Price, sharp pics, great feel

weight.

This is an extremely competent lens. For the price (half of Canon), you just can't go wrong. It has become my favourite lens for just about any purpose. Even with the 2x teleconverter, you don't notice any difference until you get beyond 350mm. It just re-enforces my belief that prime lenses are not always worth the price. The HMS is quiet and quite fast. This was the lens that brought me back to Sigma and now all my glass is F2.8 sigma.

Customer Service

no need yet.

Fast Zoom great color and contrast built well looks good feels good in hands.

Have not found one yet.

Just had to get this out. I read just about all the other reviews writen about this lens. After reading them I decided to give it a try. I have taken approximately 200 Pics with it just to test it in all conditions. I am using a canon 10D. The results have been out of great. The images are sharp as anything else I have used even the canon 70-200MM 2.8 . I had a chance to use one of those lens at a friends wedding and thought those pics were great. I do not see any noticable difference between the two lens that would make the money difference worth spending. I also purchased the 2x converter and have used it with this lens. There is a drop of of sharpness but not much. The pics are still good even at 8X10's. For my use this lens fits all my needs and I would highly recommend it to any one looking at it. The sigma is built solid and feel good in your hands. Using this lense on the 10D it is equal to a 320 MM as the 10Dhas a 1.6 conversion. This gives you allot of reach out and touch someone power, and I have had no trouble hand holding it and getting great results. But when you put the 2x converter on it you have to have a tripod. But then the lens is pushing 640MM when you take into consideration the 10D conversion.

Customer Service

Used once for another lense and there was no trouble. Very fast turn around.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 70-200MM 2.8 canon 70-300MM IS

Excellent sharpness, quality build, good feel to the zoom and manual focus rings, focus is consistently accurate, comes with a lens hood.

If there is one weakness this lens posseses it is the speed of the HSM focusing. I am spoiled by Canon L lenses and their focusing speed. I would say this lens is about 10-15% slower which is negligible in most shooting situations. Even as a weakness this lens focused well with the 2x converter attached.

As a professional photographer with 20+ years of experience in military, commercial, portraiture, and wedding photography I've become very discerning regarding the quality of my lenses. This lens has met and exceeded my expectations in every way thus far. Even at f/2.8 the level of sharpness, contrast and color are exceptional. I bought this lens primarily for use on an EOS 10D and have not been disappointed as of yet. I've even attached it to a 2x adapter, giving an effective lens of 640mm f/2.8, and have gotten some beautiful results. For the money this is an incredibly good lens to include in your kit.

Customer Service

Never used it, hope not to, but have heard mixed comments from others.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro Canon 75-300 USM III Canon 300mm f/4.0 IS

- Fast AF - excellent sharpness - solid built with good hood and tripod mount. - with a 1.4x teleconvertor, this will come to 280mm f/4, or on my canon D10, equivalent with a 450 mm. Versatile enough for many a day trip.

- sharpness not excellent at f/2.8 but still very good (i.e. sufficient unless you need professional enlargements). But which lens is at its best when wide open? - No IS, but didn't meet any situations yet where I whished I had it. (I repeat: not for this focal range)

If you're looking for an affordable, high end, medium zoom lens that allows you to shoot hand-held (i.e. if you're not a pro), then this is the one. Under low-light conditions, IS is of course better, but I believe that IS comes in really handy only for 300mm and above. The rule of thumb says that shutter speed for hand-held shots should be faster than 1/focal length, so even at 200mm, 1/250 is already fast enough. with f/2.8, you really are not restricted to bright sunny days! and if you shoot digital, changing your ISO is as easy as switching on/of the IS. I own this lens now for about a month, and have been limited to a few field tests in the zoo, with a canon 10D and and EOS 33/elan7. I am absolutely satisfied with this lens. The zoom is of course too short for real wild life photography (but that is not what I bought it for), but just right for parks, buildings and portraints. AF works great, even when shooting under relatively low light or macro (I know, it's closest distance is 1.5m, but with a 25 mm ring, I have been able to shoot flowers and bigger insects like bees). Sharpness is very good wide open, and truly excellent at f/4 or higher. If you like to know which other lenses I'm combining this on with: - Tamron 19-35 (so-so, but sufficient when I need wide angle with my 10D. - canon 28-105 f/4-5.6 (cheap and sharp) - canon 50 f/2.8 - canon 100-400 L IS (ordered; not yet used) - a canon 500 f/4 of Sigma 500/4.5 on my whish list

Customer Service

not needed so far.

Performance/price ratio

slightly heavy, but this isn't a lens I ever plan on handholding anyway...

I had been saving for the Canon L version, but after reading many stellar reviews, I decided to give this Sigma a try. I just got the lens, so these are my impressions after my first real shoot with it. I use a Canon 10D, so this lens works out to be about 110-320mm 35mm equivalent. I took it to a HS football playoff game, and shot from the stands with a monopod mounted to the lens's tripod adapter. All my shots were between f/5.6 and f/6.5 to give me time stopping exposures with a decent DOF. I must say, out of over 200 shots, every one was tack sharp. HSM motor worked flawlessly in AI servo mode, keeping up with the action wherever I pointed it in 3 fps burst shooting. I only hope I am as pleased with the lens in the future as I was today. I have some great canon glass (although nothing in this range), and some great sigma lenses as well, but this one is by far the best of the bunch so far. Great deal if you can find one.

Customer Service

haven't needed it on any of my sigmas so far, so can't say.

Similar Products Used:

shorter Canon L's and Sigma EX's

Great sharpness & contrast Looks & feel very well built. Tripod Mount, Carry bag & Lens Hood come as standard accessories

F2.8 is not as very sharp, but may improve in manual-focus mode. Heavy & huge, especially for small hands people (like myself).

Only lens I have with my new 10D. Used it for 2 Portriat photoshoot + 1 photo contest. On the 1st day outdoor shot try to used it at F2.8 find it very dis-appointing (leak of sharpness). Stop down F3.5 on the following day photoshoot, the lens ability start to shine. Use this lens on a photo contest(portriat). Out of my 8 photo entries 1 got included in 13 winning photo of the contest. There were a few Canon 70-200L F2.8 IS users at the contest. Don't know if their shots turnout better than mine. But I think Sigma 70-200 lens proven itself.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 70-200L F2.8 (only if you can affort it).

Price, image quality, build quality, performance. AF speed is a plus - even fast on my N80. AF is nearly silent, no hunting on my F100 unless light levels are very low.

Frankly, none that I can see. I respect other's opinions, but am just not seeing how other owners of this lens gave it poor quality ratings without ruling out their own technique or extensively using this lens to gain experience with it. I've used several top rated lenses in my business, and this one is right up there with them.

Bought this lens used but in like new condition about 4 or 5 months ago. I regularly shoot weddings and portraits along with some corporate event work, as well as some nature and landscape work when I have the free time. I am very picky about the quality of my images, and the performance of my equipment. I am also very concerned about performance vs. cost of my equipment. My clients let me know they are happy by constantly sending refererals my way. This lens has become a valued addition to my bag, and it sees regular use. I understand that there can be sample variations from any manufacturer, but some of the negative earlier posts clearly indicate the photographers are not ruling out improper technique as the cause of "poor lens performance". I get some unsharp images as well occasionally, especially in fast shooting situations (like PJ style wedding photography) but I completly understand that I contibuted to the soft images. Use a lens properly, this shouldn't be an issue. This has been my experience with several professional and amateur photographers. I've found my sharp images to be VERY sharp, color balance is excellent (very slight warm cast, hardly an issue), focus is very accurate and very fast on my F100. Build quality is a bit above average, from what I've seen so far it will stand up to professional level use. Overall, I'd say it's a very good value, and you should not hesitate to purchase it if you cannot afford a Canon L or Nikon AFS version. I bought this even though I could have afforded the Nikon AFS-VR version of the lens. The Sigma was the right move.

Customer Service

Never Needed for this lens. Sigma customer sevice is okay. They repaired a 90mm f2.8 macro I bought 10 years ago that locked up after two years of heavy use and abuse. They repaired it no questions asked, even though it was not under warranty anymore.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 80-200 f2.8 G (used to shoot Minolta), Tokina 80-200 f2.8 (built like a tank, but slow AF), Nikon f2.8 AFS (used, did not own, too expensive for performance)

Overall quality Sharp Easy in hand use Price Sigma EX filters available

None found

Initial Test - a follow up will be done after 3 months. Review is based on use with an EOS10D. A very fine lens for wildlife photography. Sharp, easy to use, no sign of any of the faults which the "beginner" reviewers seem to find in abundance. This is a top quality lens in every respect. In some countries it is packaged with the 2X EX converter which I don't use so cannot comment on this aspect. An ideal lens for EOS10D users.

Customer Service

None required

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list

Only case of lens and the hood

Everything at the moment

Sorry for my english.It's strange to read different opinions about the sharpness of this lens.The ones say it's very sharp lens,the others it's too soft.I bought it and returned back after 2 weeks because of chromatic aberations ang very soft pictures.I hope that was the spoilage from factory and now i'm waiting for other one to come.Lets hope everything will be fine.But i'm scared a little for the money i spent fot such worthless thing.Lets hope...

Quick focusing in every situation that I have come across so far. That extra f-stop or two depending upon what you have used in the past.(f2.8) Almost silent! Nice lens hood.

Zoom Ring and manual focus ring should be switched. (Personal opinion only). Owners pamphlet absolutely sucks.

First of all let me say that I have read most of if not all of the reviews that I found here on this incredible web sight. Have to rate the sight as one of the best that I have seen in a long time as far of layout, organization and content. Great job to all those involved in the design and maintenance of this website. Next I must also say that I have seen what I would consider to be some inconsistencies in the reviews that have been posted. For example, some people that have over 10 years experience in photography consider themselves as intermediate or casual photographers, while there are some so called ‘experts/professionals’ with 2-10 years experience represented here. Got some news for you. If you are even considering a lens of this quality and cost, you obviously take photography seriously whether you are making a living at it or not. I am sure that we can all think of an incident or occasion where we have seen the work of some ‘professionals’ and thought to ourselves, “Holy Crap! I could have done that bad, (or good) myself. And I paid that guy how much for that work?” And I think that in many such instances, us none professionals, probably could have done a comparable quality of work. Especially if the people that were being photographed were your personal friends or family. After all we know what they really look like everyday. So we would know what a good picture of them would/should really look like. And since these are people that you actually know, they would probably a little more relaxed and candid with you around them with a camera than a stranger. That factor alone can make for a better picture in many cases. So a word to all of the none-professionals out there, do not under estimate your own ability. Just read your owners manuals (again), get familiar with your equipment (again), always keep spare batteries handy and keep practicing. I just purchased a Sigma 70-200 F2.8 HSM zoom in Canon mount despite some of the reviews that I read here. And being an engineer and a naturally curious person, I wondered what was the real basis for some of these reviews. When I got the lens home, I read the included owners pamphlet, which identifies which Nikon (and other) camera models that the lens was known to have problems with. This information should not be hidden in the owner’s pamphlet where a potential customer cannot find it until they have purchased the lens and then find out that your camera is one of the models that is not fully compatible with the lens. Sigma should put this information on their web sight. Speaking of the owner’s pamphlet, they have got to clean that thing up somehow. You could get some serious paper cuts trying to go back and forth from the illustrations and the English text. No wonder that some have not read it. Hey Sigma, put the owners pamphlet on your web sight so I can download and print out the language that I need and leave the rest. Some of the reviews made comments regarding the slow auto focusing speed of this lens. Before I purchased this lens, I asked the salesman to put the lens on a Canon body there in the store so that I could for myself. And being that this store was inside a mall, I considered this to be a relatively low light situation. The lens was mounted on a Canon Elan 7 body, which has been previously identified as having some problems with some Sigma lenses. And I was able to focus and zoom with no problems at all. I spent about an hour in the store going over this lens. Not having had the opportunity to use any of the Canon L series of lenses or other manufacturers of similar aperture and focal length, I cannot honestly comment as to the comparative speed or noise. But I can say that I did not even notice the noise/sound of the lens as it focused and zoomed there in the store. I was satisfied enough with what I saw in the store to make the purchase and take it home as a birthday present for myself. Where I mounted it on my EOS-3 with the PB-E2 attached. And again focused and zoomed the lens throughout it focal lengths and in varied lighting conditions. I then mounted it on my A2. And I noticed that while every thing still worked, that the focusing functions seemed to be just a little slower than on the EOS-3. Trying to figure out why this could be, I switched batteries in my A2. Both batteries were less than a year old and meet voltage specs (between 5.8 and 6.1 volts dc on both batteries). Then I checked the EOS-3, which had over 9.6 volts dc (8 – 1.2 volt NiMh 2000 mAH batteries). So the EOS-3 simply had a little more power (current) to drive the internal mass of the lens as it focused. So it was a little faster. Actually makes sense when you think about it. Just to double check, I took the PB-E2 off the EOS-3 and the difference was again noticeable. For those that commented about the lack of contrast or sharpness of pictures taken with this lens, there are several variables that may have something to do with those pict

Customer Service

Not needed for any of my three (3) Signa products that I have had for the past 5 years.

Similar Products Used:

None