Dan Martin

Thanks to for letting me post this here.

I just bought a new tripod, so I'm selling this lens to fund the purchase.

Overall Impressions:
I've had it for a little over a year and it's been a good lens. It has complimented my 10-22 and 70-200 nicely. It's my usual indoor lens and I've used it a lot over the holidays. It's very sharp wide open, and extremely sharp in the f/5.6 to f/8 range.

This is not an HSM lens so the auto focus is loud compared to Canon's USM lenses. The upside is it focuses quickly and accurately, even in low light.

It comes with a pedal style hood, but flare can be an issue in direct sunlit areas. If you're not shooting into the sun, you shouldn't have any problems. The pedal hood was designed for a full-frame body, but if you're shooting with cropped sensor, you might be able to use a longer hood to prevent flare. It's not a big deal though, just don't point it at bright orbs in the sky.

The lens is in great shape, with only a few scuffs on the lens cap from being carried in my bag.


Pics of the lens:











Specs (other than the obvious):
Maximum Magnification - 1:3.8 (quasi-macro)
Minimum Focusing Distance - 40cm / 15.7 in.
Filter Size - 82mm
Dimensions - Diameter 88.7mm X Length 115.5mm
Weight - 715g

More specs and pics on Sigma's website: http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/len...61&navigator=2


Pricing:
New camera gear is always more expensive in Canada ($599.99 CDN @ Henry's vs. $429 USD @ B&H). Instead of following the same trend, I'll even out the pricing for both sides of the border:
$270 USD shipped to a CONUS address
$300 CDN picked up in the GTA
$315 CDN shipped to a CDN address

Paypal is preferred for any shipped order, and I will not pass on the 3% fee I get charged.

Cheers,

Dan

Dan Martin

I should also mention that this is a Canadian lens but it has a 7 year international warranty. The card and manual booklet are in the box.

Stapler

Damn you dan, 3 weeks ago I would have been all over this.

wndrlst

So, what pod did you end up going with? Did you get basalt?

Dan Martin

I was waiting for the Gitzo 3540LSV to come out, but I ended up getting a Benro C-328n6. It's basically a four-section version of the Gitzo 1327, but with the new anti-rotating legs that will be coming out on the new 3 series Gitzos in a month.

If you haven't heard of Benro before, they make clones of Gitzo products. They're not just a close knockoff, they're almost an exact replica.

What happened was Gitzo outsourced their production to China and the people who built their factory over there started a new factory 15km away and put a copy of everything they placed in the Gitzo plant. They have all the blueprints, the manufacturing methods, and materials from Gitzo, so the Benro product line is basically a mirror image of the Gitzo catalog.

So the end result is you get a tripod with better specs than the Gitzo, for half the price. Gitzo got by the Chinese.

I'll post my impressions when it gets here.

soopa

we should all buy Benro, then maybe these companies would learn to stop sending all their fucking production to China.

save $2 a unit, but get all your intellectual property stolen. genius!

Dan Martin

We're not talking about cheap items here either, Gitzo must be making a healthy profit already off their products. It looks like they got greedy and got owned by some Chinese pirates.

Politics aside, I'm looking forward to getting my new pod.

EuRTSX

I'd buy this, that is if I still had my Digital Rebel XT.


Too bad I went over to the dark side...


Good luck with the sale Dan!

Dan Martin

The lens is sold.

Thanks everyone.