| Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful

Good lens. Just what I'm looking for., Tuesday, 25 November 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.5
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		4.0

After going through two very different lenses, I found this one to fit my style of photography. I wanted a lens that could take very good close-up pictures as well as everyday photos. I'm still an amateur but the lens is really easy to use and gives a good wide shot view. I think I'll be using this one from now on until I decide on something new. Overall, good lens.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Great all-around lens - sharp and light, Wednesday, 15 October 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

I bought this lens as a backup for my 24-70 f2.8 L. Now this is a lens I keep on most of the time, mostly because it's much lighter than 24-70L. I saw some reviewers complaining about it being soft at extremes. My copy is tack sharp wide open, including 17mm and 70mm. I was not able to find a setting on which this lens produces soft images. I use it on Canon 20D.

Autofocus is fast, and while not as quiet as Canon USM lenses, it's not noisy. The front element does not rotate, so using a polarizer is not an issue. You can't use manual focus ring when lens is set to AF (as possible on Canon L lenses), but most people never do anyway.

The lens is 2.8 at the wide end, which matches 24-70 (and so does image quality). At the long end it's 4.5, so you do lose an f-stop or so, but this lens is half the weight and third the price of 24-70. Plus it has additional range 17-24, which is quite needed on 1.6x bodies.

The built is quite solid. It does have some zoom creep though - set it to 70mm and point upwards, and it will slide back to 30mm or so. This is not a big deal (unless if you shoot with one hand), but it does not happen on L lenses.

Overall, I highly recommend it - get your own, you won't be sorry.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Nice lens - if you can get a good one., Tuesday, 23 September 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.0
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		4.0
Value for Money		4.0

I went through two of this lens to get a good one. The zoom range is perfect for a walk-around lens. Would be nice if the tele end is a bit longer, but then image quality would be compromised. Build quality is very good - feels solid and heavy. Zoom ring rotates smoothly. It produces colors so accurate that I almost don't have to adjust color tones in post processing. Sometimes it can misfocus for no reason. I'm not crazy about the 'velvet' finish on Sigma lenses and prefer a 'traditional' black finish, but it looks ok and keeps surfaces clean. 72mm front end (along with the included petal lens hood) may look a bit intimidating for the small size of the lens. In general, good job by Sigma.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Great all around lens, Friday, 15 August 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		5.0
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

I have found this to be a great all around lens. The pros of this lens are that it does a really great job focusing and has very sharp pictures in most situations. It is very fast. I have captured bees in flight and have been amazed with the clarity. The color is spot on. I am used to having to adjust the color/saturation in photoshop after uploading photos. I rarely have to do so with this lens. I also love that you can get very close to the subject and still focus. Makes macro type work very enjoyable. This isn't a true macro lens but it does a very nice job as "almost macro".
The cons are: this is a heavy lens. I would not want to carry this around my neck all day long. That is a pretty minor con..definitely wouldn't deter from buying. It also does poor in low light. I had to shoot a wedding after sunset and this lens was very soft (focus) in such conditions.
It can be soft (focus) at the end (70mm) also.

I would highly recommend this lens if you want to replace the kit and have a great lens that rarely leaves the camera.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Great "Walkaround" Lens at a great price!, Monday, 11 August 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

I was looking for a good every day lens that I could take with me on a trip to San Francisco this past summer but being just a light hobbyist, I didn't want to spend the money for the high cost of some of the canon lenses like the 17-40L or the 17-55IS. So after reading alot of the helpful reviews here, I decided I would give this lens a shot and I'm very happy that I did.
The image quality on this lens is far better than the kit lens that came with my Canon XTI 400D. It actually feels like a whole different camera now. Pictures are sharp and the contrast and color the lens produces are head and shoulders above the kit lens. Also the extra reach this lens has over the kit lens comes in handy too.
At 17mm, the f/2.8 really works well indoors in lowlight situations, but it does stop down quickly...at 20mm, it already jumps to f3.5 and quickly goes up from there. The lens focuses fast and not as loud as I'd expected(going off of some other reviews) and the build quality is good also.

Some extra bonuses that I was happy about...
The Macro feature is a definite bonus, I can zoom into an object that's right up against the lens and it'll still focus well and the lens came with a hood, too.

A few things that were on the negative side...
The lens does tend to hunt in very low-light situations and there is some barrel distortion when shooting wide. Also the it's much larger than the kit lens but you do get ALOT more lens so the trade off in weight is well worth it. Plus, I have a battery grip on my XTI which nicely balances it out.

Overall, the pros for this lens far outweigh any cons that this lens might have. It's nearly half the cost of they 17-40L f/4, and almost a third of the cost of the 17-55IS f/2.8. For someone that mainly shoots as a fun hobby on weekends, this was the perfect lens to fit my needs.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Great "Walkaround" Lens at a great price!, Monday, 11 August 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		4.0
Value for Money		5.0

I was looking for a good every day lens that I could take with me on a trip to San Francisco this past summer but being just a light hobbyist, I didn't want to spend the money for the high cost of some of the canon lenses like the 17-40L or the 17-55IS. So after reading alot of the helpful reviews here, I decided I would give this lens a shot and I'm very happy that I did.
The image quality on this lens is far better than the kit lens that came with my Canon XTI 400D. It actually feels like a whole different camera now. Pictures are sharp and the contrast and color the lens produces are head and shoulders above the kit lens. Also the extra reach this lens has over the kit lens comes in handy too.
At 17mm, the f/2.8 really works well indoors in lowlight situations, but it does stop down quickly...at 20mm, it already jumps to f3.5 and quickly goes up from there. The lens focuses fast and not as loud as I'd expected(going off of some other reviews) and the build quality is good also.

Some extra bonuses that I was happy about...
The Macro feature is a definite bonus, I can zoom into an object that's right up against the lens and it'll still focus well. The lens even came with a hood as opposed to having to buy a separate lens hood($45)for a canon lens.

A few things that were on the negative side...
The lens does tend to hunt in very low-light situations and there is some barrel distortion when shooting wide. Also the it's much larger than the kit lens but you do get ALOT more lens so the trade off in weight is well worth it. Plus, I have a battery grip on my XTI which nicely balances it out.

Overall, the pros for this lens far outweigh any cons that this lens might have. It's nearly half the cost of they 17-40L f/4, and almost a third of the cost of the 17-55IS f/2.8. For someone that mainly shoots as a fun hobby on weekends, this was the perfect lens to fit my needs.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Great "Walkaround" Lens at a great price!, Monday, 11 August 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

I was looking for a good every day lens that I could take with me on a trip to San Francisco this past summer but being just a light hobbyist, I didn't want to spend the money for the high cost of some of the canon lenses like the 17-40L or the 17-55IS. So after reading alot of the helpful reviews here, I decided I would give this lens a shot and I'm very happy that I did.
The image quality on this lens is far better than the kit lens that came with my Canon XTI 400D. It actually feels like a whole different camera now. Pictures are sharp and the contrast and color the lens produces are head and shoulders above the kit lens. Also the extra reach this lens has over the kit lens comes in handy too.
At 17mm, the f/2.8 really works well indoors in lowlight situations, but it does stop down quickly...at 20mm, it already jumps to f3.5 and quickly goes up from there. The lens focuses fast and not as loud as I'd expected(going off of some other reviews) and the build quality is good also.

Some extra bonuses that I was happy about...
The Macro feature is a definite bonus, I can zoom into an object that's right up against the lens and it'll still focus well. The lens even came with a hood as opposed to having to buy a separate lens hood($45)for a canon lens.

A few things that were on the negative side...
The lens does tend to hunt in very low-light situations and there is some barrel distortion when shooting wide. Also it's much larger than the kit lens but you do get ALOT more lens so the trade off in weight is well worth it. Plus, I have a battery grip on my XTI which nicely balances it out.

Overall, the pros for this lens far outweigh any cons that this lens might have. It's nearly half the cost of the 17-40L f/4, and almost a third of the cost of the 17-55IS f/2.8. For someone that mainly shoots as a fun hobby on weekends, this was the perfect lens to fit my needs.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Great addition to my collection, Sunday, 08 June 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.0
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		5.0
AF Speed		4.0
Value for Money		3.0

I am a photographer on a budget, not a pro, not a novice, I fall somewhere in between. Maybe it's an obsession for me, an expensive hobby to be sure therefore I like to save money where I can, when I can. This lens aligned well with my collection, I have an 18-55mm (kit), 28-135mm (kit), 50mm f/1.8, 100mm f/2.8, and 70-300mm f/4-5.6. I bought this because the 18-55 just isn't up to par. The 28-135 is much better than the 18-55 but doesn't have the wide angle. This lens for $375 fills that wide angle and fills the gap to my 70-300mm perfectly. Overall I'm very impressed with this lens; I just spent a week in NYC taking photos and used this lens almost exclusively. I am very impressed the with the quality, is it L quality, no, did I pay for L quality, no.

By the way, I now have an 18-55mm and a 28-135mm for sale now if anyone is looking for one.

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Kit lense for my 400D, Saturday, 03 May 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		3.5
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		3.0
Value for Money		3.0

I was searching to replcae my kit lese for 400D - I found Sigma to be very good. It sharp and fast for everyday use. I like it.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

much better than kit, Monday, 28 April 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		3.8
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		3.0
Value for Money		4.0

i have a canon rebel xt. this is much better than the kit lens! love the focus ring. it's pretty loud at times.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Great macro, excellent around f/6.8, Friday, 21 March 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.8
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		5.0

This would be an awesome lens if it was 2.8 all the way and had IS. However, it would also be twice as big and cost 4x as much.

For what it is, this lens is really good. Around f/6.7 it is very sharp. The distortion is noticeable at 17mm, though. Focus is fast and accurate, and the build quality is very good. The lens does extend on its own when carried pointing down, though. At 17mm f/2.8 it is quite sharp, which makes it very good for low-light indoor shots.

The macro capabilities are amazing. If you want to do macro this is worth it by itself. (It will focus down to the front glass element of the lens.)

The first copy I got exhibited flaring of high-contrast objects, so I exchanged it through Amazon and the second one was fine. Compared to the Canon 18-85IS you get better quality construction, brighter at the wide end, and excellent macro capabilities. You lose the IS and the full time manual focus. The quality is comparable or better on this lens, so for $500 it's kind of a tossup.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

bargain price, super performance, Monday, 10 March 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.5
Sharpness		5.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		4.0
Value for Money		5.0

For this price you simply cannot buy a better lens. Sharp to pixel level (certainly stopped down), nice range, lots of light, excellent macro capability in a non-specialized lens. There is some distortion at wide angle, but it is easily corrected and in most cases I do not find it annoying at all - which is saying a lot because I _HATE_ distortion.

Why should you care what I think?

My relationship with this item: I own it
Where did you buy this item?: just some shop
Price paid: 300
When did you buy this item?: 2 years ago

Conclusions at a glance

Would you recommend this Item: Yes
Pros: Excellent versatility, sharpness, range and light sensitivity for the price
Cons: For the price: none.

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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful

It seems that fast and cheap wide zoom is still a , Saturday, 02 February 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		2.8
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		2.0
AF Speed		3.0
Value for Money		2.0

I was excited about this lens when I saw all these reviews that seemed to suggest that it was the holy grail of walkaround lenses: fast, has a super-broad zoom range and is under $500. But when I got it, I was immediately underwhelmed. It is very soft at 17mm and at 70mm, with the only good focus away from the extremes. I shot RAW on my 40D and had to sharpen way too much to get a decent shot out of this lens and then it would just pick up the really bad chromatic aberrations when shooting 17mm. I sent it back and am getting the Tamron 17-50 since I have lost hope that I can get good focus and tons of zoom thanks to this lens.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

A great low price lens from Sigma, Tuesday, 01 January 2008


Overall rating (weighted)		4.0
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		3.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		4.0

I chose this lens with my Canon 40D. This time i bought the body and the lens...and i have one word = A perfect combination for low price.
The lens works fine. The noise when zooming is not so drastic as i read in other reviews and it focuses quite fast. You can test it on the AI Servo an it works great.
When shooting at 17mm the distortion is a bit higher than i thought, but in some cases it comes out good. The F2.8 in this case is also a smart move from Sigma. Zoom range 17-70mm is what i need and it is a good combination with my second 70-300mm lens.
If you think of a standard lens, i recomend you this one for sure :)
cheers

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Great Walk-Around Lens, Tuesday, 30 October 2007


Overall rating (weighted)		4.3
Sharpness		4.0
Build Quality		4.0
AF Speed		5.0
Value for Money		4.0

I have this lens now for around 5 month and am very happy with my purchase.

The pictures come out very sharp and colors are very vibrant.
As far as the construction goes it is very solid for the money and rattles not like some of the Canon EF-S Kit lenses.
At first I had the lens on my Rebel XT and now transferred it over to my new Canon 40D and picture quality is equal as far as sharpness, vibrancy etc. go.

The only slightly negative thing I can say about the lens is that at 17mm with the Lens Hood on, you can have some slight vignetting.

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