Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 OS HSM lens

[dje]

I'm looking to upgrade my Canon 18-55mm kit lens to the Sigma 17-70mm lens. It's a brighter lens with HSM motor and presumably better performance than the Canon kit lens. Also it has inner focusing unlike the kit lens which is a bit of a pain to use with a CPL as the filter rotates every time the lens re-focuses.

Has anyone had any experience with this lens ? Any comments on Sigma lenses in general ?

Cheers Dave

[speedneeder]

I haven't used one myself, but from what I have read it is a pretty good lens. It would be an upgrade.
Of course Canon seems to go out of their way to make Sigma products incompatible whenever they release a new camera body...
What other lenses do you have? You may be much better off getting a completely different lens.
dpreview.com and photozone.de are good resources for lens info.

[dje]

Brian thanks for your comments. I have a 500D with the twin lens kit, 18-55mm and 55-250mm. I don't use the longer lens much so I am happy to stick with that one.

I'll have a look at the sites you mention thanks. An upgraded 4x zooom lens should suit my needs as my main interest is in landscapes . As usual, there is a limited budget !

Dave

[Sigmaman]

I'm looking to upgrade my Canon 18-55mm kit lens to the Sigma 17-70mm lens. It's a brighter lens with HSM motor and presumably better performance than the Canon kit lens. Also it has inner focusing unlike the kit lens which is a bit of a pain to use with a CPL as the filter rotates every time the lens re-focuses.

Has anyone had any experience with this lens ? Any comments on Sigma lenses in general ?

Cheers Dave

I too upgraded from the Canon 18-55mm kit lens to the Sigma 17-70 OS HSM Macro lens and I can honestly say that it was the best thing I have done. I am more than delighted with the Sigma 17-70, it is extremely sharp and fast too. It is a well built lens that 'feels right'. I use my Sigma 17-70 a lot and it has never let me down, no matter what the light or subject matter. It even makes a pretty good portrait lens too and is also useful for close-up shots. For the price it is an amazing lens and I can honestly say that I cannot fault it. It is a great lens!
Hope this helps,
David

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I have one as well which I purchased when I bought the D7000 in place of the kit lens. It's very versatile and makes a great walk around lens given it can do semi-macro, landscape, and portraits shots with its medium tele zoom. It's great value for money at the end of the day and I'd only consider replacing it with a professional grade lens.

My only problems with it so far is somehow it's managed to get a dust particle or two in the front element - not sure how that happened. And at wide angle, sometimes it struggles to AF if you're taking a landscape scene, although this doesn't really bother me either as I generally manually focus for those types of shots.

It's definitely a step up from a kit lens on the Nikons.

[enaiman]

It was the first lens I bought with my Canon camera 6 months ago and I can say that it is a good lens.
I prefered it often over my Tamron 18-270 when the focal distance was in the range and I wanted better pics.

I have bought this week a Canon EF 28-105 L and now my Sigma lens took a big break

Been thinking to sell it at some point.

If you are interested (the lens is like new and I totally agree to send the lens to you first - if you consider it to be OK and you are happy, you can pay after ... it's a try and buy - what can be better than that? ) I think we can talk in private about it. You can send me a PM or an email at: naimane'at'yahoo.com

[dje]

Thanks for your comments Sigmaman, Mal and Eugen. Not long after I posted this thread I went ahead and bought one. And I have been very happy with it. I would like an L lens but I'm afraid it's beyond my budget at present !!

Dave

[enaiman]

Now I noticed when the thread was started and it was quite a long time ago - I've seen a new reply and I assumed it was a new thread
I can't notice a big difference between my L lens and the Sigma one; the extra 35 mm allows me to use it more often.