Customer Reviews

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM II Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have both the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 and this lens. The version I received is as clear and sharp as the Canon 70-200mm version and ALOT less expensive! The bokeh is as good. When photographing a local high school senior session recently, I shot the Sigma and my associate shot with the Canon lens. We dumped all our images together and aside from style, you could not tell which images had been taken with which lens. The bodies were both 40Ds. I have to look at the metadata to tell which ones are which.

If you are making the decision about which lens to buy, try this lens out. With Amazon's great customer service, if the lens doesn't work out send it back. But I am pretty sure you will keep it. I would encourage you to try this lens out before dropping almost $1000 more for the Canon counterpart.

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG HSM II Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Excellent lens! It produces colors that are very rich and natural. This lens is sharp! I have not seen any lens aberration flaws whatsoever, even at 200% crops! The lens collar is a quick release type that is very easy to remove. The lens feels good while being held. This lens (like all others in its class) is heavy; but a lot of fun to shoot with. The bokeh is excellent. I like the non-conspicuous black frame which mates nicely with my 40d. The build quality is top notch and luxurious. It can easily become a favorite lens to shoot with. Highly recommended.

What to expect:
Great image quality, fast autofocus, good performance indoors and outdoors, rugged build quality, smooth zoom and focus rings, all at a reasonable price for a lens in this class.

What not to expect:
Canon 70-200 2.8 IS MkII quality images.

You can't buy a lens like this and expect the same kind of pictures you would get from an L series lens, it's just not going to happen. However, you can expect excellent performance and pictures worth hanging in your home, or even pictures to be published in newspapers if you're like me.

I used this lens as a freelancing professional for two years, and it was fantastic. I could keep it mounted on one of my Canon bodies, sling it over my shoulder and not worry if it bumped up against something. Actually, the build quality is so good, you might worry about whatever this lens bumps up against. Be careful around cars.

The hypersonic autofocus motor makes life a whole lot easier when you're doing candid photography or sports. It finds what you're trying to take a picture of and focuses in lightning quick, all while being silent. With an aperture at 2.8, you can take pictures in almost any lighting situation. No image stabilizer, but that's nothing a monopod can't fix. The tripod mount comes right off because it's hinged, and I wish my Canon lens did that. Keeps you from having to dismount the lens and risk getting dust on the rear lens element or on your imaging censor.

It's a little heavy, but you have to expect that with good lenses. Quality optical glass has some weight to it. You're not likely to wear yourself out handling it, even if you're out shooting for a few hours.

Should you spend four times as much as this on a first-party lens with image stabilization? Not unless you have the bucks to burn and you're going to do this for a living for the rest of your life, and get a whole lot of money doing it. Even if you're a pro, this is a great lens and worth every penny. If you're thinking about shooting weddings or doing other professional work, and you don't have the money for Canon's L series glass, this is your alternative. Not to mention, it's a perfectly good alternative that will more than do the job, it will astound you how you got such great images on a 70-200 2.8 at this price.

Things to mind about one member of the competition: Tamron's equivalent doesn't have the hypersonic motor, which means it doesn't focus quite as fast, and it's also louder. Once you shoot with a HS, it's amazing how much of a difference it makes to you whether or not you can hear an autofocus servo activate.

Is it a good macro lens? Well, it's not bad, but it's not great. Don't expect National Geographic quality macro shots, but it does OK with close detail shots. I'm not sure there is a good telezoom in this range that is truly a good macro lens. Macro lenses are highly specialized, and they're also very expensive.

Bottom line:
Worth the money and performs exceptionally for the price. You won't be sorry with this purchase.

great-quality optics, no visible CA. has lovely bokeh, though since it's a 2.8 (rather than, say a 1.4 or 1.8) you can't produce completely blurred backgrounds unless the background is some distance back from your subject -- say, 30' or so. makes an excellent portrait lens. AF is fast, accurate and reliable. the HSM is perfect -- quiet, with the forgiving override if you wish. there's no slippage of anything -- the lens feels rock-solid, and... about as heavy as a rock, too. your hand will get a workout if you shoot with this for a while. i'd rather have it heavy -- lots of glass, no cheap construction here.

This is a great lens, but I would recommend waiting before purchasing it. I bought it two weeks ago, and Sigma just announced the new version with stabilization that allows for shooting 4 stops lower than possible without the stabilization. I'm not sure if the price will be the same, but if it is, it will be a steal at this price! now if I can only find someone who will buy the one I just purchased so I can upgrade to the stabilized version...

Nice alternative to a Canon lens. I have not had any problems with this lens since I bought it a year ago. Fast and quiet focusing. f/2.8 comes in handy at 200 MM. I use this lens for shooting college hockey. I also use it for slow shutter speed photography. Good for portraits and landscapes and candids. No cons to this lens! You can save $500 buying this lens instead of the Canon equivalent.
I like the internal focusing feature. Comes with tripod mount ring and a lens hood.

Seriously how much is the word Canon or Nikon actually worth. I've shot space shuttle launches, models, weddings, and sharks with this lens. It has seen it all and still comes back for more. I also bought lunch for my team with the MASSIVE amount of money I saved vs. buying from Canon. Don't let anyone fool you Sigma is top of the line and deserves a fair shake. Don't listed to the fan boys, the little red ring just means your a sucker to spend more.

Why bother with a prime lens ? I am here to tell you the sharpness is unbelievable from 70 to 150 range at f/2.8... Recently took portrait shots of my 3 year old grand niece. Hairs/eylashes were razor sharp (sharpness is desirable with young unblemished subjects) Flesh tones were right on.

You will see fringing (Subtle clouding especially of highlites) somewhere after 150mm depending on lighting situation... Though I have taken nice/satisfactory detailed shots at a rodeo @ 200 mm where you could see the fine countours of rope lattice work frozen during bull riding.

From 70-150 I can't conceive of the Canon L Series outperforming the Sigma.. Unless you factor in the image stabilizer under low light conditions.

I am an amateur hobbyist on a budget. I settled on this lens because of the price and the aperture. It was between this and the Canon f4 non is. I decided the Sigma was my best option because of the extra stop advantage over the Canon. This is an optically great lens, contrast and colors are amazing. The lens is acceptable at 2.8, I shoot raw and apply sharpening in DPP or light room. By f4 this lens is as sharp as it gets. Focus speed on the 40d is fast, accurate and quiet. A couple of points I'd like to bring up: the ability to shoot at f2.8 is way more advantageous than IS. IS does nothing to stop subject motion, faster aperture does. I shot my first soccer game this past weekend with a Gitzo monopod, I was able to shoot 200 mm at 2.8 with no problem. I would invest in a tripod or monopod if you plan on shooting sports with this lens. Again you get a 2.8 lens to shoot at 2.8 and I have no regrets with the sigma , just remember to apply sharpening in post processing. This lens is built like a tank, focus and zoom rings are tight and professional.

Outstanding lens. I shoot my sons swimming events with it and the pictures are sharp! To all Canon users, please do not forget to go through the calibration process for any sigma lens out there. I hear lots of complains about people getting soft images out of Sigma lenses and most problems can be solved by calibrating your lenses. If you own a high end digital camera such as the 7D search the internet for the procedure, your images will improve quite a bit after you've done the calibration.

One day I may switch to the OS version on this lens but so far I have not had a need for OS. Also combined with my 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters this lens provides great flexibility. (You also need to calibrate the combination lens + tele to get the best results).