Budget 70-300mm: Nikkor, Sigma or Tamron?
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Hi leyo04,
Are you talkin about the nikkor G or the ED/ED with VR in the same 70-300mm range? Coz the latter are in a different league altogether and cannot really compare with the budget options being discussed here. :bigeyes:
Personally, I have heard many good things about the Sigma 70-300mm too in this specs & price range. Also it is about $100 more than the Nikon. And of course the added Macro feature. So there must be somethin in this lens to make it tick. Whereas usually Sigma lenses are usually not as highly rated as the Nikon, only in this 70-300mm one did i notice that Sigma stood out...
Will be able to give a more accurate response in a few more days...looking at buying the Sigma 70-300mm and giving it a shot. Hope it lives up to all that we've heard about it.
Hey, btw why would you own 2lenses of exactly the same specs!?? :think:
If you really wanna offload the Sigma...you know who to PM huh!?!!
Cheers,
Are you talkin about the nikkor G or the ED/ED with VR in the same 70-300mm range? Coz the latter are in a different league altogether and cannot really compare with the budget options being discussed here. :bigeyes:
Personally, I have heard many good things about the Sigma 70-300mm too in this specs & price range. Also it is about $100 more than the Nikon. And of course the added Macro feature. So there must be somethin in this lens to make it tick. Whereas usually Sigma lenses are usually not as highly rated as the Nikon, only in this 70-300mm one did i notice that Sigma stood out...
Will be able to give a more accurate response in a few more days...looking at buying the Sigma 70-300mm and giving it a shot. Hope it lives up to all that we've heard about it.
Hey, btw why would you own 2lenses of exactly the same specs!?? :think:
If you really wanna offload the Sigma...you know who to PM huh!?!!
Cheers,
This is very narrow, one-track-mind thinking. Generally, of course, original gear is still the best, but there have been exceptions. The Tokina 12-24 f/4 is one, and the Sigma 70-300 APO DG is another.
Hi leyo04,
Are you talkin about the nikkor G or the ED/ED with VR in the same 70-300mm range? Coz the latter are in a different league altogether and cannot really compare with the budget options being discussed here. :bigeyes:
Personally, I have heard many good things about the Sigma 70-300mm too in this specs & price range. Also it is about $100 more than the Nikon. And of course the added Macro feature. So there must be somethin in this lens to make it tick. Whereas usually Sigma lenses are usually not as highly rated as the Nikon, only in this 70-300mm one did i notice that Sigma stood out...
Will be able to give a more accurate response in a few more days...looking at buying the Sigma 70-300mm and giving it a shot. Hope it lives up to all that we've heard about it.
Hey, btw why would you own 2lenses of exactly the same specs!?? :think:
If you really wanna offload the Sigma...you know who to PM huh!?!!
Cheers,
It's the G, the one that came free with the D80 during the last IT show. Will do another round of test again tonight to confirm. :thumbsup:
Hi leyo04,
Yes, its the G version they gave at the expo with the D80 kit...i remember too. So if you're happy with that and want to sell the Sigma...look no further...PM me ur asking price...if reasonable then consider it sold!
Hi leyo04,
Yes, its the G version they gave at the expo with the D80 kit...i remember too. So if you're happy with that and want to sell the Sigma...look no further...PM me ur asking price...if reasonable then consider it sold!
oopsie.. my wife has 20/20 vision and told me the sigma is better. darn! I need to get my glasses checked.
both pix resized only.
nikkor
File size: 252023 bytes
File date: 2007:04:11 07:48:36
Camera make: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model: NIKON D80
Date/Time: 2007:04:11 21:27:34
Resolution: 800 x 536
Flash used: No
Focal length: 300.0mm (35mm equivalent: 450mm)
Exposure time: 0.033 s (1/30)
Aperture: f/14.0
ISO equiv.: 640
Whitebalance: Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing
sigma
File size: 256262 bytes
File date: 2007:04:11 07:48:48
Camera make: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera model: NIKON D80
Date/Time: 2007:04:11 21:25:27
Resolution: 800 x 536
Flash used: No
Focal length: 300.0mm (35mm equivalent: 450mm)
Exposure time: 0.033 s (1/30)
Aperture: f/14.0
ISO equiv.: 640
Whitebalance: Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing
you'd be the judge.. i think it's the sigma.
yup...on the face of it does seem the sigma stands out better. but the colors on the nikon are softer and nicer...skin tone of the toy is more brownish as opposed to flash white in sigma. sharpness wise the sigma seems better. dunno...guess one of the experts better come in and view the thread to give us their informed opinion...:dunno:
Hi leyo04,
Hey, btw why would you own 2lenses of exactly the same specs!?? :think:
If you really wanna offload the Sigma...you know who to PM huh!?!!
Cheers,
The reason why I have both is, the sigma is for me, for my d70s, and the nikkor came free when I bought the d80 for my better half.
So, will this confuse the TS some more? hehehe...
Hm..however, the Nikkor colours seem more subdued and bluish. What lighting conditions were you shooting under?
In fact, the "skin" tone of the soft toy in the Nikkor photo also looks rather bluish, as compared to the warmer tone in the Sigma photo. I notice white balance is on Auto so this may be the problem. On the whole, (but this depends on white balance and lighting conditions that the test was carried out under) the Sigma seems to have more natural tones as well.
In fact, the "skin" tone of the soft toy in the Nikkor photo also looks rather bluish, as compared to the warmer tone in the Sigma photo. I notice white balance is on Auto so this may be the problem. On the whole, (but this depends on white balance and lighting conditions that the test was carried out under) the Sigma seems to have more natural tones as well.
How bout lighting? Hmm...maybe a custom white balance would make the results more uniform in terms of colour tone.
EDIT: Didn't see the rig photo earlier. Try the custom white balance? The slight difference in colour tone could be a result of the camera's AWB being fooled by something.
Have used the sigma 70-300 b4...its a good lens...particularly between 70-200. Think its good value for money. :thumbsup:
Maybe I should have done that.
But when I did the test, I let the cam decide which showed that AWB is better with the Sigma?
Not necessarily. Could be that the cam is just fooled by one light in the light rig and give a different AWB setting. The custom WB will show if there are any colour casts from either lens.
I shoot on Cloudy -1 and I get the same conclusion. Nikon colours are more neutral and Sigma is warmer and contrastier, Tamron is less contrasty, a bit pale. But having said these, Sigma's colours do vary between their different lenses also. eg colour from the 12-24 lens is quite different from the colour from 18-50. Nikon's is very consistently neutral since the AiS lenses.
Very true. Why does Sigma have to have so much variations in their production standards? It's infuriating.
Thanks everyone for your help. I bought a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro yesterday from a CSer for $240. It works great, and I love the skin tones.
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