Review 1 of 29
Price Paid:
$900.00
from Yodobashi Osaka Summary: I needed a prime or zoom in the 300-400 mm maximum range to use mainly handheld for birds and wildlife, and I already have a 300 f/2.8 prime that makes my arms ache when handheld for more than fifteen seconds, and a lightweight Nikkor 70-300 G that simply does not cut it. I gradually narrowed down my choices to the Nikkor 300 f/4 AFS or the Sigma 100-300 Apo EX DG HSM for a number of reasons, and ended up with the latter and a matching Sigma Apo tele converter 1.4x EX DG.
After making tests with a Nikon D70s, SB-800 flash with flash extender (to eliminate camera shake) and subjects at 2.5 to 10 m (which is the most useful range for me, and also eliminates the effects of air turbulence), I reached the following qualitative conclusions, which I use as a guideline for my own shooting:
Lens alone at 300 mm: good at f/4-5.6, excellent at f/8-22, good at f/32.
Lens at 300 mm + 1.4x TC: visibly degraded at f/5.6-8, good at f/11-16, acceptable at f/22, visibly degraded at f/32-45. The stops are indicated as reported to the camera, i.e., f/5.6 with TC corresponds to f/4 without TC.
Lens alone at 200 mm: excellent at f/4-22, acceptable at f/32.
Lens alone at 100 mm: excellent at f/4-16, acceptable at f/22-32.
Although side-by-side comparisons show differences within the range I indicate as excellent, these differences are too small to take into account in my practical shooting.
In my own experience of practical shooting, without TC this lens at 300 mm is about as sharp as my Tamron 300 f/2.8 ED, slightly less sharp than the Nikkor 300 f/4 AF-S, and much sharper than the cheap Nikkor 70-300 G. Around 180 mm, it is slightly less sharp than the Sigma Apo Macro 180 mm f/3.5, but not enough to really matter unless I need very fine detail. The Sigma 100-300 with Sigma 1.4x Apo EX DG teleconverter at 300 mm is somewhat sharper than the Tamron 300 f/2.8 with Kenko 1.4x teleconverter (the latest & best model, I forgot the name of this TC). It is optically better than other Sigma zooms like the 135-400 and 170-500 when used without a TC. It may become comparable in quality to (albeit faster than) these zooms when coupled with the 1.4x teleconverter, but I have made no extensive testing.
In conclusion, the Sigma 100-300 f/4 Apo EX DG HSM is a reasonably sharp lens at its maximum range, although not exceptionally so. It performs better at shorter focal lengths, but of course this is not why you would want to buy this model. There are plenty of good 70-200 zooms out there, but not many ones that reach 300 or 400 mm with acceptable quality and speed, and the Sigma 100-300 fits this bill without being too heavy or prohibitively expensive for an non-pro. Contrast and color saturation are fine. Flare is not a problem. Mechanical construction is solid without being too heavy. I did not regret its purchase, and it is my main birding lens for handheld shooting. Strengths: Lighter, cheaper and more portable than 300 f/2.8 primes and zooms. Weighs, measures and costs about the same as the Nikkor 300 f/4 AF-S, but is more versatile because of the zoom, and not much worse optically.
Optically far better than the cheap 70-300 zooms currently pushed by most manufacturers.
Internal focusing and zooming means the lens length is constant and dust has a lesser chance to enter the lens and camera body.
Lens collar is reasonably rigid, and removable for hand holding.
The lens balances well on a tripod with a medium to light weight body.
Fits in most medium-sized backpacks without unmounting the camera body (but you must take off the lens shade).
Autofocus is fast and silent, even in less than optimal light conditions. Weaknesses: Twice as heavy, long and expensive as typical (but significantly worse) 70-300 zooms.
No way to connect a strap to the lens (it is quite heavy, and puts a strain on the camera body and camera strap). I am looking into ways to add a strap eyelet to the lens collar. Probably you should do this too if you are going to walk a lot with this lens hanging around your neck.
The original lens cap cannot be removed when the lens shade is mounted. I bought a third-party butterfly-type cap to solve this problem (I did not find 82 mm butterfly Nikon caps).
No VR.
Autofocus performs poorly with Tamron teleconverters on a Nikon D70s (it works effectively as AF-C even when the camera body is set to AF-S). You should use Sigma teleconverters with this lens. This seems to be a common problem with Sigma HSM lenses and Tamron teleconverters. Similar Products Used: Tamron 300 f/2.8, Tamron 300 f/4, Nikon 300 f/4, Nikon 70-300 G, Sigma 180 f/3.5
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