Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM - Canon Fit

Comments about Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM - Canon Fit:

for under £2,000 there is nothing better on the market,perfect for low light conditions, i mainly shoot birds ,at the 300mm end it is very sharp brillant i would say, useing a 1.4 convertor making it a 420mm is also brillant detail, the x 2 con at times is soft and you need good light to use this, i also have a 100-400 canon zoom 5.6 l lens , the sigma beats this hands down,

Comments about Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM - Canon Fit:

[...] To start with I was fairly pleased with the results until I started using it on lower light through the winter months and found that the image quality was really bad, especially with the 1.4 or 2x converters fitted.Earlier this year the lens started to develope the same problem as my first lens (focus ring slipping), so went back to Sigma for repair, a few weeks later it was fixed but still had poor image quality.A month or so after getting it back it started hunting for focus extremely badly making it unusable on AF. It then went back to sigma for repair again and as soon as it returned I sold it back to the shop I bought it from, losing myself a vast sum of money.In general, the build quality is poor, its mainly plastic, it marks easily and its very heavy. My much cheaper canon lenses are made far better than this 2.6kg paperweight.I think it has put me off spending serious money on a Sigma lens again. My serious advise is save some more pennies and buy a Canon 300 2.8 if you dont massively need the zoom (i used this on 300mm 98% of the time).

Comments about Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM - Canon Fit:

I have got some great results from this lens but it is heavy and the auto focus can hunt for a long time or fail completely if the background is difficult or if there is something "in the way". I wanted an F2.8 lens for lower light shots with a long focal length and it certainly gives me that.

Comments about Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM - Canon Fit:

I thought that this lens would be a compromise as I did not want to work with 300mm prime lens.
I have been very pleased with the results so far.
Its first action was a night time game on a miserible tuesday night.
Even though we play in a black away kit the contrast and sharpness was good.
I only had to shoot with an ISO of 3200 and could use a shutter speed of 640.

Comments about Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM - Canon Fit:

To sum up for a f2.8 lens for under 2 grand I think its a steal, plus also having the ability to zoom over the full length of the lens @ f2.8 is a plus over a prime lens for me (I'm not saying it would be for the pro's). The lens is also one of Sigma's first weatherproof designs so in light rain and snow it should be ok if your camera is weather tight also !The weight could be an issue for an all day'er if you are planning on using it for that length of time so a monopod or tripod is a no brainer, but having a full 4 stops on the Image Stabiliser should also give good crisp images if you are after taking something more mobile and the need calls for a hand held shot. As the lens is f2.8 both x1.4 and x2 TC's will have full AF, I have found the lens as quick as my 120-400 with a x2 converter on and is lightning fast without the TC on, infact scarily fast - it literally is point and shoot ! If you are after a super-tele lens of over 400mm and don't have mega bucks then this is a definite purchase it comes in nearly 4 times cheaper than the L series 500mm and 5 times cheaper than the 600mm L and you only loose 1 stop over the 600mm L -way to go Sigma P.S take out a membership at a gym as you will need it !

Comments about Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM - Canon Fit:

This lens is capable of very sharp images even at f2.8,and works superbly well with sigma's own 1.4x converter with no loss of quality that i could see.
On the down side this lens is very heavy to hand hold,so mono pod recommended.Found the focus on static images very good, but fast moving targets seemed to struggle to lock on, though could be down to user error till i have a bit more practice i can't say for sure.