Good Nikon telephoto lens?

[matthewo]

i think the sigma 70-200mm HSM ii can be very sharp (for a $800 lens), and probably to most eyes not very much different then a nikon 70-200 vr II. the thing is how you use it. it doesnt have OS, which i found you really need to pay more attention how still you hold it when zoomed towards the far end. i was playing around with some simi macro shoots and it quite impressed me.

here is a tripod mounted example, this is straight out of the camera nikon d7000 (RAW), opened in lightroom cropped, then exported as a JPG, no editing, sharpening, lighting changes, lens corrections, ect...
iso 100, F5, 135MM, 2 sec exposure time, and sb-24 at 1/4 power bouncing off the ceiling

 

[osirus]

take a look at a used 80-200 f2.8
I picked up and older push pull version for $500. and i use it with a quantray 2x teleconverter to make it a 160-400mm

Its a sharp lens and good in low light. AF is a little slow on it is my only gripe

 

[rgregory1965]

Sigma 70-200 shot at 2.8....you be the judge.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/just-fun/276182-still-playing-my-sigma-70-200-os.html