Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Lens for Nikon Mount Digital SLR Cameras

well tis lens amazed me... not just because i came from the kit from the t2i, is everything! the build quality, great shape and weight in your hand, the quality of your bokeh..ok in order... first the good thingsfirst is a truly walkaround lens. great weight (not too heavy, but not too "kit" neither). the zoom and the focus ring is as smooth as you can get but very accurate.for the ones who have the Canon Zoom Pack 1000, the lens does fit. i guess it wont fit any longer one.the quality of the pictures really amazed me, and you know that the ones you get from the kit lens are great ones! the bokeh is really beautiful (7 rounded blades aperture), the zoom range is the right one for walking with it.. no chromatic aberration at all ( at least compared with the kit lens) but when is in 17, at 2.8 you can see some at 100% crop so..HSM is REALLY quiet.. I mean, the only way to listen this baby running is in your room at night with the door closed! and is fast.. not as fast as an L series, but is fast.the price is great too.. i guess that the equivalent from canon is the 15-85 and is almost 300 bucks more :sthe macro function is a plus very welcomed for me :)now, the bad onesno full time autofocus... this is annoying... you still have to be careful to not turn the focus ring when you're in autofocus and that's crap.. :sthe OS stoles some battery power.. so just don't expect the same amount of pictures that you had with the kit lens..72 mm filters are kind of expensive.. but after all, this is an expensive hobby (this lens is not an expensive one, but is still 100$ more than a s90) so.. guess is not a problem..when you have the OS on and turn off the camera, there a weird noise in the lens.. nothing to worry about but is there so...this is something weird and unexpected, and i'm going to try to explain it (sorry my english by the way)I think this lens is "darker" than the kit... how is that?? well, if you take a picture with the kit lens, and put this one on the camera, and you don't move anything (aperture, exposition, etc) the picture will be darker... you have to move up a little bit the exposure compensation.. so I don't know why is this, and i'll be glad if someone could explain it..overall a 7 stars lens (not 8 because the lack of full time autofocus) but amazon only allow me 5 stars so.. you know what? BUY IT!P.S.: i know is not important, but the looks of this lens in the camera is also veeery good! :)

I just got this lens yesterday and tested it a number of different ways.I bought this lens primarily for the faster 2.8 aperture and the close focus of 8 inches plus OS. The close focus delivered as promised with no need to refocus after zooming in ou out (it held focus and sharpness). Color rendition was natural and pleasing and the OS seems to be doing the job promised. Images are sharp at all focal lengths (I have not noticed any serious image degradaton based on focal length. I uploade a photo showing two shots at close focus changing the zoom and maintianing the close distance. The shots were hand held. using daylight/ambient through a window and no flash. The shutter speeds were 1/60 and 1/30 sec, single point focus and center weighted exposure using auto focus. My camera is a Nikon D300s.* Close focus is great.* The lens holds focus through the zoom range without having to refocus.* color rendition including saturation is natural with and without flash.* having a max aperture is a definate plus.another review mentioned that you loose that quickly after leaving the shortest focal length (well of course) but that one stop gain is progresive through the zoom range.* the OS is a little noisy but you know that it's working.* focus is as fast as my Nikon 18 to 105 but you can get a lot closer to the subject.I have purchased a lot of glass for my camera and was really wondering if i needed to take this step. I'm glad I did.I have lensed that claim close focus and or macro.... this one is better.AFTER THOUGHT.... One review menioned that it was to easy to accidently grab the focus ring and accidently turn it while zooming. This has been a problem for me in the past.Note that I do this more with my Nikon lenses that with my Sigma's. Nikon has there focus ring closer to the camera body (your face). Sigma has there's in front of the zoom ring. I prefer this (it's not as easy to accidently grab). It also has a stiffer action so you notice it sooner. I like this design better. THANX for listening.