I’ve blogged about the 70-200mm f2.8 lens range several times now on this blog and how this lens type is considered a staple for any serious photography enthusiast. The original party manufacturers manufacture these very complex lens to high specifications, and they routinely cost an arm and a leg too. The Nikon version of this lens for instance costs a painful SGD2,900 here!
As a hobbyist, there’s no way I’m ever going to spend that kind of money on a lens. OK, not unless it comes with maybe 50 cans of abalone. Until that day comes, the next best was Sigma’s version of the lens – the Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM – which has about identical specifications to the Nikon/Canon ones. There’re always risks with third party lenses and how they match to the original equipment manufacturer ones, but reviews everywhere have agreed that while this lens’ quality is just slightly lower than the Nikon one, especially in image center sharpness, it’s amazing value for money nonetheless.
I took the plunge for it last Monday. The lens normally costs about SGD1,950 here, but rather than paying that, I picked up an export set, losing local warranty but saving myself about SGD450 on the other hand. The lens arrived just after dinner, so I took the opportunity to take several pictures of Hannah and Ling when we all headed to the playground for Hannah’s Sunday play activity.
The lens is certainly hefty, but I imagine my old D300 would had been a better counterbalancing unit to it than the lighter D7000 that I use now. Focusing was pretty quick (reviews note that the Nikon lens is even faster though) and spot on. The lens focusing motor is a little noisy though, and you can feel the optical stabilizer mechanism working over time too with a slight jolt in the lens barrel each time.
Still; shooting with a f2.8 telephoto zoom is a great new experience. I really look forward using this new lens outdoors with our girl.=)
you can actually mount the flash on the hotshot to stabilize the weight.
I used the Nikon 70-200mm VRII before. Their focusing speed was like whoom, in an instant.
Btw, do you find this lens abit soft?
Yeah but I’ll have to set the flash unit to wireless; additional steps to follow.
I tried the VRII when I was in Osaka but can’t remember if it’s faster than this Sigma; but the Sigma is so far fast enough to catch Hannah. Not sure for fasting moving subjects though e.g. sports.
Sharpness wise; it’s acceptable wide-open at the center but have to sharpen a bit in post-processing. At f4 and above it looks all good across the frame though but I need to try it out some more in better light. I shot all the above in early evening, and nearly all the pictures were already at ISO1600.
“The lens focusing motor is a little noisy though, and you can feel the optical stabilizer mechanism working over time too with a slight jolt in the lens barrel each time.”
Thank you SO much for this! I thought something was wrong with my lens, and even wrote to Sigma to ask whether this little jolt/twitch is normal. (For me, it happens at the start of the autofocusing — a quick jolt, then it’s normal.)
I was hoping it wasn’t a sign of something failing. Now I feel better… unless we both have bad lenses.
Hey there; thanks for the visitation to our site. I’m pretty sure it’s characteristic of the lens. I remembered reading that owners of the Sigma 70-200mm heard the same soft rattle during focusing:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sigma/discuss/72157631070663476/