Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Independence Day 2009

I spent the 4th of July weekend in NC at my parent’s house trying out my new Sigma 70-300mm lens.  I started off with some random images, a few macros, some shots of the flowers I gave my Mom, fireworks, and some images made playing with light.  So far the lens suits my needs and lives up to my expectations.  I hope to be able to give a better review of the new Sigma lens after I’ve had more time shooting with it but for now, these are my observations:              

  • It’s bigger and heavier than my Nikkor 55-200mm zoom
  • The built-in motor is fairly loud
  • The macro function works only in the 200-300mm range
  • There’s no built-in vibration reduction or image stabilization so a tripod will be necessary for the longer shots
  • Image quality seems to appear the same as that of my Nikkor lenses
  • You must have a shooting distance of at least 3-5 feet
  • Auto-focus has trouble locking on your subject in longer shots
  • Is shipped with front and rear end-caps and a hood
  • Shipped price =$159
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All the exif data can be found on my flickr photostream – here.