Sony SAL2470Z - zoom lens - 24 mm - 70 mm F/2.8

Sigma EX DG 70-200mm f2.8 HSM Macro

Advantages: Build quality. Finish. Range. Fast maximum aperture.
Disadvantages: Image quality not as good as expected. Chromatic Aberration.

no less than 18 elements (in 15 groups), including 2 ELD (Extra Low Dispersion) ones, this is no surprise. A little surprisingly perhaps for such a fast (f/2.8) lens with a range of up to 200mm focal length, Sigma have managed to constrain filter thread size to a reasonably economical (over 82mm) 77mm. The lens has a fairly moderate 3x zoom ratio and as such, the design shouldn't have presented too many problems. Accordingly, distortions are impressively low. There is still a small amount of barrel distortion at 70mm focal length, although nothing to worry about. This changes to moderate pincushion distortion at the longer end of the zoom range. Again, nothing to get too upset about. Vignetting is not much of a problem when using the lens on cropped APS-C cameras, due to the sensor utilising only the central 'sweet' spot of the image ...

davecham 28.12.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sigma EX telephoto zoom lens - 70 mm - 200 mm F/2.8

The nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR, top-of-the-line

Advantages: Beautiful bokeh, tack-sharp, vibration reduction, easy to use, many useful accessories
Disadvantages: heavy, expensive, slight vignetting, prone to flaring

their version, the so-called "vibration reduction", was the 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 ED. An interesting lens to be sure, but Nikon owners really started to get excited at the announcement of the AF-S 70-200 F2.8 VR. This lens, a successor of a highly regarded line of professional lenses, turned out to be spectacular: the image stabila? sorry, the vibration reduction was possibly even more effective than Canon's and the image quality? Well, I am going to discuss that right now! ---Image quality--- The 70-200 VR is a tack-sharp lens, as you would expect of a lens in this price class. It is not even in the same ballpark as normal consumer lenses: the colours are vibrant, the details sharp, and the bokeh (the appearance of parts of the picture that our out of focus) is stunning. The lens is particularly famous for the silky smooth rendering of out ...

hetvuurtje 24.03.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Nikon Zoom-Nikkor telephoto zoom lens - 70 mm - 200 mm F/2.8

Canon's sharpest zoom is a rock, or brick

Advantages: Awesomely sharp. Wide Aperture gives great control. Great colour.
Disadvantages: A little fragile. Would prefer with Image Stabiliser.

over a pound, but attached to any camera with two digits or less in its designation, it feels very right, and me marking it as "heavy" should not be seen as a bad sign. (In fact, the star ratings seemed a little odd, so you should focus on the "Excellent" rating. The included hood is massive, but cleverly designed, since the lens "reverse extends". The lens is longer when zoomed to 24mm, and shortens as the zoom length increases. It's a good design. The filter thread is the standard for L zooms at 77mm, so any filters you've bought for other zooms will fit. I own this and the longer 24-105 F/4 IS L, and they're both quite different lenses. The longer lens is a more versatile "travel" lens, whereas the 24-70 is perfect for indoor and outdoor portraits, at parties, weddings etc. I wouldn't be without it. Except I am, because I dropped ...

GilesGuthrie 26.01.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Canon zoom lens - 24 mm - 70 mm F/2.8