This sigma 70-300mm for $100 dollars?

[PQpine413]

Is this a good buy?

a friend of mine just bought this lens off ebay 2nd had, but cant keep it anymore for personal reasons and wants to sell it off.
he's selling it to me for a 100 bucks

i want to help him out but i dont really want to buy a bad lens..not that im expecting much with 100 bucks. i wanted a tele to play with since i've recently just got into photography and dont think i should buy (and dont really have the money to buy) anything too expensive

he gave me a description of "70-300mm f4.5-6.0 I think, push pull zoom, AF, with UV Filter and leather case"

I couldnt really find anything like that, i believe sigma only has these:
70-300mm F4-5.6 DG MACRO (http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3304&navigator=3)
70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG MACRO (http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3303&navigator=3)

given the price, i would assume its the non-APO version of this lens

what do the photo experts on this board think?

[George W. Bush]

There are a few variations of the lens. The good lens is the one with the red ring around it. The lens is not a true macro.

I have it, and it is quite nice. I like it myself for the zoom it gets for animal/bird pictures, but it is just a beginners lens.

The other lens variations of this model are NOT recommended! Poor quality, so I say, stay away from that one.

Side note:
------------------
If you want to give them a very, very good lens at a good price look for the Canon 50mm 1.8 II (plastic) or I (metal, but hard to find) - this lens is a GEM and a MUST for everyone. The quality of the image is as good as that of the L lenses (almost as good...). Do some research and you will find why it is a lens everyone should start with! :) Lens is about $100 US.



Verdict
The Sigma AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG macro came close to a surprise but it still hasn´t won the cigar. It delivered pretty decent results in most aspects, specifically at 70mm and 200mm, but at 300mm the border resolution is nothing short of dismal - certainly not apochromatic as claimed by Sigma (nor would we really expect that from such a budget lens). Nonetheless you may argue that the center performance of the lens is on a very high level throughout the range and for many tele applications your main subject is often located close to the center so the border problems may not be all that obvious in the real life. As such it still remains an interesting budget solution. If you prefer a sharp border to border quality look elsewhere though ... and prepare yourself to invest quite a bit more.

Please read: http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/sigma_70300_456/index.htm

[langong]

i am no expert just starting DSLR like youself, I have the DG macro, it's a nice macro lense which is better than my kit lenses, I also bought used from Ebay for about 80usd.

[PQpine413]

anyone else have any experience with this lens?

[DirtyLude]

I have the APO and it's an excellent lens, but I'm concerned that neither of these lenses are the one he is refering to. These lenses are not push/pull zoom. Are you sure it's fairly new, It could be a really old lens?

If it is the DG, it's currently $130 USD, new, so it's an okay buy.

I'll be upgrading to a 100-400L soon.

[CSAgent]

There are a few variations of the lens. The good lens is the one with the red ring around it. The lens is not a true macro.



I didn't know Sigmas had red rings around their telezoom lenses, I thought that was only Canon.



Anyway, someone mentioned the 50mm canon as good as L lenses? I've used the 50mm F1.4 Mk II and its horrible. Zoom is slow, and the level of chromatic aberation for outdoor is horrible. I had to return it.

If the Mk I was good, they certainly messed it up in the Mk II.

[PrinceMS]

For beginners its a good buy. I will get it - because if you don't like it, u can sell it for same price.

[DirtyLude]

I believe it's the 50mm 1.8f you are talking about, not 1.4f. MkI is the same as MkII, just metal casing and better manual focus ring. I love the 50mm 1.8. Great lens as long as you have the space to move around.

[KorruptioN]

I've used the 50mm F1.4 Mk II and its horrible. Zoom is slow, and the level of chromatic aberation for outdoor is horrible. I had to return it.

If the Mk I was good, they certainly messed it up in the Mk II.

Canon's 50mm f1.4 is a prime lens. How can the zoom be slow? This lens is known to be very good interms of CA control - stop it down to f2.0 or smaller and any possibilities of CA are now gone.

Would you have known this? I don't know...

The EF 50mm f1.4 is a great lens. Good thing you returned it.

edit: Sigma's 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 superzoom has a red-ring.

[PQpine413]

I have the APO and it's an excellent lens, but I'm concerned that neither of these lenses are the one he is refering to. These lenses are not push/pull zoom. Are you sure it's fairly new, It could be a really old lens?

If it is the DG, it's currently $130 USD, new, so it's an okay buy.

I'll be upgrading to a 100-400L soon.

yea he mentioned that its a 'push-pull-zoom' and i don't think neither of these lenses on the sigma site is push-pull

is this a really old lense then?