What lens to use instead of 17-70 if I use DX

I have read in this forum very good comment about 17-70 Sigma Macro which is a FF lens, I guess.

Do readers of WP remember any Dx lens with this macro ability and such wide wiew?

Are somebody using it on cropped sensor?

All comments appreciated

Gisli

Click here!

I have read in this forum very good comment about 17-70 Sigma Macro which is a FF lens, I guess.

 

Do readers of WP remember any Dx lens with this macro ability and such wide wiew?

 

Are somebody using it on cropped sensor?

I am using the Sigma 17-70 on my D300, which is clearly a cropped sensor camera. The following image was taken in Grand Cayman in January with this lens on my D300.

I was quite pleased with this lens on my D300. You can also use a diopter (+2 if I recall correctly) although I did not use one.

Ellen

It would be nice if we knew your rig.

The Sigma 17/70 HSM has a minimum focus distance of about 8" and a magnification at that point of 2.3:1 at 70mm. The lens extends out quite a bit at 70 mm and the working distance is about 2". At distance I can get 1:1 magnification with a 60mm. Also the largest f/stop is F/22 and I often shoot well above that for serious macro. The botttom line is that this is a semi-macro lens. On the other end, my wife uses an Olympus 14/54 which has approximately the same specs once you convert the 1/2 size sensor of the Olympus to the DX size and she takes pretty good macro shots. Understand, however, that every time we take the same macro shot my Nikon Af-105-VR or 60mm shoots a better picture so dont expect miracles!

On the flip side, my wife also takes pretty good semi-wide angle at 17 mm. She can get a decent picture of a nice reefscape or a significent sized critter while I am just shooting the eye. Still, if I mount my 12/24 and dome I can get a wider, closer shot so don't expect miracles here either.

The benefit is that you can do both with a 17/70 in a flat port.

HOWEVER, the new sigma 17/70 is a VERY fat lens and mnay housing/port/zoom ring configurations won't take it. In fact Ryan of Reef Photo is currently working with my 17/70 and SeaTool D-300 housing to see if he can work out a marriage of the two by permanantly affixing the zoom ring to the lens.

Hope this helps

Thanks Tom and Ellen.

I am using D200 in Aquatica house with 8" dome port.

I was reading yesterday in Bhphoto site that 17-70 was specially designed for cropped sensors. So it was my misunderstanding that it was FF.

The Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Lens is a large-aperture lens with a maximum f/stop of f/2.8 in wide angle setting. The large zoom range of this 4x zoom lens (equivalent range of approx. 27-112mm when used with a Nikon digital SLR camera with an APS-C size chip) makes it ideal as an everyday large-aperture lens. In addition, the minimum focus distance of 8.7" along with the maximum magnification of 1:2.7 also makes the lens perfect for close-up photography.

And

DC lenses are exclusively designed for digital SLR cameras with an APS-C size chip. The image circle (rear of lens) is made to match the smaller dimensions used for the image sensor on digital cameras. As a result these lenses are also more compact and lightweight, and are better matched to digital SLR cameras.

Note! Not suitable for 35mm film SLR cameras or for any digital SLR camera with image sensor bigger than APS-C size, e.g. Canon 1D series

Now I have to check if I can use the new lens with this setup. I have the 18462 extension. Does anyone know?

Thanks Again

Gassa