Customer Reviews

Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8 EX DG IF Aspherical Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I paid $209 for this lense through Cameta camera via the Amazon website. For that price this lens is an absolute steal. It even comes with a lens hood and a very sturdy nylon case (I hate getting nickeled and dimed for accessories). It has a constant F2.8 and a effective range of 36-90 mm on a Nikon digital body. Build quality is very nice (note quite as nice as a Canon L series lens but far better than a lens such as the Nikon 18-200VR) and far better than most if not all lenses in this price range. . The constant and wide aperture allows you to get some pretty decent indoor shots using built in camera flash or a compact flash such as the SB-400. Also, the lens is very compact at only 3.3 inches long. The only downside is that it is a bit soft wide open and bit slow in autofocusing, but that is to be expected at this price range. A lot of reviews unfarily bash Sigma lenses and it's not fair to compare them to Nikon lenses costing 5x the price. I own about a half dozen of both brands and it really boils down to a particular lens and not the brand.

I purchased this lens to replace a Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 EX that was stolen along with my D50 . This is now my main normal zoom and on my D200 about 75% of the time. It sits nicely between my Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX DG and Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX D HSM.

This is probably the sharpest zoom lens I've ever owned. It's sharper than all of the other third-party lenses I've owned in the 24/28-70/75/80mm f/2.8 range. I've owned several others from Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina. This is by far the sharpest and is completely usable at f/2.8 throughout the entire zoom range. It is also much more compact and light weight than the other third party options. It's about the same length and weight as the 18-70mm kit lens, but with a 77mm thread size. This makes for a body+lens combo that is very compact and easy to handle while still having the benefit of an f/2.8 aperture.

The one minor negative I've found with this lens is a slightly less-than-smooth bokeh at f/2.8. It's a very minor complaint and would not have come to my attention had it not been for some forum posters who are much more critical of bokeh than I usually am.

All in all, this lens is a bargain. It is noticeably sharper than the other 3rd party options in the range an, at the same time, is more compact and lightweight while maintaining acceptable build quality. 24mm is noticably wider than the other 28-XXmm options and wide enough for everyday use if you have a wide or ultra-wide lens to round out your kit. For anyone looking for a budget f/2.8 normal zoom, this one is tough to beat.

I bought this lens as a replacement for my Nikkor 18-70 kit lens, and I compared it to my 18-70 and a Nikkor 50/1.8. (Note that the 18-70 is known for being quite sharp for a kit lens, and the 50/1.8 is an extremely sharp lens.) I tested the 24-60 at 30 mm and 50 mm. I found it somewhat soft and lacking in contrast wide open, especially compared to the 50/1.8 (at 2.8), but it was still clearly sharper than the 18-70 when it was wide open, as well as being more than a stop faster. Stopped down, the 24-60 was consistently sharper than the 18-70, although it never quite caught the 50/1.8 in sharpness, and showed much less distortion and light falloff than the 18-70. (For comparison, a Nikkor 17-55 that I previously tested was a little softer than the 50/1.8 at 2.8, and almost indistinguishable when stopped down. But that lens costs $1200.)

The biggest weakness of the Sigma 24-60 was its handling of out-of-focus elements in pictures. Overall I found the out-of-focus look to be busy and not very attractive, and under some circumstances (brightly lit objects near the edge of the picture, and nearer than the plane of focus) it could get downright ugly. Most of the time it wasn't really a problem, though, and how important this aspect is depends on your shooting style and what you care about.

In the end I decided not to keep the lens, since I would like to be upgrading to a somewhat higher level of performance, but that will come at a steep price. If you are on a budget, or just want something better than a kit lens, the Sigma 24-60 is a great deal at this price -- it's much cheaper than a new 18-70, and is clearly a better lens.

I know that Sigma is not the best when it come to QC. The sample variations can be huge but if you get a good one they are very good. This lens is very good, reasonably sharp wide open and very sharp stopped down. CA's are controlled and I have had no focusing problems with my D200. For the money it is an excellent value.

love the product and am very pleased; the lens is one of my favorites. I have an excellent copy of the tamron 28-75 xr and this is just as good IMO. This lens matches my other sigma lenses, anal about that; and the build and function is prefect. A slight bito lens creep but the throw is only about an inch, so no hassle, (focusing great on the D300 and matches well) and a touch of flare in the sun, but nothing I cant handle, especailly considering the price I paid for this, I mean Im feeling forgiving. Sigma has my vote. I just ordered the 150 macro, and I got the 10-20 and the 15 fish, and also a 14 rectal. Oh and I got the 189$ 18-200 DC for the D70; fits nice, small and sharp, great for a beater kit.
Amazon rocks too! Cameta camera is quick and responsive. Great team.

I really think the longer I own this lens, the more I like it. I've had it for about 3 months, and I'm really getting to learn to love it. At first, I thought it wasn't exactly sharp, but it turns out it was often slightly out of focus. Again, I thought this was a problem with the lens, and then I figured out that it only seems to give me a problem with AF-C mode and not with AF-S. In AF-C the lens keeps moving a little. I'm not sure if it is a defect, but it definetly doesn't always give perfect pictures.

After learning to use it under AF-S, I get great crisp photos. It is a tiny-bit soft at 2.8, but 3.2 gives excellent results. Now mind you, this isn't as sharp as the 50 1.8. I'm not sure any zoom is to be honest, and at F2.8, my lens is still very usable! It just isn't razor sharp! I'll post some pictures with this review to show the difference. I think most everyone will be happy if they get a good copy. Maybe some copies are that bad. I'm not sure, but I haven't had problems pulling sharp photos off of this lens.

The lens was advertised as "Tack Sharp", which is what you would expect from an f2.8 setup. It was not - poor results - may have been a bad sample who knows. It shipped through Amazon supplier Cameta, and they took it back - VERY easy process - zero hassle. I was concerned that on-line would be riskier than in-person. It was actually a Better transaction - go figure.

I just purchased the Sigma 24-60mm lens.I sent it back to get a nikon lens. I took over 200 test photos with this lens and the kit nikon 18-55mm lens. I was expecting the Sigma to win hands down. Most pictures with the Sigma at F/2.8 where unusable. They where very soft with poor resolution: all pictures taken on tripod with timer release. I was able
to get some good photos at F/8 and higher. I had my hopes up for the Sigma, since it appeared to be well built and had the macro capability that I was looking for. My advice is test the lens before you put down your hard earned cash.I would think that if you bought a lens for the fast F/2.8 stop: you want good pictures at that F/stop. It is not very feasible to be forced to take pictures at f/8.0 or greater to get good pictures. I also bought a Sigma 50mm Macro and it is sharp through out the F/stop range. I did not have the time or desire to fight with Sigma USA about how unsharp an image is before it becomes worthless. I will in the future hand test any lens, before I buy a non-Nikon lens.

I purchased this lens and it has never auto focused correctly so I sent it to Sigma under warranty to be repaired. Six weeks after they received the lens they keep telling that the circuit board required to repair the lens is on backorder from Sigma Japan and they cannot give me any idea when the lens will be repaired or if can even be repaired at all. Since my 5-month-old lens has been discontinued, they offered to upgrade me to a better lens for nearly 4 times the retail difference between the lens I purchased and the upgraded lens. According to my research Sigma has pulled their parts inventory from the US market so all the parts need to come from Japan making any repairs to their products a very lengthy, time-consuming issue. The other Sigma lenses I have do not really focus correctly throughout their optical range and the flashes do not work correctly with the Nikon TTL system. So what good is a 30% to 40% cheaper lens that produces out-of-focus images? Tom the Sigma CS service rep in NY is one of the most abrasive, condescending individuals I have ever spoken to. I am a photography graduate from an accredited college with over 20 years commercial and people photography and this man talked to me as if I was an inexperience user purchasing my first "real lens". My recommendation is that, if you are considering purchasing any Sigma products is that you reconsider your decision. Brand products are normally more but, in my opinion, they are well worth the price in the long run.

Like some of the other reviews here, my copy was a bad one and I had to return it. Completely useless at 2.8f. Strangely enough, all the problems suddenly goes away and the lens tunrs tack sharp at f4. I bought this lens after I tried one of my friend's copy which had good sharpness at wide open through entire zoom range. I know this particular lens had same wide open sharpness problem during early production and was hence recalled in some counties like Korea and Japan. It makes me wonder whether we are receiving those recalled product or I was just unlucky with my copy.