Great Third-Party Lenses for Nikon Cameras

Picture
Shot with Sigma 50mm 1.4 / © Steve Figueroa
If you're into photography, you know how expensive Nikon glass can get. Many of us don't have the budget to spend $1700 or more on lenses without selling a kidney.

This is where 3rd-party manufacturers like Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina come into focus.

There are many people who swear these companies make nothing but junk lenses and I can assure you that you get what you pay for.

Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina have come a long way over the years, particularly Sigma. Their professional series (EX) lenses have yielded me great results while saving me a little bit of money.

They offer multiple levels of quality within each focal range to give people an opportunity to do what they love and not give up on photography completely.

Years ago, I used an EX series 70-300mm macro (1:2) that gave me incredible results for the $180 I paid for it on eBay. I had a project in mind and was running low on funds. I found this lens new and ordered it. When it arrived, it didn't have the feel of a professional lens, but it certainly gave me the results I was looking for at the time.

Tokina almost doesn't fit into this category as many professional photographers use Tokina glass in the field. Several companies actually have Tokina lenses re-branded with their name as the quality is on par with Nikon and Canon glass.

Tamron has occupied most photographer's bag at some point, with inexpensive offerings in every focal range, and their old 300mm f/2.8 workhorse is still used by many enthusiast as a great alternative to $3,000 AF versions available today.

Again, the idea is to be able to at least shoot, have a great time, and created beautiful images without going broke.

If you're a nitpicking, pixel-peeping, third-party lens hating individual, this article isn't for you. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Below are some of my favorite Sigma lenses that I personally use.
Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM

Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM

The Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM is a large aperture, medium telephoto lens offering 100mm equivalent angle of view on Four Thirds cameras. The optimum optical design and molded glass aspherical lens elements provide excellent correction of chroma aberration. It ensures superior peripheral brightness and provides sharp, high contrast images even at the maximum aperture. The Super Multi Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting. Superior optical performance is ensured throughout the focusing range. The rounded 9 blades diaphragm creates an attractive blur. This lens incorporates HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), ensuring a quiet and high speed AF as well as full time manual focusing capability.
Sigma 70-300mm DG f/4-5.6 APO Macro Lens

Sigma 70-300mm DG f/4-5.6 APO Macro Lens

The Sigma 70-300mm DG f/4-5.6 APO Macro is a large-aperture lens with wide angles and short minimum focusing distances. This lens is capable of macro photography with a 1:2 maximum close-up magnification at the 300mm focal length. It also has a switch for changeover to macro photography at focal lengths between 200mm and 300mm. This is the perfect high performance lens for portraits, sports photography, nature photography, and other types of photography that frequently use the telephoto range. With an abundance of peripheral illumination, they are ideal lenses for Digital SLR cameras, but they still retain suitability for traditional 35mm SLRs. Please contact us so that we can confirm if your mount is available before bidding to avoid shipping delay or order cancellations.
Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO

Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO

A standard zoom lens with excellent resolution power as well as convenient handling, the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO is a real head turner with its affordable price. Equipped with multi-layer lens coating to reduce flare and ghosting, it stands out well when dealing with a common problem with digital cameras. A major selling point of this 17-70mm lens is its macro lens level close up ability which enables a minimum focusing distance of 20cm throughout the entire zoom range. It also has a magnification scale displayed on the lens barrel for ease of use. The lens offers an Inner Focusing System that eliminates front lens rotation and makes it especially suitable to use with petal-type lens hood and other circular polarising filters. An ideal large aperture standard zoom lens for digital SLR cameras featuring APS-C size image sensor, the17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO lens is suitable for many shooting conditions such as anniversary photography, close up and ordinary photography. Users of digital cameras with image sensors larger than APS-C size or 35mm SLR cameras, please beware that vignetting will occur if this lens is used. A zoom lock switch mechanism completes its features to ensure save and easy handling during travels.
Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM

Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM

The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the new Sigma APO 70-200 F2.8 EX DG OS HSM. This large aperture telephoto zoom lens incorporates Sigma�fs original Optical Stabilizer function. The lens covers a medium telephoto range of focal lengths from 70mm to 200mm and has a large maximum aperture of F2.8 throughout the entire zoom range. The OS (Optical Stabilizer) function offers the use of shutter speeds approximately 4 stops slower than would otherwise be possible. For Sony and Pentax mount, the built-in OS function of this lens can be used even if the camera body is equipped with an image sensor shift anti-shake system. As compensation for camera shake is visible in the view finder, the photographer can easily check for accurate focus and ensure there is no subject movement. Two FLD (�gF?Low Dispersion) glass elements, which have the performance equal to fluorite glass, and three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction of color aberration. High image quality is assured throughout the entire zoom range and an optimum optical power layout provides superior optical quality in all shooting ranges from close-up to infinity. Super Multi-Layer Coating reduces flare and ghost. This lens incorporates HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), ensuring a quiet and high speed AF as well as full-time manual focus capability. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 140cm (55.1? throughout the entire zoom range and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:8. The rounded 9 blade diaphragm creates an attractive blur to the out of focus images. This lens is equipped with a Petal-type hood. For digital cameras with an APS-C size image sensor, a dedicated hood adapter, which expands the length of the lens hood, is supplied.