Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 IF EX DG HSM AF Standard Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

by Sigma

• Large aperture standard zoom lens
• ELD and SLD glass provides excellent correction of all types of aberrations
• Super Multi Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting
• Equipped with HSM ensuring quiet and high speed AF
• The rounded 9 blade diaphragm creates an attractive blur

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.7 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches ; 12 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001NEK2Q4
• Item model number: 24-70mm F/2.8 Canon Mount
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Style: Canon Digital SLR Cameras

From the Manufacturer

Compact large aperture standard zoom lens equipped with HSM for the latest digital SLR cameras

This large aperture standard zoom lens covers focal lengths from 24mm and is housed in a compact construction. The latest optical design provides a compact construction and is ideal for general photography. ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass, two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements and three aspherical lenses provide excellent correction of all types of aberrations. This lens incorporates HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), ensuring a quiet and high speed AF as well as full time manual focus capability. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 38cm/15in and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:5.3. The rounded 9 blades diaphragm creates an attractive blur.

Excellent optical performance

ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass, two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements, two molded glass aspherical lenses and a hybrid aspherical lens provide excellent correction for all type of aberrations. High image quality is assured throughout the entire zoom range.

Large aperture standard zoom lens with compact construction

The lens has a compact construction with an overall length of 94.7mm (3.7"). It is ideal for many situations such as portrait, landscape and general photography.

F2.8 large aperture over the entire zoom range

This lens offers a large aperture of F2.8 over its entire zoom range. It provides freedom of creative expression and is ideal for photography indoors or in dim lighting.

Hyper Sonic Motor

HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor)

HSM indicates lenses equipped with a Hyper Sonic Motor, driven by ultrasonic waves. HSM ensures a quiet and high speed AF as well as full-time manual focus override by rotation of the focus ring.

Inner focusing system

The polygonal shape of a conventional iris diaphragm causes outo-focus light points to appear polygonal. A rounded diaphragm is designed to produce rounded outo-focus light points when opened to near maximum aperture. This creates attractive bokeh effects in many situations, such as when photographing a subject against an out-of-focus surface of water from which light is being reflected.

No Super Multi-Layer Coating (left). With Super Multi-Layer Coating (right).

Reduced Flare and Ghosting

Sigma's own Super Multi-Layer Coating suppresses flare and ghosting by preventing reflections within the lens. All DG and DC lenses in the current Sigma range feature this original technology. In digital cameras, flare and ghosting may also be caused by reflections between the image sensor and lens surfaces. Here too, Sigma's Super Multi-Layer Coating is highly effective, assuring images of outstanding contrast.

Petal-type hood

This lens is equipped with a Petal-type hood to block out extraneous light and reduce internal reflections.

Lens Construction

In a conventional lens, focusing requires an extension of the entire lens or the front lens group. However, to better accommodate autofocusing mechanisms and closeup photography, a need has arisen for lenses that do not change their length during focusing or suffer from focus-dependent variation in aberration. Therefore, Sigma has developed focusing systems that only move elements within the lens barrel. These incorporate smaller and lighter moving lens elements which help improve auto-focus speed. With their unchanging barrel length and small variation in the center of gravity, these lenses also enhance balance and stability for the photographer. Furthermore, since the front of the lens does not rotate, polarizing filters can be used with extra convenience.

Lens Construction	14 Elements in 12 Groups
Angle of View	84.1 -34.3 degrees
Number of Diaphragm Blades	9 Blades
Minimum Aperture	F22 (Rounded diaphragm)
Minimum Focusing Distance	38cm / 15.0in.
Maximum Magnification	1:5.3
Filter Size	Diameter 82mm
Dimensions	Diameter 88.6mm x Length 94.7mm / 3.5in. x 3.7in.
Weight	790g / 27.9oz.

MTF Chart

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MTF (Modular Transfer Function) is one of the measurements that evaluates a lens' performance, and it contrasts sensitivity at different spacial frequencies. The horizontal axis is in millimeters and shows the distance from the center of the image toward the edges, and contrast value (highest value is 1) is shown in the vertical axis.

The readings at 10 lines per millimeter measure the lens' contrast ability (red lines), repeating fine parallel lines spaced at 30 lines per millimeter measure the lens' sharpness ability (green lines), when the aperture is wide open. Fine repeating line sets are created parallel to a diagonal line running from corner to corner of the frame, are called Sagittal lines (S) and sets of repeating lines vertical to these lines are drawn, called Meridional (M) line sets.

Distortion

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effective distortion: When you take a picture of a lattice pattern, it will appear as the blue dotted line shows. the red line illustrates how the lattice pattern will appear in the actual picture when any lens distortion is taken into account.

relative distortion: In this chart, the horizontal axis shows the ideal image height (the distance from the center to the edge of the image [mm]). The vertical axis shows the extent of distortion. The extent of the distortion is represented by how much Y, which is the actual image height, grows (or shrinks) against Y0 which is the ideal image height.

Extent of distortion: D[%]=(Y-Y0/Y0)x100

When you take the picture of a square object, if the distortion amount show a minus value, the image will be seen as expanded (Barrel distortion). If the distortion amount is a plus value, it will be seen as a recessed (pincushi on distortion). When the distortion value is close to 0, the appearance of distortion is very minimal.

Vignetting

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The horizontal axis shows the image height (the distance from the center to the edge of the image [mm]). The vertical axis shows the amount of light in the image (based on the amount of light in the image center being 100%). If the peripheral amount of light is lower than the center, the four corners of the image will be darker (vignetting).

Product Description

This large aperture standard zoom lens covers focal lengths from 24mm and is housed in compact construction. The latest optical design provides an overall length of 94.7cm /3.7inch. It is ideal for general photography such as snapshots, portraiture and landscapes. The Super Multi Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting. ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass, two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements and three aspherical lenses provide excellent correction of all types of aberrations. Superior optical performance is ensured throughout the entire zoom range. This lens incorporates HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), ensuring a quiet and high speed AF as well as full time manual focusing capability. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 38cm/15in and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:5.3. The rounded 9 blades diaphragm creates an attractive blur. It is possible to attach the included petal-type hood to block out extraneous light.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

119 of 128 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what I expected for the $$$ (and a little more) August 7, 2009

By alaskan-exposure.com

Style Name:Nikon Digital SLR Cameras|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm currently using a Nikon D90 but the D700 is on the horizon for me. This meant that I am not buying any DX lenses anymore. I have the Tokina 11-16, Nikkor 70-300 VR, Nikkor 50mm 1.8 and the D90 kit lens 18-105 VR (never been happy with the kit lens). So the only focal range I needed was basically 17-70 and the DX Nikkor 17-55 is out. The logical approach was the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 but ugh... I'm not making $$$ from my shots yet and $1999 was a bit much to swallow. I rented the Nikkor and the Sigma to compare side by side and I really loved the Sigma's compact but solid presence compared to the relatively big and long Nikkor (chalk up one point for the Sigma)... I took about 150 shots with both lenses and I really could not find too many differences... Certainly none that stood out. I'll admit that I'm a bit of a pixel peeper and I was truly looking for the lesser priced lens to come up short but honestly only some very minor flare issues (shooting directly into the late evening sun) even showed up. On my crop framed D90 the sharpness was superb on both lenses, color, contrast and focusing accuracy and speed was exactly what I expected. VERY VERY good. One thing that added to the cost of the Sigma though (chalk up a point for Nikkor) is the 82mm filter size. They are not easy to find and are almost always more expensive (high quality Digital UV filter was $100). I now have my FX frame lens lineup set and I'm very happy with it as I purchased this lens right here at Amazon. Now... to save for that D700... *sigh*

Moral of the story is... if you want to save $800 and have a lens that you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference from the venerable Nikkor... get this Sigma 24-70 2.8 HSM....

*UPDATE*
As mentioned in the comments on this original post, if you are going full frame with this lens it is indeed a bit "mushy" from f/2.8 to f/4.0 in terms of acuity. On my D90 I just didn't seem to notice as much more than likely due to the smaller sensor and denser smaller pixels. On the D3s you can really see the limitations of this lens at wide apertures. I would also imagine if you are using a D7000 (purely speculation here) that you might start seeing some of the limitations on that crop sensor too due to its higher resolution. I will be selling my old faithful friend (this is not a bad lens) for the more expensive Nikkor now that I'm full frame. NEW moral of the story... if you are using a D300 or D90 or below this lens is wonderful. If you are using a higher MP sensor or full frame you will see the limitations at wide apertures. Read more ›

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THIS LENS August 25, 2010

By Viridiana Serrano

Style Name:Canon Digital SLR Cameras|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had read more positive than negative reviews about this lens, so I ordered it to do wedding photography. The lens quality is very good except when it comes to the lens hood; it's very thin and bends easily. Overall, the lens barrel is sturdy and compact. In terms of focusing, the lens focuses fast & right on target.

Some people say this lens is soft at F/2.8, but that's exactly the effect you want to create with your aperture wide open. The lens is sharp where you focus at F/2.8, and creates a nice soft focus around you focus point. All the images I took, were of excellent quality & sharpness.

The only major issue I had with the lens was not in terms of quality, or image sharpness. My issue was that the lens barrel was very, very stiff when zooming in & out. I had to apply some force to push it all the way in both directions (in and out). Unfortunately, that's a problem with Sigma lenses, and it seems they're not fixing it. This is a major issue because during wedding photo shoots, it would really slow me down some good 2-4 seconds trying to zoom the lens to get a shot, but also lose my scene.

I returned the lens & got me the Canon L lens (which has a zoom smooth as butter). However, if you won't be doing fast-paced photography, this lens is perfect for you, both in terms of price, quality and construction.

55 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sigma 24-70 HSM opinion March 4, 2009

By Bob in USA

Style Name:Nikon Digital SLR Cameras|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have had the new Sigma 24-7o f2.8 HSM lens for about 3 weeks now, took photos with it the last four weekends. I am happy with the performance of this lens. This lens controls flare very well( but have had a couple of photos shot directly into the sun show small flare). This lens has good contrast and no color shift. I have had no focus issues with this lens on my Nikon D700 (I did use AF Tune to adjust focus at 70mm -10). Once I adjusted the focus setting, focus point was tack sharp at f2.8. This lens is very sharp even in the corners. The one knock I will give it, is that it Vignettes a little at 70mm with f2.8-4.0 (can be removed in post process). Over f5.6 and up no vignette. I am no professional lense reviewer but I feel this is a good value for the money. I'm sure the Nikon 24-70 is a better lens and for the extra money it should be. For my uses I am very satisfied with the lens. If you want to see some photos taken with the Sigma 24-70 lens type bc1963 photos in your search engine and select my flickr photostream.

Review Update 4-15-09:

After using the lens more I wanted to update the review with my observations to date. I have had a couple photos with lens flare but it was small and shot directly into the sun. Also I have seen some vignette at f4.0.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great alternative to slow VR zooms July 31, 2009

By Roy

Style Name:Sony Digital SLR Cameras

My objective was to find something fast in a normal zoom range. This lens fits the bill. Build quality is excellent with perfect resistance in zoom and focus rings. A bit more expensive than a Nikon 16-85VR, it cost a lot less than a Nikon 17-55, and much, much less than a Nikon 24-70 f2.8. This Sigma f2.8 HSM is probably the only competition for the big Nikon in FX lenses. After cashback I paid about $750. For me the lens handles exceptionally well. I like the large barrel diameter and the short length. I also like the balance on my D300. As others have said, mine had a slight front focus problem at 70mm, close up. I sent it in for adjustment because in all other respects I really like it. Like another review reports, mine came back exactly as it was when I sent it. However, I decided to work with it because it has amazing potential. I started by manually touching up focus for closeups, and you can do that with this HSM lens. Results are fantastic when focus is correct. I have since learned that all I really need to do is release after focusing and hit the AF again. Pops right into excellent focus. For all other shooting I can't say enough good things about the lens. I really like it, and I really like the range for my camera. For the price, this Sigma is worth the little extra effort to work with that one shortcoming, and as I have used it, the close focus problem has become only a sporadic problem, as if the HSM is loosening up a bit. This is a terrific available light lens, much better than normal range slow VR lenses. My camera handles high ISO well, so I have no problem keeping shutter speed up at f2.8 or f3.2. Nikon VR lenses in this range are excellent, no doubt, but I prefer this Sigma. I cannot comment on performance for FX cameras.... I can say this lens is addictive on my D300. I enjoy using it, and I like the photos very much. Read more ›