Sigma 300mm f2.8 APO EX DG HSM For Canon Digital & Flim SLR Cameras

Product Information

You need to do pushups to get comfortable hand holding this lens for long periods. It has some weight to it. The Sigma 300mm ƒ/2.8 is excellently optimized to produce distortion-free images. On the sub-frame 20D, there's almost no evidence of any distortion. On the full-frame 5D, there is just the slightest bit of pincushion distortion (-0.05%) in the corners.

and this makes lens changing an issue unless you have two bodies (which requires camera swapping during the action). The Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM Lens is large (4.4" x 10.6" / 112.8mm x 268.5mm) and heavy (5.7 lb / 2.6 kg), but it is handholdable for short periods of time. The lens, built like Megatron’s canon, has a very solid feeling to it. When it is focusing, you can barely feel it. This lens is much bigger than a Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6. It weighs just above 5 lbs and you do feel it in your arms. A monopod or tripod is more than recommended. A couple other "frames of reference" might be useful to some. First, if you're an owner of the Nikkor 300mm f2.8G VRII (or the VRI version) you will likely perceive the Nikkor 120-300mm f2.8E to be a noticeably bigger and heavier lens. If you think of the 300mm f2.8G VRII as a "size medium" lens, you'll probably think of the 120-300mm f2.8E as a size large! And, you certainly won't be mistaking the two lenses based on size and weight! SR: Short-wavelength Refractive, a new optical material that helps reduce s p h e r o c h r o m a t i s m.The bokeh of this the Sigma 300mm f2.8 D is simply amazing. As a telephoto lens, this lens was excellent when it came to bokeh. It is beyond smooth mostly. It has to be some of my favorite bokeh, ever. f8 Shooting a bike race is about the most conservative of situations in which to test a lens. You have a bunch of subjects, all grouped together, where it's very easy to mask focusing errors, b/c the viewer isn't exactly sure where you were trying to focus in the first place. Accepts both 1.4x and 2.0x EX Teleconverters to produce 420mm F4 and 600mm F5.6 Autofocus ultra telephoto optics.

these are with the 1.4x TC) I do note a tad of color fringing in the full rez of these images too. Now that I realized how to use Lightroom correctly, I can/should re-do them to get rid of it. Is a 300/2.8 lens (regardless of the manufacturer) a viable nature photography lens? Again, this is something only the individual photographer can determine. While the 300mm focal length may be just barely adequate in many cases, the f/2.8 aperture is a godsend in low light. With the addition of their matched 1.4X and 2X teleconverters, the Sigma 300/2.8 HSM EX also serves as a 420/4 and 600/5.6 autofocus lens, capable of delivering excellent results. For other than the song bird photographer, this may be all that is ever needed. Environmental Sealing & Protection? Yes - sealed to keep dust and moisture out AND with a fluorine coating on the front element to repel dust and dirt.Just wanted to put the record straight - a classy lens once Sigma gets the individual lens right. Thanks to the Aussie importers for persevering on my behalf with Sigma in Japan. Since Sigma reverse engineers (vs. licenses) manufacturer AF routines, there is always the possibility that a new body might not support an older third party lens. The manual focus ring is a fantastic size. I had to use it at one point when shooting handheld and in a low light situation where focusing was really tough. This 120-300mm lens sees the same angles-of-view on full-frame as an 80-200mm sees on DX. Used on a DX camera, this lens sees the same angle-of-view as a 180-450mm lens sees on FX (see crop factor).

Large-aperture super-telephoto lenses such as the FE 400mm F2.8 G Master™ OSS and FE 600mm F4 G Master™ OSS are highly acclaimed by sports and wildlife photographers around the world for their outstanding resolution and autofocus (AF) performance, as well as being remarkably lightweight. The new lens will feature the incredible high-resolution and spectacularly beautiful bokeh true to Sony’s acclaimed line of flagship G Master™ series lenses, while also offering a far-reaching 300mm focal length and F2.8 large aperture. This combination will deliver a new elevated shooting experience for all professional sports, news and event photographers and videographers looking to capture decisive moments with higher image quality. Focuses well enough, but not quite 'ultimate performance' as I wasn't able to catch running gazelles or wildebeests running to or from me too well. It auto focuses much slower when you engage the manual focus ring as well. If you slid the focus rind forward so manual focus is disengaged, it's much faster. The 120-300mm f2.8 benefits from the latest Nikon optical technology as the results clearly demonstrate. But it clearly belongs to the E FL generation of lenses in terms of build (still pretty light all things considered). Meaning that it does not benefit from the next generation build enhancements seen in the breakthrough Z mount 400mm f2.8 TC and 600mm f4 TC. All companies develop some technologies and deploy them in products when they are ready. When mounted on the full-frame 5D however, light falloff is a bit more noticeable. When used at ƒ/2.8, the corners are 3/4 of a stop darker than the center. Stopped down to ƒ/4, this shading is slightly alleviated at just under a half-stop differential, and at ƒ/5.6 corner shading is reduced further to just a quarter-stop. At any other aperture, light falloff isn't significant.

These were all taken stopped down a good deal, unlike most all the shots taken during my Tanzania outing which were mostly taken at or near wide open. E: Electronic diaphragm. Silent operation, but only works with cameras introduced since about 2007. SAN DIEGO, CA – Jan. 17, 2023 – Today, Sony Electronics announced the development of the long-awaited full-frame E-mount 300mm F2.8 G Master OSS Telephoto Lens, with a target launch date in early 2024. The ultimate goal of all my field testing of this lens (and any bit of gear I test) is to determine if it is right for me and should be in my own field kit. In this particular case, my findings will likely determine which of the two 120-300mm lenses (the Nikkor or the Sigma) I end up keeping and which I end up selling. But because I am comparing the Nikkor 120-300mm f2.8E against many other lenses, I suspect this review will help many photographers decide not only if the Nikkor 120-300mm f2.8E is right for them but also if some other lenses might be just fine for their uses.

Basically, any requirement met by the 120-300mm focal length range with a fast aperture and not-extremely fast AF where size and weight are not an issue can be met. It is of course an expensive lens, like top quality super teles all are, but it delivers tremendous value for actual action photographers. http://public.fotki.com/m8o/dogs-life/funinthesnow/ ( the first 17 only -- first 5 are with the 2X TC ) As stated above I have the Sigma 300 f2.8. I once tried the Sigma 120-300 f2.8 (non OS) because it was allegedly sharper than the prime. I did not find that to be the case but that could have been due to a number of factors. The first being only a few sample shots taken and secondly the smallest micro adjust may have been needed. Sigma's MTF chart for the 120-300 indicated that the 120-300 f2.8 was or is sharper than the prime. I did not trade my prime in because any sharpness difference was inperceptible and I already had a 100-400 Canon.Corner shading isn't much to write home about when the lens is mounted on the sub-frame 20D - the corners are just a quarter-stop darker than the center when used wide open at ƒ/2.8. Stop the lens down even to ƒ/4, and the shading goes away.