Customer Reviews

Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 SLD DG Macro Lens with built in motor for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(60)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I hesitated purchasing this lens for my Nikon D40X--probably looked at this listing six or seven times before making the purchase. Truthfully I was worried about how inexpensive it is. Now, I'm probably a pretty average amateur photographer in that the majority of my pictures are family stuff: kids' sporting events, vacations, birthdays, and the like. But that doesn't mean I'm willing to compromise on quality just to save some money, and I know that the Nikon 55-200 is a quality lens.

But, I purchased based on Michael Del Priore's review (his was the only review at the time)--I figured, at this price (especially when compared to the Nikon 55-200), why not give it a shot, and I'm glad I did.

This is an excellent lens. The auto focus motor is fast and doesn't chew up the battery (I was concerned about that, but I shot almost 170 pictures at my son's games two Saturdays ago and didn't use any more battery than the Nikon 35-70 lens that came with the camera). Like "cinderoo" I haven't had any stabilization issues to speak of either, even snapping away while following 12 year old boys run the length of a field. That may be more of an issue with macro photography, but I'd imagine most of the (admittedly limited) macro photography I'd do would probably be with a tripod anyway.

Now, no one would mistake me for a professional photographer, but I can tell you that when I pull up photos shot with my D40X and this Sigma lens on my 24" iMac and view them full screen they are *everything* I was looking for when I decided to move to an SLR camera.

I purchased the Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG macro lens for my Nikon D40..the lens has a Built in Motor Drive and does Auto Focus very nicely with the Nikon D40..D40X and D60..
I shoot mostly landscapes, animals, birds, and flowers and have taken some very nice photos with this 70-300mm Telephoto and Macro Lens. This lens does not have Image Stabilization however using the lens without a tripod does not seem to be much of a problem because I have not had many blurred photos..The lens is very reasonably priced for the amateur photographer..

I have shared some of my recent photos that I took using this lens which are posted on this Amazon listing with my review.

The lens shipped immediately by 47th Street Photo and was received in two days.

I highly recommend the Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG Macro Lens.

Feeling limited by my 18-135 lens I began looking into zoom lenses. A friend of mine has the Nikon 70-300 VR which is an amazing lens but substantially out of my price range as well. I debated saving up for the Nikon lens but after much consideration I decided to give this one a shot since it was within my budget and would get me that extra distance. I am using this lens with my D40x and the pictures I have taken have been crystal clear. I am extremely satisfied with this lens and it has performed well above my expectations.

This lens is amazing. I bought this lens because I needed something longer than my 200mm, and the price was alluring. I was skeptical at first, but after doing my research on sigma, decided to go with it.

First of all I love the 58mm objective on this lens. It isn't too large, but allows for crisper photos in low light situations. The Macro feature is absolutely amazing, and comes in very handy when outdoors.

My only misgiving with this lens is that the focus motor is a bit on the loud side, not annoying, just obvious in a quiet room, and distracting in the middle of a service or ceremony. A nikkor lens has a faster and quieter motor, but for the price, this is an amazing deal.

Bottom Line - BUY IT!!!

I am a beginning photographer who uses a Nikon D5000 SLR camera I recently purchased. I do not have all the aperture info to include in my review, but I can assure this lens is an awesome lens for ANY user. I photographed a wedding this week along side a profession photographer. Comparing my pictures to his, I have less noise using this lens and my shots were clear with beautiful color and dimension to each photo! He was impressed so much in fact that he wanted purchase info himself for his camera lens collection. You will not be sorry with this purchase!! It is an excellent value for the money!

Purchased the Sigma 70-300mm and I have to admit that I am very pleased with it but I thought it would be a good idea to give the pros and cons that I see with this lense The "cons" of this lense include:

.very noisy auto focus
.macro feature is small ( have to be in the 200-300mm range)
.slight chromatic distortion (color loss) in low light, very low light
.not real fast f/4 - 5.6
.tripod needed in low light

Now on to the positives

Pros:
.very very sharp lense
.well made (not cheap)
.true macro feature
.metal lens mount (not plastic)
.auto focus works great in good light
.full depth prited on lens
.will work with nikon D40,40x,50,60,70,70s,80,90,200.....
.ED glass
.many lens elements (helps with lense distortion)
.= to a 465mm with 1.5x factor (Nikon)
. wonderful balance throughout its lense range
.slight pincussion but not bad
.GREAT LENSE FOR THE PRICE

I usually shoot with nikon glass and was reluctant to purchase this lense but after having it almost two weeks now and with well over 200 pictures on it, I think this lens is great!
It has produced pictures of the same if not better quality than some of my Nikon glass, even the 2.8! If you are a budget minded photographer or just do not want to pay the outrageous price of the name brands, this thrid party will suit you fine.
Simply put, I would highly recomend this lens to anyone wishing to upgrade from a "kit lens"

If you are familiar with Telephoto lens this will be a great lens for all sorts of use. The Zoom is fantastic and the 70mm is excellent. The motor for the focus is extremely fast throughout the zoom ranges and the 200-300mm Macro is great! I do a huge amount of landscape, Still and HDR and this lens fits the need very well.

I've mounted it on my Nikon D40 Back up Camera and I also own the 18-200mm Sigma OS mounted on my D300 so where my D300 cannot reach the 300mm telephoto will. It fits the need and fits the budget too.

Get ready however, the motor is slightly on the loud side but because of the photography I do, It doesn't bother me! If your doing a lot of portrait and studio you might get distracted by the focusing noise. On the other hand it is very fast to focus so you need to ask yourself...

What's more important...?!?! The quick focus or the random noises...!

Like with all telephoto lens beyond 200mm you should be on a tripod especially in lower lighting and no OS but on good lit days even at 250mm handheld it shoots beautifully. The color contrast on the lens is near exact to my Nikkor 18-135mm and the 58mm hood works great on bright days.

Do I recommend this item... OFCOURSE! For anyone who shoots anything its good to have a Great Lens for this price! Back Up Lens or Priority... It suits my daily needs for that shot that's all worth while!!!

Cheers...!

So I was the first review for this lense and I have read over a few of the reviews. Please disregard any of the bad comments about this lense. I have owned this lense for quite some time now and it still is a great lense for the buy! You can't beat the price for the quality. I work in Studio and we use Canon 70-200mm f 2.8 lenses that are around $1300 and to me it's a waste if your not shooting indoors when you can spend $140 on a 70-300mm f/4-5.6. I have shot many jobs with this lense and have printed many pictures out. Optics in this lense is amazing. You do not have to use this lense on a tripod at all. I use it hand held in most everything I shoot except long exposures. The only thing that could be slightly difficult is indoor shooting. Overall this lense is good. Not worth the money to invest in a VR lense...Can't even tell the difference.

When I received my new Lens in the mail I was very excited. I could not wait until I could try it out on my D40 Camera. It was very easy to use and adjust. I took over 100 pictures the first time of birds, insects, flowers and closeup shots of my grandkids. When downloaded on my computer to view the pictures I was amazed at the clarity of the shots. I love the way it handles. It was lighter than I thought it was going to be but I was having a little trouble holding the camera steady at first. I will be getting a tripod to use with it for still pictures. Thank you so much for making this item available to us.

I am a Nikon D40X owner and a starter photographer. Bought Nikon with the Kit lens and decided to purchase a 200 or 300 mm telephoto lens to get more from the camera. I decided to buy Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 DL-M Lens, which was one of the few options at that moment for my camera, without knowing a lot about the lenses. The main drivers were the length that the lens offering (and it suits to my expectation), suitibility to my camera, macro feature that it offered and of course the price.

First, it is needed to mention that this is not a professional lens, to me a starter and useful lens offering many features together. The length it offers is not suited for daily photos, however, a very good opportunity to get great pictures with its zoom, macro and portrait capabilities. When the lightening is good, you may get wonderful pictures at all lengths. The most you'll be surprised is how great portrait photos you may get at 70mm. The built-in motor works without any problem. Macro feature works, however, if it is your the one and main driver to buy this lens, be careful about how close it allows you to approach the item (it is not a great distance that you may approach for a macro photo).

I bought this lens 2.5 months ago, and in the meanwhile I had chance to learn more about taking photos, the lenses and get more familiar with my camera. I recently decided to change my kit lens with a better lens and decided again on Sigma (they got my confidence) for a 18-50 f2.8 lens. This 70-300 lens will be a part of my lenses inventory as it offers many great opportunities to take great pictures.

Summary : Including the supplier (47st Photo via Amazon), it was a satifactory and happy purchase at all steps.