Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras

I bought this for my Nikon D80. I can't even believe how great the quality is, and for so cheap! I love this macro zoom lens.
I have been able to take stunning photos with this. I'd suggest it to anyone with a Nikon and a few extra bucks.

EDIT.... back when I bought it a few months ago, it was only $70. I see it's double the price now....

Got this baby almost a year ago. Due to the focal length, it is a little heavy (Any lens would be). It took me a little time to get used to flipping to macro. Be prepared to stabilize with 'something' for macro shooting or plan a high shutter speed.

The construction quality is much better than the low end Nikkor's. I'm waiting to see if the 28-70 version comes down in price a bit here at Amazon. When it does, I'll drop the low end Nikkor in the trash and get the Sigma to match this baby.

For most folks, any slight trade-off for the HUGE difference in price makes this a great choice.

This is one of the best lenses you can buy for the price. The photos are clear and crisp. The only major problems is that it takes a ton of light to get a properly exposed picture, and if you don't have a DSLR that has AF built in it can be a challenge to get the lens to maintain its focus. This is a great lens for the price, just make sure you have a nice flash to get the most out of this lens.

I've purchased the Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 DG Macro in 2007.

I purchased this for the use of photographing sports, especially football. Through my experience, this lens is worth it when shooting in ample light (meaning your shooting at least 1/250 @ ISO 800) and you're not shooting anything to increase your credibility. The lens is nice in terms that it's pretty large and the lens hood adds about 1.5" to the lens, which makes you look important if that's the case. On the other side, the lens is a little slow in terms of, the aperture is not large enough and the AF is slower since it's screw driven and covers a larger distance focus. *Just in case: A faster lens means that it has a large aperture closer or better to f/2.8 and you can use a faster shutter speed*

The lens does not have superbly dense photograph quality, but is acceptable with it's focal length coverage and low price. One this also is that the barrel rotates when focusing so beware for your fingers catching when focusing.

If you are on a budget, but want to have a telephoto lens and aren't in need of a fast lens, this Sigma 70-300 will work for your needs.

The lack of IS and auto-focus is going to turn off a lot of people, but I paid extra for a DSLR so I could manually focus so the bare bones nature of this lens is a positive for me. If you have plenty of light, a steady hand, and a little patience then this is a fantastic buy. For $80 shipped to my door it fills a gaping hole in my lens collection without costing a lot of cash.