lens advice

SBlanca · Oct 15, 2008

hey guys, it's been a while since i've been in here and in photography generally....

I've seen this lens that looks good for what i want and the price is within my student budget..

this is it, let me know if you think it's worth it:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...01_70_300mm_f_4_5_6_DG_Macro.html#accessories

would be great if you guys could suggest other macro lenses in the same price range if you think this is no good...

thanks

myopia · Oct 15, 2008

Personally, I am not a fan of long reach zooms. I am also not a fan of sigma, so I guess you can tell what I think...

Bifurcator · Oct 15, 2008

Me too... Not a fan of sigma or other non-maker lenses but that's only $149?? Geez... what is that? Your share of 3 pizza weekends with the guys? It's almost disposable at that price.

Get it, play with it, write a review on it here. If you like it keep it, if not put it on E-Bay for $159 and make $10.

I don't think anyone will be able to recommend a "good" macro in the "same price range". I could be wrong tho.

JustAnEngineer · Oct 15, 2008

The APO version of that lens gets slightly better reviews. Note that these are not true 1:1 Macro lenses, but they do go up to an impressive (for a cheap lens) 1:2 magnification.

I really like my EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens.

Joves · Oct 15, 2008

Never have used it but the user reviews on B&H seem to weigh in on the positive side. Except for the one I saw on the first page claiming it was too soft. You might want to try reading those reviews. I generally do before I buy glass or, any other product.

Dubious Drewski · Oct 15, 2008

Well to be fair, sometimes Sigma does a fine job and some of their telephotos are excellent. But I know firsthand that this particular lens is quite low in quality. If you don't mind that and absolutely need a telelphoto for cheap then sure, get this one. Though if you don't mind used, I'd recommend that option anyday; you'll get much higher quality for the same price range.

SBlanca · Oct 16, 2008

thanks for that guy, where could i find good condition 2nd hand equipment?

Overread · Oct 16, 2008

I agree with the others - as another user of this lens I did find it softer - especailly once you started to put the lens under some pressure (like taking a shot of something more than 5m away

)
that said some people have had better results than me with the lens. If you have to go for it then go for the better APO version. As well as that I rate this lens very much as a good one for beginners wishing to experiment in things - it offers telephoto, zoom and macro (2:1) and for its price range you are not going to get more from a new lens -- ergo its good to learn with.

That said it is very good with flower photography - I found that on a tripod, with mirror lockup, a remote (or timer in my case) and its macro mode at 200-300mm you get a great background blur effect and its 2:1 focusing is perfectly fine for flowers. Downside its that its minimum focusing distance is 0.5m which can often catch you out.

laam999 · Oct 17, 2008

I have the APO version of that lense, I got it for similar reason to you - cheap lense with both zoom and macro.

I have found that when using it as a zoom lense the lack of IS is a real problem obviously but also the focusing speed is a little slow too.

The macro for this lense is great i think, its not 1:1 its 1:2 - so you have to get pretty far away for it to focus, but with a 300mm lense its not a a problem as you still really zoomed in on the subject. If you like you can email me at [email protected] and ill send you a few photos, both macro and zoom from this lens, this is known by my friends as my "perv lense" as it looks like im going to perv on people at the beach.

here is a my fave pic with the lens in macro, not fantastic but I hope it helps.

this was taken at ISO 1600 on a Canon 350D so the noise is insane when I zoom 1:1 but at this size it looks fine.

Overread · Oct 17, 2008

laam use the flash

even the popup can help loads - just put a few folds of white toilet paper infront of it (elastic bands can help hold it on) and then you won't have to reach for high ISO - heck I won't even go above 400 unless I am desperate.