Minolta 100-300xi

[bakubo]

It uses 7.5 turns of the focus screw, but the manual focus is very solid in feel - smooth but with some resistance - and the focusing sound is maybe not as raucous as the beercan, and the beercan uses 8 turns so it's nearly identical in gearing. But it feels so much smoother, like a balanced mechanism - it almost turns if you spin it, as if thereare bearings in there.

Are you talking about the Tamron here? I am guessing yes.

[David Kilpatrick]

It uses 7.5 turns of the focus screw, but the manual focus is very solid in feel - smooth but with some resistance - and the focusing sound is maybe not as raucous as the beercan, and the beercan uses 8 turns so it's nearly identical in gearing. But it feels so much smoother, like a balanced mechanism - it almost turns if you spin it, as if thereare bearings in there.

Are you talking about the Tamron here? I am guessing yes.

No, I am comparing the Apo D 100-300mm with the beercan. The Tamron 70-300mm is like a combination of the two and focuses quite slowly, taking 14 turns of the screw, but covers a wide focus range with its 'macro' function.

David

[David Kilpatrick]

The Sigma can be a problem as the gears may strip - repeatedly - on some Alpha bodies. This is a known problem and it's hard to recommend it because of the number of people who have had several replacement Sigmas suffer exactly the same fault. You are lucky. We work closely with Sigma (our son Richard owns an entire system with all three of their digital camera bodies so far, and does some work for them) so I'm not knocking the brand; it's just that this lens has a problem, initially they blamed Minolta/Sony, now they are accepting responsibility.

David

[bakubo]

The legendary Beercan is a good lens, and I still own a fantastic copy, but it is no Sigma 70-300 APO DG. IF I am looking for extra sweet bokeh, or doing portraits, I may grab the 70-210..if not I am grabbing the Siggy. The Siggy handles ghosting, flare, and CA well, has a decent 1:2 Macro mode, and my copy is easily usable wide open and fully extended. While I don't own the 100-300xi I have a feeling it is not near the lens the Sigma 70-300 APO DG is. This DG Siggy works quite well optically on the digital bodies, and it really tough to beat at it's price point.

Is this the lens that so many people have reported gear stripping? Sigma over the years has made so many 70-300mm lenses I have lost track. Is your model one that is not subject to gear stripping?

[Glyn R]

My only criticism of the lens is if it looses focus at the long end in poor light it will zoom all the way out and back again. By this time the creature has gone. I use Af to set the rough distance and then turn it off. AF+MF would be good for this lens or a focus limiter.

[Dr. Harout]

Agree with Sonolta, the MF button is a saver. I personally use it a lot specially in my profession.

[Vidgamer]

why not look around for a 75-300 version 1 Minolta ? (big beercan) it gets CA too at the long end but it's sharp (fairly so even wide open) has a focus limiter, Minolta colours and is built like a tank. they should still be around pretty cheap. I does draw attention though.

Even the 100-300xi was noticeably long when fully zoomed to 300mm! Combine that with the lens hood, and it looks a bit silly. But it's still probably less noticeable than many lenses (particularly more expensive ones).

The Big Beercan gets rave reviews, but it seems pretty hard to find.

I decided to order a 100-300 APO. I think it'll be good for traveling. People generally have good things to say about the IQ (better than the other 100-300 lenses), and the compact size is a plus. The Tamron 70-300 was another option, but I'm taking a chance that the old lens will do more of what I want.