I picked up a Sigma 300mm 2.8 prime lens last week to use for Lacrosse, and as a backup to my 120-300, there wasn't much online regarding the performance of this lens compared to the Canon 300 2.8 L which I have owned in the past and also loved. The only review I have seen was the one by popular photographer, which stated the prime was a little faster and a little sharper than the zoom. I have to tell you after using this lens in the rain, during the day in the sun, and at a night lacrosse game with decent light but not great, I am completely impressed with its performance on a 40D! I don't hesitate when I say it rivals the canon 300 2.8 in AF speed and accuracy! I was actually contemplating selling the Sigma prime in the future to get the Canon but can honestly say there really is no reason to! This lens tracked the subject great, and stayed locked on the focus point even in very poor lighting. The AF is noticeably faster than the 120-300, and it is also noticeably sharper! I had the same problem using this lens that I did when using the canon 400 2.8, which images to delete and which to keep?? My keeper rate "Well focused images" went from 80% with the 120-300 to 95% with the prime! To be honest I really don't know why you don't see more of these lenses around? And it is about $1400 less expensive than the Canon and weighs about 1100 grams less! Yes I know some will say "it doesn't have IS" well when I shoot sports I never use IS so it is a non-issue for me. I really wish someone would do a comparison test between the Canon and Sigma 300 f2.8 lenses! I would love to see the findings! But as far as I am concerned the Sigma 300 f2.8 lens is a real gem of a lens!
Here are some shots from yesterday. The day game were mostly iso 250-400 @ f3.5
The night game was iso 1600 @f2.8
Thanks for sharing Paul. The colors look quite good on my color corrected monitor. Did you have to do any PP to get them that saturated? Also, is this the newer DG version, or the original w/o the new coatings?
Man, I have got to thank you for this thread, I bought one of these secondhand about 4-6 months ago and have yet to use it for its intended purpose (motosports) so Ive been sitting on this lens all this time wondering if it'll perform anything like the Canon......your post gives me some relief/hope that it will.
Well, it looks like the lens does a very good job.
A question about the game , is there different rules for the boys and girls? As i see the guys with all the protective gear on and the girls just have eye protection on.
I've had the older version of this lens for about 4 years now. A very nice piece of glass that has given me some damned nice images. On the minus side it struggles with AF in poor lighting conditions, and occasionaly loose's track completly and hunts right through the focus range, It's "ZEN" Coating on the body is comming off and not being as weather resistant as the Canon it is starting to show the conditions I use it in (Rodeo, Eventing, Rugby dirt, dust, Sand and Rain)... Whould I buy another one ? YES
I did the same PP that I do with all my images, which for the day games is increase the contrast to about +10, add some pop with Vibrance adjustment in LR, and sharpen a bit. For the night games I used the LR NR a bit, and increased the exposure and brightness because I was shooting at -1/3 exp comp.
As far as the lens it is the new DG version, and I also purchased the Lens Coat camo cover for it like I do for all my long lenses because I do use it at least 3 - 4 times a week in all weather conditions, the lens coat also feels nice on the hands and adds a bit or weather sealing, but once the rain starts, I pull out the rain gear regardless of which lens I have. Honestly I did not have an issue with locking onto a subject, it really performed well! I was surprised at how well it performed, and keep saying to myself when I was going through the night games "I can't believe these are all sharp! Like I said I have owned the Canon 300 2.8 IS, and 400 2.8 IS, and this sigma lens really can keep up! The canon may be a hair sharper, and maybe a little more contrasty, but not by much at all! and when you look at the Sigma lens it is smaller and much easier to handle. I really don't understand why there is not head to head competition between the canon and sigma, I think there are a lot of people out there that would love to see this comparison in performance between these two lenses.
Paul, Very nice images and glad you like the new lens
3 and 8 standout for me from this series
I love my 120-300 and I am considering the 2.8 300 for another body while shooting
My son was considering Dowling till he visited the campus
Dowling is a great school, and now that they have finally gotten a new sports complex it adds a lot to the program. Best of luck with the school search!
I actually like shooting field sports with a prime better than with a zoom, and also, the 1.4X works better on a prime. I consider the 120-300 a great lens to use for baseball, volleyball, and hockey, where the action gets really close to you at many points during the day. With Lacrosse, and other field sports 300mm is perfect for shots on goal. Also, I find the 300 prime to focus faster and stay locked on a subject better than the 120-300 did, and with a fast moving subjects like in lacrosse that is a big help.
redal wrote:
Well, it looks like the lens does a very good job.
A question about the game , is there different rules for the boys and girls? As i see the guys with all the protective gear on and the girls just have eye protection on.
Yes, there is a BIG difference between these 2 sports! The boys play with contact, checking, you can poke at the player to try and get the ball. But the women really can't touch one another!! you can check the stick only if you hit the head of the stick! other than that you just have to run around and chase the player with the ball in hopes the ball will be dropped, or a clean check on the head of the stick.
Everyone, including the girls that play the sport think they should just give them full pads and a helmet and let them play like the boys!!
As far as action shots go, you have a lot more chances of getting a good action shot shooting boys lacrosse! I'm not saying there's no action in the girls game, you just have to really look for it with the girls.
1-3 & 6 are my favorites, but these are all definitely keepers. You've done well with the nighttime shooting. Looks like that Sigma works well. All top notch images.
It seems that everyone on who has owned it thinks it is a stellar lens, and this is the first one that I have ever owned, so I can't tell you if I have gotten a good copy or not. I can see this lens becoming my favorite lens to use very quickly because I like the way the images look right out of the camera! very sharp, spot on focus, and nice contrast. I have to do more adjusting with the 120-300 to get them to look close to what the sigma prime does without any adjusting. Like I said before, I wish someone would do a head to head with a canon 300 just to see how close the Sigma gets in IQ and AF Speed. I don't have a Canon 300 2.8 any more, but from what I remember this sigma is very very close to it in all aspects.
Paul,
I was wondering what your thoughts were with regard to how the lens physically handles in comparison to the 120-300 or the 300IS. I owned the non-DG 120-300 a couple of years ago and, as I recall, it was somewhat of a handful to shoot handheld for any length of time.
Thanks again for sharing your photos. They've really got me thinking about this lens!
Question: I am in need of 300mm f2.8 IS and since money is an issue, I have been looking at the Sigma 120-300mm f2.8. I get some what confused when I see that people mention how good 120-300mm f2.8 (and comparable to 300mm f2.8 IS) is and then read that Sigma 100-300mm f4 is sharper than the 120-300mm f2.8. I have seen how good canon prime is. So I were to give 10 to canon prime (for picture quality and AF) what would you give to Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 for picture quality and AF? What about Sigma 300mm f2.8?
2 of my friends bought 120-300mm f2.8 but weren't happy with the outcome even after sending it to sigma for calibration and ended up buying canon prime. So I am looking forward to people's opinions who own this lens.
