Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 AF APO EX DG OS HSM Lens for Nikon Digital SLRs Review| Categories | Telephoto |
| Product Code | B004M18N0W |
| Product Rating |  |
| Price | $2,999.00 |
| Where To Buy | See More Details |
| Customer Review | See More Reviews |
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Product Details
- Brand: Sigma
- Model: 120-300mm f/2.8 Sigma
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 4.50" h x
4.50" w x
11.40" l,
3.10 pounds
Product Description
This latest version of the Sigma APO 120-300mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM is pleased to announce the inclusion of Optical Stablization(OS) which is critical to equipment sporting this focal range allowing for hand-held tele-photography and the use of shutter speeds approximately 4 stops slower than would otherwise be possible. Sigma's new splash-proof feature is also included preventing dust and precipitation from getting inside the lens. One SLD and two FLD glass elements provides maximum correction of chromatic aberrations. The super multi-layer coating reduces flare and ghosting, and the lens design incorporates an inner focusing and inner zooming system to ensure sharp images throughout the entire zoom range. Improved optical performance provides excellent correction of sagittal coma flare and ensures ultra-high resolution, comparable to a fixed focal length lens. The HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor ensures quiet and high speed AF, while allowing full-time manual focus override. A truly unique product which is a rarity in the photo industry, this lens is the only lens of its kind on the market; a professional zoom lens that also features a fast aperture. Most professionals own the standard 300mm 2.8, but they also have to carry a shorter zoom lens for those times when the subjects move closer. That means fumbling around switching lenses or carrying a second camera body. The amazing Sigma zoom lens let you instantly determine the picture composition you want without having to change your vantage point. Imagine photographing courtside at a college basketball game and having the versatility to zoom in on a player's face or hand and then instantly zoom back to capture the entire player making his shot. You can do it with the Sigma APO 120-300mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM. The aperture remains constant at F2.8 throughout the entire zoom range. The addition of the optional APO tele converter produces an ultra telephoto zoom lens with AF Specifications:Lens Construction: 2...
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
A great lens when used within its tolerances
By Ed Oscuro
This review is subject to being updated as necessary. I've been using this lens more or less daily for over a month, mainly as a walk-around telephoto and for some wildlife (bird) photography using the Canon EF Extender 2X III (yes, it's compatible), always handheld. Birds, bugs, framed sky-scapes with planes passing by overhead - all these and more are fair targets for this lens. I am using a Canon T1i which is by no means a wildlife photographer's dream camera, so your mileage may vary (hopefully for the better) in some areas, e.g. metering, autofocus, and OS reliability. I have not used it for sports or situations where autofocus speed is critical, although I have been very happy in this respect.My first impressions were that the lens was heavy, but coming immediately from the Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6, much of the operation felt perfectly familiar. The OS (optical stabilizer, equivalent of IS) still makes a bit of a clunk when it sets up or releases, although a bit meatier. Everything is bigger with this lens, and even when focusing you may feel the lens jump forward a bit in your hands. The box it came in, when you're looking at it sitting on a shelf after you've used the lens, starts looking about 2/3 as long as the lens (even if you rarely use the lens hood). One very nice improvement is the new finish. Gone are the nasty finishes of yore - the crinkle finish, and the matte finish (as seen on the 120-400mm) are forgotten and instead we have a new black metal body - despite there being at least four black materials, from a distance they all mesh together (you only notice the different ways in which the various black materials reflect light when looking very closely). The lens foot feels pleasantly rubbery. I tend to hold this lens in a way most would feel very awkward - the lens foot comes positioned straight down, ready to have a quick release plate clamped on it, and so digging right into the heel of my palm - this tripod foot is rubbery and while not as pleasant as a soft pillow, I like to cradle it against my hand instead of simply holding the bottom of the lens along. It is fairly simple to swing the lens up and around from carrying it slung under, with the attached camera upside down, and this is half the reason I hold it that way. Obviously, you have some important and much-needed flexibility here.Before we get to the points you came here for, here is a tip that may save you a load of trouble and possibly some money: Be exceptionally careful with the lens cap and even the lens hood. I managed to use the 120-400mm for half a year without ever needing to clean the front element, but just before I was about to retire it I tried putting the lens cap on while talking distractedly. After pushing the lens cap around for a bit and not getting the satisfying routine double clicks, I looked down and noticed I'd put a nice new scratch right into the glass. A couple Franklins waved goodbye as I lit them on fire right there. This lens should be no different, but with an even larger front element, you now need to take more care in everything you do. Don't walk past trees, doorknobs, faucets, bike stands, park benches or other people without being aware what the front element is about to displace. In absolute terms, of course, little scratches on the lens and even cracks will do little or nothing to harm the picture quality coming out the other end, but it will harm your resale value. Thankfully, the 105mm lens cap is still small enough to fit very comfortably into my trouser pocket - so there's no excuse not to have it with you all the time. I have started to forego using the lens hood even when walking through dense bush simply because I don't want to wear out its snug click-fit when reversed for use, but again the same cautions apply. A related issue with that 105mm front element is that when moving into a hot and humid area from a cold one, as happened a lot at the end of this July, the front element will fog up - and because this is a big lens, it will take a long time for it to clear up without the assistance of some moving air (I resorted to directing air in from a air conditioner at an angle to slowly accelerate the process while avoiding abrasive dust - not that it's a major problem for this class of lens, but I wanted to be careful). Although I haven't been out in rain with the lens, it performed well in the humidity test, and while the lens barrel got a bit slimy from the condensed ambient humidity, and took too long to adjust to ambient temperature for my liking, overall I'd say it performed superbly, with no internal problems moving from cold to very hot areas.Another impression is that if you are thinking of replacing another lens with this one, make an effort first to see if you cannot test out a copy of the lens on your camera body to see if your keeper rate is up to your standard. While I am able to get quite a few good images, I nevertheless find that the OS does not always engage in time for the shot - and sometimes shots in various parts of a continuous sequence are suddenly motion blurred, while others before and after are not. I have not studied the distribution of blurred photos closely enough to predict when it will happen, though I expect it is happening more on the first shot, but many first shot images are working perfectly with the OS. It is, to put it simply, inconsistent, although I suspect that the Canon EF extender makes the situation far worse. Another area affected by the extender appears to be the autofocus - the 120-400mm also struggled at 400mm, on my camera, when trying to lock focus in branches. The other day I watched with consternation through the viewfinder as the camera struggled to lock focus on clouds in the distance - big white clouds on a blue sky! Dark gray clouds on white clouds! - with the extender in place. I ended up taking a few frames of distinctly out of focus clouds along with some of them in-focus. Perhaps I was unwise not to go with the new Sigma teleconverter in this case, but the brand-new Canon 2X III seemed a good choice to me. On my camera, the choice is (ignoring the middle option) between One-Shot AF and AI Servo: With One-Shot AF, even with Canon lenses the result of the camera not being convinced it is in focus is that it will often simply refuse to take the photo. AI Servo will often put the focus off point. This is no news to veteran photographers - I guess you just need to pump the One-Shot shutter half-press for stationary targets and hope for the best. In great daylight, even shooting birds in trees or moths behind tall grasses (well, compared to them), it's done very well even so. It is worth mentioning that, as heavy as this lens is, and as big a difference in focus as can be had even at f/5.6, switching off autofocus on the lens is less than ideal. It is very stiff at least when new. This applies to the OS mode button as well - the usual "On" position is the middle position, which can be a bit awkward to reset quickly from mode 2 or OS off. A further point of ergonomics: There is no focus limiter switch, and no focus preset / recall switch either. Perhaps Sigma has a reason for excluding these controls, but short of a patent dispute I cannot enjoy this decision. I would be willing to at least play with a focus preset switch, and a focus limiter would similarly be very handy as I have already spent longer than I would care to admit watching the lens display a beautiful circular blur pattern through the viewfinder and then shoot right past the area of desired focus.With that out of the way, the stuff you came here to read: I still love the novelty of being able to just point the lens at some random point in the distance without my eye to the viewfinder, press the shutter button, and have a sharp picture come through fractionally later. For serious work I find prefocusing essential, and when ready the lens does not prevent an instant capture. Especially without the 2X extender, not only is focus accuracy precise and confidently made, but the images are astounding too, with the defocus area quality being very high. With the 2X extender, I'm able to get very good portraits of the miniature world from a not-too-bad range between one and two meters (I haven't yet measured it but the minimum focus distance is altered by extenders - natively it's 1.5 meters at 120mm, and 300mm focus distance is 2.5 meters). Macro- and microcontrast (colors, sharpness) are simply great at 300mm, and with an extender macro-contrast holds up great - the tiny details do get a bit wobbly but at 600mm I have much more of an ability to fill the frame with a tiny woodland bird or creature - from a few paces a Monarch Butterfly fills the frame. There is still some advantage to using a dedicated telephoto macro in such cases, but the quality of this lens is amazing for its versatility. Sigma's MTF charts show the lens as being better, oddly enough, at 300mm than at 120mm - in practice, the lens is more than good enough at either end.An important point remains to be made about the OS: I find a lot of my photographs come in around 1/60 to 1/80 of a second with the extender, and without I sometimes have gotten as high as 1/15 of a second. Shooting almost always without any support other than my arms means that it is quite impossible for me to give the lens a fair shake about its real-world potential for photographers who use mono- or tripods, but I do get the feeling that there is something holding back sharpness with the teleconverter on at times. But even for this purpose I find the images quite often are good enough for my use.The one thing I have left until now to mention is that I have almost always used the lens wide open. Even given my slight quibbles about microcontrast across a 15 megapixel frame, this means I'm getting amazing f/2.8 and generally quite usable f/5.6 frames across the board. Using the fully manual mode of your camera when a teleconverter is in place seems a good idea to keep it from being too aggressive with autoexposure - I cannot fairly fault the lens that the cheap camera attached to it is asking for a 1/60 or longer exposure with an optical system equivalent to 600mm and f/5.6 attached.My main concerns are that, at least with my camera, and especially when using the extender, that metering (never the T1i's strong suit) is inconsistent, and autofocus and the OS engagement are unreliable as well. If at all possible, please use this lens with a better camera. But if the best value 120-300mm and 240-600mm option is your goal, I have no idea where to look outside this combination. And while the lens is somewhat heavy (I walk everywhere with it held by the very comfortable grip), it is much lighter than the white Canon lenses, so crawling around in the bushes with it is a real possibility.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.Very Good Lens
By CrewCabDad
I purchased the Sigma 120-300 f2.8 imaged stabalized lines a year ago and a month later in July 2011 my wife and two of our friends ended up in Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole. It was a dream trip. At that time I was shooing a Canon 40D and got a number of great shots of wildlife using the imaged stabilized Sigma 120-300 F2.8... some hand held and others from a Manfrotto tripod and 393 gimble. I quickly realized the results improved when using the tripod. Mid morning on the high bluff over the Yellowstone I captured the "Yellowstone Sushi Comapny" making home deliveries (Male Osprey deliverying a trout to momma and three large chicks). I was using a Canon 1.4x teleconverter, which did result in images that were a little soft but had no troulbe resolving the softness problem with Canon's DPP software.Equestian photoghy is what I like most and use the Sigma 120-300 lens mounted to a Canon 7D. There is a learning curve involoved when using a new lens and especially when using a new camera body. As the Spring 2012 polo season comes to an end I've captured more great keepers then I ever thought possible.The image stabilized Sigma 120-300 f2.8 is a great lens. Since I haven't used the Canon 300mm f2.8 IS lens I can't provide you with a comparision. However... at less then half the price and with images as sharp as I expect (if I do my part) you really can't go wrong.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 for Canon
By BillD
I was looking for a relatively high magnification telephoto lens for a birding trip to Florida with a Photography Club. The leader and another member had the Sigma 120-300mm f2.8, another member had the Sigma 50-500mm f4-6.3, another had the Sigma 150-500 f5-6.3, another had a Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6, still another had a Canon fix magnification 400mm f4. I borrowed the Canon 400mm, rented the Sigma 50-500mm and the Sigma 120-300mm for weekend photo trips, and tried the Sigma 50-500mm, the Canon 100-400mm, and a Tamron 200-400mm f5.6 at various camera stores shooting a few test shots. In all cases I used a tripod. With the very pricey Sigma 120-300mm and a Sigma 2x, I could have a very flexible 240-600mm magnification range, greater magnification than any of the other lenses, and as fast or faster than any except the fixed magnification Canon 400mm f4. I also read many reviews on each of the lenses, many comparing two or more lenses. I don't have any special equipment to test the quality of the lens, I just look at the images on my computer screen. The price was the big obstacle, but I finally decided that I would not be happy with any telephoto lens other than the Sigma 120-300mm, and a 2x. I have owned the lens and 2x, which I use on a Canon 7D, for about 10 months. I shoot birds, and other animals, mostly at the nearby Shawnee National Forest and a few other state and national parks that are 15-50 miles from my home. I also have been attending several 150th Commemorative Reenactments of the Civil War. The lens is particularly great when I have to be at along distant from part of the field, but also need to rapidly respond to charging horses or men. I have averaged two photo shoots a month where I used the Sigma 120-300mm, mostly with the 2x. The only time I have been disappointed with resulting photos was when I tried to shoot without a tripod. Even without the 2x, I'm not strong enough to hand hold the lens. I use the Manfrotto 393 U shaped head for the flexibility of a 360̊ rotation and @ 80̊ up and down, as well as choice of vertical or horizontal through the use of the lens ring. I always feel better about a purchase when i take the time to do the homework.I am extremely glad I bought the Sigma 120-300mm f2,.8 lens and 2x. I was also very happy with service through Amazon. I got the lens quickly for the advertized price.
On sale now at affordable price, promo discounts and fast shipping. I am really pleased with its qualities and highly recommend it to everyone wanting for a top quality product with the useful specifications at an low. You can read testimony from customers to find out more through their experience. Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 AF APO EX DG OS HSM Lens for Nikon Digital SLRs has worked wonders for me and I hope it will do wonders on you too. Why then waste any more time? Enjoy yourself, you know where you can purchase the best ones.
Most of the customer reviews speak that the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 AF APO EX DG OS HSM Lens for Nikon Digital SLRs are splendid luggage. Also, It Is a pretty well product for the price. It’s great for colony on a tight budget. We’ve found pros and cons on this type of product. But overall, It’s a supreme product and we are well recommend it! When you however want to know more details on this product, so read the reports of those who have already used it.
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