| Review of: Sigma APO EX 100-300mm F4 by TenZ.NL on Sat September 7, 2013 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 109880
Reviews: 33
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After a tamron 70-300 and a DA55-300 I finally purchased this lens new with the sigma 1.4x APO DG teleconverter a few years ago. Initially I was divided between this one and the DA*300 F4 but after reading lots of reviews and numerous samples I decided on this one because of the flexability of the zoom.
The bear lens is an excelllent piece of work: it`s relatively fast and while the sweetspot is around F5.6, F4 is still very usable on closer distances. It is well build and, like Digitalis allready pointed out, it`s not afraid of a little rain. Furthermore it doesn`t change lenght when zooming, which is a good thing for balance. Abberations are really well controlled and focussing is quite fast and snappy under most circumstances (and it`s screwdriven).
On the downside:
The bokeh can be a real PITA sometimes, busy and harsh. It has no OS (which I believe is superior to SR on longer focal lenghts) and no focus limitter which would be helpfull for BIF`s and lowlight situations. It is somewhat heavy but what do you expect from a 300mm F4. Personnaly I like the weight because it better to stabilise and eliminates a part of the sway you get with the lighter consumergrade lenses like the DA55-300.
Like stated above, I also purchased the 1.4x TC with it. Coupled with the lens gives a noticable dent in IQ, esp on longer distances. Also PF becomes visible.
(EDIT: I`m using the TC now without SR and results are much better, my theory is that the TC is not recognized so the SR will not take the multiplier into account and will compensate for the wrong focal length)
All-in-all highly recommended. If you are looking for a relatively fast wildlife zoom with allmost primelike sharpness, this is the one you want.
Some fullsize SOOC testshots: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tenznl/sets/72157626200136484/
Fieldsamples:
With TC, handheld 350mm (250mm) @ F5.6
300mm, F5
Seriously cropped (60-65%)
Closeup though 2 inches of glass
Bokeh
Bokeh 2
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| Review of: Sigma DC Macro 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 by TenZ.NL on Mon February 25, 2013 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 143586
Reviews: 51
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Bought this lens second hand as a replacement of the 18-55 kitlens. It is my oldest lens and has served me well for over 5 years and 3 bodies (K100d, K20d and K5). It`s a a great travelcompanion because of it`s reach. While it is not blistering fast or as sharp as some of my other lenses, it does it`s job decently and reliable once you know it`s limitations. Also the semi-macro function is great, one can make nice closeups with it.
Like stated before by others it`s a jack of all trades due to it`s reach. If I go to an event or trip where I don`t know what to expect this lens allways let me capture it in a decent way.
Offcourse it has some drawbacks: Distortion is somewhat pronounced @ 17mm and the sunhood blocks the onboard flash. Furthermore the outer finish gets dull but it sure is durable and can sustain a lot of mistreatment. The srewdrive is a little noisy and it`s not really a small lens but it`s not overly heavy and balances good on the different camera`s.
My conclusion: It is a cheap and reliable workhorse that delivers decent to good images at all apertures.
 Lincoln Memorial  Marjolein I  Machine @ work: Lathe  Dawn @ Kinderdijk (Explored)  Mosque of Muhammad Ali  Day 13: Gaustablikk | |
| Review of: Sigma APO DG OS HSM 150-500mm F5-6.3 by TenZ.NL on Thu November 22, 2012 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 124389
Reviews: 28
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Bought this lens 2nd hand for a good price (see above), just to give it a try. At first I was sceptical but after some workout I became positively surprised.
I also have the sigma 100-300 F4 and the while 150-500 is not upto par with that in terms of sharpness and IQ, it does produce nice and relatively sharp images.
IMHO one needs to avoid F6.3-F7.1 at the long end for distant shots, at those apertures it is rather soft. F8 is the best compromise between sharpness and DoF, it wil produce very fine images. The downside is offcourse that this makes it even slower that the lens allready is, so you need lots of light or/or a sturdy tripod.
My specimen has zoomcreep, so the transportlock is a welkom addition. OS works fine but you can hear it kicking in. As for the AF: it is virtually silent (a nice feature if you`re shooting birds or wildlife) but not really fast.
The bottomline:
While not as good as my sigma 100-300 F4 I can recommend this lens. It is an affordable and yet delivering alternative if you can`t or don`t want to spend 4-5K on a 500mm prime. It has it`s limitations but if you can figure it out it can perform very nicely.
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