~dadoubler

ok... so i cancelled my order on the canon 70-200 f4L IS... why? because i found a sigma 70-200 f2.8 (the older one, 1 version before the current mark ii) for $785 new... haggled for a lil bit and ended up paying $800 plus a hoya UV filter... haha...

i dunno, at the back of my head, theres a part of me that's screaming I NEED IS.. but then again, another half screams out F4 CANT STOP MOTION IN LOW LIGHT... and since i do quite a bit of stuff under low light condition (think indoor church), id think that f2.8 would benefit me better... having f2.8 AND is will be nice, but that'd blow my savings. lol. (anyone wanna buy me canon's 70-200 f2.8 is?)

sure, all in all im losing out on 3 stops.. as going from f2.8 to f4 is only 1 stop improvement, but the f4 canon has 4 stop image stabilization... but then again, what good is that 3 extra stop if i wont be able to stop the motion of the people im photographing?

so it kinda was down to canon's 70-200 f2.8 non-is or the sigma 70-200 f2.8... i went with the sigma for cost reasons..

and yep, the supplied tripod ring comes in very handy, since often i dont bother to use the monopod during events cause it's not convenient without a tripod ring... id consider my monopod to be my "is". haha... can lah!

even though the sigma is a bit soft at f2.8 on the longer end of the range, we wont be able to see much difference when printed out, or viewed on screen... haha... im not a pixel peeper, so i wouldnt think id see much difference. so its all good. hopefully...

i havent had much time with the 70-200 yet.. but so far its been quite alright... build quality is very nice, tripod ring comes in handy, the black color dont attract much attention (although the size of the thing still does, especially with the hood attached. pfft), and AF is quiet fast and accurate.. image quality? nothing to complain about, except when wide open at 200mm...

oh yes and the weight... at 1.3kg its not what i'd consider "lightweight", it feels heavy and cumbersome at first, and it probably might take a little time getting used to, but i believe ill manage alright... no worries

anyways, have a good day all...