70-200mm lenses

[YesDear]

I concur with Grill Mouster. I have the 70-200 and it was the best money I have spent to date on glass. I think the next best is when I get a D700.

I know that Susan uses the "old" version on her D3 and likes it. I think Jeff did not like his and sold it.

 

[Gdad]

Er- yeah- I sold mine. Two actually- but not for any reason aside from I hated lugging them around. It does vignette a bit on FX but nothing I found to be objectionable.

You will need an AF-S teleconverter.

 

[Chikabowa]

I love my 70-200. I'd probably make a little bed for it to sleep right next to me if my DH didn't think I'm nuts. (that was a joke...)

Honestly, it's my go-to lens. I use it all.the.time.
Personally, I LOVE the vignetting. It's my favorite feature of the lens and I would cry if it went away.

While it has a fast aperture, sometimes it's slow to focus and sometimes it will search for focus... but unless you are shooting professionally, I doubt it's something the regular shooter would notice, honestly. And finding contrast in your scene really helps with that issue.

I know that I can hand-hold the lens down to about 1/20 shutter - I've heard that is much lower than most people can though. But I have extremely steady hands and don't have much issue with camera shake.

The compression is to die for and the bokeh is g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s.

The cons... it's heavy. With the 70-200, D3 and an SB-800 all loaded up, it can weigh in close to 9 pounds. I'm used to it now so it doesn't phase me, but that is the biggest complaint I hear from people. It can put a lot of stress on you hands/arms (and neck, but I have a hand strap, so I don't deal with the neck pain).

Honestly... if you can find one used and in good condition... pick it up. They are hard and they hold their value really well.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Thank you all for your input! Now I have to go either sweet talk the hubby or work twice as much to pay for it!

 

[scoot241]

Does anyone have experience with the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8? I'm thinking about a lens in this focal length but can't find a whole lot about it.

 

[My2Girls66]

Try this...
http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=212371

 

[saturndb]

you can read this review:

http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/sigma_70-200_2p8_n15/


Dave

 

[Docsknotinn]

DPreview tends to be a bit biased against Canon. There is a ton of information available on the Canon 70-200's as they make four variants. You may want to consider a used Canon 70-200 as they are very popular and easy to find.
Here is a couple of reviews for the Sigma 70-200's. For Canon reviews you may want to consider other web sites like Fred Miranda etc.
If you can find the review for the exact lens you are interested in on photozone IMO their reviews are excellent as they test them on each brand and body series instead of just a generic review for all mounts.
The buy/sell forum on FM is a good place to watch for used gear.


http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=318&sort=7&cat=37&page=3

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/324-sigma-af-70-200mm-f28-ex-apo-hsm-dg-lab-test-report--review

 

[gruZ]

I've owned two of them - one for a Canon mount and now one for a Nikon mount - and I have been extremely pleased with both copies. They are both very sharp, the AF is very fast, very quiet, and spot-on accurate. They are built like tanks, and for the value (compared to the Canon / Nikon versions) I don't think you can beat them.

A friend had the Tamron version and recently sold it to purchase a Sigma (he uses a Sony DSLR). He liked the IQ of the Tamron, but thought the AF was slow and not very reliable. I know the dpreview of these lenses had the same conclusions when comparing the Sigma and the Tamrom. He also is very pleased with his recent change.

By the way, when I sold the Canon version (which was almost 2 years old at the time I sold itt) I got about 75% of the initial purchase price back.

 

[chrispat]

I have this lens as well, and it's great. It is very quiet as mentioned above. It is VERY heavy though for something you are carting around traveling. Sigma is a great lens, at a great price, I would love it I could have afforded the VR version but it just wasn't in the money books.

We are looking at a new lens too, either a sigma 28-300 or 18-250, I will probably get the 18-250 though as I can always crop it if need be.

 

[ogreenlee]

I'd get the Sigma 2.8 over the Canon 4.0. I like the extra wide open, and that Sigma gets great reviews.

I have the Canon 70-200mm 2.8 IS, and I just luuuuuuv it. It's a hard weight to get used to, and I'm not sure that I'm willing to carry it around Disney on an all day venture, but I'll definitely be taking it with me on our short excursions out and about while there!

I saved up for it, but if I wasn't able to get that one, I'd definitely go with that Sigma. Some folks would disagree, but I like that shallow depth of field.

 

[saturndb]

I have a Canon 70-200 f/4 tripod collar if someone wants it. It is a non Canon brand and it looks brand new. This was given to me and I have the f 2.8 version. If interested just PM me and I'll send it to you.

 

[prowlerregal335m]

PM sent

 

[Docarino]

A question for anyone who has used the canon f4 70-200 IS- I just got this lens today and was surprised by how noisy the image stabilization system was. Is this how it is supposed to sound? I'm not overly bothered by it but I wanted to make sure this was typical and there's not something wrong with the lens that I received. Thanks!

 

[Altair]

Auto Focus makes alot of noise. I didn't think IS made noise.

 

[AndrewWG]

The IS makes noise but you better be in a real quiet room to hear it, otherwise it may have a problem. The AF certainly does make noise loud enough to hear almost anywhere, but not overly bothersome to me. I use the f2.8 version of the lens, but I am sure they are basically the same when it comes to sounds.

 

[Docarino]

I'm fairly certain it's the IS. It's still present even when I use MF so it's not the AF. It's a soft spinning noise that comes on when I press the shutter release halfway down and it lasts for about 2 seconds after I release the shutter button and then there's a louder click of it turning off. It doesn't really bother me, I just want to make sure nothing is broken.

 

[AndrewWG]

Yeah, that would be the IS. It is probably fine. In a quiet room, I can hear mine doing the same thing.

 

[Docarino]

Thanks so much

 

[Red_Rider]

Ok, so I'm hoping to approach the wife about buying another lens for our trip in September. I currently have a Sigma 24-70 F2.8 and I was looking for something to get a longer range for both on our trip and outside taking photos at home with the kids.

I was wondering if anyone has this lens and would recommend it. Also, with the weight of the lens, can you still have it attached to the camera and still throw your camera over your shoulder using the strap from our camera? I have a Canon Xsi....

Any info would be great!!!

Thanks!!!