I have been looking in to the Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro for both its macro and telephoto capability, and noticed it does not have an optical image stabilizer.
I'm still new to photography but I know how optical image stabilizer affects the image in hand-held photography. My question is, will lack of optical image stabilization have an effect when using a tripod?
If there is any impact, not having image stabilization will improve the lens performance on a tripod. When using image stabilization, there has to be some room for parts of the lens to move freely. Without image stabilization they can use more of a solid mount.
When using a tripod, you normally turn image stabilization off even if the lens has it, because it isn't needed and can actually be harmful since it causes lag when moving the camera.
In general there is no additional benefit gained by having a form of image stabilization (IS, VC, VR, etc.) when using a lens with a tripod. There are exceptions to this, but the Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro isn't one of them.
The Canon Super Telephoto Series lenses have some IS modes that are specifically designed to be used when the lens is mounted on a tripod, either for panning or for reducing the effect of mirror slap when shooting at very long focal lengths and certain shutter speeds.
When using a tripod, you should turn off image stabilization anyway. That should give some ideas as to how much image stabilization (or absence of it) matters while using a tripod.
