~$200US from Amazon (47th St. Photo), Sigma 28-300mm, f/3.5-6.3, "macro" of 1:3, Nikon F mount.

Lens arrived last night, I've taken some sample shots taken with my E-PL1 in P/auto ISO/auto WB/LN/ESP/auto IS1. Shots show "macro" and distance shots plus a comparison between this lens (plus adapter) and my Oly 14-150 tele (this lens is about 30% larger and heavier, but not bad for double the zoom, and probably comparable to the m43 300mm lenses).

I haven't tried this lens yet with my Nikon 6006 SLR, I don't believe it has auto-anything (hence the $200 price) but there are electronic contacts on the lens so perhaps iris control.

Overall, a nice lens, particularly given the price. Images are clear and the focus has a solid feel. The lens hood is solid and reversible, but you can't focus with the hood reversed and the lens at minimum focus distance. There is a bit of lens creep if you shake the camera. Focus wheel is about 30 degrees from .5m-infinity so it's fast but fine control is not too bad as there's a fair amount of resistance to the wheel (a kinda ball-bearing feel to the motion, which I like.) Focus does make a fair amount of noise, so not good for video with in-camera mic.

Zooming is a bit tricky, as my eBay-special $22 Nikon F mount adapter doesn't latch to this lens (it does latch to my crappy 28-80 Sigma) and the zoom wheel does have a fair bit of resistance so it's hard to tell when I'm zooming and when I'm unmounting the lens (but I can zoom without unmounting the lens, usually.) I suspect I'll drill a hole in this lens mount ring to get a solid connection from the adapter, and/or bite the bullet and get a LensBaby Transformer.

http://www.yogile.com/xbnmg7qu#41m

A couple days experience and I'm enjoying this lens more and more. Perhaps it's because the auto-focus of my zoom lens (Oly 14-150) is useless for action shots of birds, but I've also become a focus fanatic, always tweaking the focus manually even when a/f is on. The lens is fairly heavy but not that much heavier than the 150 and it is quite comparable to the dimensions and weight of the MFT 300mm lens options out there.

I might narrow down my lens selections to this lens and my (soon to arrive) Voigtlander and become adept at manual focus/aperture control.

For consideration,

	Sigma	Olympus	Panasonic
Zoom Range	28-300	75-300	100-300
Focus	Manual (mechanical)	Auto/Manual (wire)	Auto/Manual (wire)
Aperture Control	Manual (mechanical)	Auto/Manual (wire)	Auto/Manual (wire)
In-Lens IS	no	no	yes
Software Correction	no	yes	yes
Angle of View	37.7-4.1 (equiv)	16-4.1	12-4.1
Aperture Max	ƒ3.5-6.3	ƒ4.8-6.7	ƒ4.0-5.6
Aperture Min	ƒ22-41	ƒ22	ƒ22
Aperture Blades	8	7	7
Dimensions	74x83.7mm*	70x116mm	73.6x126mm
Weight	460g*	430g	520g
Price (Amazon.com)	~$200US*	~$800US	~$535US

* note the Sigma price, weight, and dimensions do not include the Nikon-F to Micro-4/3 adapter.