hi there. i'm currently looking for a decent zoom lense for my d70. saw some like tamron and nikkor's but have no idea which is better. my budget is below rm600. any suggestions?

i just saw a magazine (UK) that compares budget 70-300mm lens from various manufacturers.

top score went to sigma and i can't remember what's the other one. tamron came in 2nd. either way both are great lens.

have a look at my gallery (at LYN or at my website, up to you) and you'll see some shots taken by the Tamron 70-300mm.

Tamron 70-300mm will cost you around RM600-700. I use those. Dont know how much the Sigma would cost but should be about the same, maybe more by RM100-150. The quality for both are decent. You might need to familiarize with the lens first to avoid vibration effects, but once you get the hang of it, it's all good. =)

AFAIK the Sigma counter-part costs around same price, not till RM 100 - 150 more.

i did check them out before.

I think Sigma could be a tad more expensive like about a hundred bucks or something.

I'm considering a zoom lens too, but still thinking between Tamron 55-200 f4-5.6 and Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6. Some reviews mentioning that the 55-200 has sharper image and better quality within the same range. Price difference is about a hundred RM.

55mm @ f4 would probably give a closer shooting range compare to 70mm @ f4 for portrait.

goldfries,
until what focal length does the 70-300mm allows f4 aperture?

55-200 covers lesser range, not surprising it'll have sharper image.

good question! i don't know so went to test it out.

so what i did was set it to aperture priority and slowly zoom to the maximum distance before aperture change. i took a shot and according to EXIF details it's 119mm.

as for macro shots, it only works when the lens is set to 180-300mm range.

Interestingly the 55-200mm allows f4 up to 135mm.
But the 70-300mm has much better macro capability

This post has been edited by soulfly: Oct 16 2007, 12:59 PM

aihh speaking about the focusing. it's takes a while to focus, taking a while to focus means more battery drain.

pretty noisy too, like some robotics action. macro is limited to 1:2

what else ah. hrmm......... Aperture Priority + Max Zoom = Err 99. i also donno why.

anyway here's some macro shots I snapped yesterday using the Tamron 70-300mm (yes, taken from my gallery).

rm600-700.. whoaa.. a little more than my budget.. maybe i should look for a second hand one

goldfries, i checked out your photos. makes me wanna get the tamron lens even more. hehe.

i bought mine 2nd hand with filter, 1 month old unit. RM 600 also. that's more than half a year ago. it's not impossible to get 2nd hand unit for <600 though.

as for my photos, heck you could do it with other brands too!

i got my 2nd hand sigma APO DG 70-300mm for RM520, and here's a sample of my shot..





anyway, the macro capability is kinda cacat, cause 1:2 is only @ 300mm, and 300mm is supposingly the softest range of the lens. this applies to both tamron and sigma..

kinda cacat. haha. well i'm not really a big fan of macro though i do take some flower n insects photos. getting a 90mm macro is for those really into macro. so i'll just stay with the 70-300mm

wouldn't wanna spend rm13xx for a 90mm when i could buy 70-300mm and 50mm for portraits. hehe.

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Added on October 16, 2007, 1:53 pmoh, i forgot to ask, what do you guys think of Nikon AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6G? is it as decent as tamron n sigma's? if so, what's the price for the lens?

This post has been edited by ezreen: Oct 16 2007, 01:53 PM

good price!

how old was it? come with filter?



@300mm only? seriously?

cos my Tammy does 180mm - 300mm for macro.

for macro shot, i make sure it's at 180mm. 300mm just doesn't cut it for me.

and YES, 300mm is definitely soft. i hate snapping at 300mm. every time i zoom I make sure the range hovers around 200mm range.

Sample shots I took using my Canon 350D, Tamron 70-300mm 1:2 macro lens.


Image EXIF
Shutter speed : 1/200
Focal Length : 248mm
Aperture : F/5.6
ISO : 100


Image EXIF
Shutter speed : 1/125
Focal Length : 180mm
Aperture : F/10
ISO : 100

when i bought it, it's around 1 year old, no more warranty left, but very new condition when i inspect.. the seller just got himself a sigma 70-200mm f2.8.
it does come with a filter, but cheaplak 1.. i got better 58mm filters, so i just give away the cheaplak 1 when i sell off my kit lens..
the tammy will do macro from 180-300mm, but 1:2 only @ 300mm..
my sigma officially does macro from 200-300mm, but the same applies for 1:2, only @ 300mm
there's a scale on sigma lens that show what is the ratio @ what range..
for example, 1:2 @ 300mm, 1:3 @ 200mm and around 1:4.3 @ 135mm..
i somehow managed to "cracked" the lens to make it shoot macro from 70-300mm now, means full range.. haha
read it from some taiwan site, then hands got itchy, tried it, and worked..
so now i can utilize the sharpest range of this lens and shoot at 95cm(macro range) away from the subject instead of 1.5m(normal range).

OT: just got myself a very new condition manfrotto 055proB with 141RC head for RM450 today.. muahahaha...

This post has been edited by kevin613: Oct 16 2007, 02:45 PM

ok i misunderstood your post.

yes. 1:2 @ 300mm. correct.

for the tammy, it ranges from 1:39 (180mm) to 1:2 (300mm).

hey ezreen, i got my tamron 70-300 LD Li 1:2 macro (new and local warranty) at Photo Selangor in Pertama Kompleks, KL, last month for rm580 includes hoya uv filter. As far as i know that's the cheapest in KL. They don't sell sigma lense though. Good luck.

wow!! that's cheap. i'm so gonna go there and check it out. thnx dude!

What?!?!? That's very cheap! I got mine 2 weeks ago for 700 for the exact unit and filter.
Next time I get any accessories I'll ask for opinion first. Arrgh... could've save up 120 and get other camera stuff.

HI Guys,

How about Canon 70-300MM USM ? check the price also around that? any user here? Check the review and compare before with Canon and Tamron 300MM with my Camera, that when crop the pic, Canon better than tamron and 300MM end... just my 2cent. Not test Sigma as no stock at that shop....