Sigma 300mm f2.8 EX DG HSM

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

Simga 300mm f2.8, Wednesday, 28 November 2007


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

My Experience is in architectural photography - 4 by 5, medium format's etc. Although I do shoot 35mm, I can't say I invested a lot of time or money in this format in fact, truth be told, I was shooting a Pentax PZ70 up until last Nov. 2002 when I purchased the Nikon F100 and subsequently D1H this past Jan. 2003. Simply put, 35mm is 35mm... I dont care what camera you're using or quality of lens. To have any significant differences in print quality, you need to shoot at least with a 645 (chrome film of course) or larger. Having said that, I've been pondering the thought of a 300mm 2.8 lenses - obvious choices are the Nikon or one of the 3rd party lenses. I've been carefully evaluating my choices and finally decided there was no way to truly make this decision unless I could hold these giants in my hands and try them my self. Living about a 30mm drive north of NYC's B&H, I headed down to the store with my ATM card loaded with cash expecting the worst (buying the $4,500 Nikon because I had no choice due to overwhelming quality) but curiously apprehensive about the Sigma..or perhaps the Tokina etc. I approached the counter at B&H and after explaining my purposes to the sales person he brought over the Nikon 300mm 2.8 AF-S (silent motor), Sigma's 300mm 2.8 APO - HSM and the Tokina 300mm 2.8 - and an F5 body with charged batteries. 1st up, the Nikon 300mm...never having actually held this lens my 1st impression was "wow? it's all plastic on the outside?" The Nikkor lens was brutally fast, locked on to the subject with authority as expected....I switched to Continuous autofocus and panned around the store looking for subjects to lock onto (peoples heads, sales clerks lighting fixtures) I would say 80% of the time the Nikon would re-find it's subject and lock dead on with out any hunting...in fact, it didn't hunt at all but, there were a few times when it didn't engage to refocus at all... this puzzled me...all I saw was a Blur as if it didn't realize I had moved over to a closer subject. Next up, Sigma's new 300mm - 1st impression was I lked the all metal construction, felt solid in my hands (not slighting Nikon by any means but it did have waaay more plastic on the outside) screwed it on the F5..now, I was expecting Sigma to be slower but I was curious as to how *much* slower than the Nikon....well I can honestly tell you,.. not much. The Sigma lens locked onto everything blistering fast and in one aspect,...it didn't stall in continuos autofocusing like the Nikon. I would say the speed difference between the Nikon (Nikon being faster) and the Sigma was about 10% maybe 15%....maybe. Either way, both lenses are so fast in focusing ...for someone like myself who manually focuses everything with larger clunky medium format cameras..this was a blessing in any case. Next up, the Tokina,...all metal construction..I engaged the auto focusing and the whole barrel turned, sounded like a toy car. I went back to the Nikon....then the Sigma, then Nikon, then Sigma...Nikon etc. This process continued for about 40 straight minutes.....me trying to figure out which lens felt better, focused faster,..hunted less etc. I chose to purchase the Sigma 300mm APO HSM lens, at $2,000 less than the Nikon....I was convinced atleast from a mechanical/construction/speed in focusing perspective, Nikons highly touted 300mm 2.8 was not worth an additional $2,000 dollars. "But what about the optics! you did not test the optics! Nikkor lenses are superior!" Next up "my" optics test...I own the Nikon 80 - 200 2.8 AF zoom lens...one of Nikons TOP lenses in sharpness and optical quality. I was expecting the Sigma to be softer by a little especially considering I was shooting one lens at 300mm fixed and the other at 80/120/150/200. at F8 you can not see a difference in fact,...at 2.8 (wide open) you can not tell the difference! The Sigma is as sharp as bright no Vignetting and contrast is excellent ( a moot point now with digital files anyway) feel free to email me,.. I will be happy to send you the digital D1H files in raw .NEF or jpg so you can see the stats for your self. So, in conclusion I was not surprised that the Sigma kicks major butt because truth be told...all glass for Nikon/Canon/Sigma/Tamron/Tokina and other major lens makers in Japan is purchased from the same manufacturer in Germany. With today's computer grinding you're splitting hairs trying to find slight difference in a lens...infact, there are soooooo many variables if it matters that much to you.....shoot medium format. John

Why should you care what I think?

My relationship with this item: I own it
Where did you buy this item?: BandH
Price paid: 2,380
When did you buy this item?: Nov

Conclusions at a glance

Would you recommend this Item: Yes
Pros: Build, Sharp,
Cons: Tripod Collar, not as fast as a Nikon

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My relationship with this item: I have borrowed a friends
Where did you buy this item?: N/A
Price paid: 0
When did you buy this item?: N/A

Would you recommend this Item: Yes
Pros: Sharp, good build quality, cheap for type
Cons: tripod mount, AF can be slowe than others

User Lens Reviews

Average user rating from: 1 user(s)


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

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

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