For an amateur like me this lens' obvious competitor is the Tamron G2 70-200 f/2.8, which has also had some stonking reviews. I intend buying one or the other for my Nikon D750 to replace my old Sigma 70-200, but which is better, or is it no more than personal preference?

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Great price
Great desighn, very ergonomic
Great image quility

Stiff mount and dismount of lens hood
Auto Focus freeze, rarely

I've used this lens with a nikon d70 and D200 for local sports photogrphy, mainly soccer. Auto focus is fast and the zoom control is smooth and firm. I especially like the tripod collor for use with a monopod or just to support the bulky lens comfortably in my hand. The way people get out of your way when you pull this lens out is pretty cool. I have also used sigma's 2x teleconverter that woks well with the lens. The only problem I have had with the lens is that on a rare occurance the auto focus will stop working with no notice. You'll shoot several frames before you realize the AF has stopped. Simply turning the camera on and off has always solved the problem. This has happened with both of my cameras, with and without the teleconverter. This may happen once very 600 shoots. It's not so big a problem that I would spend the extra money for the nikon version. The lens hood can be stiff to put on and off. Image quality is great. Have not noticed any problems at any f stop. For the price I paid, I am happy with the lens and would purchase again.

Color saturation, Comes with a lense hood

Extremely Heavy. Buy a Canon lense cap as Sigma's really is cheap and doesn't fit weel

This lens when compared to the Canon 70-200 2.8 is no brainer for the money, just buy it directly from 47th Street Phone for under 700. This is a heavy lense as other's have said previously so in order to get the best photos possible USE a tripod (period). I shot a ton of pictures right out of the box a couple days ago using the top of my car as a tripod and went through every focal length at every f stop shoting a fire hydrant about 100 feet away. Doing this type of test you will quickly learn which f stops will serve you well when in the field. One of the major issues I believe is often overlooked in these comments is camera metering. You must know your metering or you could potentially be dissapointed with the results. What I am saying is the Canon 20D has a tendency to meter on the non target subject so you will need to understand how to quickly adjust your spot metering to get the best results. F9 to F11 ROCKS and will give you great results almost every frame shot. I have a degree from the only photographic equipment school in the US so I can honestly say this lense has some serious glass elements in it. I have taken a part tons of lenses in the past and the Sigma adds real value with it's top of the line glass and housing unit in thid lense. Just remember use a tripod or mono pod as there is no IS in this lense so you may get lots of pictures which could be on the soft side and if this happens you will blame your lense when it's really your own fault. Images blown up to 200% look slightly on the soft side especially if the wind is blowing but at 100% they are great. Color saturation and contrast are also great. If you go to http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon/ef_70200_28u you will see tons of the Canon 70-200 which show similar results of what I am trying to say. Do a search on the Sigma 70-200 2.8 and do the comparrison. I know this lense will bring in the money shots at 1k cheaper than the Canon if I remember to use my tripod each and every time.
Hope this helps...

- Price
- Image quality
- Build
- F/2.8

- Hunting in low light
- Heavy
- SLOW AF

The lens, overall is pretty good. The optics are great even though it's a third party lens so you'll be sure to get some good photos with it. When used on a smaller camera body, I use the 20D, it becomes a bit topheavy which after a while becomes very annoying. The main qualm that I have is the autofocus. I generally use this lens for sports and when you're trying to get that special frame, this lens like to make it hard. Especially in low-light, it has problems with searching. Overall it's not a bad lens, but if you're a professional dont settle for less than the best. Canon and Nikon is still the way to go.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 70-200 f/4
Canon 70-200 f/2.8

Optical performace. HSM Price

plasic threads for filters

I was leery about purchasing this lens because for an additional $200 I could have had the Nikon 80-200mm 2.8. However after taking some pictures with this lens and comparing them to pictures from the Nikon I can actually say that the Sigma is sharper. I must have an exceptional sample because I shot a test series of shots from f2.8 to f11 and only noticed a few lines per inch drop in sharpness, basically not perceptible except in the largest enlargements. Contrast on the other hand is noticeably worse wide open, but I can live with that, as it is easily fixable in Photoshop. I am very pleased with this lens optically and am glad that I did not purchase the Nikon. I am not afraid to use this lens f2.8, something I can’t say of other 2.8 zooms I have used. Mechanically the lens seems very rugged. All those old stories about Sigma lenses falling apart might have been true at one time, but not anymore, at least not in their EX line of lenses. Plastic is used on the outside of the barrel for rotating controls and metal is used internally. As for other things like focusing, HSM seems to work fine, it's fast and accurate.

Solid build, very very nice feel to the zoom and focus collars. Excellent arrangement for the tripod mount. Lets you decrease the weight by a couple of ounces by taking it completely off. Excellent OEM hood. Did I say FAST autofocus. Sharp, sharp, sharp. A REAL bargain.

Slightly heavy, but not obnoxiously so. You have to make sure you are getting one that has the upgrade chip in it if you want to use it on a Nikon N80, D100, or Fujifilm S2 Pro.

This is absolutely one of the best buys available on the market for the serious to pro level photographer. At 30 feet, handheld, with an aperture of f4 I had solid crisp detail in a piece of tree bark the size of a quarter. This and the Sigma 100-300mm (which I also own) are amazingly sharp. The later lens is THE sharpest in its category bar none. The former is every bit as sharp as the Nikkor f2.8 80-200mm, for a lot less money. FAST autofocus, fast enough to easily keep up with the basketball players I cover for the newspapers in my area. I also shoot weddings and portraits and it works great for it all.

Customer Service

Haven't needed it. But there was no response when I inquired before purchase about the focussing issue with the above mentioned camera bodies. I understand they do the "rechipping" for free if your lens needs it.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor f2.8 80-200mm, Nikkor f4 70-210mm, Nikon 75-150mm, Sigma 70-300mm

The Build Its Black Price Point Quiet and smooth

A little heavy tough manual focus images are not as sharp as Canon lens is a little long

If money were the only factor in buying a 70-200 f/2.8 then go with the Sigma. You really can't go wrong. I have worked with this lens for about two weeks now and I like it. I don't love it, but it is worth the $600 I paid for it. Some of the dislikes would be its very tough to manual focus and it just doesn't have that sharp quality you get with Canon lenses. I have heard many people say that the lens is heavy, but its not that bad. Its about 3.5 lbs versus the Canon at 2.9 lbs. Although it is a bit more CLUNKY than the Canon. All in all, you get what you pay for.

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28mm-70mm f/2.8 L (LOVE IT) Canon 85mm f/1.8

Build quality. Looks. Bayonet lens hood, deep set. Good size and weight. Solid 2.8 speed. Well matched Sigma converters available. Razor sharp even wide open. Fast, quiet high speed motor.

Will hunt with low contrast views. Racks in and out multiple times. It is easy to manually focus in these times, though.

I am very impressed with Sigmas "EX" line of lenses. I've owned several and they all performed great. The 70-200 is sharp, fast focus, looks good, and works well with the two Sigma converters. The HSM is smooth, fast and quiet. The manual focus is a joy to use and you don't have to switch the camera body to use it, just turn the focus ring whenever you want and it will manually focus or push the shutter release for quick auto focus. My only complaint is it hunts sometimes when trying to focus low contrast subjects. It will rack in and out and not find the focus point. Other than that, perfect! Nikon, Canon, Minolta beware! The competition for fine lenses is getting tough. You may need to re-think your high prices. I used to own a Nikkor 80-200 2.8 before it was stolen. I actually prefer the Sigma lens to it for looks and performance plus it is one third the price. The Sigma 2x and 1.4x converters are perfect matches for this lens and offer no discernible image loss, but the converters don't work on many other lenses because of the short relief.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 15-30 EX. Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 EX Sigma 28-70 2.8 EX Nikkor 80-200 2.8

Very fast autofocus on Nikon F100 (for the price of the lens). Produces beautiful photos. I have compared wedding photos shot side by side with a medium format camera and looking at an 8x10 print it is hard to tell which camera/lens the photo came from.

Heavy but this is expected for this size/type of lens.

Excellent lens, I use it for portraits, model portfolios and sports. As far as its speed (autofocus) I shoot motorcycles drag racing and this lens is able to keep up with my F100 at full speed 4.5 to 5 fps.

Customer Service

Have not needed to use it.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 80-200 2.8

Fast F2.8 aperture Excellent build quality Quick autofocus on Dynax 7 (after rechipping!) Pin-sharp results!

Bit on the heavy side..... 77mm filters (YOU WIN SOME YOU LOSE SOME!!)

I use this lens with the superb Minolta Dynax 7. Beware, the problems with the older 70-200mm EX lenses and Dynax 7 are real! I had to get the lens rechipped at Sigma UK and they were superb. After that performance was excellent. I get pin-sharp results and autofocus is quite speedy. This lens has been improved tremendously on the older 70-210mm f2.8,which used to hunt for ages! Fast aperture gives sharp edges. Build quality!! I got an excellent secondhand deal on this lens at ebay.co.uk. Would love to try this lens with the 1.4x and 2x EX converters.

Customer Service

Sigma UK -- very friendly, very helpful, quick response, EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 80-200G (superb lens, double the price...!)