photographybyajit's reviews

  • Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM APO Macro

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    sharpness; built quality; price;
    weather proof sealing;

    After reading many reviews from various sources, finally I purchased this lens a month back. Trust me, I was not disappointed and it came out to be more that I expected. my first time into macro photography and on a tight budget, I think I made the right choice.

    Few shots that I'd like to share shot at life-size (1:1 magnification) taken using the Sigma 150mm f2.8 lens fitted on a Canon 400D/XTi body: http://www.photographybyajit.com/Macro/index.html

    Solid bullet proof body,
    Sharp results and nice contrast,
    wide aperture of f2.8 really gives control over the DOF with extremely nice bokeh (see sample shot at f2.8 http://www.photographybyajit.com/Flowers/slides/IMG_1332.html)

    the best deal is that it comes with a tripod collar which is extremely useful.

    I plan to purchase the Kenko extension tubes kit next to try out extreme levels of macro.

    Thanks for reading,
    Ajit Pal Singh.

    reviewed September 28th, 2008 (purchased for $640)

  • Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Price; Build Quality; Fast & Silent Autofocus
    Sharpness; lots of barrel distortion

    This low priced ultra wide angle zoom lens from sigma is well built and feels solid.
    Considered a good travel lens, but I would purely prefer using it for shooting landscapes.
    The sweet spot I found was at 16mm-f8, otherwise overall the image quality is a little soft, but when shooting landscapes it is negligible.
    If your subjects are too close when shooting at 10mm, then expect a lot of barrel distortion, but I am sure there could be many creative advantages.
    Like to share some shots I took from my recently bought Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 for my Canon XTi.
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Outdoor/slides/APS081117038.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Outdoor/slides/APS081117072.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Outdoor/slides/APS081117048.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Outdoor/slides/APS081117076.html

    Happy Shooting!
    Ajit Pal Singh.

    reviewed January 17th, 2009 (purchased for $500)

  • Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Excellent starter Lens; Price; Construction Quality; Above average image quality
    Noisy Focusing, no HSM;

    This was my first lens about 2 years back for my Canon XTi, but I only used it for a year and sold it off for a further upgrade. Although a very good starter lens for someone on a tight budget, but even a serious hobbyist won’t hold on to it for very long.
    Overall the image quality is reasonably good with very sharp in the center to getting softer as you move away from the center. Well built with focal range offering a wide variety of photographic capabilities.
    Macro results are ok, but frankly speaking, nothing beats primes in macro photography.
    Since this model did not support HSM (Hyper-Sonic Motor), the focusing is quite noisy with sudden movements in the focusing ring outside. You need to be sure your fingers are not on top of the ring. I’ve heard Sigma has now recently launched an HSM version of this lens.

    Would like to share some shots with my Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 on my Canon XTi:

    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Abstract/slides/IMG_2823.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Architecture/slides/APS070701_060.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Abstract/slides/APS071104_004.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Architecture/slides/APS071216_002.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Architecture/slides/IMG_3803.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/BlackWhite/slides/IMG_3473.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/BlackWhite/slides/IMG_2334.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Outdoor/slides/IMG_3052.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Outdoor/slides/APS080301_132.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Motion/index.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Nightshots/index.html

    Happy Shooting!

    reviewed February 1st, 2009 (purchased for $425)

  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Excellent sharpness; Well built;
    Price; Tripod collar not supplied as standard accessory;

    Canon’s top of the line lens with outstanding performance, but of course with a hefty price tag.
    Excellent sharpness across the entire focal range, with very fast focusing. Solid bulletproof body design with weather proofing to an extent. The ‘IS’ really helps when shooting outdoors handheld without a tripod.
    The only downside is that ‘f4’ may not be as fast as its ‘f2.8’ counterpart in low light conditions or action photography.
    Also, in spite of this being an ‘L’ lens Canon does not supply a tripod collar along with this lens. It has to be purchased separately. Tripod collars can give extreme stability to such kind of lenses when used on a tripod.

    Would like to share some shots with my Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM on my Canon XTi:

    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Travel/slides/IMG_0670.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Travel/slides/IMG_0914.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Travel/slides/APS080216_079.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Travel/slides/APS080216_065.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Travel/slides/APS080202_004.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Outdoor/slides/IMG_0678.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Marine/index.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Abstract/slides/APS080126_086.html
    http://www.photographybyajit.com/Abstract/slides/APS080202_050.html

    Happy Shooting!

    reviewed February 2nd, 2009 (purchased for $1,050)