Sigma vs Nikon..cant decide on standard zoom lens!

Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 121 Location: New Milford, NJ

They are both 24-70mm f/2.8. I am leaning towards the Sigma because of its 13" focussing distance which is half that of the Nikon's and its price, but at the same time I bet the Nikkor has better glass and I really dont want to comprimise my image quality.

What do you think?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/352403-REG/Sigma_549101_28_70mm_f_2_8_EX_DG.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/36956-USA/Nikon_1963_Zoom_Wide_Angle_Telephoto_AF.html

Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 118 Location: Pacific N.W.

You may want to try a place called lenspro to go and see if they have these lens to rent. If they do, rent each one and try them out. I know NAPP members get a discount. Thats where I discovered them.

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:54 am

Kanephan wrote:

They are both 24-70mm f/2.8. I am leaning towards the Sigma because of its 13" focussing distance which is half that of the Nikon's and its price, but at the same time I bet the Nikkor has better glass and I really dont want to comprimise my image quality.

What do you think?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/352403-REG/Sigma_549101_28_70mm_f_2_8_EX_DG.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/36956-USA/Nikon_1963_Zoom_Wide_Angle_Telephoto_AF.html

Firstly those links take you to a Sigma 28-70mm and Nikon 35-70mm lenses respectively. ;-)

I have just got a Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8 EX [Canon mount] (as a few days ago) because of it's excellent reviews. I can provide some photos (once I have taken some reasonable ones) if you're interested.

Cheers
Mark

Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 199 Location: Worcester, England

Have you considered this :-

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/277219-GREY/Nikon_2145_24_120mm_f_3_5_5_6G_ED_IF_AF_S.html

It is my favourite lens, probably over 50% of all my pictures are taken with it.
It's not f2.8 but it is VR which more than compensates for it being a bit duller.

Examples can be found on my Flikr site.

Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 121 Location: New Milford, NJ

Nah that won't work for me. The VR may compensate for slow shutter speeds on handheld shots, but if you're shooting weddings with moving subjects, slower speeds won't freeze the motion in a dark church where flash is not allowed.

Thank you for the suggestion though.

Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Posts: 288

The Nikkor 35-70 f2.8 is one of the great Nikkors. It is a spectacular performer and has been for 20 years. I can't tell you about the Sigma but I can tell you that it would be challenge indeed to find a better performer than the Nikkor 35-70 f2.8 anywhere.

Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 199 Location: Worcester, England

Have you considered a couple of really fast primes.
Such as the Sigma 30mm f1.4 and the Nikkor 50mm f1.4 or 1.8. Also there is the Nikkor 85mm f1.8 which is a real stunner.

Some available light pictures with the Sigma 30mm f1.4 can be found on my Flickr site.