Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical 35mm Zoom
Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical 35mm Zoom
[Jun 04, 2003]
bevd4
Expert
Strength:
Very sharp pictures Sturdy & weather resistant Excellent value for money if you can't afford an 'L' lens.
Weakness:
For my personal needs, 70mm not quite enough. This may sound odd considering I no longer own this lens but I found this to be an excellent piece of equipment. I consider myself an advanced amateur and mainly do travel photography, so need to be able to cover a variety of situations. This was my stock lens during a 5 week trip to China/Hong Kong last year and it didn't miss a beat. While I often shoot between apertures of f3.5-5.6, I found the shots I took at f2.8 to be as sharp as any other. I have not yet used a 'L' lens but I had absolutely no complaints with it's performance(in a variety of sometimes testing conditions)or the results. On a number of occasions the weather was less than ideal and I was caught in the odd rain shower from time to time. It kept going in all conditions and is definately a fairly robust piece for someone of my calibre, suffering no ill effects from the weathere, or the odd ding here and there. If like me, money is an issue (a mortgage does that to ones finances) this is a an affordable and excellent alternative to an 'L' lens. My only reason for trading in this lens was that I found the range of 70mm to be a little less than I would have liked. As someone who likes to get candid shots, I found that on certain occasions this range was not quite enough and an oppotunity would be gone before you could change lenses.And you don't always have the space or oppotunity to get closer. This is my only reason for changing to the Canon 28-135mm IS f3.5-5.6 as otherwise I was very happy with this lens. If either Sigma or Canon came out with a quality 28-105mm f2.8, I would be very happy. Please note that the stated price is in New Zealand Dollars Customer Service Not Used Similar Products Used: Canon 28-80 f3.5-5.6(beginners lens) Canon 28-135 IS f3.5-5.6 Canon 75-300 mk 11 Canon 75-300 IS 4-5.6 |
[May 03, 2003]
Seth Hosler
Intermediate
Strength:
Great colors, and despite the weight, it feels really good in your hand and the zoom & focus rings are well-sized and placed.
Weakness:
With my Minolta 600si (Alpha-507 here in Japan--brilliant camera), when the camera/lens combo is telling me the image is in focus, it's actually a tad off. I've checked and the problem is not in my finder, as it is fine with my other lenses. Using MF solves the problem. Overall, it's good. The colors especially turn out really, really well. Customer Service No knowledge. Similar Products Used: Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 |
[Apr 04, 2003]
plook53
Expert
Strength:
Fast fixed aperture, non-rotating front
Weakness:
no definition at 2.8. Large filter size. I bought this lens through mixture of necessity and on recommendations from this website. I have shot a roll of test prints and am very disappointed with sharpness at 2.8. There isnt any, even on small 6x4 prints. Since the fast aperture is the main strength of the lens I see no advantage in it over say a variable aperture zoom made by nikon. Also quite a lot of flare on some shots. Maybe I found a bad sample (it was 2nd hand), but I shall return it tomorrow. By the way its the non DF version. Customer Service na Similar Products Used: various |
[Feb 18, 2003]
Lolo Sam
Intermediate
Strength:
Price Aperture
Weakness:
Construction slow and noisy AF. I had a really bad experience with this lens. After less than 1 year, the AF system died and I sent it back to Sigma. The service was Ok but 3 month later I have another pb with the AF system, and the warranty is over. Cheap lens for sure, good quality,... but short term use... $350 for a MF lens (as it is now; I haven't repaired it and hesistate to pay $100 for maybe 3 more month only) Customer Service Good service but ... short term effect of reparation. Similar Products Used: // |
[Dec 21, 2002]
Mike2000
Intermediate
Strength:
- Very Sharp - Natural color rendition - f2.8 - Aspherical Glass - Ex Finish - Bag - Hood - Good construction
Weakness:
It lacks HSM from Sigma Very good lens for the price. I use it from more than 1 year and it never betrays me. Similar Products Used: Canon EF 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 USM II Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II Canon EF 28-80mm f4.5-5.6 II Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 USM L Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 USM IS Sigma EX 105mm f2.8 Macro 1:1 Sigma 70-300mm f |
[Oct 06, 2002]
birgir
Professional
I have been using the Canon EF 28-90 f4-5,6 lens for more than a year but I was very excited to see if the sigma 28-70 f2,8 would be better so I did a test shot. I placed the camera on a tripod with mirror lock up and took pictures with the sigma at 28mm at f2,8 f 4, f8 and f32. Then at 70mm at f2.8, f8 and f32. I took the same picture on the Canon at 28mm at f4, f8 and f 22. Then at 70mm at f4.5, f8 and f32. When I looked at the slide through a loupe I saw that the canon lens had allot more pincuation then the Sigma. At least I didn't see any at 28mm. The sigma was better wide open at 28 and 70mm The canon didn't get really good until at f8. Corners were allot worse on the canon wide open. The Sigma has better contrast and more resolution then the Canon but the color is more warmer on the Canon. I was very happy with my buy of the Sigma seeing how much more resolution the lens has. I wouldn't recommend the Canon 28-90 lens to anyone. |
[Oct 05, 2002]
ramses77
Intermediate
Strength:
Canon version: Great built, sharp, nice colours
Weakness:
Do NOT drop this beautiful lens! I had my camera on a tripod about 40 to 50 cm high when it fell right on the front of the lens... The focussing was damaged, tried to fix it, but ended up braking the frint lens. Due to my journey unscrewing this lens, I may say that this lens is verry solid built. I think that I actually could not repair the lens. If it only fell sidewards... I'm definetly going to use the sunhood at all times! This lens helped me make a lot of great pictures! It's fast and gives nice colours and is verry various due to its arperture. Similar Products Used: Sigma 70-200 2,8 EX Glad this one did not fall |
[Aug 18, 2002]
Lensman99
Expert
Strength:
Solid build Sharp optics Comes with lens case and hood
Weakness:
Too much of the barrel rotates during focus -- hard to hold comfortably AF on the slow side AF is noisy This lens provides outstanding value without sacrificing optical quality. Sigma claims it is the most compact in its class, yet the lens does feel beefy. It has solid construction; looks and feels like a pro lens. I personally like the EX finish, although it did take some getting used to. As a large amount of the large lens barrel rotates during focusing, handling the lens can be uncomfortable. You are forced to grip the lens near the camera body. I miss the dual focus mechanism Sigma provides on the DF version of its EX lenses. Manual focusing was OK, but it made a grinding sound as the barrel rotated. There was substantial resistance when the ring was rotated. AF is slightly slow, although not disturbingly so. However, the AF noise is considerable. If you plan to use this lens to shoot weddings, you may want to scout for quieter offerings. Otherwise, I did not find it to be an issue. AF noise is approximately equal to my AF Nikkors but much noiser than even my non-USM Canon lenses. Optically I am elated. Very, very sharp images with good color rendering and contrast. Customer Service Excellent Similar Products Used: Canon 28-135 IS USM Canon 28-80 Nikkor 24-50 Nikkor 28-80 |
[May 11, 2002]
B-Dawg
Professional
Strength:
You get a strong f2.8 for a very reasonable price. Non-rotation front barrel, which is good for some filters. Performance is very good throughout the range of the lens.
Weakness:
Autofocus is a little loud, as it''s not Sigma''s HSM. After shooting daily on this lens for a couple of weeks, I have to say it''s more than worth the price you pay for it. Sure, it''s not Canon or Nikon glass, but the performance you get versus the price you pay is very good. Further, there''s absolutely no pincushion distortion, and only minor barrel distortion (that''d be straight lines getting bent at the extreme edges of the photo). Since it''s pretty much impossible (or at least prohibitively expensive) to get a wide-angle without any distortion whatsoever, and since the Sigma performs just about as well as Canon or Nikon glass in that respect, you''d be going a bit far to expect much more out of this type of lens. Similar Products Used: Various Tamron and Canon wide-angles and wide-zooms. |
[May 03, 2002]
P C Christensen
Expert
Strength:
Super crisp images. Weight.
Weakness:
At times slow auto-focus. Good quality/price relationship. Customer Service never used it... CANON ELAN 7 (e) / 30 USERS BEAWARE OF AUTO-FOCUS PROBLEM. SEE SIGMA HOMEPAGE !!!!!!!!! Similar Products Used: Canon Nikon |