Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 Sample Shot

Carrigman

Santa got me this nice lens for Christmas. I've been taking some test shots with it today and am well pleased with it. It seems tack sharp and the autofocus is very fast. See attached photo of a swan near Whitegate, County Cork this morning. Canon EOS 20D in Program mode. ISO 400.

Takeshi_Kovacs

Carrigman wrote:

Santa got me this nice lens for Christmas. I've been taking some test shots with it today and am well pleased with it. It seems tack sharp and the autofocus is very fast. See attached photo of a swan near Whitegate, County Cork this morning. Canon EOS 20D in Program mode. ISO 400.

nice shot, very crisp,,
you lucky fella, santa is never that good to me..

rabbitinlights

Wow.

What mm was that @. Its very sharp.

How much was the lense? Im going to be buying a 70mm-200/300mm lense before I go travelling in May and im checking out a few at the moment. Is it a very large lense? is this it:




S.

Carrigman

Yep, that's it. I got it from www.technikdirekt.de (I got the camera and another lens from them too. Very good value). I paid €869 including €22 postage. A helluva lot cheaper than the Canon 2.8 but more expensive than the Canon f/4 which is a *very* good lens. The swan shot was taken at the 200mm setting.

rymus

I have every intention on getting this lens (hoped santa would pick up on that fact but anyway). nice to see the lovely sharp shot for it.

Rabbit, it appears to be a fairly large lens, i met a guy with it attached to a Nikon D70 recently and it's quite a size. Must start saving for it + the Sigma 1.4 TC

Carrigman

And another thing. It's a heavy mother. Not the ideal lens for lugging around on a long trip. The weight doesn't bother me as I tend to use a tripod for most of my photography and the Sigma, unlike the Canon f/4, comes equipped with a tripod mount ring.

Valentia

Heavy is right. I use this lens a lot and usually use a monopod attached to the mount on the lens. It's very smooth and I have taken theatre shots at very slow shutter speeds and they are nice and sharp. Good luck with it!

SOL

Just about to get the nikon 80-200f2.8, looks like it will be fun, but I don't think it is a travelling lens or any tele 2.8 for that matter, 1.3kg isn't light...
but it is cheap, at $849 from bhp, especially if you know someone going to new york...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=124669&is=GREY&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation


Also, go Nikon, who wants to start a nikon V canon thread. :P

rymus

if anyones getting lenses, dont forget to take a look at http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Kea-Photo. nice deals on there

Carrigman

Good prices alright but they are Hong Kong based so you will almost certainly be stung for import duty and VAT.

rymus

nope and nope.. I've never once been caught for anything I've gotten from them. All you pay is the price you see + whatever shipping option you choose. 3 days with Fedex. Can't go wrong

Takeshi_Kovacs

rymus wrote:

nope and nope.. I've never once been caught for anything I've gotten from them. All you pay is the price you see + whatever shipping option you choose. 3 days with Fedex. Can't go wrong

do you get them to mark as gift or something
hmm i wonder if all the Honk Kong based ebay shops would be so kind...

Elessar

I have to second rymus' suggestion. Used Kea-Photo on ebay myself for my sigma 18-50 2.8 EX DC lens and it arrived in 3 days by fedex with no vat to pay (marked as merchandise worth $50 or something). You cant go wrong with them and afaik they have a 100% rating on ebay with thousands of positive feedback. THATS good service.

rymus

Takeshi_Kovacs wrote:

do you get them to mark as gift or something
hmm i wonder if all the Honk Kong based ebay shops would be so kind...

They generally mark the stuff as being alot lower than value or as an item which has been repaired and include an invoice stating that repairs cost $X. I got a 24-70 2.8 Sigma lens and the included invoice said HK$80 for repairs. Nicely done I thought. Not all Hong Kong sellers will do that.

Carrigman

Delighted to hear that. I've seen various HK Ebay retailers stating they will mark
items as "gifts" in order to avoid having to pay duties and taxes. I was sceptical of the efficacy of this ploy but clearly it works. I'll be adding Kea-Photo to my shopping favourites. Thanks for the info Rymus.

Takeshi_Kovacs

hmmmm very tempted to part with a few yoyos now, although i still don't trust paypal...

mpkelly

Yeah.... I can go along with the others on this. Kea Photo are fantastic! I've ordered several bits 'n' bobs off them (flashguns, lenses etc) and have NEVER been stung for tax!

Once I ordered a Ring Flash and on the packing slip the goods were marked as a 'Flashlight' worth $15 ! Excellent service from Albert in Kea Photo and delivery via Fed-Ex was extremely quick.

I can't recommend Kea Photo highly enough!

JackKelly

SOL wrote:

Just about to get the nikon 80-200f2.8, looks like it will be fun, but I don't think it is a travelling lens or any tele 2.8 for that matter, 1.3kg isn't light...
but it is cheap, at $849 from bhp, especially if you know someone going to new york...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=124669&is=GREY&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation


Also, go Nikon, who wants to start a nikon V canon thread. :P

lol, just came back from new york. Picked up a Tamron 28-75 (great lens) there. Strangest shop i've ever been in. Anyone else here ventured there. It's very odd. They pile you in the front through the door , around the shop, and through the checkout. Madness. Great photo btw. Nice and sharp.

Ratchet

guys ,

would you pick sigma 70-200 2.8 over Canon 70-200 F4.0L for outdoor sports?

Valentia

Strangest shop i've ever been in.

I was there last March. Walked up to the counter thinkin' "I'll have a chat with this guy" and realised that you had to queue and go to the proper section. Very official and any attempts at humour (humor in their case) was met with a stoney look. Great shop though, you'd need a week to see it all.

would you pick sigma 70-200 2.8 over Canon 70-200 F4.0L for outdoor sports?

I'm not sure there is a big difference. The fact that you can up the ISO easily and the quality of the new Canons at high ISO's has made it pissible to get decent shots at 1600 ISO so one stop difference isn't a lot.

BTW I have bought a lot of my gear from Hong Kong. I was stung for duty even though one package had gift written on it. The others were valued at a far lower price than cost and only had to pay a small bit of duty compared to the real cost. Go for a dealer with a moxy load of positive ratings. Don't be tempted by an amazing price alone.

DotOrg

Valentia wrote:

I'm not sure there is a big difference. The fact that you can up the ISO easily and the quality of the new Canons at high ISO's has made it pissible to get decent shots at 1600 ISO so one stop difference isn't a lot.

the difference between f2.8 and f4 is big!
f2.8 gives a much brighter viewfinder than an f4 lens
f2.8 will generally focus quicker than an f4 lens (because it lets in more light)
f2.8 gives more (and usually prettier) background blur (bokeh) than an f4 lens
f2.8 lens will be heavier than an f4 lens
f2.8 lens lets in twice as much light as an f4 lens


for the type of stuff i shoot (low light, fast moving subjects), an f4 lens is pretty much useless, and the majority of sports photographers wouldn't use a lens limited to f4

elderlemon

DotOrg wrote:

the difference between f2.8 and f4 is big!
f2.8 gives a much brighter viewfinder than an f4 lens
f2.8 will generally focus quicker than an f4 lens (because it lets in more light)
f2.8 gives more (and usually prettier) background blur (bokeh) than an f4 lens
f2.8 lens will be heavier than an f4 lens
f2.8 lens lets in twice as much light as an f4 lens


for the type of stuff i shoot (low light, fast moving subjects), an f4 lens is pretty much useless, and the majority of sports photographers wouldn't use a lens limited to f4

The Sigma will not focus faster than the Canon. Its reverse engineered to work with Canon equipment but its never perfect. The Sigma is known for focus hunting but its something some people can live with.

The colours and contrast on the Canon will be stronger. The L lens has better optics but you trade the F stop for this.

DotOrg

in dark conditions a f2.8 lens will see things that an f4 lens simply can't see and so will have better focusing abilities

also:

The 20D has a new high-precision cross-type sensor in the center position. It provides full cross-type performance with maximum apertures as small as f/5.6, yet it achieves up to 3 times the standard focusing precision when used with EF lenses featuring maximum apertures larger than or equal to f/2.8. Previous designs either worked as a cross at f5.6 and faster, with normal precision (consumer cameras), or as a high precision cross at f2.8 but a normal precision linear sensor with slower lenses (pro cameras)