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capt don
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Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Jul 19, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 797
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Review Date: Aug 1, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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inexpensive
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Cons:
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noise, not real crisp on enlargements and the zoom creep is terrible
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I have had this lens for a couple of years and just up graded to the canon 100-400 IS. No comparison, when i think of all the shots that i have taken that i thought i was satisfied with at the time, i now know that if i had the money at the time how great those shots could really have been. When i got my 20D and got those error 99 messages i have to say Sigma said send the lens to them and they would up grade it for free and they did and it works perfect but i think now it's just going to sit on the shelf till i decide to sell it. it's a bargain at the price but not if you'r taking those once in a lifetime shots. also when you carry it the lens just zooms out to it's max length unless you'r carefull
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 Aug 1, 2005
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jeep
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Image Upload: Off
Registered: Mar 23, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Apr 27, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Cheap compared to others with this focal range, well built, sharp
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Cons:
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Lens creep, but not really a problem when shooting.
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This lens has been around some time now. It seems to perform a lot better than its 2.6 MTF rating on Photodo would sugest. Perhaps they
got a not so good sample. I use it with a Canon 20D and are very pleased with the results, used on tripod or beanbag, mirror lock helps as well if the subject is static. Lots of samples on:
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/sigma/135-400_45-56_aspherical
And mainly good reviews on:
http://reviews.iwon.com/pscPhotographyReview/Sigma/PRD_83589_3128crx.aspx#reviews
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Apr 27, 2005
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bellyface
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Mar 17, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 4982
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Review Date: Oct 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $380.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent reach, sharp even wide open, tripod collar, good balance despite the size.
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Cons:
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Zoom creep, loud & slow focus, huge hood, lens barrel extends too far. Aperture slow but acceptable, considering the price.
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This was my first long reach zoom on my canon digital (10D) It's a solid lens, with excellent results in sharpness, contrast & color. I used this lens at the arrival of the USS Abe Lincoln at the port of Everett, WA, in May 2003. I also used a sigma 15-30 at this shoot:
http://www.bellyface.com/abelincoln/
As far as advice on this lens and all other lenses this big... use a tripod, monopod... anything to keep from getting camera shake. But overall this is a great lens! highly recommended!
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Oct 3, 2004
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miles0823
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Registered: Jan 11, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1261
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Review Date: Jul 20, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $325.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Pretty sharp all the way to 400mm....stopped down to 6.7
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Cons:
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Zoom creep loud autofocus
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I will say I am somewhat pleased with the performance of this lens. I found I pretty much only used it at the 400 mm setting and got very good results stopped down to f6.7. Great lens when you have the light to work with. Reccommended for someone on a budget.
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Jul 20, 2004
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Unregistered
Offline
Location: United States
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Review Date: Jul 12, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $330.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Reach, price, build
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Cons:
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Weight, zoom slip, loud AF
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I bought the lens for my 300D as a step up from a Canon 75-300mm. I was attracted by the price and the results I had seen online. I mostly shoot aviation related subjects so the reach was necessary to enable me to stand outside the jurisdiction of the police.
www.wwap.net/TF-FIV.jpg
The above was shot at 400mm with sharpening in Photoshop Elements. the original was not as soft as some user's have experienced. I personally have shot handheld at 400mm down to 1/160 and experienced no real shake problems.
All in all this is good glass for the price you can get it for. It's no L glass but Sigma has really built this lens good.
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Jul 12, 2004
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fox1
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Image Upload: Off
Registered: Jun 10, 2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 76
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Review Date: Apr 27, 2004
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Recommend? no |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 2
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Pros:
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None I could merit over the Canon 75-300mm 4-5.6 II USM it replaced
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Cons:
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The 300/400mm 'reach' was a waste of time... softer than a babies
butt. I bought the lens for the 'reach' - I should never had bothered.
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Well made..well equipped with lens hood and tripod ring, the carry case
is pure tinsel, who would lug this heavy lens about for so little reward.?
Sorry Sigma but this lens is best forgotten...
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Apr 27, 2004
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Unregistered
Offline
Location: United Kingdom
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Review Date: Apr 24, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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don't have one
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Cons:
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don't have one
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Can you do some shots of your cam with the lens on at max zoom so we can see what it looks like at full length? (if you have another cam to shoot with of course)
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Apr 24, 2004
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Cedric_g
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Registered: Jan 14, 2004
Location: France
Posts: 263
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Review Date: Mar 31, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $427.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Good construction, very sharp for a 400mm telezoom, low price !!!
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Cons:
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slow and noisy AF
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I use this lens for wildlife and birds photography. Initially, my budget didn't enable me to buy a more powerful lens, but today I know that I made an excellent choice !
The lens is very sharp between 135mm and 250mm (especially between f5.6 and f8.0), and have a surprising sharpness at 400mm, even at full aperture (f5.6) ! The sharpness (and micro-contrast) increase a little at f8.0 but it isn't really significant (I use Canon Digital Rebel).
At this price it's the best quality/price on the market. I think also that the only telezoom lense which is better (on Canon mount) is the Canon 100-400 IS but it costs 3 time its price !... All other generic lenses aren't as good as this telezoom.
[Edit] The new Sigma lens 80-400 OS is sharper than the 135-400 too...
My test gallery with crops and fullsizes pics : http://www.pbase.com/cedric_g/sigma_135400_f4556 (in french, sorry)
[Edit] I have changed my 135-400mm for a Canon 300/4 L IS USM, because I worked only at 400mm with the 135-400... I'm waiting for buying now a Sigma 500/4.5 EX HSM !
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Mar 31, 2004
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scorpio_39
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Registered: Sep 8, 2003
Location: Dominican Republic
Posts: 6
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Review Date: Oct 4, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $416.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Great zoom range and macro capabilities.
Excelent glass, very sharp.
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Cons:
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Rather large and heavy.
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The zoom range is great particularly for DSLR owners as myself, you end up with a 202mm to 600mm that compliments well any 80mm to 200mm zoom or similar.
I have read that image quality is very good up to 300mm, from then on it's a bit soft, but my lens does not show this problem.
I NEVER use it if it's not sitting on my Bogen 3036.
Actually, I never shoot anything and regardless of lens if not on a tripod.
This lens is not intended to be focused manually and the small focus ring is a pain to use, but if you do, it only turns about 95 degrees for the full focus search.
The lens extends to nearly twice the 135mm lenght and so becomes quite long at 400mm.
The autofocus is a bit slow and if it needs to scan through the whole zoom range it takes quite some time to do so.
Macro is beautifull at all lens lenghts and from about f-8 on.
As typical the best apertures are f-8 to f-22, at least for my lens.
It's very well built.
The tripod collar ring is very well made, maybe I would like click stops at each quadrant.
Filters for this lens are 77mm and so a bit on the expensive side, particularly if you buy brand glass as B+W or the such.
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Oct 4, 2003
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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25
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143860
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Apr 3, 2010
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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80% of reviewers
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$401.67
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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8.06
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8.29
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6.9
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