Help Please. Nikon 55-300mm, Sigma 70-300mm Or Tamron 70-300mm ???

Mair, I have used the Tamron LD 70-300 for over ten years. Great lens. Go for the best deal. You don't need to spend the money for a more extensive lens even if it may be a smitch sharper as you can sharpen an image with software.

Sigma's reputation is better than Tamron's in terms of quality control and durability. They have recently launched an art series of lenses that seem to give the big players a serious run for their money. Between the two I would feel more comfortable with Sigma. Not saying Tamron is bad, but Sigma would give me more peace of mind given all the favourable reviews of the 35mm Art prime. They have seriously stepped up their game recently it seems.

Whether the Nikon is worth it depends. One thing that is important though is that you not only look at sharpness, but also things such as contrast, performance wide open, bokeh. I feel that in many cases, the Nikon lenses do offer a more pleasing image but that may be just me. Nikon lenses also tend to better retain their value when selling them again. Also remember that polishing up an image afterwards is no substitute for the out-of-the-box qualities of a good lens. It's better to get good sharpness straight from the lens than add it later in PP.

Here is a post with a number of lens review sites:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3273291#forum-post-42587914

Also carefully think about how you will be shooting the lens. For example, the better lens might be a lot heavier and not be comfortable for you to lug around for prolonged periods of time. If the lens stops you from taking your camera with you, then lighter might be more important than durability.

Hope this helps.

I take it you already have a wide angle zoom. If not, then I wouldn't buy any of the one's you mentioned. I would go for the Sigma 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM or the Tamron AF18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD AF. To have only ONE lens is the ticket.

Looking at what you have posted so far in your gallery, I'm wondering if you might not be better off with a nice prime lens or two? Less flexibility for sure, but much lighter, possibly cheaper, and with better image quality. Not really sure what you are planning to do with the lens.

Take your camera to the store and test it out if you can. I have the Nikon 55-200 and had a Sigma 70-300 before and it was hit and miss with a Nikon 5100. Maybe it was my camera motor but auto focus was very slow. I still use the 55-200 and its been a battle for me overall. Seems like the conditions must be perfect but maybe its just me. If I buy another zoom it will definitely be a 2.8 or less. I love my 18-55 kit zoom.

One of my regrets is all the years using Sigma and Tamron. I used what i could afford, but as a business person not using the best was a bad decision. For example for stock photos the standard is tack sharp with no image sharpening applied at any stage or risk rejection. Why wouldn't I want to use the same high standards for all my work? I don't want a lens which requires sharpening because sharpening worsens other problems like noise and jpeg artifacts. Years of using Tamron lenses wasted time for me and the best thing I ever did was sell it. By the same token my girlfriend had one and it was fine. All she wanted was to show off some photos and make a print once in a while. I never told her the prints weren't all that sharp. The same for my Sigma macro zoom. I bought the better quality one but nothing taken was as sharp as Nikon. What a waste of my effort. I owned 2 Sigma 400mm lenses and they both fell apart after a couple of years of regular use. I knew all the Sigma repair guys by name. Then I switched to Nikon. My Nikon 80-400 owes me nothing and my 16-80 earned me 15x the $500 cost on the photos from the first month. If you want to have an advantage in the extremely competitive photo sales market get the best you can afford in lenses.

Thank you all.

Sigma is ordered!!

Mair,

If you can't get to a camera store and actually try each lens out,there in the store, on a tripod, then think about this. Order both the Sigma and Tamron and then test them both, on tripods,camera release or self-timer against some sharp type/fonts and then return the loser. Each and every lens will be different and I've returned both Nikon and Canon lenses, all the top of the line for issues,so it really depends on the individual lens.

It'll cost you some shipping or restocking fees, but you'll know for sure,whcih was the right lens..............

Rich

thanks Rich, will pop into the camera store to test the lenes out, i can look at some tripods also!

cheers all
Mair

*lenses....spelling! :)