[scollins]

Today I bought a gently used Sigma 70-200 f2.8 II (Nikon mount) off of Craigslist for $575. Seemed like a great deal, so I decided "what the heck?" and went 3rd party. I'd really rather have the Nikkor 70-200 VR II, but it costs more than the GDP of some small countries......

Anyway, by the time I got it home, it was dark outside. So I was messing around with it in the house, not really thinking anything of interest would present itself to photograph. But then I noticed my daughter was coloring with her pencils, and I thought they'd make a great subject!

So I arranged the pencils, and sharpened them up a bit. Can't have sharp pictures of dull pencils! Or is it dull pictures of sharp pencils? Hmmmm....

Anyway, here are the shots I took. All are at f2.8, with most at the maximum 200mm. I used my SB-600 off-camera to provide some light, firing it remotely with my D300's built-in flash as the commander.

I just took the RAW images, opened them in PS4 Extended and saved them as maximum quality JPEGs to upload to Flickr. I didn't touch up the images at all in PS. These are just the medium sized images from Flickr, not the originals that I uploaded....

So, what do you guys think? Did I get a good deal on a good lens?

I was thinking I should call these "Sharp Colors".

[Vudoo4u2]

love it

its a very...sharp set of images

I think the flash was a little harsh? but it was dark...and theyre pencils...

the IQ on the shots is fantastic, I think the sigma lens was a great choice at that price

[scollins]

Thanks, I think I'm going to be happy with this lens, at least for now.

As for the flash, I probably should have placed it further away, or maybe even reduced the power a little bit. I did have the Omni-Bounce on it, but it was only 3 to 4 feet from the pencils. It was all pretty impromptu....

Which reminds me, I better remember to switch the built-in off of Commander mode while I'm thinking about it! I sometimes use the built in for those ephemeral shots of the kids when I don't have time to grab the bigger flash too....

[Vudoo4u2]

haha

to be honest...a remote flash has some fantastic april fools pranks written all over it... (if only april was sooner)

[BillLee]

very clever title for these pictures. the lens is nice, have fun with the new gear!

[Vudoo4u2]

ps..how long did it take to sharpen those bastards?

[scollins]

Originally Posted by Vudoo4u2

ps..how long did it take to sharpen those bastards?

About 20 minutes using the Xacto electric sharpener. It took that long because I hit the thermal limit of the sharpener and it shut down for 5 minutes.....

[Pswirley]

Whatever happened to an 8 pack of Crayola Crayons?



Great shots and sounds like a good deal, I took a chance like this on my 80-200 2.8 Nikon off of Ebay and it worked out very well for the same price. The speed and clarity of these lenses is remarkable.

Good job.

[scollins]

Originally Posted by Pswirley

Whatever happened to an 8 pack of Crayola Crayons?



Great shots and sounds like a good deal, I took a chance like this on my 80-200 2.8 Nikon off of Ebay and it worked out very well for the same price. The speed and clarity of these lenses is remarkable.

Good job.

Thanks! What really helped was being to go "hands on" and try it out with a few shots before buying.

Did you get the AF-S version of the 80-200? The D version is a great lens, but the AF speed isn't quite up to snuff from what I've read. If you snagged an AF-S for 6 bills you got a STEAL!

My preference for this lens range is:
Nikkor 70-200 VRII
Nikkor 70-200 VRI
Nikkor 80-200 AF-S
Sigma 70-200

But used 80-200 AF-S's are $1,100 to $1,400, and the VRI's start at $1,600. The VRII's retail is just stupid at $2,400....

Now if time and weather would just permit me to go out and shoot something!

[Pswirley]

Yes, its the ED. It's pretty versatile and I don't really notice any slow focusing. On the other hand, I was using a 55-200 in this range prior to owning this lense.