Solid Bulit! feels good on the hand and cam, beautiful, heavy but i like heavy lens which help me stable. excellent optics and color. fast and quite focus.

None!

This lens is excellent! ive purchase used coz of the price and im looking for a 2.8 tele. im thankful ive found this lens. Very sharp even wide open. Ive test and re-test this lens at all app and focal length and lighting condition and works very well. Ive read reviews here saying that this lens is soft. i think they just dont know kow to use this one properly or they have a bad copy? this is a great lens and will be on my bag for a long time! this one is even better with the new DG and macro version i think (base on what the reviews on others. not tested the DG versions yet.) for the price this is unbeatable! can be compared to the big boys Nikon and canon really! at the end of the day i think soft ness of lenses can be blame on the photographer sometimes though there are soft lenses really that sucks! and this one doesnt belong to that category.. ive purchase other sigma lens and i find them really sharp if use properly and technic applied.

best tele lens in this range.

none

I have great experience with many Sigma EX lenses, so to get this Sigma 70-200mm EX HSM F2.8, i have no doubt that it will produces great image quality, indeed its razor sharp lens. Its not to my surprise that it will, it has a beautiful petal hood, good size but not too heavy, HSM is very quiet, most of the time i dont even hear AF, it produces very contrasty, strong colors and razor cutting edge sharp. I use it with my 2 Fuji S2 & S3 pros and Nikon d50, with Sigma EX lenses and Fujis super CCD i get best pictures quality, today i dont think any DSLR can out do this combinations.
Im very happy with all Sigma EX lenses i got. with this said, ive sold all my Canon and Nikon gears to keep FUJI and Sigmas.
Sigma is the biggest lens company maker in this world..the name to trust.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 80-200mm f2.8

Fast focus, excellent optics.

None so far.

When I bought my Nikon D70 in 2005, I also got myself a 70-300G lens, for about 100 Euros. If you do not want to shoot moving objects at large distances at 300mm, it's not too bad, but if your subject is either moving or far away, it's pretty bad. So, I decided to get a lens that focuses fast and has much better optical quality, and also a much better build. The Nikkor 70-200 VR I found too expensive, and with this Sigma lens - my first - I have not been disappointed. It's fast, sharp (even at 2.8) and colors are good too.

Customer Service

No experience

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Well, sort of. 70-300G. No match.

2.8 and super clean pictures. I have used this at events to shoot head shots from a across the room. Clients are always impressed. Clean, clear, with a smooth blurred out background.

If you like to hike... I am talking 10 miles with a huge 5200 cu in pack for many days in a row, you are going to wonder why you brought it. Takes large amounts of space and weights more than your tent....

This is a great lens with little to complain about... I used to spend most of my time taking performing arts photos... opera, theater, ballet, etc. Anybody that has ever been to a show knows that the lighting can be an issue. Opera and theater are not much of an issue but the quick movement of ballet + low light = 2.8. After taking photos at one show a 'pro' photographer took a look at this lens... the next time we meet on a shoot he owed one. This lens is impressive.

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used a canon 3.5 75-300 (I think) Lens sucked.

Great optics
Sturdy
77 mm filters
Nice looks (luckily it is not a white lens)
Broad MF ring
Good combo with 1.4 teleconverter

Large, but what do you expect?!

A lens without weaknesses. This lens is sharp, sturdy and reliable. When I looked for a nice telezoom, the Minolta versions were way out of my financial budget. I used a Tokina 80-200/2.8, which was not sharp and very, very heavy.
This Sigma lens I consider as one of my best buys. The first specimen sent to me had some scratches on the front glass. The second specimen was and still is perfect.

I have used the lens intensively during travels and for theater. In both cases it performs very well. Very high sharpness, although some 'testing' of mine revealed some softness around 70 mm/F2.8. But that could be just my specimen. I also have the 1,4 teleconverter and the combo behaves very good. Some reviewers stated that it performs even better with the teleconverter(?) than without.

AF speed has never been a problem for me, but I don't need very high standards in that region (I don't do motorcars etc.). MF focusing goes smoothly, although one will have to adapt to the AF/MF procedure on the lens. This is just a minor con.

On the 7D this lens offers you a very nice 105-280/2.8 lens, which works like a dream in landscape photography. The lens has a sturdy and stable tripod mount. But combined with the AS function on the 7D this lens also offers great opportunities hand held.

This lens comes with a handy soft case, especially handy when traveling.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 70-210/4

price, sharpness, built quality, shunshade and padded bag included, good focusing speed, good tripod mount

a bit soft at f2.8, heavy, lenscap comes off easily

This is a very fine lens. Built quality is quite good and the finish feels very good to the touch. (soft) Despite i'ts weight the lens hadles very well. I've not found it a problem to take along a whole day be it on the camera or in my bag. Optical performance is very good but not perfect. At f2.8 it's a bit soft. But at f4 performance is very good.

I use this lens a lot and I think many other photographers should have one of these in their bag. I'ts priced very reasonable. For me i'ts an allround lens. It'sz fine for both portraits and more distant objects.

Similar Products Used:

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If you were thinking about buying the Canon 70-200 f/2.8, save yourself the extra $1300 dollars and buy this lens.

None yet!

I've been waiting to purchase this lens for quite some time now! Wow, this lens is tac sharp and fast focusing. A bit soft at f/2.8, but nothing to complain about since it does get the job done at f/2.8 in low light situations. I was surprised how heavy this lens is, but well balanced with my Canon 20DBattery Grip. I like the tripod collar release feature, the downside is that the knob does get in the way when focusing. I can quickly remove the collar when not mounted on the tripod.

This lens is big with or without the hood, and does draw attention. The is pro quality in form and function, and looks sweet on my canon body. This lens with body attached fits perfectly in my Lowepro Toploader 70 AW.

Great overall lens for the price.

Issues with sharpness at f/2.8

I decided to write a review after using my Sigma 70-200 f 2.8 to take pictures during church service yesterday (I am the de facto church photographer). Currently, we worship in a large gymnasium with low lights-- but with high intensity spot lights on the Pastor. Well I was very impressed with the performance of this lens! When shooting at f2.8 from about 60 feet from my subject (the preacher), I was able to shoot at 1/125 with no flash (!) (ISO 800), and the pictures were amazing. I agree with many reviews that I have read: sharpness at f/2.8 has been an issue with this lens. In fact, yesterday, I used both a tripod and a flashcord to avoid camera shake to see if camera shake was the problem. However, even when employing tactics to minimize camera shake, I still noticed a tiny (but noticeable) bit of softness shooting at 200M @ f2.8. Though I will admit, yesterday's results were the best that I have gotten from this lens. In fact, I was so impressed, I have second thoughts about purchasing the Canon 70-200mm f/ 2.8 L-- which is exactly what I was in the process of doing this week. After yesterday's results, I am left with the question-- is it truly worth spending the extra $1,000 to hope for improved sharpness at f/2.8?

Quick and quiet autofocus

Autofocus locks on to subject superbly

Image quality

Nice finish to lens

Price

None to speak of

What a lens - purchased this on eBay last week and have used it for one weekend of sports photography for a newspaper and I wish I'd bought something like this years ago!

This lens is an absolute pearler - super quick and quiet autofocus locks onto subject perfectly. The image quality is fantastic too - nice and sharp.

And of course the price is so good compared with the big boys from Nikon and Canon that you just can't go wrong.

All in all, this has got to be one of the best lenses available in this zoom range.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 G
Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 D
Canon 90-300mm USM
Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8
Nikon 80-400mm

Sharp Fast F2.8 Internal focus and zoom Price

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Great Lens for the price. I think that it is as good if not better then the Canon 70-200 F2.8. fast focus and sharp images. I love this lens. great for sports.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 24-70 F2.8