Customer Reviews

Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro Super Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

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

 

 

I bought this lens as a long range zoom for my Canon Digital Rebel. It is an excellent value for the money and gives you incredible range! It comes with a lens hood and also a very nice padded case too.

even though it does not state it here, the lens is actually the Macro Super II. this lens has a red ring around the top and comes in a gold box with a red stripe on it. make sure you get this version because it is the latest model.

there really is no better value for a long range zoom than this lens.

I disagree with Jeff Kershaw's review, in that it's very unfair to compare this lens to a L series lens, as those lens start at over $500 due to it's very specific high-grade optics manufacturing process. To compare this lens to a lens that starts at over 4X the price is like comparing a Honda Civic to a Porsche. Like the civic, this Sigma lens is well rounded, good for beginner and consumer SLR photographers, and maybe some "pro-sumer" on a tight budget, or even students. For the price, this lens is a bargain, as I've been doing a lot of research before buying this lens (price range in the $130-225 for telephoto). What I liked most about this is the APO lenses, which prevent reflection inside the lens which creates "ghosting" (inverted light ghostly shadow that appers on your image) which is usually apparent in nightshots. During the day APO lenses decrease those "purple fuzzies" (chromatic aberration) you see against high contrast (like a bird's wing against the sky). Granted this lens is no Porsche like the Canon L series, but for the price range, may hit the spot for some folks. I mainly use this camera for macro photography and taking photos of the Empire state building from my roof, which is 24 blocks away. This lens is definitely better quality than the Canon 75-300 USM III f/4-5.6 which is usually considered the benchmark for this price range telephoto.

Also note that there are different versions of these lenses (despite close naming), so be careful about what you buy. The is a APO DG version with Macro specifically made for digital SLRs which is what is listed here (the "official" name of this lens is: 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro), and a non APO version of this lens which is a bit cheaper (but not worth it at all). Also there's ones listed as APO II which is the "older" version, which I don't know the quality of, but know that it is older than the model listed here.

I like this lens, the Macro mode is quite useful for it let you stay a comfortable distance away while still captures nice close up shots (see the shared picture samples above).

Pros: cheap, light, good sharpness and constrast stoped down (f/8) especially below 200mm range, 200-300mm is softer, but usable.

Cons: need to be very careful about the shooting technique, at long focal length, the small aperture makes the lens very susciptible to camera shake, steady hands and high ISO and fast shutter speed will be the key for long focal lengths. Definitely no match for the canon 70-200mm family, but then those at many many times more expensive. Soft wide open, especially at 300mm focal length. For the 300mm focal length, you really can't find anything this cheap and offer reasonable performance.

I bought this lens for my Rebel XT a few months ago since it was in my budget. Comparing this to an "L" lens is not fair since it is a budget lens after all. I usually take my pics between 70mm and 200mm, f/6 at 70mm and f/9 at 200mm and the pictures are quite sharp, not as sharp as my 50mm f/1.8 but still some pretty nice pictures. Just make sure there's enough light out when using higher focal lengths so you can use a high shutter speed or your pics will come out blurry.

I have taken close up pics of insects between 200mm to 300mm at f/10-f/12(for 300mm as some websites suggest)and they came out nice, don't expect 'true' macro though. I also caught some kids playing tag football about 100 feet away from me and they came out well, a bit overexposed, but that was my fault.

Sorry to those of you calling it ok, but it's really not. I kept it for a couple weeks and returned it. I've never returned ANYTHING to Amazon, but this was not the best $200 I've spent.

I guess it's ok if the picture wouldn't be sharp under any circumstances, likes kids on a ride at a theme park. But for anything else, nah. Good range at 70-300, but slow focus and slow apeture.

Sorry, can't recommend it. The price isn't the issue - the pictures are. If they are worth taking, they are worth being good. This won't help you with that.

I bought this just to carry around when I didn't want to carry one of my bigger L lenses. It seemed to fit the bill for a small light zoom. But alas not! It is slow, unsharp and generally not very good. I used it maybe twice and now it sits on a shelf collecting dust. The price is cheap and in this case, you get what you pay for. Maybe for a beginner, just starting out without a large budget for glass, this could be ok. I warn that you will want to upgrade within some time, if quality matters. I recommend a pass.