Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. Worth the money?

Mutt

Mutt

Mutt

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Does anyone have this lens and if so, what do you make of it? The sample images I've seen are great and the reviews are mostly positive but I'd like to get some feedback on how it performs for everyday use.

I've only got 2 lenses right now, a nifty fifty and a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 which I use with my D90 so I'm missing a huge optical range and need to fill the gap.

I can get the lens for £403.99 from Onestop Digital but I've never used them before. Are they a trustworthy company? Also, they give two delivery options, standard delivery - FREE or DHL/FedEx - FREE. It seems obvious to choose DHL/FedEx but is that the right choice?

Cheers chaps.
 
Thanks for that Alex. I'm in the process of trawling through photography sites to see if anyone has experience of using the lens on a D90. Hopefully that'll turn something up.

******* prices seem pretty good and so I may use them if the guys on here say that Onestop Digital are to be avoided.
 
apeksdiver said:
I replaced my kit lens with one and it is a great lens, it is the one that i use most.
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How long have you had it and have you noticed any deterioration in its focusing ability? The reason I ask is because I read a customer review which said the lens started to have focusing issues after 5 months. I'm pretty sure that'll be a one-off.
 
K.C. Leblanc said:
If you don't want to spend that much then the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 is only £219 on Digital Rev. I don't know how it compares to the Siggy, but I'm very happy with my one.

Oh and I found Digital Rev pretty good, lens came in about 3 days. It was even sent via DHL tracked delivery so I was able to watch it's travels.
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Choices choices. If I were to buy the Tamron 17-50 (for £219) I could afford a Nikon 35mm f1.8 as well. The Sigma seems to do better in reviews than the Tamron but is it £200 better?
 
I went for the Tamron and the Nikon 35mm in the end and paid £358 for the pair which I think is pretty reasonable. I got the Tammy from DigitalRev and the 35mm from the rain forest.

At £220 the Tamron seemed like a bargain. If I can avoid my natural tendency to pixel peep and if there's no focusing issues I'm sure I'll be happy with it. It'll only be used for images of less than 1000px which will be posted on Facebook, Flickr etc.
 
I lost interest in photography for about a year but I'm just starting to get back in to it again. I'd forgotten how addictive, frustrating and envy inducing all these online camera shops are. The dream of winning the lottery normally comes to mind and I start choosing which camera gear I buy with money being no object.

Back to reality for a moment. I guess I'm screwed if the lens has forward/back focusing issues with it being a grey import. I know Tamron won't touch the lens if it doesn't have an EU warranty. Have any of you ever had to return anything to DigitalRev?
 
If the worst happens and I get a bad one I'll get a replacement (or two) and if those replacements are no good I'll ask for a refund. I'm in no rush for it so I'll put the money aside and add to it over the next few months. I'll probably end up going for my original choice of the Sigma 17-50. The lens should be delivered by the 19th. As soon as I get it I'll be out doing some major testing.

Buying a Nikon 24-70mm would be the ideal but its way out of my price bracket, at least for a good while.

My Nikkor 35mm f1.8 came today so I've got something to play with until the potentially dreaded Tamron arrives. Loving the quietness and sharpness of the 35mm so far. Also loving that I don't have to back myself in to impossible corners to be able to shoot indoors which I did with the 50mm and 70-200mm.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Not a return but they paid for the repair of my Canon S100 when the zoom lens failed after a couple of months, no hastle at al from their end even though the repair cost 50% of the value of the camera. Couldn't have been happier with the service.
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Wow, that's excellent service. It gives me a lot of confidence should anything go wrong with my Tamron.


apeksdiver said:
No noticable difference in focus, it is a bit soft at 17mm stopped right down but not a problem. As with all these lenses they are best in the middle of their aperture range.
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I was aware of the softness at 17mm. Most of the reviews that I've read refer to it. Shouldn't be too much of a problem for me because my images will be resized to less than 1000px which will make the softness virtually undetectable I imagine.
 
Well I got my Tamron 17-50mm from DR today (3 days quicker than the given delivery date) and I absolutely love it. It's tack sharp at every focal length other than 50mm. I tell a lie, its sharp at 50mm just in the wrong place. There seems to be a wee bit of back focusing going on but not enough to cause me too much concern. Switching over to manual focus soon sorts that, either that or focusing slightly in front of what you want to be in focus. I may end up getting the back focusing fixed but not in the very near future.

From the youtube videos I've watched I was expecting the lens to be much noisier than it actually was. I can definitely live with it.
 
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