• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Sigma 70-300mm APO DG Macro HSM vs Nikon 70-300mm VR (1 Viewer)

Rich27B

Member
Hi there, this is my first post on the forums, so hope it's not too stupid a question!

I've been looking for a longer zoom lens for my Nikon d40 and up till now had my heart set on the Nikon 70-300mm VR. Today I stumbled across the above Sigma lens, which I understand now autofocuses on the d40, having the HSM "function".

So basically, do people think that the Nikon is worth being double the price of the Sigma or is the Sigma going to do just as good a job? After all, it's not what you've got but what you do with it right? [Sadly I don't have much and can't do a lot with it!|:$|]

Obviously, more desirable would be a Nikon 300mm prime, but that'll have to wait a while I think...

Cheers,
Rich
 
Hi there, this is my first post on the forums, so hope it's not too stupid a question!

I've been looking for a longer zoom lens for my Nikon d40 and up till now had my heart set on the Nikon 70-300mm VR. Today I stumbled across the above Sigma lens, which I understand now autofocuses on the d40, having the HSM "function".

So basically, do people think that the Nikon is worth being double the price of the Sigma or is the Sigma going to do just as good a job? After all, it's not what you've got but what you do with it right? [Sadly I don't have much and can't do a lot with it!|:$|]

Obviously, more desirable would be a Nikon 300mm prime, but that'll have to wait a while I think...

Cheers,
Rich

I have the Sigma lens and am very happy with it. You also get the macro function with it which is usable between 200 and 300 mm.

Felipe
 
There's a detailed review for both lenses here: -

http://www.photozone.de/

Only the Canon mount version of the Sigma is reviewed, but I expect there will be little difference with the Nikon version.

They're probably fine for general use but I wouldn't really rate either lens for bird photography. They both are at their worst at the 300mm end, and 300 isn't really long enough anyway except for tame birds. A used Sigma 135-400 would be a better bet. If I had to choose, it would be the Sigma, as you could put the £200 you saved towards something else, like the Nikon 300/4afs.
 
I have used the 70-300mm non apo version of that lens (canon mount) and its definatly not the best for birding. It is soft at the 300mm end and its range of reach thus us less (you can get birds up to around 5-6m away before you really start getting quality problems, but much closer is better). I think for birding you need to be in a controled situation or have very good fieldcraft skills.

The macro is also not true macro, but 2:1 - which is fine for flowers and other such sized things (infact this lens is best at flower photography) but for insects its just too little magnification - butterflies would be doable if you can find them resting - its AF is way too slow to track them in flight.

The APO is better than the version I used, but not by lightyears - so I expect you can get a little more effective reach out of it. Also its a lens that very much needs to be shot from a tripod - otherwise you will lose a lot of shots to blur - even a cheapy tripod helps a lot with this lens.

In the end I grade it as a good lens for starters as it does offera lot of versatility and with practice you can get some decent results from the lens
 
I have the Nikon 70-300mm and the "photographers" where I work use the Sigma version. The sigma cannot touch the Nikon of this focal length at all! The Nikon beats it hand down! I'm telling you this from actual experience and seeing what they can do side by side. They use it on Nikon cameras too, D50 and D40. The Nikon version also has VR which you will come to appreciate. Get the Nikon, seriously.
 
Thanks for the replies so far, interesting insights.

I appreciate that neither lens is really going to do the job for bird photography, but being new to photography I'm more looking to find something to give me a different element to play with beyond the kit lens I currently have. 70-300mm seems like a reasonable balance of cost/reach.

Thanks again!
 
It is a good balance of cost and features - you certainly not going to get any more for less and for starting out it is good at giving you a better understanding of things (just what is 300mm like, what is macro like, how do I use a tripod ;)).
Though whilst you can learn a lot with it I certainly found the temptation to upgrade very quickly, though the 70-300mm did help me understand what direction I was going to take with the upgrade.
 
It is a good balance of cost and features - you certainly not going to get any more for less and for starting out it is good at giving you a better understanding of things (just what is 300mm like, what is macro like, how do I use a tripod ;)).
Though whilst you can learn a lot with it I certainly found the temptation to upgrade very quickly, though the 70-300mm did help me understand what direction I was going to take with the upgrade.
Yep, exactly my experience:t:
 
I used to own a Sigma APO but it wasn't much cop in the IQ department. The Nikon VR is supposed to be a really stellar optic, on DX or FX.
 
Use the Sigma stopped down to f8 & it is really a cracking lens for the money, even at 300mm. All of the Puffin shots on my website were shot with the Sigma, even the flight shots. The Nikon may be an easier lens to use for a newcomer though, but dont write off the Sigma. At around £150, it really is a bargain.
Regards
Rob.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 15 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top