sigma 21-35mm f3.5-4.2 (77mm) - any good?

I came accross this lens and consider buying it (long time need wide angle zoom

but don't want to spend a fortune for it). Strange enough I didn't find any

information on this lens in the internet. Can it be used on 800si? Is it any

good? How much I am expected to pay for one? Thanks in advance.

I really liked that lens ... for a while, they used to go for $169 used ... haven't seen many lately; KEH had a couple manual focus for Maxxum models which always seemed strange - never new Sigma made MF for maxxum ! Anyway, nice, sharp, built like a tank. Permanent shade protects it well, but prevents use of rectangular (GND) filters. Manual focus ring is narrow & a minor nuisance to use between the cutouts in the petal shade. Prone to flare when shooting verticals due to cutouts in shade. I would still be using mine today, except I dropped it from 4-5 feet onto a hard wood floor and something plastic (bearings ?) inside broke causing the focus ring not to turn right. Didn't test for alignment problems; gave it to someone to repair as a pet project :) Next step up, IMO, would be the Tamron 20-40.

 

- Dennis

.

 

Maje sure you get a 100% return privelidge since Sigma promises no compatibility with cameras outside the production range of the lens, and often has no update chips on out of production lenses.

 

Tamron is actually MORE compatible than Minolta, but Minolta lenses also promise to work across the board EXCEPT the USM and xi Auto Zoom lenses and quirky stuff like that (and the 2si camera may not run all lenses?)

 

Tokina, Sigma, Samyang/Phoenix/Vivitar, Cosina electronic lenses are reverse engineered and may not work on all cameras, significantly affecting their resale value in my eye!

 

You may want to contact Sigma Photo before deciding:

 

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/contact/contact.asp

 

Sigma Service Department - United States Customers Only

 

For Sigma customers in the US, please address all written correspondence to

 

Sigma Corporation of America

15 Fleetwood Court

Ronkonkoma, NY 11779

 

To request assistance by phone in the US, our technicians are available from 9AM to 5PM Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday. Call: (631) 585-1144

 

Customer Service Department call toll free (800) 896-6858.

 

You can also fax us 24 hours a day.

Fax: (631) 585-1895, (631) 585-7661

 

Let us know what you do and how it turns out - and share some pcitures!

 

Click!

 

Love and hugs,

 

Peter Blaise peterblaise@yahoo.com Minolta Rokkor Alpha DiMage Photographer http://www.peterblaisephotography.com/

Hi, I've had one of those sigma's parked on the end of an EOS 1 body for the last ten years. It's sharp and contrasty... and it's built like a fortress. Unfortuneately Sigma will not re-chip it for my 300D.

Hmmm. Sharp&contrasty, built like a tank - it's encouraging. Looks like this lens scores unusually high (for 80-100$ it can be had for at keh.com) both in tests and in user minds. Once I tryed one of those consumer vivitar/cosina 17-35s and didn't like it at all - pictures were too soft even in frame center, even stopped down. Will lens in question deliver better results?

I suspect you'll be much happier with this lens than the Vivitar/Cosina. After dropping mine, I was thinking about the Tamron 20-40 (in part, because the Sigma would not work with the maxxum 7 ... & told old to rechip) but found a deal on the 17-35G (under $1000 used !) Honestly, I was never really that enamored with the G lens because, aside from going wider, which I never needed on film, it didn't offer me noticable image quality improvement over the 21-35 on slides. Maybe it has better corner to corner or wide open sharpness (I almost never shoot WAs wide open) ... maybe a bit less distortion, but I never really noticed anything to complain about with the Sigma to start with (nature scenes where distortion wouldn't be terribly noticable if it exists). The G lens had fewer problems with flare, but on the Sigma, I'd just use my hands to shade the lens on verticals.

 

I used it on the 600si with no problem; locked up the Maxxum 7; I wouldn't expect problems on the 800si, but can't say for sure.

 

- Dennis