Customer Reviews

Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG IF HSM APO Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This lens seems to be built well and of good quality. I wanted it for shooting high school football. I have rented a Canon 70-200 L IS f2.8, but wanted to buy my own lens. I liked the idea of a 300mm with zoom feature. I read this lens has difficulty focusing in low light. I'm confirming that. I lost many shot due to subject being out of focus. Under fast moving sports in moderate light (nigh games with average lighting) this lens struggles. I have returned it and will buy the Canon I used in the past.

However, if you are not photographing sports in low light, then this is likely an excellent lens. I did not notice the "flaky" paint described in reviews, however I am extrememely careful with my gear.

This lens is heavy (nearly double the Canon) so the extra 100mm comes at a weight expense. However I was using a monopod so no big deal, but if you don't use a monopod this would be significant information to know.

I wished it would have worked better, had my hopes up. So this is likely a great lens for the money, so long as lighting is good.

I used the lens on a Canon 5D Mark II.

PS: I assume the focus was related to lighting, however I did not use the lens during the day, so I can't be certain. But I did have shots in focus so I attribute the out of focus to light conditions.

We are sports photographers so my review is based in that domain. This is a great lens! Shooting high school sports, we need to move from an on-the-field moment to something in the dugout or sidelines quickly and this does just that. AF is fast and accurate, and very quick. I lose very little time when we have the 1.4 extender on either. I almost got the dedicated 300mm and I'm glad I got this instead.

I've looked at this lens for months and finally purchased it. I really wanted to get an OS version but its not available and it will cost a good bit more. This lens is sooooo cool. I short sports and breaking news events. I couldn't ask for more(well maybe a 2.0 version). Its sharp and feels solid and tight. It does feel heavy. You can't hold this thing long without a monopod or tripod. Its a tank. One advantage is I'm now able to cover the range of two lenses with just this one. I grab a body with a wide angle zoom and this lens I got almost everything covered. I've seen reviews concerning the mount screws coming out. I believe it! If you try to carry this lens by the camera body alone it may just rip from your camera its that heavy. I wouldn't let this lens hang around my neck attached to a body with a strap around my neck either.

I think I'm going to like this lens! I'm going to the gym and work on my arms first though! My first impressions are good and the first images look great. Works great out of the box and was shipped well. Its everything I expected!

Have used this lens to photograph my son's football Games for the last 5 years and it never let me down. During the last season I took over 10,000 pictures and never had a glitch. They say the Canon lens's are a faster focus but I have a number of Pro Canon lens's and see no difference. For the money there is no better lens of these specs out there. The lens was out there with me getting wet, freezing, getting bounce around and always came through game after game after game. I post the pictures at [...] if you want to see what the lens can do. All of the football photos were shot with the lens, the closer ones of the Cheerleaders were shot with a different lens. Maybe next year I will start getting paid for shooting football games, I hope.. Its a great Lens.. Tommy

I bought this lens a year ago for my Nikon D300, for sports photography, mainly for night time high school football games. Im really excited and happy with it. The lens is big, impressive and catches the eyes of the other photographers on the field. But be warned the camera is heavy and I use a monopod to help keep the camera steady and keep my arms from fatigue. This camera is great for low light conditions, such as high school football games with its 2.8f. Depending on the stadiums lights, I can go an entire game without using a flash. But in poorly lighted stadiums, I do need a flash to help out with illuminating the players faces. Overall the picture quality is sharp and clear during the day and night under the right camera settings/lighting the picture quality can be great. The 300mm, also gives a significant closer range over my Nikon 200mm/2.8f.

The odd thing when you first use this lens, is the lens zoom function turns the opposite way from most tradition lens when you zoom in or out. So this gets getting us to, but very managable.

The bracket is solid and it loosen quickly to allow the camera to be switched to veritcal/horizontal positions quickly. But be warned, if you loosen it too much and dont tighten it, it going to cause the lens to become lose from the bracket mount and fall. You dont want this!

The lens was delivered by Amazon quickly, securely with no issues.

This is a great camera for the serious amatuer or beginning professional for football, baseball, socceer or any other field sports. It will bring you up to 30 yards closer to the action. My next step is getting the teleconverter to get me that much closer to the game. Good luck and have fun when you purchase this lens, well worth the money.

I bought this lens after reading many reviews. When the pricely item arrived, I could hardly wait to try my first shots. But the results were very poor. It seemed that it didn't focus properly. At this moment, after a few weeks, I'm used to it and it is the main lens on my Nikon D90, although it is very heavy. I have made many shots with it. Focussing works fast and nice. I did bother about the lack of stabilisation, but the wide aperture gives a better shutter speed and a nice bokeh. I like this lens very much.

I was very pleased with the price until a week later when Sigma came out with a later version of the very same lens, with image stabalization. No wonder I received such a good price! I've delat with other companies in the past who have given me a heads-up on an upcoming change, and the opportunity to buy the later model. Thanks a lot!

Well worth the money. No disappointment at all. Looking forward to doing business with this company again.