Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 II EX DG

[JoshAlder]

Hi guys I'm looking to buy a new zoom lens for sports and wildlife. I currently have a d5100 and was wondering what this lens would be like with it. Any advice on this lens, or an alternative would be appreicated. Im currently a student so my budget would only stretch to about £700. Thanks in advance josh.

 

[mulo]

a good idea is always to check dpreview.com, they have some extensive testing of lenses. often, there is a clear difference in sharpness, distortion and falloff between 1st and 3rd party lenses, but some 3rd party lenses are still very good.

The latest version of Sigmas 70-200mm lens is indeed very good, but compared to the canon/nikkor lenses of the same focal lengths, it does suffer from extensive sharpness reduction when zoomed all the way in to 200mm.

 

[flosseR]

a good idea is always to check dpreview.com, they have some extensive testing of lenses. often, there is a clear difference in sharpness, distortion and falloff between 1st and 3rd party lenses, but some 3rd party lenses are still very good.

The latest version of Sigmas 70-200mm lens is indeed very good, but compared to the canon/nikkor lenses of the same focal lengths, it does suffer from extensive sharpness reduction when zoomed all the way in to 200mm.

Sigma is known for variable quality... my old Sigma 70-200 II not just rivaled the nikon 70-200 I, it surpassed it in sheer sharpness. Add to that that the vignetting was less and it was a pretty damn good bargain.

I would buy the sigma 70-200 II any day.. AS LONG as I can test it before hand for front and back focus issues.

Of course the OS version is even better but I would go with the II version and save some money... that's just me.

 

[JoshAlder]

thanks guys. so will this work on the d5100?

 

[flosseR]

thanks guys. so will this work on the d5100?

yes it has a silent built in motor.. will work just fine, nice and fast..

 

[Designer Dale]

2.8@200 is good for sports, but it's a bit short for birding. I have the lens in the link below for my wildlife shots. It's a 4.5-5.6 lens but the OS and sharpness are very good on my copy. It weighs a ton, though. The dedicated birders in my area have extenders on 70-200mm lenses, 100-400 zooms and 400 or 600mm prime lenses. And cash to burn...

Sigma 120-400 at B&H

Dale