used:

I've used Olympus all-in-one SLRs

Covers a broad range. Small, focus is fast.

Only fair sharpness @ 300mm. You just can't get any one lens to take the place of 5 and expect it do it really well.

I bought this lens to replace my Sigma 70-300 APO Macro (I read Popular Photography's tests again and got excited) and I am sorry to say that it will ONLY be in my pack when I want to save weight. I shot two rolls of slide film to see how it would do and after looking at those 72 shots I'd say it's passible. For a "do-it-all" lens it's o.k. but I will probably just continue using my Nikkor 28-105mm on the wide end and maybe get another Sigma 70-300mm APO Macro for my medium tele needs. Close focus at 300mm is good w/this lens and very useful for me as I use flash and/or mount it and the camera on a tripod or monopod. All of the people carping about the 70-300 APO Macro not being sharp at 300mm aren't using proper technique (my guess). I've had several incarnations of the 70/75-300mm Sigmas and they were all pretty good though flimsy. Yes, I've shot w/very expensive equipment too but since I do a lot of hiking and I just turned the 1/2 century milestone I want "light" and versatile w/quality approaching 90% of prime focal lengths. The 28-300mm is a 80-85% of prime lens quality judging by my slides on the long end-short end to middle is good. The 28-300 Hyper is o.k. for a family reunion but not if I'm in Monument Valley.

Similar Products Used:

28-105 Nikkor Zeiss stuff Leica stuff

1> Great build quality. Even extended to 300mm, the barrel is rock solid. 2> Great imaging. Noticeably better than the already very good imaging I enjoyed with my Sigma 28-200 lens. 3> Ability to use 67mm filters instead of the more expensive 72mm filters. 4> More effective antireflection coating on this lens than the one it replaced. Good flare control improved to great flare control. 5> Marked close focusing distances in English and metric, and magnification ratios on the lens barrel as the lens is zoomed. But, see below!

Would've been nice if Sigma could've figured out how to maintain the 19.7" close focusing range of the 28-200 lens . . . As it is, the 28-300 lens can barely focus closer than 3', though at the 300mm setting it does allow for reasonable magnification (about 1:5), and greater still if used with a telextender.

A delightful "all-purpose" lens! This lens replaced a Sigma 28-200 Hyperzoom DL that I gave to a friend. I had been quite pleased generally with the 28-200, but this 28-300 blows it away. To be sure, it won't match the imaging quality of primes (NO zoom will!), but it won't disappoint either. Fine up to and including 8x10s. The target demographic shooting vacation pictures and family get-togethers will find this lens very handy. It exhibits less distortion at the wide end, as well as better flare control and contrast than the lens it replaced. The automatic focusing action (Minolta AF mount) is quieter to boot. Like all true telephotos, sharp results at the long end just about demand a tripod or at least the reciprocal of the focal length for a shutter speed. Add in Sigma's new 4-yr warranty and this lens's a winner!

Customer Service

Had some trouble with the AF of the 28-200 lens and Sigma repaired it out of warranty.

Similar Products Used:

As compared in the review