Sigma or Tamron 70-300mm?

[jackgta]

Please bear with me, I realise "what lens" threads aren't exactly in short supply, sorry!

Tamron 70-300mm F/4-5.6 LD Macro (Canon AF)- £200
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro (Canon AF)- £115

The question is, is it worth buying the Sigma and spending £75 on other accessories like filters, or is the Tamron much better?

Thanks guys,
Jack

[jackgta]

Oh, just found:
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG MACRO - £150. Any thoughts?

[Podie]

One of the mags has a review of these type of lenses at the moment... think it's the one with the red band at the top... Amateur photographer or something..? It's got a tutorial on macro stuff and a butterfly on the front cover...

[jackgta]

Ooo, thanks, I'll go and have a look for that!

[Podie]

Know I've bought it... but I've bought about three mags in the last month.

I'll have a check this evening for you.

[Andy M]

Photography Monthly. A 105mm Sigma wins iirc.

Edited by Andy M on Wednesday 30th August 15:20

[Andy M]

I think this is it: www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=134&sort=7&cat=38&page=2

[Gemm]

Sigma (APO version) is the one to go for.

[_dobbo_]

That 105mm f/2.8 macro lens is a very different beast to the two lenses mentioned in the original post. It depends if you are after a longish telephoto zoom lens or a macro. If the former then the 105mm is no use to you. If the latter it looks like a winner.

FWIW I have the 70-300mm Sigma (nikon mount) and whilst it produces reasonably sharp images the focus is very slow and quite noisy and it hunts a fair bit. I had it about 18 months and can count on one hand the number of times I used it, before buying a 80-400VR

I still use it every now and then in macro mode but it's not especially good at that either as holding it steady at 300mm with DOF of less than 0.5 cm doesn't allow much margin for error. The macro mode is actually just a focus limit switch which allows the lens to focus in on closer objects.

Interestingly enough that 105mm Sigma mentioned here looks very tempting as a macro purchase....

Edited by _dobbo_ on Wednesday 30th August 15:52

[jackgta]

thanks guys.
I think I'm leaning towards the Tamron at the moment, based on what I've read on the net.

[Hanslow]

I got the Sigma 70-300 APO Super Macro II or whatever fandangled name they gave it. I recall it came out best budget lens in that range a while ago somewhere.

Got a couple of pics (with blown hilights) on the web somewhere taken with it.

Found em, should be below:





I'll be honest and say I don't really know that much about photography, I just try and take a pic of what looks good to my eye The macro works quite well even though it's not true macro (apparantly). Probably could have been better if I understood a) the camera and b) light balancing stuff, but there you go.

[Hanslow]

Forgot to add, you can see a bit of ghosting on the Exige pic. That's because I was shooting through a fence! Was my first time at panning so again, didn't really know what I was doing!

Oh, and they were on a 350D.

Edited by Hanslow on Wednesday 30th August 17:56

[jackgta]

thanks, the pics are really useful as I've got a 350D too. Must go find that magazine tomorrow, then make my mind up!

[jackgta]

well, bought the sigma today, so I'll have a play and see what it's like!

[Biker.ie]

The Sigma 70-300 MacroII is capable of decent enough shots ;





I've grown out of it now (and running around after insects in the garden lol) so am thinking about upgrading to a Sigma 120-300mm F/2.8.. you really need a faster lens and internal focusing for better %percentage action shot stuff, and maybe image stabilisation/ VR for slower shutter blurry wheeled race panning shots, but it's not a bad lens considering the price, ffs, I've often spent more on a tie

Edited by Biker.ie on Thursday 31st August 16:30