Nikon 70-300 G/ED or Sigma 70-300 APO DG

I know these are not great lenses, but due to money, I might consider one of

these. Heard the Nikon is slow to focus and my prime need will be daytime sports

such as Soccer and Baseball. Which one is sharper? Any other pluses and minuses

on any of the lenses would be appreciated. Will be used on a Nikon D50

I'd go for a discontinued Nikon 75-300. better construction, sharper, and only a bit over $200 from KEH. It's very good wide open to 200mm. Stop down beyond that and it's still decent. see the link below for a very good test of this lens.

 

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/nikkor_75300_4556/index.htm

I did a lens comparison test of the 85 f1.4, Nikon 80-400 and Nikon 70-300ED at 85mm here:

 

http://aaronlinsdau.com/gear/articles/lens_comparison85.html

 

Sorry, don't have a sample of the Sigma for comparison. One nice thing about the 70-300ED is you can get the 6T diopter and create a 0.87:1 macro, larger than life size. The DOF is just thicker than a piece of paper at 300mm but it's a nice tool until I can justify buying a Nikon macro.

Just for clarity's sake, note that the Nikkor 70-300 G (the old one without VR) doesn't have ED glass. The ED version of the 70-300 is a "D" model, with the aperture ring. The soon to be available 70-300 VR is a "G" type model and has ED glass. To make things worse, there's an old non-ED "D"-type 70-300 out there, too.

First let me tell you my Camera is Nikon D70 Kit Lens with 18-70mm AFS F3.5-4.5 G ED DX ($400.00) If you bought it seperately. The Sigma Lens has a metal mount and Macro lock. Comparing both lens my opinion goes with the Sigma very quick response time and accurate color, now it stay on my camera 75% of the time now.With SB 800 Flash, inside shot is very good.