Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG Macro lens for Nikon SLR

Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

In article , Geoff. Hayward
wrote:

Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance for
all information and advice.

nikon has a few 70-300mm lenses. the cheapest is the 70-300mm g lens
which sells for roughly the same price as the sigma and neither are
particularly great.

the new nikon 70-300mm vr replaced the older 70-300mm ed. it's a very
good lens, even without the stabilization. however, the stabilization
is very useful, especially at the longer end. it also has an af-s
focus motor so it will focus faster and with less noise than the sigma
or nikon g lens.

"Geoff. Hayward" wrote in message
...
Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have
been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper
than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the
Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon
has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in
advance for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

You are comparing the prices of the Sigma with the Nikon VR model.
What is the cost of the Nikon 70-300mm ED model pre VR?
The 70-300mm ED was a great lens and are being sold used at bargain
prices. I'm using a 70-300mm Nikon VR model and I really enjoy it.

"Geoff. Hayward" wrote in message
...
Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance
for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

Unless the Sigma is the "APO" version (it will have a red ring around the
lens barrel), don't get it. It's not that good of a lens. The APO version
of that lens is pretty good compared to the competition.

On Sat, 10 May 2008 18:57:03 -0400, "Pete Stavrakoglou"
wrote:

"Geoff. Hayward" wrote in message
...
Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance
for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

Unless the Sigma is the "APO" version (it will have a red ring around the
lens barrel), don't get it. It's not that good of a lens. The APO version
of that lens is pretty good compared to the competition.

Not only should it be the APO version, but also make sure it's the APO
DG version. Older ones were before DG, which is their specifically
for digital concoction.

I think you'll find that the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro zoom
lens is a better one than the equivalent Nikon model, the 70-300
f/4-5.6D ED or G.

Steve

On 2008-05-10 12:58:18 -0600, "Geoff. Hayward" said:

Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

I've owned the red ring Sigma version and now have the Nikon 70-300 VR.
Other than the macro switch on the Sigma (which isn't true 1:1 macro)
the Nikon is miles better. However the G non-VR version of the Nikon
is not as good as the Sigma IMO. I'd save my pennies for the VR
version if I were you.

On 2008-05-10 17:04:10 -0700, Steve said:


On Sat, 10 May 2008 18:57:03 -0400, "Pete Stavrakoglou"
wrote:

"Geoff. Hayward" wrote in message
...
Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

Unless the Sigma is the "APO" version (it will have a red ring around
the lens barrel), don't get it. It's not that good of a lens. The APO
version of that lens is pretty good compared to the competition.

Not only should it be the APO version, but also make sure it's the APO
DG version. Older ones were before DG, which is their specifically
for digital concoction.

I think you'll find that the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro zoom
lens is a better one than the equivalent Nikon model, the 70-300
f/4-5.6D ED or G.

Steve

The 70-300 VR also has ED glass, and I honestly don't think you can
beat it for under $500. I'm not really prejudiced against third-party
lenses - I even have a Vivitar Series 1 that has optical performance
equivalent to a Nikkor (but not the aesthetic 'feel' of a first-rate
tool) - but I really do think that the main reason for buying a Nikon
body is to take advantage of Nikkor lenses.
--
"Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know."

"Tully Albrecht" wrote in message
news:2008051022215943658%tullyalbrecht@coxnet...
On 2008-05-10 17:04:10 -0700, Steve said:


On Sat, 10 May 2008 18:57:03 -0400, "Pete Stavrakoglou"
wrote:

"Geoff. Hayward" wrote in message
...
Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than
the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon
so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon
has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance
for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

Unless the Sigma is the "APO" version (it will have a red ring around
the lens barrel), don't get it. It's not that good of a lens. The APO
version of that lens is pretty good compared to the competition.

Not only should it be the APO version, but also make sure it's the APO
DG version. Older ones were before DG, which is their specifically
for digital concoction.

I think you'll find that the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro zoom
lens is a better one than the equivalent Nikon model, the 70-300
f/4-5.6D ED or G.

Steve

The 70-300 VR also has ED glass, and I honestly don't think you can beat
it for under $500. I'm not really prejudiced against third-party lenses -
I even have a Vivitar Series 1 that has optical performance equivalent to
a Nikkor (but not the aesthetic 'feel' of a first-rate tool) - but I
really do think that the main reason for buying a Nikon body is to take
advantage of Nikkor lenses.

Agreed. SLRgear.com rates it very high.

--
Focus

"Geoff. Hayward" wrote in message
...
Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance
for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

Many thanks to all who responded, I've taken the general advice and gone for
the Nikon VR. thanks again.

Geoff.

On Sat, 10 May 2008 22:21:59 -0700, Tully Albrecht
wrote:

On 2008-05-10 17:04:10 -0700, Steve said:


On Sat, 10 May 2008 18:57:03 -0400, "Pete Stavrakoglou"
wrote:

"Geoff. Hayward" wrote in message
...
Hi Everone, I use a Nikon D70s with an 18-70 Nikon zoom. I have been
hankering after a longish zoom and the above lens is much cheaper than the
Nikon equivalent. One is about £55 and the other £280. Is the Nikon so
much better or would I be paying for a name? I do realise the Nikon has
VR - is this the reason for the difference in price? Thanks in advance for
all information and advice.

Geoff.

Unless the Sigma is the "APO" version (it will have a red ring around
the lens barrel), don't get it. It's not that good of a lens. The APO
version of that lens is pretty good compared to the competition.

Not only should it be the APO version, but also make sure it's the APO
DG version. Older ones were before DG, which is their specifically
for digital concoction.

I think you'll find that the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro zoom
lens is a better one than the equivalent Nikon model, the 70-300
f/4-5.6D ED or G.

Steve

The 70-300 VR also has ED glass, and I honestly don't think you can
beat it for under $500. I'm not really prejudiced against third-party
lenses - I even have a Vivitar Series 1 that has optical performance
equivalent to a Nikkor (but not the aesthetic 'feel' of a first-rate

I wouldn't consider the VR Nikon to be an equivalent lens of the Sigma
because of the price difference that VR imposes. I picked up my Sigma
70-300 APO DG Macro for $109 for a used, but in new condition one. I
don't think you'll find a new condition Nikon 70-300 VR for anywhere
near that price, or even twice it. You'd only be able to get the
non-ED version for that price, maybe cheaper. And I think it performs
better than the Nikon 70-300 lens, even the ED one which is more
expensive.

I think VR is great, but for the shooting I've done with that lens so
far, VR wouldn't have been much help. So I'm very happy with it.

tool) - but I really do think that the main reason for buying a Nikon
body is to take advantage of Nikkor lenses.

In most cases I'd say this is true. This Sigma is the only 3rd party
lens I have. But this case in particular, you have a very cheap
Nikkor lens (AF Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300 f/4-5.6 G) or the more expensive
version (D ED AF) that is outclassed by the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO
DG.

Steve