NON DG Sigma 70 - 200 f2.8 EX HSM question

[Rick99]

Hi Guys,
I have an opportunity to buy a Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX HSM (NON DG) lens. Its in really good shape physically its been babied. I have not tried it yet but am worried about grabbing a non digital version. Was worried about focusing issues on m D7000. Only reason I am even thinking about it is the price. $350.00 not sure that is good or bad but seems low...LOL guess it should be because its an older version right? I was told by Adorama I may get $200.00 if I sold it to them. So my question is, is this lens even worth it being so outdated? Thanks for any feedback!

 

[RichieT]

Hi Guys,
I have an opportunity to buy a Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX HSM (NON DG) lens. Its in really good shape physically its been babied. I have not tried it yet but am worried about grabbing a non digital version. Was worried about focusing issues on m D7000. Only reason I am even thinking about it is the price. $350.00 not sure that is good or bad but seems low...LOL guess it should be because its an older version right? I was told by Adorama I may get $200.00 if I sold it to them. So my question is, is this lens even worth it being so outdated? Thanks for any feedback!

Not sure what you mean by non-dg. DG refers to full frame and DC refers to aps-c sized sensors. As far as I know, the 70-200 were full frame DG's. Did you mean non OS which is the non stabilized version? If you meant non OS I would check the focus carefully on your camera. They were known to have pretty bad front focus issues. I had to send mine back to Sigma to get recalibrated. Once it was recalibrated it was a pretty sharp lens.

 

[Dao]

Yes, I believe all the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses are DG.

Go to this link and there are 3 non-OS model lenses there for Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8. Any one of them looks like the one you think about getting it?

 

[Derrel]

I think this is like the 12 year-old version of the lens, before they started the later naming nomenclature. That lens has the "rep" of being a bit hazy at f/2.8, but of improving stopped down to f/4 or smaller. $350 seems like an okay price I guess. I had a forum photo buddy who had one in 2004, back when we were shooting 6-megapixel d-slrs (Fuji S2 Pro at that time).

 

[Rick99]

Hi Guys,
I have an opportunity to buy a Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX HSM (NON DG) lens. Its in really good shape physically its been babied. I have not tried it yet but am worried about grabbing a non digital version. Was worried about focusing issues on m D7000. Only reason I am even thinking about it is the price. $350.00 not sure that is good or bad but seems low...LOL guess it should be because its an older version right? I was told by Adorama I may get $200.00 if I sold it to them. So my question is, is this lens even worth it being so outdated? Thanks for any feedback!

Sorry just to clarify.....this is an older lens before Digital. Probably built in the late 1990's. I maybe able to get this for $300.00 bucks but back than there was no OS and no Digital on these lenses. So this is basically a 70-200 f2.8 without OS or Digital Capabilties I believe. Still works on the camera bodies Nikon mount just old.

 

[Rick99]

I think this is like the 12 year-old version of the lens, before they started the later naming nomenclature. That lens has the "rep" of being a bit hazy at f/2.8, but of improving stopped down to f/4 or smaller. $350 seems like an okay price I guess. I had a forum photo buddy who had one in 2004, back when we were shooting 6-megapixel d-slrs (Fuji S2 Pro at that time).

Yep thats right. Funny it looks and is built just like the new models. I was really excited I thought I found a steal untill I realized it was the non digital model which is now 12 years old! Maybe I should I try talking him down to $200.00....lol...not sure its worth it but he says it takes great pics with his D200 body. Confused now not sur if its worth buying at this point.

 

[robbins.photo]

You might want to check ebay and see what you can find for the newer os version. If you have the time to watch some auctions sometimes you can get some really great deals.

Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk

 

[Smokeyr67]

I have the old version, it's a great lense, I've had it for a loong time.

I'll upgrade to the OS version one day, but for now the old lense will be fine

 

[robbins.photo]

I have the old version, it's a great lense, I've had it for a loong time.

I'll upgrade to the OS version one day, but for now the old lense will be fine

I love the OS version, I can vouch for that one - but couldn't really speak to the older version as I've never used it myself. I guess it sort of depends on your budget really. I think I paid a little over 700 for mine, managed to get a good deal on it and that was roughly a couple of months ago so the prices may have even come down a bit on the used ones - I tend to look at this stuff as more as a long term investment. I figured when I got mine the newer OS version would make a better long term investment than an older model without OS. But that one is pretty much in the eye of the beholder. Still I'd recommend the OP at least look at the prices trending on Ebay for the OS version, and see if that's anything he might want to consider or if the price difference is such that he decides it isn't worth the additional investment at this time.

 

[Rick99]

I have the old version, it's a great lense, I've had it for a loong time.

I'll upgrade to the OS version one day, but for now the old lense will be fine

that's great...which camera do you have with it? I have a D7000 . Any focusing problems at all? Read some articles about front or back focusing issues than I read another saying the older models were better than the newer ones. Lol you just never know!

 

[robbins.photo]

I've used it quite a bit on a D5100, no focusing issues whatsoever. I just recently sort of fell into a d5200 quite by accident, with the test shots I took no focusing issues there either. Focus is quick and quiet and it works like a charm. Thing I've found about reading reviews, take them with a grain of salt. I've read some reviews on various things that I've later ended up purchasing and found out that a lot of the reviews I read were full of .. well, vinegar and at least one other substance.

When it comes to any camera equipment nothing is 100% and never will be of course, I've heard a lot of people talk about getting bad D7000's or bad D600's or bad.. well, whatever. Happens. But I've found that a lot of these review sites to tend to have some specific biases that they really don't advertise, same with folks that review stuff on Amazon - I know of at least one instance where a guy who only owns Sony equipment was "reviewing" a Nikon camera and bad mouthing it up something severe - only it was a camera he had never owned or shot with so really he was just talking out of the incorrect orifice the entire time. That sort of stuff happens all the time on the wonderful world of the internet.

Best advice I have for getting one used, just ask the seller if it's ever had any focusing issues. If he says no and you get it and test it then you always have the option of returning it because it was not "as described". Just make sure you ask all your questions through Ebay so they have a record of everything. You can also look at KEH, Adorama or B&H and see if they have any used ones listed, all three have great reputations and again if there are any problems you can always do a return.

I've had great luck with everything I've gotten off of Ebay, never had an issue with any camera equipment I've bought. Just stick with reputable sellers with 100+ feedback at 100% and your golden. If they are a reputable company and have 10s of thousands of transactions then you'll probably good with less than 100% feedback, because you are always going to have a certain % of people who are just unreasonable - so if they have thousands and thousands of transactions you can expect their feedback % to have taken a hit or two.

If you want a good laugh go read some of the reviews on the D7000 sometime, some of the stuff I've read would convince you never to buy one in a million years if you took it at face value. Lol

 

[Rick99]

Ok great. Looks like I am going to give it a shot. This guy is selling one close to where I live. I can get it for $300 to $350 and he said its super clean focuses well it's the Sigma 70 - 200 f2.8 EX HSM model. He said I can meet him and take some pictures with it before I buy it. Hope it is ok!