Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens for Pentax and Samsung SLR Cameras

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Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000B8T6E2
• Item model number: B000B8T6E2
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 21, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
The Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG Macro Lens for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras is a telephoto lens that offers excellent cost performance and is optimized for use with digital SLR cameras. Capable of macro photography, this lens has a 1:2 maximum close-up magnification at the 300 millimeter focal length. It's the ideal high performance lens for portraits, sports photography, nature photography, and other types of photography that frequently use the telephoto range. The lens features a switch for changeover to macro photography at focal lengths between 200 millimeters and 300 millimeters, with a maximum close-up magnification from 1:2.9 to 1:2.

The multi-layer lens coating and lens design reduce flare and ghosting, which is a common problem with digital cameras, and it also creates an optimum color balance through the entire zoom range. The minimum focusing distance is 59 inches at all zoom settings. The lens features a switch for changeover to macro photography at focal lengths between 200 millimeters and 300 millimeters with a maximum close-up magnification. Without changing the distance between camera and subject, you can change the shooting magnification.

Product Description
Capable of macro photography, this lens has a 1:2 maximum close-up magnification at the 300 mm focal length. It's the ideal high performance lens for portraits, sports photography, nature photography, and other types of photography that frequently use the telephoto range. It also has a switch for changeover to macro photography at focal lengths between 200mm and 300mm with a maximum close-up magnification from 1:2.9 to 1:2.SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass in this lens provides excellent correction of chromatic aberration.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent lens and an incredible value!, May 9, 2008

By	P. Landry "PL" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Telephoto and Macro Lens for Nikon D40..D40X..D60, May 2, 2008

By	Cynthia A. Gaunt "cinderoo" (Weaverville, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable bargain!, May 8, 2007

By	Dave (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

I wanted a cheap telephoto lens for those times I need the reach. Since I don't use it that often, I felt no need for a large or expensive lens. I debated between this lens, the Tamron 70-300 Di, and the Sigma APO of the same type. This was the cheapest so I went with it. Frankly, I can't believe how good this lens is for its price. At 70mm, it's tack sharp corner to corner. Even 200-300 it's quite good. And the Macro mode is just icing on the cake--1:2 magnification means you can get quite close.

It's true, you need a fair amount of light for this lens to shine--no argument there. But for the individual who only does this sort of stuff for fun, this lens is hard to beat. I can't imagine the APO variant is worth $70 more--I cannot detect any difference from sample pictures posted online. So if you only need a lens of this focal length occasionally, this is the one to get.