Sigma 24-135mm f/2.8-4.5 Aspherical IF

Pre-purchase reasons for buying this lens:

· It sat well priced with my healthy but balanced hobby budget.

· It had, on paper at least, the ability to capture more images in low light, hand held.

· It cast a full frame image circle (making it more future proof and able to be shared with my film based camera).

· Its 24mm-135mm focal length would be good for 80% of the subjects I shoot, minimising lens changes and therefore dust on the sensor.

· It shared a 77mm filter with other lenses in its relative price and quality range, such as the SIGMA 135mm–400mm APO DG and SIGMA 10mm-20mm DC, suitably complementing a kit covering common focal lengths with no overlap.

· It has a manually selectable aperture ring (backwards compatible with my old SLR).

· It has internal focusing, making it more filter friendly.


Whilst researching this lens, I figured that the poor reports on sharpness and build quality etc. were a result of stepping up in the world of expectations, those above that of kit lenses. I reasoned that a lens of this price and specifications should not logically be compared (as some have) to the likes of “L” series lenses; and with this in mind, would likely see a big improvement on what I had experienced in my photographic infancy.

This position proved to be true of build quality, easily beating my kit lens when it came to the smoothness of zoom travel and general “feel”. Unfortunately I must agree with those that say this lens is not sharp; people will likely consider purchasing this lens for flash-less-indoor-“party” type use, thanks to its bright f2.8 aperture, but wide-open images are too soft to be anything but “ok” snapshots. If you are on a tight budget and you are specifically looking to shoot in low light, you may consider buying a fast pre-loved prime. That said, if you are able to stop down to around F8 results are more than acceptable.

After 5 months of use, my advice:

· If you can, don’t pay retail price for this lens; this should alleviate some expectations.

· If you have the money and image quality is your primary concern, this is probably not the lens for you.

· Compared with “kit” digital only lenses, this is a big and heavy lens.

· Build quality is generally good, zoom is smooth, manual focus ring is OK; but my copy creeps when shooting up, down or carried around.

· Best not to consider this lens for its wide-open abilities, at these apertures it is VERY SOFT.

· If you intend to shoot a lot of portraiture shots, you may be pleased with the soft-feathered affect to edges produced in images, especial from RAW conversions at wider apertures.

· Sharp images can be obtained at all focal lengths if you are able to stop down to around F8.

· Being bright or “fast”, does make for easier manual focus, which is handy because auto focus is poor in anything but the brightest of light on my Pentax *istD.

· It has fairly good “macro” (not strictly correct I know) abilities.

Conclusion

Value for money is not exclusively about absolute quality, nor does it have to be the cheapest price; it is the consideration of these things in balance. Do I like this lens? YES! Would I recommend it? Not specifically, make up your own mind based on your needs.

Reasonable quality, a lens which fits in well with my intended focal line-up, cheap enough to use without fear, wherever I intend to take photos……..

These were the pre-purchase reasons I personally decided to buy this lens:

· It sat well priced with my healthy but balanced hobby budget.

· It had, on paper at least, the ability to capture more images in low light, hand held.

· It cast a full frame image circle (making it more future proof and able to be shared with my film based camera).

· Its 24mm-135mm focal length would be good for 80% of the subjects I shoot, minimising lens changes and therefore dust on the sensor.

· It shared a 77mm filter with other lenses in its relative price and quality range, such as the SIGMA 135mm–400mm APO DG and SIGMA 10mm-20mm DC, suitably complementing a kit covering common focal lengths with no overlap.

· It has a manually selectable aperture ring (backwards compatible with my old SLR).

· It has internal focusing, making it more filter friendly.


Whilst researching this lens, I figured that the poor reports on sharpness and build quality etc. were a result of stepping up in the world of expectations, those above that of kit lenses. I reasoned that a lens of this price and specifications should not logically be compared (as some have) to the likes of “L” series lenses; and with this in mind, would likely see a big improvement on what I had experienced in my photographic infancy.

This position proved to be true of build quality, easily beating my kit lens when it came to the smoothness of zoom travel and general “feel”. Unfortunately I must agree with them on sharpness; people will likely consider purchasing this lens for flash-less-indoor-“party” type use, thanks to its bright f2.8 aperture, but wide-open images are too soft to be anything but “ok” snapshots. If you are on a tight budget and you are specifically looking to shoot in low light, you may consider buying a fast pre-loved prime. That said, if you are able to stop down to around F8 results are more than acceptable.

After 5 months of use, my advice:

· If you can, don’t pay retail price for this lens; this should alleviate some expectations.

· If you have the money and image quality is your primary concern, this is probably not the lens for you.

· Compared with “kit” digital only lenses, this is a big and heavy lens.

· Build quality is generally good, zoom is smooth, manual focus ring is OK; but my copy creeps when shooting up, down or carried around.

· Best not to consider this lens for its wide-open abilities, at these apertures it is VERY SOFT.

· If you intend to shoot a lot of portraiture shots, you may be pleased with the soft-feathered affect to edges produced in images, especial from RAW conversions at wider apertures.

· Sharp images can be obtained at all focal lengths if you are able to stop down to around F8.

· Being bright or “fast”, does make for easier manual focus, which is handy because auto focus is poor in anything but the brightest of light on my Pentax *istD.

· It has fairly good “macro” (not strictly correct I know) abilities.

Conclusion

Value for money is not exclusively about absolute quality, nor does it have to be the cheapest price; it is the consideration of these things in balance. Do I like this lens? YES! Would I recommend it? Not specifically, make up your own mind based on your needs.

Reasonable quality, a lens which fits in well with my intended focal line-up, cheap enough to use without fear, wherever I intend to take photos……..

These were the pre-purchase reasons I personally decided to buy this lens:

· It sat well priced with my healthy but balanced hobby budget.

· It had, on paper at least, the ability to capture more images in low light, hand held.

· It cast a full frame image circle (making it more future proof and able to be shared with my film based camera).

· Its 24mm-135mm focal length would be good for 80% of the subjects I shoot, minimising lens changes and therefore dust on the sensor.

· It shared a 77mm filter with other lenses in its relative price and quality range, such as the SIGMA 135mm–400mm APO DG and SIGMA 10mm-20mm DC, suitably complementing a kit covering common focal lengths with no overlap.

· It has a manually selectable aperture ring (backwards compatible with my old SLR).

· It has internal focusing, making it more filter friendly.


Whilst researching this lens, I figured that the poor reports on sharpness and build quality etc. were a result of stepping up in the world of expectations, those above that of kit lenses. I reasoned that a lens of this price and specifications should not logically be compared (as some have) to the likes of “L” series lenses; and with this in mind, would likely see a big improvement on what I had experienced in my photographic infancy.

This position proved to be true of build quality, easily beating my kit lens when it came to the smoothness of zoom travel and general “feel”. Unfortunately I must agree with them on sharpness; people will likely consider purchasing this lens for flash-less-indoor-“party” type use, thanks to its bright f2.8 aperture, but wide-open images are too soft to be anything but “ok” snapshots. If you are on a tight budget and you are specifically looking to shoot in low light, you may consider buying a fast pre-loved prime. That said, if you are able to stop down to around F8 results are more than acceptable.

After 5 months of use, my advice:

· If you can, don’t pay retail price for this lens; this should alleviate some expectations.

· If you have the money and image quality is your primary concern, this is probably not the lens for you.

· Compared with “kit” digital only lenses, this is a big and heavy lens.

· Build quality is generally good, zoom is smooth, manual focus ring is OK; but my copy creeps when shooting up, down or carried around.

· Best not to consider this lens for its wide-open abilities, at these apertures it is VERY SOFT.

· If you intend to shoot a lot of portraiture shots, you may be pleased with the soft-feathered affect to edges produced in images, especial from RAW conversions at wider apertures.

· Sharp images can be obtained at all focal lengths if you are able to stop down to around F8.

· Being bright or “fast”, does make for easier manual focus, which is handy because auto focus is poor in anything but the brightest of light on my Pentax *istD.

· It has fairly good “macro” (not strictly correct I know) abilities.

Conclusion

Value for money is not exclusively about absolute quality, nor does it have to be the cheapest price; it is the consideration of these things in balance. Do I like this lens? YES! Would I recommend it? Not specifically, make up your own mind based on your needs.

Reasonable quality, a lens which fits in well with my intended focal line-up, cheap enough to use without fear, wherever I intend to take photos……..

very disappointing lens. I used a sigma 24-70 f/2.8 dg macro on my F5 and was very happy with the results, so naturally when I switch to a digital Canon I once again turned to Sigma. This time I tried to get a little extra reach...the result.... soft images and chromatic aberation sneaking up in some pictures... Ive neven seen this in previous sigma... after take test shots under numerous conditions I decided that this lens wasnt for me. I would imagine shooting B&W portrait this lens might be fairly good but for nature work where sharpness is key this lens just will not do. I have since returned the lens and gotten myself the Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 DG macro (what a nice lens =).

reach and f/2.8

soft unless stopped down a lot... slight secondary spectrum in some situations... 4.5 at the tele end of things and the MF/AF switch is a pain (its a preference thing... I like the EX's push pull switch...easier to use in the field).

Sigma 24-70mm f2.8

Havent had to work with Sigma... 47st photo was helpful but unfortunately charged me 15% restocking on a lens that I shot less that 40 pics with (i only had the lens for 5 days!)....guess I should just stick with what I know is good

The big advantage over most other mid-class lenses is it's larger max aparture of 4.5 at 135 mm, where for example an 28-300's max aparture is at about F6. In poor lighting conditions it results in a brighter viewfinder and allows for an extra stop in exposure time. For the purpose of checking I used a USAF bar resolving test chart and compared it with my other lenses. Used on my D70 it's sharp, although a bit soft from corner to corner at all apartures except for the very small ones, i.e. above F22. Towards 135 mm it performs a bit less than on the low end. However, I cannot see any differences in 20*30 mm prints of photo's at either focal length using max apartures. On average I would say that sharpness is better than the Sigma 28-300 I own and a little bit less than the Tokina 80-200. It appears to be a bit soft, but for portraits that's just fine. Handling is OK but could be better. Zooming is a bit tough. If you're used to prime lenses, you'll probably hate it for that. I hope it's going to improve in time.... The weight is fine to make it a carry-around-lens. To my opinion this Sigma is a nice lens for my type of purpose: portrait & model photography. And remember, it's not the lens that makes the nice pictures, it's the photographer!

Apartures 2.8 - 4.5 Weight Price

Zooming is not smooth at all

Sigma 28-300 DL Hyperzoom (72 mm version) Tokina ATX-PRO 80-200 2.8

Not needed