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Good Utility lens. I bought this lens based on reviews here and my budget. I was just stepping up to a DSLR and wanted a long reach lens but I didnt have the budget for much. I went back and forth between the Sigma and the Tamron and ended up with the Sigma, again based on reviews here.

The Good:

This is a great starter lens or budget lens. With a 1.5 crop factor Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 SLD DG Macro Lens is a 105mm-450mm lens with true macro from 200-300mm (250-450 converted). Thats a lot of lens for $150. The macro is good but takes some getting used to. First you have to go past 200mm, then flip a switch to go to macro focusing. When you are done, you have to do all of that in reverse or it wont retract. The macro focusing is good but most of the time you will want to switch to manual. The zoom ring has a nice positive feel that lets you stop when you want to and go when you want to. Some zooms are a little too “lose” for my taste. Because of its size, hand held shooting needs daylight and even then if you can use a tripod, do. With a tripod, the sharpness is excellent. This lens has a definite sweet spot between 135mm and 200mm, f/8. Shoot in this range and you will get amazing results.

The Bad

This thing is BIG and HEAVY. At 300mm and the full macro focusing, this lens is HUGE!! Do not try using it on a cheep tripod. I did, its frustrating. Because of the size and weight, it flops around more than some lenses. BE CAREFUL! Focus at either end is not a strong point. There is softness and CA at 300mm and at the low end of the f-stops. IF you can shoot f/8 or better, you will get better results.

This is not a “digital” lens. It is a full frame, 35mm film lens that works great on new Pentax digitals. AS long as you understand and accept its limitations, you will get a lot of value from it.

Good lense. Too good to be true?!? I thought so, as all the other lenses I priced were in the $400-500 range, but I am really glad that I read some of the reviews. I don’t know that I would use this for sports, etc, cause it does not seem fast enough for that; but scenery and still shots look great.

Great lense. Purchased the Sigma 70-300mm and I have to admit that I am very pleased with it but I thought it would be a good idea to give the pros and cons that I see with this lense The “cons” of this lense include:

.very noisy auto focus

.macro feature is small ( have to be in the 200-300mm range)

.slight chromatic distortion (color loss) in low light, very low light

.not real fast f/4 – 5.6

.tripod needed in low light

Now on to the positives

Pros:

.very very sharp lense

.well made (not cheap)

.true macro feature

.metal lens mount (not plastic)

.auto focus works great in good light

.full depth prited on lens

.will work with nikon D40,40x,50,60,70,70s,80,90,200…..

.ED glass

.many lens elements (helps with lense distortion)

.= to a 465mm with 1.5x factor (Nikon)

. wonderful balance throughout its lense range

.slight pincussion but not bad

.GREAT LENSE FOR THE PRICE

I usually shoot with nikon glass and was reluctant to purchase this lense but after having it almost two weeks now and with well over 200 pictures on it, I think this lens is great!

It has produced pictures of the same if not better quality than some of my Nikon glass, even the 2.8! If you are a budget minded photographer or just do not want to pay the outrageous price of the name brands, this thrid party will suit you fine.

Simply put, I would highly recomend this lens to anyone wishing to upgrade from a “kit lens”

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