Any nice 28mm-300mm zooms out there?

[Han]

Hi all, looking for a zoom lens say roughly 28mm - 300mm, fast and accurate auto focus or there abouts to fit D60. Anybody got a lens with this sort of criteria that they love or equally that they hate? Any comments would be helpful whilst I look around. Cheers

[isouter]

Hi, Han...

I have a Tamron 28-300 3.5/6.3 LDIF that I recently bought off a friend.

It is a bit more difficult to get completely sharp pictures with, but I believe that's the nature of the beast when you're dealing with such a wide focal range.

Here are some comments from people who know a bit more than me:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005U0x


http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-64EC-3D0111F1-3A226B19-prod6

and here are some pictures taken with the lens:
http://www.usol.com/~rmcmeeking/

Basically, I like the lens. I am still learning a lot about cameras and settings, but I think I'd actually like to reserve this for daylight situations when I'm going to need a lot of options for framing.

Seeing as I tend to like taking pictures in low light without a flash, this lens is kindof a pain in the butt, because it is quite slow. But to be fair, I have only taken a handful of rolls with it, and the speed and sharpness problems have pretty much been outweighed by it's versatility.

Happy hunting!

Ian

[oursfan]

I purchased a Sigma 28-300mm 3.5-6.3 over the weekend and am happy with it so far. I am a noob to most of this stuff though so I may not be the best to take advice from. I will say that I tried a few different lenses out before deciding on the Sigma though. The Tamron had a very stiff zoom ring on it and that concerned me. I have had 2 full days of shooting with it so far and have been very impressed with the sharpness of this Sigma. I am using a Sony a300 DSLR.

[JimmyO]

Well, do you have a budget? If you want AF on your D60 you will need either AF-S lenses from Nikon, or HSM lenses from sigma

[Antithesis]

I just read a good review in a magazine on the new tamron 28-300 with shake reduction, saying that the reduction is good for like 4 stops. Tamron is pretty good at making sharp glass, the build quality and resale value are going to be less than ideal though.

[Alpha]

No. 15 elements in 13 groups spells S-O-F-T. Not to mention it's not going to get sharp, if at all, until you're pushing f.8

[Mike_E]

Ummm, why would you want all of those MMs in one lens? Lenses are not happy unless they have company. Oh and please don't think badly of them but they are NOT monogamous. They like nothing better than to attach from one body to another.

Like any good harem, you need a first lens to build around. One that satisfies you but is still flexible.

To fill out your collection you just pick up whichever you lust after the most.

You will find that you get to feeling guilty if you neglect one from time to time. ;)

Good luck and happy snapping!

[jack lumber]

I had the sigma 28-300mm and found it very soft at 300. It was a lite hog and I had to use it at f8-11 and ditch the uv filter to get the most (which wasnt very much) out of it.

[passerby]

I purchased a Sigma 28-300mm 3.5-6.3 over the weekend and am happy with it so far. ----

I have just notice that the OP is 2003 posting. Is this lens has been around that long, the same lens?