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This lens is sharp depending on the subject distance. I found it is not that sharp when the subject was over 150 feet away. For a telephoto lens I did not like working with subjects at a great distance. Color Rendering and Color Fringing With 1.4x APO Tele Converter, AF can operate between infnity and 0.53m. If the subject is closer than 0.53m, only MF is available.
Sigma 2.0x Teleconverter Review - Photography Life Sigma 2.0x Teleconverter Review - Photography Life
The Sigma 300mm ƒ/2.8 is excellently optimized to produce distortion-free images. On the sub-frame 20D, there's almost no evidence of any distortion. On the full-frame 5D, there is just the slightest bit of pincushion distortion (-0.05%) in the corners. It’s been three-and-a-half years since that interview and in that time, Sony has continued to add new and improved technologies to its lenses. So it’s likely safe to assume the 300mm F2.8 will offer most everything Sony has on the technological front. SAN DIEGO, CA – Jan. 17, 2023 – Today, Sony Electronics announced the development of the long-awaited full-frame E-mount 300mm F2.8 G Master OSS Telephoto Lens, with a target launch date in early 2024.As for the timing, a mere 7 years after the A9 was released and utter joke it wasn't equal priority with the 400 f/2.8 and should have been released simultaneously."
Sigma 300mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM APO - Digital Cameras, Digital
We didn't experience much "hunting", either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time. It's also a very quiet performer, thanks to the built-in HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), which makes this lens well-suited to video recording. Chromatic Aberrations After i get it fixed i will sell it and all my pentax gear. The pentax is a good product but lens and such are not where it should be compared to Nikon and Cannon. These two top brands have outlets in almost every country and very easily fixed and serviced. It is a shame Pentax has let there market share drop to a point where it is just not practical to own there product. especially for someone who travel extensivly... There are markings to easily align the camera to portrait mode when needed. It helped things go much faster. Build Quality
Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM S Specifications
With great focal length comes great responsibility. Any 300mm lens like the Sigma 300mm f2.8 EX deserves a little respect in its use. I was having a conversation with a friend and they brought up all the possible creepiness and well as the possibility for really cool shots. It’s all up to the ethics of the photographer.
Sigma 300mm F2.8 APO EX DG HSM User Reviews: Digital
even if I was a bit heavy handed with the sharpening when I first started using Lightroom ... I should re-do this one too!) Again, I think I know how to use Lightroom correctly now to get rid of that ring at the bright edge of the sunlight. Unfortunately, due to the optical design of this lens, it suffers from focus breathing. When focused at a target about 20 feet away at 300mm, the lens is about 5 feet shorter than the Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II. That’s a pretty big difference in reach, I would say roughly equivalent to 80-100mm of focal length loss at close distances. Not an issue for shooting distant subjects, but definitely worth considering for photographing at shorter ranges. Basically, you can create a custom profile with different autofocus speed settings (speed vs accuracy priority), optical stabilization and focus limiter. For example, you could set the first Custom switch for fast autofocus, no optical stabilization and focus limiter set to 10m to infinity for photographing fast action at very fast shutter speeds, while the second switch can be programmed for more accurate autofocus, OS and a full range of focusing for other situations. This is great and something very unique to Sigma – neither Nikon, nor Canon allow this much customization on their lines of lenses.The lens, built like Megatron’s canon, has a very solid feeling to it. When it is focusing, you can barely feel it. This lens is much bigger than a Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6. It weighs just above 5 lbs and you do feel it in your arms. A monopod or tripod is more than recommended.
Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM S Lens Review - ePHOTOzine Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM S Lens Review - ePHOTOzine
Accepts both 1.4x and 2.0x EX Teleconverters to produce 420mm F4 and 600mm F5.6 Autofocus ultra telephoto optics. Not all is bad though. The all-metal lens barrel is surely impressive, making it feel like you are shooting a pro lens. There are a number of useful switches on the side of the lens for additional tweaking. Aside from the typical autofocus / manual focus switch, there is a very useful focus limiter switch that allows going from full rotation to 10m-∞, and from close focus to 10m for macro shots, which is great (the 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM did not have one). There is a separate switch for setting two different optical stabilization modes like OS 1 and OS 2 (more on image stabilization below). With 1.4x APO Tele Converter, AF can operate between infnity and 1.2mm. If the subject is closer than 1.2m, only MF is available.
Now here is a point to consider. Sigma are revamping their already new 120-300f2.8 OS lens. Their new lens will be out in 2013. They have improved the electronics of the 120- 300f2.8 OS which for some proved unreliable. Unlike the Sigma prime it will have optical stabilastion and a focus limiter switch. Furthermore you can, if my understanding is correct, adjust/customise the amount of disance limitation you wish to use and that being the case can be a very nice option...for me a dream come true! I do not think the optics have been improved but having said that the optics are pretty good and sharper than the the Sigma 300f2.8 prime. I requested a shop to to go out and take some images for me and send them full sized. I was very impressed, even with the use of a Canon 2X converter the images were sharp using a 7D. In the circumstances provided Sigma improve the reliability (and I think they will) the new 120-300f2.8 will be an excellent birding lens offering so much more in terms of composition with the zoom facility. Another option would be a 70-200mm ƒ/2.8 IS (or VR, depending on brand) plus a 1.4 teleconverter. Taking the Canon EF 70-200mm ƒ/2.8 L IS II plus the Canon 1.4X Extender EF III gives you a similar zoom range (though not exactly the same), but you lose a stop of light (now down to ƒ/4), worse image quality and slower AF speed thanks to the teleconverter. Nikon users have the Nikon 70-200mm ƒ/2.8G ED VR II AF-S and either the Nikon 1.4X AF-S TC-14E II or Nikon 1.7X AF-S TC-17E II teleconverters. Some CA/color fringing at and near wide open but only at very high contrast edges. No focus limiter is trying at times. Sometimes just wouldn't autofocus with the subject right in-front of you ( yes, subject further then minimum focus) While the wide-open performance of the Sigma seems to be worse, the Sigma 2x actually performs better than the TC-20E III when stopped down in the center. Mid-frame and corners are weaker, but the center resolution is higher! Summary As I have already pointed out in my Sigma 1.4x teleconverter review, none of the Nikon teleconverters mount on Sigma lenses. It turns out that teleconverters are brand-specific – Nikon teleconverters are designed to only work well with Nikkor lenses, while Sigma teleconverters are designed to only work well with Sigma lenses. So if you were thinking of buying a Sigma 2x teleconverter to be used for a Nikon telephoto or super-telephoto lens – forget it. Even though the teleconverter will physically mount on any Nikon telephoto lens that can take teleconverters and might perform well optically, it will still cause all kinds of lens communication and autofocus issues. For example, when I mounted the teleconverter on the Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II lens, it confused my camera into thinking that the maximum aperture of the lens was still at f/2.8 (the correct max aperture is f/5.6 instead, since 2x teleconverters lose two full stops of light). I also lost the ability to autofocus – the teleconverter caused the Nikon 300mm lens to go to an AF loop. In short, only use this teleconverter with Sigma lenses!