Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

Grabbed it on Auction site for [$]. yeah, I stole it! Since then I have used it to shoot sports, Portraits and landscapes. I use it all the time! It is a heavy mother, But I use a tripod or Mono mostly. Excellent sharpness when you use a tripod. It is just to heavy for holding it. Color is great, But it is a little too soft wide open, for my taste, So I rarely go all the way to 400.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

I use this lens to take pictures of wildlife. I think that, this lens is a suitable for an amatorial photographer for its very good price.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

This is a great lens for the money. I use it for birds on my D7000. Its consistant and focuses fairly quickly. Even wide open at 400mm and f/5.6 the photos come out very nice, some, at extreme distances are soft but the majority are good. Also the lens feels sturdy and durable but itsnot weather proof.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

O.K. first up I have barely used the lens I would like to be able to return in a year and see how my thoughts are then. Having said that I saw before purchasing, some good some great reviews from real people using this lense professionally and thrilled with it. Its performance is amazing, I just tried it out at 400mm indoors at 1/30 sec hand held ISO1600 on my new nikon D7000 and it is crazily sharp. The kind of rubber black finish is very good too, easy to grip but not in any way sticky. The OS system is as good as any if not better and I cant wait to do more with the lense. [...]Great tripod mount balances well too. Thanks

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

My main wildlife lens was a 70-300mm VR, which has been giving me mechanical problems, so out of frustration I decided to give this one a go. All I can say I was stupid to wait this long in getting it.

This lens once stopped down to f7.1 is like a razor - very sharp, with maximum sharpness in the f8.0 range. To be honest it really surprised me - it's actually sharper than my 70-300vr which I consider to be a very crisp lens. Just as shocking though was how soft it is wide open, but this problem really only surfaces once you go past 300mm, and for the price it is to be expected.

The OS system is fantastic - I've gotten nice sharp photos at 1/60 of a second hand held, and the stabilization kicks in fast. I also found the focus tracking to be excellent (D7000), as well as quick to acquire the target as long as the focus is close in distance.

The only real cons are that I've found is the occasional focus lockup - it's hasn't happened often but sometimes it just gives up and I have to release the shutter and try again or grab the focus ring and get it close. It is also a heavy, but I can't really complain since that the nature of all lenses like this.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this lens, and for the budget birder/wildlife shooter this is a great lens to have in the arsenal.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

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Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

Solid construction. Better than expected A/F. Sharper images than I expected when wide open and full zoom. Very Happy with this purchase.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

So far so good. Images look crisp and sharp - maybe a little softer when wide open.

The camera comes with a lens case - that's awful. The lens case comes with 2 straps - neither long enough to sling over your shoulder. Absolutley pointless.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

Used primarily for wildlife, especially birds for about a month now. At first I was surprised at how big and heavy it was but it balances perfectly on it's "foot" alone or with a D90 attached. I also had trouble attaching the lens at first until it dawned on me that you attach the camera to the lens, not the other way around as with small lenses. Now it's easy to attach. My other "big" lens is a Nikkor 300mmF4 EDIF and *handheld* the Sigma OS built into this lens gives me better images much more often. Focus is nearly instant allowing me to get shots of birds in flight. The D90/Sigma combo focuses very fast even under our dark gloomy Seattle skies.

I really like how the lens handles. The tripod "foot" with its finger grip makes it easy to carry the lens/camera combo and I can sit the "foot" on my palm and reach up and work the zoom with my thumb and finger. It does get heavy and a monopod helps that a lot.

Whether it's hummingbirds 5' away in the back yard or eagles hundreds of feet away in the wild this lens has given me great sharp images so far.

I find the lens creep to be a bit disconcerting since it's the first lens I've ever owned that has it. It has a lock switch but so far I seldom remember to set it. Still, the zoom and focus rings are "grippy" and their action has a quality feel. I hope that quality feel lasts because this lens is going to get carried around a lot!

Also, it would be nice if it zoomed the same direction as Nikkors but I'm getting used to it.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

I almost never give 5 starts but......

I've used the Sigma 100-300 for several years - good lens too. But I wanted a bit more reach and wasn't interested in the Nikon 80-400. This lens has been better than I had expected. I use this to shoot sports and is all I need for any outdoor sporting event I cover. Focus is very fast with the D300, images are sharper than expected - very crisp even past 300mm. Follow focuses better than the 100-300 - seldom are my images not in focus. Use a mono pod and the weight of the lens matters not.

Lens is built well, zoom action is firm but smooth. Would like internal zooming but then I'd probably have to pay more for that. HSM is great, OS works well too. Tripod collar is smooth.

Drawbacks are few: yeah it's heavy but a mono pod helps, the texture on the firm zoom ring irritates after a while and it's bokeh isn't all that great. And would absolutely be thrilled if it zoomed the same way as Nikon lenses. Tough to reverse years of instincts.

5 stars might mean I think it's perfect - it's not. But 4 didn't seem enough. Overall though, a very fine lens, worth the price of admission. Highly recommended.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

I'm very happy with how well balanced this lens is on my Nikon D90 body... am able to hand hold and shoot birds at my back yard feeder with some pretty spectacular results compared to my older 70-300mm lens. I've only had the lens for a couple of weeks and haven't had a chance to put it through exhaustive testing but early results have me smiling a lot! I especially like that it can be locked to prevent creeping if I need to do so.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

No, it's not a pro-quality super-telephoto zoom. But for a small fraction of the cost of its Nikkor equivalent, I can afford this. I'm shooting this on a Nikon D-7000 and I am happy with the pictures. There is some barrel distortion and photos are crisp but not shocking. Non-photo-freaks who have seen the shots cannot see the imperfections at all. I plan to use this lens a great deal. I have hand-held it, but tripod is useful.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

The lens is very sharp. It is however very heavy. If you are not used to using long telephotos the weight might be a shock.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

I wanted a lens that could go out and capture wildlife and grand kids in sporting events. I'm not disappointed with this lens and I was actually impressed with the apparent build quality (time will tell). This is my first non-Nikkor lens. I would consider other sigma lenses. Indoors in fairly low light the auto-focus has been pretty useless but outdoors shooting sports it has been fast and reliable.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

Bought this lens to shoot college baseball games and it is perfect for an afternoon at the ball park. I captured everything from players facial expressions at the plate to the infield dirt spraying up during an attempted stolen base. Very fun to use and wonderful results!!

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

Used to shoot eagles, lighter in comparison to 150-500mm, at 400mm lens did not seem as sharp as the longer lens, but it was easier to get hand held shots and easier to pan on the tripod, also slightly quicker in focusing than the 150-500 mm, but the OS makes focusing on moving objects quite slow , best to use on tripod and without OS
Got some pretty good shots of eagles landing and taking off from the nest

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

This is an exceptionally sharp lens, especially in its price range. On my D700 I get sharp pictures at medium to long distances. I photograph a lot of birds and the pictures are exceptionally sharp. The glass is excellent. The only problem I have had is with the electronics - it had intermittent problems connecting with the camera (delta-F0 error) so I sent it in to Sigma in New York.They replaced the contacts, same problem, so they requested I send them the camera and lens at their expense so they could "custom fit" the lens to the camera. They were able to turn it around in one day. All I can say is that their service department is outstanding. They are highly responsive, replying to emails same day, and quick to repair their products. Without the initial connection problem this would be 5 stars.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

this is the first non-Nikkor lens that I have ever owned. I am very impressed with the image stabilazation in this lens. Have shot in failing light at full zoom hand held and the pictures came out perfect. The lens is a bit heavy, but all quality optics are so I was expecting that.

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

I went out into the snow looking for birds and trying out the lens. WOW! It is really sharp and the image stabilization works great hand held and on a monopod! Glad I purchased it.
I AM GOING TO HAVE FUN WITH THIS LENS!!!!!

Comments about Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF:

I purchased this lens specifically for shooting motorsports. I have had great results so far. It is fast enough when shooting cars at speed and produces a crisp picture.