Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 EX DG HSM

I have been looking to buy a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for portrait work, landscapes, and general walk-around stuff. I had been considering the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG MACRO (left). Amazon.com has it for about $420. It's a great deal, but I was on the wall because it doesn't focus on my D40.

At Photokina 2008 the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM (Hyper SonicMotor) was introduced. It's an updated version of the 24-70/2.8, and is noticeably more compact (shown at right). Some of the features include:

• ELD and SLD glass provides excellent correction of all types of aberrations
• Super Multi Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting
• Equipped with HSM ensuring quiet and high speed AF
• The rounded 9 blade diaphragm creates an attractive blur

Recently, Sigma set the price on the 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM. I found it for $899, but it doesn't ship for 1 to 2 months. Even if it shipped today, I'm not willing to pay that much for HSM. I plan to get a Nikon D90 (it doesn't need HSM to AF), so opting for the $420 version would save me around 400 bucks. That's almost half of the cost of the D90!