Sigma Sports Lens

Photo-Sniper

Hello.Im Just New To Boards.ie.I Shoot With The Nikon D40 DSLR And Im Starting To Take Sports Pictures.I Was Wondering On What Lens To Get.I Finaly Made My Mind Up On The Sigma 70-300mm Lens As It Is Within My Price Range..Would Anyone Be Able To Link Me To Some Examples Of Photos Taken With It And What Are Your Overall Views On The Lens..Bare In Mind Im Only An Amature Photographer And I Am Not Looking For Very Expensive And Crystal Clear Equipment,Thanks All

Stephen

The Sigma 70-300 certainly has the reach but it won't be ideal for sports due to it being a bit on the slow side but you really won't get anything faster with that much reach without spending a lot of money. It'll be fine in bright sunlight.
The biggest downside it has in my opinion is the fact that you won't really be able to throw the background out of focus due to the max aperture being f/4, or f/5.6 at 300mm.
I have one myself (as do many other users of this forum) on a D50. Its great for the very little money that it costs!

I was just about to hit the submit reply button when I realised that you're using a D40. That camera won't be able to autofocus with cheaper variants this lens because it has no in-camera focus motor. There is a newer, slightly more expensive version of this lens that has its own built in motor that the D40/40x/60 will autofocus with, so be careful about which one you get. Look for "HSM" (hypersonic motor in Sigma land) in the name of the lens. On the up side this variant should focus faster and quieter!

Photo-Sniper

Stephen wrote: »

The Sigma 70-300 certainly has the reach but it won't be ideal for sports due to it being a bit on the slow side but you really won't get anything faster with that much reach without spending a lot of money. It'll be fine in bright sunlight.
The biggest downside it has in my opinion is the fact that you won't really be able to throw the background out of focus due to the max aperture being f/4, or f/5.6 at 300mm.
I have one myself (as do many other users of this forum) on a D50. Its great for the very little money that it costs!

I was just about to hit the submit reply button when I realised that you're using a D40. That camera won't be able to autofocus with cheaper variants this lens because it has no in-camera focus motor. There is a newer, slightly more expensive version of this lens that has its own built in motor that the D40/40x/60 will autofocus with, so be careful about which one you get. Look for "HSM" (hypersonic motor in Sigma land) in the name of the lens. On the up side this variant should focus faster and quieter!

Thanks Very Much.Yes I Realise About The Autofocus.However The Man In the Shop Said I Can Pick Up The 1 With The Motor For 199 Which In My Opinion Will Be Perfect..All Im Looking For Now Is Some Example Of A Day Time Sport That Has Been Shot With this Lens..I realy Want To Know What The Quality Is Like

Stephen

I think Borderfox here has some horse pictures he took with it around here somewhere, have a search!

kensutz

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

Thanks Very Much.Yes I Realise About The Autofocus.However The Man In the Shop Said I Can Pick Up The 1 With The Motor For 199 Which In My Opinion Will Be Perfect..All Im Looking For Now Is Some Example Of A Day Time Sport That Has Been Shot With this Lens..I realy Want To Know What The Quality Is Like

Can you drop the CAPS LOCK!

Ricky91t

Stephen wrote: »

The Sigma 70-300 certainly has the reach but it won't be ideal for sports due to it being a bit on the slow side but you really won't get anything faster with that much reach without spending a lot of money. It'll be fine in bright sunlight.
The biggest downside it has in my opinion is the fact that you won't really be able to throw the background out of focus due to the max aperture being f/4, or f/5.6 at 300mm.
I have one myself (as do many other users of this forum) on a D50. Its great for the very little money that it costs!

I was just about to hit the submit reply button when I realised that you're using a D40. That camera won't be able to autofocus with cheaper variants this lens because it has no in-camera focus motor. There is a newer, slightly more expensive version of this lens that has its own built in motor that the D40/40x/60 will autofocus with, so be careful about which one you get. Look for "HSM" (hypersonic motor in Sigma land) in the name of the lens. On the up side this variant should focus faster and quieter!

I agree about the hsm shame nikon dropped that,

But i disagree about the Dof i think my(canon ef 90-300)produces good Dof especially for a beginner its perfect cant see any need for getting and f.2,8 cos it might turn out he doesnt like sports that much ...good lens to start with

sheesh

I am just after putting these up on my flickr shot with a sigma 70-300 of a friendly football match it was my first time trying sports photography. one or 2 are all right.;)

Borderfox

Both shots taken with Sigma 70-300 APO

Ninja_scrotum

I know it's not a sports pic, but it shows that you can take a snap of a fairly high speed object.

Calina

I shot watersports with the Sigma 70-300 DG APO for a year or so. I don't know what you want to shoot but it's a really nice lens to shoot with apart from the minor difficulty of not being fast enough in low light.

I would take the view that it's an extremely good lens to start with.

Photo-Sniper

Thanks To all of you.Definately going to get this lens now.

tullaman

Ninja_scrotum wrote: »

I know it's not a sports pic, but it shows that you can take a snap of a fairly high speed object.

Was the vignetting added in the darkroom or by the lens? It looks pretty severe.

shepthedog

You can check out my flickr and all the League of Ireland shots are taken with the Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 on a Canon 30D...
Link is in signature..

Ninja_scrotum

No I didn't add that vignetting. It is a bit mad isn't it!