Sigma 70-300 with sony a200?

[Woza]

I think I read a post a while back saying these two don't go well together.

Something about gear stripping?

I've just been given the sigma and have an a200 bit concerned, so can someone enlighten me please?

Thanks,

Woza.

[beano500]

This thread?

[Woza]

I'm not sure what to do now. Did a search on google and a couple seem to say its ok and some seem to say not to worry!

Anyone with first hand experience?

[Chimple]

I've decided that the Tamron is the best bet, Jessops have them for £100 :

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Acc...

That's what I'll be buying if Santa doesn't bring one.

[rasputin]

I bought the Sigma new for my A300. I got 2 weeks of very light use out of it before it stripped the focus gears!

It was a shame though - it's a nice lens. I felt IQ was decent for the price, and the focus was pretty quick and very rarely hunted.

I now have the Tamron 70-300mm. For the current price of £99 at Jessops I'd definitely recommend it! But I wouldn't say IQ is as good as the Sigma. It's close, but not quite as good.
But the biggest issue, which almost ruins the lens for me, is the focus speed. Really really slow. And it hunts a lot. If you use the "macro" mode between 180mm and 300mm to allow close focus and it starts hunting - all the way to infinity and back to the other end... Sooooooo sloooow

On the plus side it has decent aperture. It's still at f/4.5 right up to 210mm!

[clonmult]

I've had the Sigma with my A200 for a couple of months now. No problems with gears being stripped ....

It does hunt a little (mainly in low light), but its a pretty good lens for the price.