Sigma 300mm f2.8 APO EX DG HSM For Canon Digital & Flim SLR Cameras

Product Information

Weighing in at a whopping 3390g and measuring 29cm in length, the Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM S is a very big and heavy lens indeed, esepcially as that weight doesn't include the supplied tripod collar. As seen in the photos below, it dwarves even a full-frame camera like the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. This is not a lens that you can hand-hold for very long, being much more at home mounted on a sturdy tripod or monopod. Thought i would share this with you. I have had the sigma 300mm f2.8 in the service center 3 times now. finally with a new chip that the dealer here can reprogram it is really giving me shaaaarp images. If you buy this lens i highly recommend you get it calibrated with your camera and the new chip installed. A world of difference for me. I am so amazed at the images at 2.8, wide open It is just incredible. Now i cannot tell the difference in wide open and stopped down. And i am a crop every image heavily. Also i had to quit using the sigma 1.4 and 2.0 t.c.. It degrades the images fo much for me. The Sigma 300f2.8 has reasonably responsive focus. The Canon is however marginally better ...but not much.

APO 300mm F2.8 EX DG HSM / EX DG - SIGMA Corporation

The Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM S has a Custom Mode switch with three settings - Off, C1 and C2. Much like the Custom Settings on a camera body, you can use the provided software to tailor the lens settings (AF speed, focus limiter and OS functions) and then save them to the C1/C2 modes for easy recall via the Custom Settings switch. I used the lens extensively with the 1.4x and 2x Sigma TCs. I tried it with the 1.7x too but nothing 'serious' so I can't offer an opinion on that. You loose the in-lens focus replaced by the TC's focus when you do that, so I don't enjoy it as much ... at least not with this lens. As they say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so I guess I have 1,000,000 words or there abouts on the subject: Also being a little vain wanted to look the part when turning up to sport events, so needed a big looking lens After i get it fixed i will sell it and all my pentax gear. The pentax is a good product but lens and such are not where it should be compared to Nikon and Cannon. These two top brands have outlets in almost every country and very easily fixed and serviced. It is a shame Pentax has let there market share drop to a point where it is just not practical to own there product. especially for someone who travel extensivly...The lens collar is a nightmare to use – rotation is anything but smooth. Shifting from horizontal to vertical was quite painful, especially when compared to Nikkor super teles. Additionally, while it is a nice feature that the collar/foot assembly can be removed (Nikon 200-400 cannot be removed), it cannot be done with a body attached, which significantly diminishes the convenience of that feature. And because the rotation of the collar is related to the removal of the collar, I was constantly worried about it coming off while shooting and shifting between horizontal and vertical orientation, although that was possibly just down to paranoia and unfamiliarity on my part. With 1.4x APO Tele Converter, AF can operate between infnity and 1.2mm. If the subject is closer than 1.2m, only MF is available. Pentax 300mm ƒ/2.8 ED IF SMC P-FA - but this lens has been discontinued. Instead they offer a ƒ/4 version, which is smaller and less expensive. The lens uses Pentax's SDM autofocus technology.

Sigma 300mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM APO - Digital Cameras, Digital

Stunning images produced sometime surprises me and has me saying "I took that?". The lens's capabilities outshines the meager skills of this 1/2 year D-SLR user. Fantastic sharpness, color and contrast. As for weather sealing, it is also nice that Sigma is finally including a rubber gasket at the lens mount to prevent dust from entering the camera body and the lens. The gasket is pretty short though, so I hope Sigma will make it a tad longer in the future, similar to what Nikon does to make it more useful. The lens barrel itself is nicely made and will take on some beating and weather abuse. I am not sure if it will withstand a lot of rain, but I have used it in light rain without any problems. I believe this is one of the first Sigma lenses to get weather sealing (along with the new 12-24mm and 150mm f/2.8 macro lenses). I personally did not like the Canon 300 IS for birding either. The Canon 300 II changed all that. It is the first lens I am happy with. For birding. A great all around-er that takes T.C.'s fairly good and AF excels with pro body's. On the sub-frame body, vignetting is practically non-existent past ƒ/4 for all three focal lengths we tested. At ƒ/2.8, we see under 0.25 EV of light loss for all three focal lengths. Between ƒ/5.6 and ƒ/16, vignetting is close to zero EV light loss. We didn't experience much "hunting", either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time. It's also a very quiet performer, thanks to the built-in HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), which makes this lens well-suited to video recording. Chromatic AberrationsAs I sold my Nikon 70-200 also wanted a lens that would allow me to still use as a portrait lens, once I've worked out in the Gym to be able to lift it so again wanted a nice bokeh and f2.8