Are 3rd Party Lenses Any Good?


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I'm just wondering if 3rd party lenses for my Nikon such as Sigma are actually any good? They seem a lot cheaper than Nikon lenses... is this just a branding thing? For instance, the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro (Nikon AF) is only ?99.99 this seems really cheap for a 300mm lens! Are these lenses good for the cash, or should I pay more and stick to Nikon lenses?

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Sigma are a really good brand, i just got that Sigma 70-300mm DG but the APO version. Top quality, solid lens. I doubt i will be getting a Canon lens for a while, because it is just too expensive, which made me find Sigma, and i think i will be buying alot of lenses from them.

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I'm just wondering if 3rd party lenses for my Nikon such as Sigma are actually any good? They seem a lot cheaper than Nikon lenses... is this just a branding thing? For instance, the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro (Nikon AF) is only ?99.99 this seems really cheap for a 300mm lens! Are these lenses good for the cash, or should I pay more and stick to Nikon lenses?

Same question I had exactly 5 days ago. I bought the lense you're referring to and I can only recommend it... it's cheap and for that money give you great results...

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make sure you get the APO version, otherwise (N)

The APO version is the best you can get for the price. And also you get a macro lens @ ratio 1:2

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Sigma make some quality lenses, they are the only 3rd party lens company I would go near though.

APO means Apochromatic. You can read more about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apochromatic

Basically means the lens has better colour correction.

well it depend on the lens

I have a Tamron 18-200mm , A Tokina 12-24mm , A Sigma 70-300mm APO and my lil Nikkor 50mm

So IMO, no Sigma isn't the only third party lens that is good!

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Tamron, and Sigma are the only third parties I'd touch. Haven't used them personally, but a lot of friends do.

Personally, I buy Canon.

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Hrm I might be a bit biased since I only use Canon's L Series (with the exception of the Canon 50mm f/1.4).

My next lens will be L series aswell. Just got to save up for it.

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3rd party lenses can be great. Ive got that above mentioned 70-300 apo dg for my nikon d50, and i love it. Soft at 250mm and above, but thats great - i spent $150 on it with a polarizer.

Make SURE you get the 50mm F/1.8 nikkor for around 80 bucks.. best money spent

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it's a good lens because of the depth of field effects you can do as well as, as you mentioned, the 1.8 f-stop. the 1.4 would be better yet, but it's decently pricey, whereas the 1.8 is pretty cheap.

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