Sigma 70-300mm SLD DG Macro Review

Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 SLD DG Macro Lens with built in motor for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras Review

I think its fair to say that no one should expect a 70-300mm lens, in a sub $200 price range to match the performance of a prime lens, or $2000 zoom. In this light I have to say that a week into playing with this budget lens, I am starting to warm up to it.

In the past months, I have been busy falling in love with my Nikkor 85mm 1.8g, which is one of the sharpest lenses that Nikon currently offers.  When I first put the Sigma 70-300mm on my D5100, I just felt like all the color had been sucked out of my photos.  Aside from the loss in sharpness, the contrast and rich color depth of the 85mm was lacking. I thought, how can I use any of these shots.

Shoot Underexposed

Today was my first day of full sun with the Sigma, and it performed much better in these conditions.  At least on my body I noticed that I had to set the exposure compensation to -1EV almost consistently as the lens seemed wash out the highlights otherwise.  It seemed to just perform better, and I cant explain why. ( I watch the histogram to get to this point )

After playing with some birds in the trees, I realized I can both hunt flying creatures with my can, and dive into micro-macro worlds on the same shoot.  This was liberating.

Macro Results

The macro shots came out the best, so I am going to post these for now.

For a $179 macro, and super tele all in one, I am quite stoked so far.

Available in Canada, here