This lens is a top performer when you need to cover wide-angle and telephoto with a single lens, and you shoot with a full frame camera. This is especially popular for sports and situations where the distance to the subject rapidly changes from close to far. Customers use this often for baseball, football, soccer, and auto racing. The aperture varies from f/3.5 at 28mm to f/5.6 at 300mm, and is usually very acceptable when outdoors. People have asked about using this lens for wildlife, birding, and safaris. It's a good option if your primary criteria is to carry only one lens and need a combination of wide angle and telephoto. We encourage you to explore other options for wildlife such as the Sigma 150-600mm because it provides more reach but with a limited aperture size. A lens with a larger aperture may be a very important consideration for wildlife because animals are often most active during dawn and dusk hours when the light is not strong. Unfortunately, you'll have to choose between focal length and aperture size. It's very difficult to find both in the same lens because it would be extremely large, heavy, and expensive.
This 28-300mm lens is a bit on the heavy side. Not heavy to the point where a monopod is required, but some people might prefer to have one if you will be looking through the camera's viewfinder waiting for something to happen. The heft will be worth the effort because you won’t be disappointed with the image quality. It really produces excellent images. This lens was designed for full-frame cameras but it works equally well with cropped frame cameras.
The bottom line: This is an excellent lens that produces high quality images.
Accessories supplied with lens:
- Front lens cap
- Rear lens cap
- Lens hood
- Tripod mount ring
- Soft padded case