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spargo
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Registered: Nov 28, 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 19
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Review Date: Aug 29, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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weight, wide-angle, included hood, zoom-creep lock, f/2.8, good build quality & feel for the cost, focus is relatively fast & quiet
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Cons:
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soft at 17mm, AF can be a bit jumpy though i might just be comparing it to my 70-200 L
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Excellent bang-for-buck walkaround/everyday lens. A little soft when all the way wide-out (17/18mm), however I've found it excellent everywhere else. Great weight, and having the ability to get down to f/2.8 is a great bonus. Combined with a 70-200 or 300, this thing is a great piece of glass to upgrade to from the Canon kit-lenses. Infact, I recommend that people buy body only or haggle to get this as the included lens when buying new.
Having the hood included is a nice bonus.
Highly recommended.
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 Aug 29, 2007
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ckfchan
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Registered: May 30, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Aug 16, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $390.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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versatility, zoom range, sharpness, color, build quality, comes with lens hood, absolutely great value
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Cons:
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slight front focusing, non-constant large aperture, loosening of the zoom ring, manual focus too
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I have had this lens for slightly over a year now, and before buying it, I borrowed the lens, as well as a Canon 16-35 f/2.8L, 17-40 f/4L, and a 24-70 f/2.8L from various friends. Obviously the build quality does not compare with the L-lenses, but suprisingly, this Sigma lens can hold its own optically. As with any lens, there are slight limitations (e.g. softness at 17mm wide open), but I have found that my pictures can rival any of those taken with the [MUCH] more expensive L-lenses.
I like to go hiking outdoors and take landscape and close-up nature shots. This lens, with it's wide angle and macro feature, lets me do all that without changing lenses (which is great when it's raining or dusty). Notably, the limitations of the lens does not come into play under 99% of the practical conditions (e.g. 99% of the time, you will not shoot at 17mm wide open). Furthermore, the lens is significantly lighter than the L-lenses, which is good when my hiking bag is already full of other equipment. And the fact that I'm not lugging around a $1000+ lens outdoors in rugged conditions (or around a city) is comforting.
The only annoying problem with the lens is that it front-focuses by about 2-5 mm. It's not a major problem, but it's important to take into account when doing macro at large apertures. As expected, at smaller apertures, or zoomed out, the problem disappears.
You could switch to manual focus, but a problem there is that the manual focus ring isn't fine enough. The degree of rotation is too small, so it's difficult to get fine tuning. But ironically, this allows for fast auto-focusing without the implementation of more expensive systems.
If you're looking for a high-quality, good-valued, all-around lens, look no further. Under most shooting conditions, this lens is amazing.
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Aug 16, 2007
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Ospi
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Registered: Aug 14, 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 0
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Aug 6, 2007
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Gledel yann
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Registered: Jul 30, 2007
Location: France
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 2, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharpness, built quality, colours, price.
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Cons:
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Vignetting ! Not USM. Not constant speed.
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Used with an EOS 30D. I wanted a good walk-around trans-standard zoom, easy to use with suitable preformances. Nothing to complain with this small affordable one and I am very pleased with.
Sigma's sharpness and speed are nothing than correct.
AF is not USM but works well, speed and accuracy. A little noisy but better than my other zoom Tamron, which is quiet also all said. I quite never need to go to manual mode, except in darkness. In this situation, AF ring too loosy and short course is a mess, that's clear.
Distorsion, which distorsion ? Mine shows very low, I'm happy.
Colours are good, maybe a little warm but easy to correct with camera settings.
Major weakness is the vignetting which is very, very, very (did I say very?) visible at wide end and large aperture.
Built quality is more than descent. The zoom ring was harsh when new, now getting smoother and confortable to use. No wobble. Dust protection seems good, better than with non L Canon zooms in any case.
The size is just as needed. Only the focus ring which turns when adjusting AF and requests some attention. Nothing important with practice.
Last point, the price. I think nothing to compare with at this level of quality + Sold With sun-visor.
I don't know about Tokina. Lots of people saying they produce nice objectives.
Canon EFS 17-85/F4-5.6 distords too much ... and CA! EFS 18-55/F2.8 very good but lot more expensive and heavy and bigger. EF 17-40/F4 too short in zoom range.
I think only competitors are Sigma 18-50 and Tamron 17-50 both F2.8 but both have their own weaknesses and shorter long end.
Get the oportunity to test Nikon D200 + 18-70/F3.5-4.5 before buying. Except sealing and VR AF (equivalent to USM) I found everything to be equal (sharpness) or lower (CA, distortion). And the price !
So, at the end, I recommand it for non pro photographer. In any cases I think it is fare better than kit zoom !
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Aug 2, 2007
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Patrick Lebeda
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Registered: Aug 2, 2007
Location: Belgium
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 2, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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SHARP!!! Macro option is very great
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Cons:
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hunts, slow
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Just bought this lens and had my first shoot. Wow, this is amazing. Sharp and the Macro function is realy incredible. But it has some negative aspects aswell. Slow focussing, hunting and vignet. Ok, if we don't want that, we buy another lens who doesn't do all these things. For now, it will be my main lens.
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Aug 2, 2007
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MrVibe
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Registered: Jul 19, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 5
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Review Date: Aug 1, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $369.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Versatility for a beginner, sharpness, wide angle, f2.8 @ 17mm, all around lens best bang for the buck for a 350d/400d IMHO
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Cons:
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None for the product itself - would have liked a f2.8 through the full range
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I start taking pictures with this lense when i had never used a dslr before following some friend advices in june 2006. It has been an still is a delightful experience ( i own only this lense and a canon 50mm f1.8). I was not sensible to the L sickness and still are not. After one year and a lot of shots, I would simply buy it again. a bit of distortion @ 17mm corrected easily during post processing. The best bang for the buck. There is only one similar lens that I have tried that was better, it was the canon 24-70mm f 2.8L on a 5d, not the same league for sure.
check the photos taken with this lens there:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrvibe/sets/72157594354179300/
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Aug 1, 2007
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Ruben Silva
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Registered: Jul 19, 2007
Location: Argentina
Posts: 50
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Review Date: Jul 19, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Amazing sharpness at some range/ F combinations
Quite fast (F2.8) at 17 mm allows hand held
good spped at 70mm (F4.5)
Build quality
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Cons:
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vignetting @ 17mm
some little CA in the borders at F2.8 / 17mm
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superb quality from 24 to 70mm, specially between F4 to F9.
At 17mm has a bit of vignetting, easily corrected by software (i.e. ACR4). at F5.6 gets its most sharpness, extremely sharp as a good prime lens. at 17mm and wide open F2.8, there is a small amount of CA, that can be also corrected by software.
The overall performance is great, you will not get disappointed by this quite sharp and versatile zoom.
I would buy it again!!
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Jul 19, 2007
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Barry Allan
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Registered: May 1, 2007
Location: Indonesia
Posts: 11
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Review Date: Jul 11, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharpness,price,macro
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Cons:
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f/2.8 only at 17mm
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Sigma 17-70 is perfect lens for people had tight bugget but neeed good result like me.This lens alway mounted on my Canon 350D.
The color lil bit warm but and the sharpness is great,i like macro capability of this lens & mine can focus until aprox. 3cm (like prosumer camera).
If you can get good copy you will like it the performance of this lens.
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Jul 11, 2007
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nsieve
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Registered: Jul 1, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 137
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Review Date: Jun 26, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $385.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Price, versatility
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Cons:
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Bad focusssing in low light
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I have used this lens for almost a year now, as I replaced my kit lens shorlty after getting my Rebel XT. The best thing about this lens is it's versatility. Good, but not true Marcro, 1:2 allows for having fun with flowers and bugs, etc. Wide enough to use as a walkaround, although there is some slight distortion at the wide end. Good Range on a crop body for portraits, and photojournalism work. Wish it was fixed at 2.8, but then you couldn't get it for the price. Like the below reviewer, I also own the 50mm f/1.8 and the 50 IS sharper, however they both have very different uses.
Overall, this is a good buy if you get it at the right price!
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Jun 26, 2007
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swinginjonny
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Registered: Apr 5, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 6
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Review Date: Jun 12, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $450.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Range, price, image quality, almost non-existent fringing on high-contrast subjects.
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Cons:
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Lens becomes very loose with time. average focus in very low light, only f4.5 at 70mm.
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I love this lens. After doing a lot of research I bought it as my workhorse lens about a year ago. I shoot weddings and have very specific needs and requirements. First of all, I couldn't afford L-series lenses but I researched them for comparison sake. I shot quite extensively with the 17-40L for a while as well as the Canon 17-85 IS. The 17-40 doesn't have enough zoom for the photojournalism side of weddings or as a walkaround lens. The 17-85 had disappointing image quality and had a lot of fringing on high-contrast areas (such as a wedding dress next to a black tux). The Sigma 17-70 has a perfect blend of the two. Most of the time, the image quality is fantastic. I love the 2.8 speed wide-open and though there is a definite loss of sharpness, it can easily be sharpened sufficiently in post. Though it doesn't have image stabilization, the wider aperture compensates. I was concerned with the build quality as the lens began to loosen up. I was concerned about dust inside the lens as it loosened. There is none. It seems to be sealed well, making the looseness more of an annoyance than anything else. There is almost no chromatic aberration whatsoever and it focuses quickly and well in most situations. It's not an L-series lens but at $450 you can't expect it to be. Overall, this lens is everything I hoped it would be, a versatile, inexpensive, all-around lens--the perfect substitute for the sub-standard kit lens Canon passes off with its lower-end pro and prosumer cameras.
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Jun 12, 2007
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Stephen DeVries
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Registered: Jan 25, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 14
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Review Date: Jun 10, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $375.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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good range, sharp, affordable
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Cons:
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build quality
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I got this lense about 4 months ago, and sold it yesterday. I loved it at first, and as time went was a little less enthusiastic about it. It shoots great, focuses pretty good unless in low light, and has a good range for the price. The only problem was the end started getting looser and looser the more i used it. It never felt as solid as other lenses I've used, mostly due to the amount that it telescopes out. get it and be really really careful with it and you'll be happy
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Jun 10, 2007
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Mathew Chan
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Registered: May 10, 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 28
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Review Date: Jun 9, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $460.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Very sharp
Great bokeh wide open
Decent macro range
Great build quality!
Price for what you're getting
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Cons:
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Hunts sometimes indoors
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Just picked this up, I was actually deciding on getting two lenses, the Canon 100mm Macro, and the Tamron 17-50, however my friend recommended this to me and I got a good deal on it, so I went with this instead and I couldn't be happier!
I'm using this on my XTi and I've gotten great shots, I also have a 50mm 1.8 and the sharpness of this lens rivals the 50mm, of course it's nowhere near as versatile for indoor or low lighting though.
I have some sample shots up at www.mathewchan.com/xti/gardens, see for yourself, can't go wrong with this one.
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Jun 9, 2007
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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44
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148453
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Jun 10, 2010
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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98% of reviewers
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$373.16
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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8.00
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9.02
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8.5
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