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Reviews (8)
Jun 22, 2009
Super view at super price
If getting close is important, and if image quality is not, then this piece of glass is for you. I needed a 500mm lens to catch amateur baseball players and wanted to get as close as possible. This lens is the bomb! Color is fine, automatic focus is good, articulation, fidelity and dependabilty all rate highly.No it does not give good low light results and w/o vibration reduction it must be used on a tripod or stabilizer of some sort. I am NOT shooting for National Geographic and that's that, but I do have great images of my family at play! Even got a great closeup of Grandson's kindergarten graduation (using Bogen monopod) as he was on stage. For the money and that means also that one must curtai expectations to limitations, this lens delivers far in excess of its cost! If I get to shoot an American Eagle catching a trout and it's soft, I'll blame it on Bernie Madoff, why not!!!!
Jun 22, 2009
Super view at super price
If getting close is important, and if image quality is not, then this piece of glass is for you. I needed a 500mm lens to catch amateur baseball players and wanted to get as close as possible. This lens is the bomb! Color is fine, automatic focus is good, articulation, fidelity and dependabilty all rate highly.No it does not give good low light results and w/o vibration reduction it must be used on a tripod or stabilizer of some sort. I am NOT shooting for National Geographic and that's that, but I do have great images of my family at play! Even got a great closeup of Grandson's kindergarten graduation (using Bogen monopod) as he was on stage. For the money and that means also that one must curtai expectations to limitations, this lens delivers far in excess of its cost! If I get to shoot an American Eagle catching a trout and it's soft, I'll blame it on Bernie Madoff, why not!!!!
Aug 04, 2009
Steady and ready;What a lens!!!
1 of 1 found this helpful Sigma has delivered a reasonably priced vibration resistant or compensating glass which will deliver crisp, sharp images at marginal lighting situations. No, it isnt 2.8 but it isnt %$5000 either! For sports and wildlife this is an unimaginably great addition to your kit. Once outside I find anything around 100mm to be a defining kind of "wide" view, especially if my eventual goal is to magnify at either 400mm or,using the 2x,at 800mm. The OS is useless when the 2x is added but a firm tri-or monopod will bring the subject into capture capacity.And all of this for under $1000.!My buddy is a professional baseball umpire and I have just returned from shooting a game he officiated. My shots of him from third base stands have yielded totally gorgeous, color pure images. OK, I used Lightroom 2 to bring them in from RAW but I didnt SAVE them,I enhanced them! I made the worst ump of all time look like a Cooperstown resident and this joy is the very reason so many of us take camera and lens in hand to create images--to please others.For anyone with sports-related family involvement, indoors (next week I shoot swimming races for another grandchild) or out, this is a great lens to own and treasure. Pay the extra and get the OS system, it saves you 2 1/2 to 4 stops and that is a worthwhile investment from my perspective.