Sharp pictures, good color.

Slow to focus. Questionable build quality.

This lens served me well for a year or so, but it completely crapped out on me about amonth ago. The electronics went bad and the lcd on my Canon Elan IIE doesn''t even show up when this lens is on the body.

Price. Feels solid. Very large maximum aperature for the price. Focusing scale printed on the barrel. Autofocus works well with my Tamron 2x teleconverter (the only lens I have that does).

Plastic mount. Some distortion at 28mm. Depth of field preview on my Elan 7 will not work with this lens (it does on my EOS-1n). Lens extends past the lens hood at 28mm. Autofocus is a tad slow compared to a Canon USM.

This is very good, very fast lens for the money. While there is some distortion at 28mm, it is minimal. The lens does move in a strange way, however. The shorter the focal length, the longer the lens gets...strange.

Customer Service

Unknown.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-90mm f/4-5.6 USM

This lens takes very good pictures. Fast lens for a zoom. Nicely finished, Price

None encountered.

This is a very good lens for the money. When I decided to buy my Nikon N-60 body, I spent a little time trying to decide to which lens to buy for it. My first thought was the Nikon 28-80. So I tried one out at the camera store and was suprised to find out how cheap it felt. The Nikon lens had that very plastic feel(the better Nikon lenses are very expensive). The sigma lens is faster, better finished than the Nikon and at about the same price. I checked popular photograpy magazine on the performance of both lenses and it appeared that the Sigma lens performed better. I blow up my best shots to 11x14 to put on the wall, and this lens has performed well. I also bought the Sigma 70-210 and am pleased with it also.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Olympus 35-70 zoom, Nikkor 35-70 & 70-210

Good product for the price. It's a lens I don't feel nervous about treating gently. It produces good images, which you can see on my web site at http://members.aol.com/jhbanda/index.html. Fast focusing on both my N70 and my F5.

Some vignetting with a standard polarizer at 28mm.

This is a very good lens for the price. I have some great shots with it. It has worked well in both daylight and evening available light photography. No complaints at all. My compliments to Sigma. Although it is not a macro, I have some nice photos of flowers and other close up items with it. Also, it works well with a doubler. Very compact, too. I liked it so much I bought the manual focus version for my daughter to use on her X-370.

Customer Service

None needed. I've had this lens 5 years and it keeps on keeping on.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 28-200.

1. Light weight, compact and easy to carry around.
2. Produces decent picture for average scenes.
3. Fast aperture w/c can be useful for low light situations.
4. Nice feel and build quality.
5. Focuses close.

1. Horrible distortion at the 28 mm end. Cannot be used for architectural photography.
2. Soft at full aperture.
3. Variable aperture is not convenient especially for computing proper exposure.
3. Filter ring rotates making the use of polarizers difficult.
4. Flare control, not that good.

BAsically an amateur oriented lens. Average sharpness. Terrible distortion at 28 mm.

However, this lens is not too bad for everyday use.

Customer Service

Not yet tried

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 28-70
Tamron 28-80
Vivitar 28-90

Very sharp and very good contrast.

Distorsion at 28mm.

A very good choice. This lens provide remarkable results. Its range of focal length and aperture make it a very versatile lens that can be used in quite any situation (inside, outside, landscapes, ceremony, sports, ...). The significant distorsion at 28mm is really the only limitation, and it's even not a problem if you take care of it. All the pictures I took whith it are really incredible and don't see any reason to try an other similar and more expensive lens.

Customer Service

N/A.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta and sigma lenses.

Cheap ($90 used), light,

Cheap-looking, I like a little longer focus stroke

Great for the price, relatively fast, at least in the big end for the price, very portable, very good performance under most situations, just have to be careful not to expect too much from it (giant enlargements, strong backlight, etc.)

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

None

I really liked the speed that it focused. Every picture that I took came out crystal clear, without any dropout in the corners.

I haven't found any weaknesses, other than I'm afraid that I'll crack the plastic in an impact when I'm shooting at sporting events.

The Bottom Line is, that I don't think that I'd find another lens that is comparable at such a great price.

Similar Products Used:

None

>Contrast: very good.
>Sharpness: very good from f/5.6, for lights or contrasty structure in corners from f/8 (for all focal lengths, @70 is a little bit better; for real apertures, i.e. f/5.6 @70 means f/4 on ring).
Color shift: none.
>Flare: resists well.
>Vignetting: noticeable but not disturbing when open wide; @28 only one filter can be mounted, second or more possible only with bigger diameter
>Finish.
>Excellent output/price ratio.

>Distortion: high @28
>Halves of the lens are taped together by (metalic?) self-adhesive tape. This connection can became a little loose after time or when exposed to high temperatures (when left all summer in car on sunshine).

I test sharpness on stars or distant lights, errors are more noticeable.
This is very good lens for excellent price, which will serve you well. At f/8 or f/11 there are no problems with 8x12 enlargements or with projected slides.
After I returned back to manual Nikkors, this is the only AF lens I keep.
Ma rating: 4.0.

Customer Service

Not used.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 2.8/35 K-type
Nikon 1.8/50 E
Nikkor 3.5-4.5/35-70
Soligor 3.9-4.8/28-70

Surprisingly sharp even at 28 mmm
Very good contrast

Front lens moves in an out.

A surprisingly good lens and certainly excellent value for money. I blow the shots to A3 size and it compares well with some prime lenses. I was hesitant in getting into zooms with bad experiences with Tamron 28-200 for example, but this lens provides quality and a modest price.

Customer Service

Not required

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 24mm
Tamron 28-200mm
Pentax 50mm