My husband has a Nikon d40x and a man is trying to sell him a Sigma 70-300MM lens, the man states that it says 70-300mmd on the lens itself, what does MMD mean? Please help I forot to tell you the man has a nikon D1

jcdill

Hello,

Sigma doesn't make a 70-300 mmd lens. I suspect the lens in question is either a 70-300 mm DG or 70-300 mm DC lens. Your husband should see the lens in person or see a photo of the front of the lens before buying it - to make 100% certain he knows which Sigma 70-300 lens this is. He should also check if it is an APO model lens.

Please see this page from Sigma for a description of the DG and DC type lenses:

Sigma - Frequently Asked Questions

Also see this thread for some useful information about Sigma DG and DC lenses:

sigma 70-300 - worth getting? - Canon Digital Photography Forums

Good luck!

jc

Edensmimi

which one is best compatible for the d40x? Will it state on the front of the lens the information he is looking for? He has a nikkor 55-200 already, will he see a difference between the 2 lens? Thank you so much for your help I am asking while he is drivng lol

jcdill

Yes, it will state on the front of the lens the information he's looking for.
What is the seller asking for the Sigma lens? Is it new or used?

Is his present lens the Nikkor DX 55-200mm VR? If so, that's a very nice lens, and it has a lot of overlap with the Sigma 70-300 - I would not change to the Sigma unless the Sigma also has VR (or the Sigma equivalent stabilization system).

Edensmimi

he is asking 60 dollars, it is used, so you are saying that the 70-300mm will not give him more benefit if it is not a VR type like the nikkor?

jcdill

He gets 100mm of extra reach but he's not going to want to use this lens at 200mm or lower because the Nikkor is a better lens with VR. Every time he changes lenses he's introducing dust into the chamber. If he really needs a longer reach than 200mm for zooming in on distant subjects, I suggest he either get a longer zoom (e.g. 100-400), or a longer prime (e.g. 300mm or 400mm lens) or add a 1.4x teleconverter to the Nikkor.

It's really easy to pick up a lot of lenses one doesn't "need" because they are a "bargain". Rarely does this improve the quality of the photos. It's much better to set that money aside and accumulate it enough to buy really good lenses.

Remember, every photo starts with light coming in thru the lens. It's much better to save up and buy some really REALLY good lenses than to buy a bunch of cheap lenses.

My first DSLR was a Canon 300D (Digital Rebel) for $1000 with the "kit lens". I bought a 70-300 lens for $150 while shopping for a better zoom, and then bought a used 70-200 IS f2.8 lens for $1500 - $500 more than I paid for the brand new 300D plus kit lens! I never used the 75-300 after I bought my 70-200 because the image quality on shots taken with the 70-200 was that much better. I eventually upgraded to the 1D Mark II camera. The 70-200 is still my favorite lens - the only time I take it off the camera is to put on the 24-70 f2.8 lens. Both of these lenses will be going strong 30 years from now. Glass is a long time investment - especially in this digital age where a 3 year old camera is getting pretty long in the tooth.

jc

supriya _82

What he perhaps means is 70-300mm D. The D is for Nikon D mount.
As I pehaps mentioned in an earlier post by you - the focal lengths are 35mm equivalent. Your D40x has an imaging sensor size of 23.7x15mm. So the effective focal length that you will get is 105x450mm (multiply by 1.5 conversion factor)

Also the D lens does not have a focussing motor. The auto focussing is done by the focussing motor on the camera body WHICH THE D1 has. But the D40x does not have a focussing motor, the auto focussing is acheived by lenses with an inbuilt motor. So the AF-I or AF-S lenses should be used with the D40x for auto focus. The 70-300mm D lens will not auto focus on the D40x