[mobike008]

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

Yaar , Tokyo Japan is messing about with you . The lens is available for 10.6k on smartshopper website itself . try and get KK to speak to one of his HPC friends and seek some info on who's name to quote or something in those lines. DO NOT buy from him at 11k.

Thanks for the pointer. I am going to bug Kirkiri till he gets me a good offer

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Thanks for the pointer. I am going to bug Kirkiri till he gets me a good offer

I'm in with you for a lens as well , so lemme know when you get the "source" . Having you to bargain on 2 lenses is like thanksgiving day shopping , lol .

PS : Im looking out for the Tokina 11-16 . Looking around for reviews on your lenses has me gripped on this one for the AP-AP trip . dude , you're a bad influence :-)

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

I'm in with you for a lens as well , so lemme know when you get the "source" . Having you to bargain on 2 lenses is like thanksgiving day shopping , lol .

PS : Im looking out for the Tokina 11-16 . Looking around for reviews on your lenses has me gripped on this one for the AP-AP trip . dude , you're a bad influence :-)

LOL. Let me know whats the best offer you got for 11-16 Tokina and we'll go backwards from there.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by mobike008

LOL. Let me know whats the best offer you got for 11-16 Tokina and we'll go backwards from there.

Would like a Tokina 11-16 myself. How much does it cost? (Canon mount)

[tsk1979]

Its costs 600$+ and when I can afford it, I will buy it. Infact I will save up for this lens. No body upgrades etc., for me. Its this lens I want.. precioussssssssssssss.

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by mobike008

LOL. Let me know whats the best offer you got for 11-16 Tokina and we'll go backwards from there.

Originally Posted by Proxima

Would like a Tokina 11-16 myself. How much does it cost? (Canon mount)

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Its costs 600$+ and when I can afford it, I will buy it. Infact I will save up for this lens. No body upgrades etc., for me. Its this lens I want.. precioussssssssssssss.

Its about 25k in India ( MRP ) . If i can get it below 20k , I'd be a happy chappy .

TSK , well said .... the "preciousss " quote has got me excited as well , lol.

[tsk1979]

Can you give me link/phone of authorized dealer who can sell this for 25K? I am sure they will have branches in Delhi also!

[livyodream]

Answers are highlighted in Bold.


1. APO means vibration reduction..correct?

No, in Sigma its termed as OS. I never felt the need of OS as the images are pretty good.

This is what i got from google: (pasting it from a forum, not sure if im allowed to paste the link):

APO stands for apochromatic, meaning the lens has special coatings to correct for chromatic aberrations thus providing better color and contrast as well as a sharper image. Here is Sigma's definition:


An Apochromat lens, which keeps color aberration to a minimum, using Special Low Dispersion glass is called an APO series lens at Sigma. As the refractive index of glass depends on the wavelength of the light, color aberration occurs when different colors form images at different points. This problem often occurs with telephoto lenses. In the case of normal optical glass it can only be corrected for two primary spectral colors by combination of low dispersion convex and high dispersion concave lenses. Sigma Apo lenses use SLD (Special Low Dispersion) or new ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass to offer superior sharpness, high contrast and color correction by minimizing the chromatic aberration.

IT inspector or any other camer guru can explain the above paragraph

2. I got a quote for APO for 11K and non-APO for 7.8K for Nikon mount.
Are these good prices?

It should be much lesser than that as i bought it for 10.5K 3 months ago in BLR.

3. Finally, how the performance of APO and Non-APO? Will non-APO be decent enough or is it must that i should settle for the APO one?

Not sure about NON-APO but the performance of APO is pretty good for the money you are investing. and please do not comapre it with canon or nikon 70-300s which is thrice the cost of canon lens. Its bit slow in focussing compared to other lens. Buy it, use it for any year, sell it, buy something else .

Reason for honing down to this lens is looking for a decent telephoto-cum-macro at reasonable price.

Yes its the BEST VFM telephoto-cum-macro lens. Come on what else can one expect from a 70-300 lens which costs a bit more than a canon 18-55 IS kit lens.

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by livyodream

Answers are highlighted in Bold.


1. APO means vibration reduction..correct?

No, in Sigma its termed as OS. I never felt the need of OS as the images are pretty good.

This is what i got from google: (pasting it from a forum, not sure if im allowed to paste the link):

APO stands for apochromatic, meaning the lens has special coatings to correct for chromatic aberrations thus providing better color and contrast as well as a sharper image. Here is Sigma's definition:


An Apochromat lens, which keeps color aberration to a minimum, using Special Low Dispersion glass is called an APO series lens at Sigma. As the refractive index of glass depends on the wavelength of the light, color aberration occurs when different colors form images at different points. This problem often occurs with telephoto lenses. In the case of normal optical glass it can only be corrected for two primary spectral colors by combination of low dispersion convex and high dispersion concave lenses. Sigma Apo lenses use SLD (Special Low Dispersion) or new ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass to offer superior sharpness, high contrast and color correction by minimizing the chromatic aberration.

Not sure about NON-APO but the performance of APO is pretty good for the money you are investing. and please do not comapre it with canon or nikon 70-300s which is thrice the cost of canon lens. Its bit slow in focussing compared to other lens. Buy it, use it for any year, sell it, buy something else .

In Laymans tems APO glass is Sigma's version of ED/HD/Flourite glass which reduces color fringing or Chromatic Abberation. These are generally better lenses than the non APO lenses. Along with this there is a DG coating that is supposed to reduce reflections on the DSLR sensor. There is also an EX grade of Sigma lenses, which are supposed to be their top of the line or professional grade lenses.
So if buying Sigma make sure it is a EX lens with APO glass and DG coatings to get the top of the line Sigma lenses.

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Can you give me link/phone of authorized dealer who can sell this for 25K? I am sure they will have branches in Delhi also!

smartshopper website Tsk .......... Hence I'm convinced its selling at lesser prices with actual shop retailers .

[it_inspector]

Originally Posted by proton

Excellent post IT!

I always enjoy your comments and your encyclopedic knowledge (and daring to go where no man has gone before: scanner camera indeed!).

Question
Would you say that m43 would meet 90% requirements of most first timer DSLR users? And more enjoyment of the experience?

Thanks!!!!

Scanner Camera is just a stolen design to be honest, people have been making it for-ever.

Since every user has a different set of requirements, one cannot say how many will be fulfilled by M43 system, it might fill 100% and it might not even fill 10% or the requirements. Since it provides control and interchangeable lenses it isn`t bad for a beginner but remember when this beginner grows out of the current system, they will need to get a complete new system and not just a new body or lens.

DOF addicts, landscape shooters NEED huge sensors and frankly even Full frame isn't enough, hence I myself am thinking of moving to Medium Format Kit. Small sensors just don`t cut it.

One big issue with M43 is sensor noise which is simply not possible to solve YET (black silicon might help it, its already being used for Night-vision applications and Image Intensifiers are using it but not sure if any manufacturer is considering it for consumer applications as its relatively cheap to produce. I believe SiOnyx has the manufacturing licenses for it at this point.). Sensors heats up as it gets uses, more it gets used, hotter it gets and even slight variations in temperature produce huge amounts of noise.


DSLR's have the edge as we compose through the viewfinder, sensor is used for very little time while during live preview sensor is used for longer periods of time continuously. This affects sensor dramatically as it gets hot more and more noise comes into play. To counter this sensor is not 100% used, just some pixels in it (and that too can be shifted, for example lets divide sensor in groups of 100 pixels, 1 pixel is used per 100 pixels for live view, now we can use each pixels for 0.1 sec and then move onto next pixel and then to third and keep doing it till we reach 100th pixels and these kept rotating between these 100 pixels, this uses more processing power but keeps sensor cool. Different manufacturers do different things but these are all kept a technical secret.)

This way live-preview is done with very little resolution and sensor is kept cool but actual focus and exposure and clarity(color wise) gets affected massively since AF is based on contrast and metering isn`t happening optically like it happens in DSLR's. As a fact Hasselblad still does metering through prisms (basically penta-prism assembly).

In order to solve this issue one can go Medium Format backs way and use a small heat-sink coupled with/without peltier system and a fan but that decreases battery life quickly and increases size. This isn't possible since that beats the whole point of M43.

Also with M43, high FPS (with good results) isn't easy to achieve on M43, since that also affects sensor temperature.

These limitations will stop M43 to become a proper alternative to high-end DSLR. That being said, M43 is a good alternative for those who use DSLR for happy snaps.

Originally Posted by livyodream

IT inspector or any other camer guru can explain the above paragraph

Chromatic aberration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wiki can explain way better than me

Personally i don't have much experience with Sigma lenses, except 50-500mm and 10-20mm. So would not comment on 70-300mm since i have never used it.

Cheers

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by Proxima

.....

Can any of the experts confirm this? I would be very interested as I also am looking to but a budget telephoto lens for my Canon 1000d..

55-250IS is the best VFM telephoto for 1000d.

For slightly more money you can look at Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM.

But if you are not too keen high zoom but more inclined towards sharp pics, I would suggest - Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L USM. Its the "L" series! Cost is around same as EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

55-250IS is the best VFM telephoto for 1000d.

For slightly more money you can look at Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM.

But if you are not too keen high zoom but more inclined towards sharp pics, I would suggest - Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L USM. Its the "L" series! Cost is around same as EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS.

How much is the Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L USM? Also, it does not seem to have IS.

And how much is Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM ?

[mobike008]

@Livyodream, thanks for your response to my queries. Now, i am almost ( 99.9%) decided on these lens since a review coming from a user means more than what you can read about it elsewhere. I am not into sports photography so slower focusing ain't such a big negative and i do know the adage "What you pay is what you get"

Guys, appreciate if someone can point the current best price of Sigma 70-300mm APO DG Macro so can negotiate accordingly with high quoters from Hyderabad.

P.S: I came to know that Sigma has also come up with same lens 70-30mm APO with OS as well but that costs a bomb, around 25K, i think.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

smartshopper website Tsk .......... Hence I'm convinced its selling at lesser prices with actual shop retailers .

It could be the Nikon mount price. In the US, nikon mount Tokina retails for 100-120$ less as compared to canon mount as there is no motor in the lens