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othfilm
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Registered: Mar 20, 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 234
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Review Date: Jun 6, 2013
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $200.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Macro, f/2.8, low price
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Cons:
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Barrel distortion, build, f/4.5 on the tele end
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Got this in combo with a 20D for a really cheap price, thinking it'd be just a little better than the kit lens for Canon. Well, I'm pleasantly surprised, it's not very sharp wide open, but stopped down to f/4 or f/5.6 it holds up quite well. The macro is closer than the more recent versions of the lens, and it's useful for anything but small bugs. Auto-focus isnt super fast, but, I shoot plenty of action with it and haven't been missing shots.
The barrel distortion is pretty comical at 17mm, seeing Photoshop correct it is always a bit mind-bending. But it seems to go away by 24mm or so. The exterior of the lens is actually pretty nice, but zooming and focusing makes the lens feel a little cheap and plastic-y.
Still, for a low price, it's much more versatile than the average kit lens and it makes a great walk-around lens.
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 Jun 6, 2013
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Vandergaze
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Registered: Mar 19, 2010
Location: Germany
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jun 10, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great! Sharp! From widest aperture on.
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Cons:
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4.5 on 70mm on crop? not alot of bokeh left...vignetting, which i don't mind about
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I still had the non-HSM Version. Focussing wasn't loud, just a little slower. Sharp lens and great Zoom range. Good for the price!
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Jun 10, 2010
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Arnstein
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Registered: Sep 6, 2009
Location: Germany
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Sep 6, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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versatility, Macro, image quality
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Cons:
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distortion at the wide end, zoom creep
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This is a versatile consumer lens on a high level for an affordable price. I bought it two years ago and used it with the Nikon D50 and D100 as standard zoom.
The macro is very useful and makes it still a perfect lens for trips in the nature or traveling, when you want less equipment to haul around.
However, the distortion at the wide end, makes it less usuable for architecture. But this is also true for the 17 mm, so you'll supply it with a super wide angle zoom anyway.
I don't know the HSM version, but with mine, the AF is quite slow and noisy. This is the reason, why I use a AF-S 18-70 Nikkor today. They are similar in image quality. The Nikon is faster, but has no macro.
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Sep 6, 2009
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Martuk
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Registered: Apr 10, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 69
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Review Date: Aug 10, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $369.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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AF is fast.
Overal IQ is excellent
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Cons:
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The hood which came with my lens, has a 'brushed' cloth feel to it. It will mark both quickly and badly I suspect.
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I have to admit, this lens has taken me by surprise. At $369 (Arlington, Texas), I did not expect a lens of this quality.
Just about everything that can be said about this lens has been said, so I would simply confirm this is an excellent walk-about lens with very little feeling of weight, and overall superb for the price.
The colours are warm, and the images very sharp. I have yet to explore the macro facility.
The hood worries me a little if I ever wanted to resell.
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Aug 10, 2009
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J. Vallenduuk
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Registered: Jul 5, 2009
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 20
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Review Date: Jul 5, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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PRICE!, HSM, image quality color/sharpness, weight, feels good, range
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Cons:
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Build quality not EX, extends a lot from 17 to 70mm (dust problem?), not f2.8 all the way
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I bought this lens june 2009 and I almost immediately loved it.
I know it's a budget lens but when using it, it feels nicely solid (though buildquality is not EX).
On my D300 the new HSM focussing is fast and very quiet.
allready at f2.8 the pictures are colorfull and have very good sharpness and sharpness gets even better when stopped down.
To bad it isn't 2.8 all the way, but then again the price..........
the zoom and focus rings are very close to each other so watch your fingers.
It extends a lot when zooming, I hope the dust stays out.
I have some differculty with the very subtle manual focus, probably some getting used to on my part.
The macro is a nice bonus and works ok.
At 269 Euro's (approx 370 US dollars) new, it's an absolute bargain.
When people see pictures taken with this lens they do not believe it's a budget lens (I like that!).
To me it's a great walkaround lens.
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Jul 5, 2009
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kurtis miller
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Registered: Jan 11, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 238
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Review Date: Feb 4, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Great replacement for Canon’s kit lens. Decent finish, build, size. Macro is OK. Price.
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Cons:
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Dust, Focus speed, [email protected]
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I was, and probably always will be, on a budget for my gear when I bought this lens from Wolf Camera. It is hands down a great replacement for the Canon kit lens.
I have used this lens for 3 years now as my walk around on a canon XTi (and now XSi). It is wide enough most of the time for landscapes and flexible enough for family snapshots (if you have enough light). It is reasonably sized and light enough for me to hold my camera all day while out shooting. It has held up really well from my abuse with nature photography while my old XTi looks like it went through a war-zone.
It has served me well but I do have my gripes about it.
The lens extends almost 2 inches longer when you zoom to 70mm from the resting 17mm. I guess due to this trumpeting of the lens it actually sucks in dust. I keep my cameras pretty clean and dust still made its way in.
The lens has loosened up to the point that if I tilt the camera down the lens will role out to 70mm on its own.
At 70mm you are dealing with a minimum aperture of 4.5 and with less than ideal lighting you will be struggling a bit with the slow shutter speed.
The focus speed is not stellar and I have missed the shot while the lens is still hunting.
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Feb 4, 2009
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ajitpalsingh
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Registered: Jan 27, 2009
Location: India
Posts: 0
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Feb 2, 2009
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jlinc58
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Registered: Jan 21, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jan 21, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $330.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great range - both zoom and apeture. Solid feel, great lens hood, most importantly, it takes great pictures in all lighting conditions. f2.8 at wide end of the range of the zoom.
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Cons:
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wish the f-2.8 was through full range of zoom. Like the manual focus override on my Nikkor lens better.
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I've had this lens since November, 2008.
I bought the lens to upgrade from the kit lens that I bought with my Nikon D-70 2 years ago. Wow - what a difference. Most of the pics I have taken with this lens have been in what I consider extreem lighting conditions dusk/sunset, sunny w/fresh snow, after dark w/flash. I have had none of the issues that other reviewers have had. The extra 20 mm on this lens as opposed to my old one really makes the difference too. With my old 18-50, I found myself switching to my 70-300 very often and then shooting in the 70 range. With this lens, I find myself shooting a lot of pictures in the 50 to 70mm range. Now I only use my long telephoto when I need to get a very long shot - this lens in on my camera 95% of the time, which is just exactly what I was looking for. The cost of the lens is an added bonus. I'm going to try to post some sample shots.
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Jan 21, 2009
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oajlu
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Registered: Nov 19, 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 170
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Review Date: Nov 20, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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quite sharp for its price range, marco, solid
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Cons:
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noisy, no USM
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Nov 20, 2008
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Praeconis
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Registered: Nov 13, 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Nov 13, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Price, range and image quality.
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Cons:
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It's a DC lens, would love something like this for my 5D.
No HSM and I also wish it was an EX lens.
Only f/2.8 at 17mm but shouldn't complain at this price.
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This is an almost perfect walkaround lens. Image quality is pretty good for zoom lens of this range and it's a nice weight too (especially compared to my 23-70 on a 5D).
For Sigma lenses, 'macro' usually means simply that you can get closer to the subject. But closer than what? I haven't seen a 17-70 non-macro version. In any case, at full zoom, you can get about 1cm from the subject which makes for some decent close ups.
Most of these images were taken with the 17-70:
http://patrick-lee.smugmug.com/gallery/2771602_teAq6#147531087_Yy6NT
Focusing hasn't been too much of an issue and it's generally been quite fast even though it doesn't have HSM, there's been a few times when it hunts but not enough to warrant any concerns.
Many colleagues have been pleasantly surprised at the image quality as they had assumed the pictures were taken with one of my L or EX lenses.
The build quality of the lens is it's one let down. Not that's bad for it's price, but I think that Sigma could have made this an EX lens, making it a killer lens for crop cameras.
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Nov 13, 2008
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GC5
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Registered: Jun 5, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 2709
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Review Date: Oct 26, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $275.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Nice range, faster than some alternatives, macro feature
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Cons:
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no usm or stabilization, seems dark so need to set exposure comp, 2.8 is only at 17mm
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I bought this to replace the kit lens. I was hoping to love it, but I can't say I am there yet. It definitely has a nice feature set and is a fine replacement to the kit lens, but it may be worth a few more bucks for the 18-50, the Tammy 17-50, or the Canon 17-85.
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Oct 26, 2008
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tqli07981
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Registered: Jan 10, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 84
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Review Date: Oct 10, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $360.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Good built quality, light weight and Macro feature. Very useful zoon range for walk-around purpose.
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Cons:
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None, consider at this price point
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I bought this as a walk around lense for my 40D. I already own an 17-40mm f4.0 L, and nothing negative agaist that lense and I am still keeping it for a Full Fram body in the future. But I feel this sigma lens compliment my 70-200 f2.8 L IS a bitter better in term of zoon range, and it even has a Macro feature. At this price point, it is a good alternative for my 17-40 for walk around, and it is lighter and more compact as well. I ended up using this more with my 40D more than the 17-40 L lens, for now at least.
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Oct 10, 2008
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tommyleong
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Registered: Feb 27, 2007
Location: Singapore
Posts: 145
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Aug 25, 2008
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ian1979
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Registered: Jul 28, 2008
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 28, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Great price for what you get, good range of focal lengths, definite step up from Canon 18-55 (non IS) kit lens, good enough IQ in my opinion, macro is COOL!!
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Cons:
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WIsh the 2.8 was throughout the focal range; in some situations IS would be handy,
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Hi there - got this to replace EOS 400D kit lens, and its definitely a step up. However if I were to go back in time I reckon I would either (a) wait for the price of the Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS to come down or (b) wait for the Sigma/Tamron 17-50 f2.8 to develop IS.
Until that point this lens does fine for me. Im a huge fan of wide apertures, and unfortunately I was a bit short-sighted when I got this because I hardly shoot anything at 17mm with an f2.8.
IQ seems fine for someone who would be buying this lens (ie someone who has been shooting with a DSLR for about 6months to a year)
Build quality seems great for the price, as with my other SIgma lens (18-200 OS)
Not really been interested in macro before but this lens is getting me more into that part of photography too
Takes nice portraits, and is fairly good for landscapes but the vertical lines at the peripheries seem to be distorted.
WOuld definitely recommend the lens as a step up from the kit lens
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Jul 28, 2008
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sankeycottage
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Registered: Jun 29, 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jun 29, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Very adaptable with a great walkabout zoom range, in-built AF motor for D40, superb macro feature with zoom lock, great value for money.
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Cons:
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Fiddly lens cover when hood is in place. Can hunt for focus ( but so do most other macro zooms!). Not much else wrong with this lens.
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Bought this originally for my D40 as a walkabout lens. All my other lenses are Nikkors and this was my first Sigma. This new version has an in-built motor to enable AF on D40. It is a gem of a lens. Great contrast, sharp from f5.6 and ultra sharp from f8. Macro feature on this zoom length makes it one of the most useful lenses I own. It has now become a regular on my D300 as well! Highly recommended as an everyday lens which will capture wideangle to portraits and macro.
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Jun 29, 2008
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RikWriter
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Registered: Jun 22, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2973
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Review Date: Jun 8, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $325.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Price, range, macro feature.
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Cons:
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Not fast-focussing, soft images at the extremes either wide-open or stopped down past the sweet spot.
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I've had this lens for a few months now and it's a good walkaround lens for snapshots or casual portraits. It's not a great lens for landscapes as its sweet spot is towards the f8 range rather than the f16 I prefer, and it's also quite soft when used wide open, particularly in conjunction with its Macro feature.
Still, it's a good, cheap walkaround lens as long as you don't ask too much of it.
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Jun 8, 2008
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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45
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173923
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Jun 6, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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98% of reviewers
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$366.50
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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7.95
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9.02
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8.5
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