Shooting with the Quantaray / Sigma 70-300 DL Lens

"Low Water Crossing"
Nikon D80, Quantaray 70-300DL
f4.5 @ 1/500"

Back around the turn of the century, when I was still shooting film, one of my favorite lenses for my AF bodies was the Quantaray / Sigma 70-300DL Macro lens. It was lightweight, sharp, and focused pretty darn quick.


So when I got the D80, one of my first purchases for it was another one! Even new, it's a dirt cheap lens. I found this one on eBay for $50, barely used.

"No, YOU carry it!"
Nikon D80, Quantaray 70-300DL
f8 @ 1/320"

I finally got to really put it through its paces recently walking along the trails in Castle Rock, CO, with my kids.

As I said, it's lightweight and easy to carry. It's also easy to shoot handheld when necessary or possible. The long 300mm zoom effectively becomes a 450mm lens when used on the APS-C sized sensor on my D80. That gives me some serious reach.

Bokeh is respectable as well with this lens. Not quite as creamy as some lenses, it's not distracting either.

Auto focus is handled by the body motor, so this lens cannot be used with the newer prosumer bodies that do not have the "screwdriver" to drive the focus gears in the lens. The lens itself will work with those bodies, but it will be manual focus only.

The zoom grip is large and covered in soft rubber. It is located in a comfortable place on the lens body, my hand goes right to it.

"Junk and the Rock"
Nikon D80, Quantaray 70-300DL
f4.5 @ 1/3200"

The manual focus grip is tiny and I *always* have to hunt for it when I want to switch to manual. It's annoying, but once you get used to peeking around the body to see where it is, you don't notice anymore. And the only times I'm using manual focus on this particular lens is when shooting animals, and I want to ensure I'm getting the eyes razor sharp.

I know the APO version of this lens is more desirable, but I've never felt the need to spend the extra premium for APO. The technology is sound, but as you can see from the photos in this blog, I don't think I'm missing anything.

"Castle Rock Fuel & Feed"
Nikon D80, Quantaray 70-300DL
f5.6 @ 1/1250"

 Overall, I'm a fan of this lens. Not only does it allow for the creation of excellent images, but it's cheap enough you can carry it with you on those rough shoots where you may bang it on a rock, drop it, expose it to sand and grit, or otherwise abuse it.

"A Girl's Joy"
Nikon D80, Quantaray 70-300DL
f4.5 @ 1/500"