Thanks Mary Anne. The lens is quite a cheap one, it was bought for experimentation to see if I would find the range useful enough to justify buying Canons 70-300 DO. But after using it for a while I am having difficulty justifying an extra £800. Optically I have some fabulous shot with this; sharp with good colour and contrast, and it is also very light which makes hand holding a breeze. The negatives are; Auto-focus is slow, noisy and cumbersome, almost impossible to hit a moving target and it can easily get itself lost (obviously down to the user as well!), the bokeh can be quite harsh.
My success rate with the lens improved hugely once I turned AF off. It requires a delicate touch but with practice the number of keepers was very satisfying. Here is a link to some examples:
http://homepage.mac.com/miller.a/Sigm70300/
I love the colors and texture in this, Najinsky. You must be pretty pleased with this lens. I doubt that I could ever get this kind of clarity with my Canon EF 75-300.
--Mary Anne
