Camera Labs

Hi!
I would like to hear you're opinion and experience of these three lenses:

Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG APO Macro (with red ring)

Tamron 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2

Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR

In my opinion I think the best would be the nikkor lens, because of VR, but it costs two times more than sigma or tamron. Only I doubt of these lenses, how would they perform at the 200-300mm range? Whose of these lenses would perform the best? And so, it would be a good money investment, in start of DSLR equipment, in one of those lenses, if now I have only the nikkor 18-135mm kit lens? Maybe someone can suggest other good lens in the start to cover the range above of ~135-300mm?

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Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-135mm, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, SB-600

If you're shooting this long, you either should take your tripod with you or get anti-shake. Otherwise you have to crank up your ISO to get short shutter speeds.
B.t.w.: there is also a non VR-Nikkor lens AF 70-300mm 4.0-5.6G out there. This is as cheap as the Sig and the Tam.
Personally I would not trust Tamron, the Sigma may be right.

You could also go for a Tokina AT-XD 80-400mm 4.5-5.6. It's around 530 EUR though, but gets you farther than the 70--300mm. I once had a Tokina, that was quite good. I trust them more than Tamron...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses