Large aperture standard zoom lens designed specially for digital SLR cameras.
The lens is ideally suited for a wide variety of subjects and is designed specifically for digital SLR cameras featuring APS-C size image sensors.
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A lens specially designed to suit the characteristics of digital cameras This revolutionary lens has a minimum focusing distance of 20cm (7.9”) throughout the entire zoom range. A maximum magnification of 1:2.3 enables extreme close-up photography. An impressive achievement for a standard zoom lens.
Multi Layer Lens Coating The new lens design and multi-layer lens coating reduce flare and ghosting, a common problem with digital cameras.
SLD Glass Elements A Special Low Dispersion (SLD) lens and two Aspherical lens elements provide excellent correction for all types of aberrations and produce a high level of optical performance throughout the entire zoom range.
Fast F2.8 Aperture This lens offers a large F2.8 aperture at 17mm wide angle and yet it is compact, with an overall length of just 82.5mm (3.2”) and diameter of 79mm (3.1”). Performance is superb, even in relatively low light conditions indoors or at dusk.
Inner Focus System The lens is equipped with an Inner focusing system, which prevents the front element from rotating making it particularly suitable for petal shaped hoods and circular polarizing filters.
Zoom Lock The lens is also equipped with a zoom lock that eliminates 'zoom creep' during transit.
The inclusion of an SLD element and the faster aperture of this standard zoom lens are designed to produce better images than the cheaper 'kit' lens and the extended focal range makes this 17-70mm optic a decent upgrade lens. Build quality is approaching the feel associated with the EX DG lenses, and like every Sigma lens I've used, it features a metal mount and fits smoothly on the body.' ' ...there is almost nothing on the market to match the range of abilities this lens provides at the price. The focus and zoom ring are comfortable and quite secure, with a locking device to prevent the zoom slipping from 17mm when the lens is dangling from a camera strap. Images were sharp with crisp Contrast and good colour. Whether I used the lens as a macro or as a standard, I never had cause to complain about the results.
Why should you care what I think?
My relationship with this item: Editor review
Conclusions at a glance
Would you recommend this Item: Yes Pros: Short focal lenght, price, sharp Cons: can have a little distortion at the short focal lenght.
Last updated: Monday, 03 March 2008
User Lens Reviews
Average user rating from: 28 user(s)
Overall rating (weighted)
4.1
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
4.1
Value for Money
4.1
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1 of 1 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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1 of 1 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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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
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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4 of 4 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 0 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 1 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 1 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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4 of 4 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 2 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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1 of 1 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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1 of 1 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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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
Extreamly useful lens, Thursday, 25 October 2007
Overall rating (weighted)
4.3
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
3.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
This lens is a workhorse. It can handle everything but telephoto reasonably well. Its been my primary lens since I got it. The build quality is pretty sturdy tho not as good as metal.
If 17-70 is the focal length you are looking for you could do a lot worse than this.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
nice upgrade to canon's kit lens(es), Sunday, 14 October 2007
Overall rating (weighted)
3.8
Sharpness
3.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
Nice and fast at wide, still faster at 70mm tele then the canon's 18-55 kit. Macro capability is very good. However, AF sometimes hunts at lower light and tele (but nothing that cannot be solved by MF). Build quality very good. All in all, very good replacement over the 18-55 kit(or even better - save yourself the time and money and buy this one prior to the kit)
