Sigma 150 -500mm V Sigma 50 - 500mm

riu

riu

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steve
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My son has started to join me on my Bird/Wildlife outings, he is in the process of getting some kit together. As i am a relative newcomer to the hobby i am not in a position to advise him on kit.

he is looking at the sigma range of lenses, namely the

Sigma 150 -500mm V Sigma 50 - 500mm both HSM OS versions. Apart from the zoom range difference, what else differs, and the million dollar question does the 50 - 500 warrant the extra cash. Most of his shooting will be between 200 and 500. OS or IS is important as he cannot get on with my 400L 5.6. If so i was going to let him have mine as i am upgrading very shortly.

regards
Steve.
 
Having owned a few 150-500mm os and 50-500mm os now the easy answer is yes the 50-500mm is a better lens, sharper wide open, the hsm is slightly faster

SJB_7591.jpg
 
Thats great, read the reports but always better to get real use feedback. Cheers Scott
 
As said the 50-500 is reputed to be a tad sharper than the 150-500, but that is also a pretty good lens, and the Sigma OS system is superb. Either would be a good choice for birding. Shot with the 150-500 on my old 350D

Img_1230.jpg
 
Am assuming that your Son is also a Canon User?
If so then he, or both of you, might want to have a look at the Canon 100 -400mm f4.5-f5.6 IS USM lens. It's a little bit more money than both of the Sigmas. But a few of my friends, who shoot Canon, have this lens and it's quite superb. Not enough to convert me to Canon though!!!
I currently use the Sigma 150-500 with my Nikon D300S, it' an OK lens but I will shortly be upgrading as I am just not happy with the overall performance, it needs really decent light for autofocus to work properly and quickly and isn't as sharp as I was led to believe it would be. The overall IQ is nowhere near that which can be obtained from using the Nikon 300mm F4 with a converter.
Graham
 
I've used a 150-500 with Canons, and now Nikons, and my experience is that @ 500mm, this lens is a bit soft. Seems to be better when its backed off a tad to 450m max. Sweet spot aperture seems to be f8, although I have recorded some ok shots wide open.

At 150-300mm the 150-500 is excellent, but its just a shame its not shared at the 400/500 end. But then if it was seriously top glass, it wouldnt be £750-800 new.

Due to many users reviews on the 50-500, it looks like the consensus is thats its sharper, but true to form, up goes the cost. Though i dont think the small increase in IQ is worth the rather significant increase in price

Couple of examples of the 150-500

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yx7rhwq2nj.jpg
 
I'd concur with Peter above, I have the 150-500 which is great at f8 up to around 450mm, then it gets soft. I never shoot mine wide open so a lot depends on the iso capabilities of the camera. Having said that it's the best £465 I've ever spent on a lens and I won't part with it because Nikon does nothing remotely comparable thats affordable at the moment, Canon you've got the 100-400 which is very popular. If I was buying it again I'd go for the 50-500 as it seems to get better reviews at the longer end which is where you'll end up using it. Robert O'Toole has some good info re that lens on his website, might be worth a look
 
005269 said:
I'd concur with Peter above, I have the 150-500 which is great at f8 up to around 450mm, then it gets soft. I never shoot mine wide open so a lot depends on the iso capabilities of the camera. Having said that it's the best £465 I've ever spent on a lens and I won't part with it because Nikon does nothing remotely comparable thats affordable at the moment, Canon you've got the 100-400 which is very popular. If I was buying it again I'd go for the 50-500 as it seems to get better reviews at the longer end which is where you'll end up using it. Robert O'Toole has some good info re that lens on his website, might be worth a look
Click to expand...

Many thanks, will check Robert O'Toole out. Think it's the way he will go. When i was in his shoes i choose the 120 - 400mm, but quickly upgraded to the 400L F5.6, not because it was no good, but i wanted the sharpness. Tried the 100 - 400L but could not get use to the zoom push/pull. I do miss the flexibilty though, and thats why i have been looking at 300mm F2.8 Plus T/C
 
Steve, you may have read reports on Sigma's QC, so if its at all possible, try to buy from a shop, and take your cam and media card and try it there and then.

Some people have gotten a great lens from the off, and some reckon they got mis-focusing/soft lenses and have sent them back. Buy a used example if you decide the lens is for you, as you will lose £250/300 in depreciation straight off the bat
 
Tonto said:
Steve, you may have read reports on Sigma's QC, so if its at all possible, try to buy from a shop, and take your cam and media card and try it there and then.

Some people have gotten a great lens from the off, and some reckon they got mis-focusing/soft lenses and have sent them back. Buy a used example if you decide the lens is for you, as you will lose £250/300 in depreciation straight off the bat
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, i have been looking for used examples, lots of the 150 - 500 version available, so it will be a matter of dropping on one. See several outlets are selling these now @ less than 1K FOR UK lens

Steve
 
You could pick up a used 150-500 example for £500-550. Even new they're not £1k

The 50-500 is more like £1k

If you have that sort of money to spend, and dont mind the extra cost, perhaps the 50-500 is the better bet
 
Tonto said:
You could pick up a used 150-500 example for £500-550. Even new they're not £1k

The 50-500 is more like £1k

If you have that sort of money to spend, and dont mind the extra cost, perhaps the 50-500 is the better bet
Click to expand...

Sorry, thats what i meant 50 - 500 for sub 1K.

REGARDS

Steve
 
Tonto said:
Steve, you may have read reports on Sigma's QC, so if its at all possible, try to buy from a shop, and take your cam and media card and try it there and then.

Some people have gotten a great lens from the off, and some reckon they got mis-focusing/soft lenses and have sent them back. Buy a used example if you decide the lens is for you, as you will lose £250/300 in depreciation straight off the bat
Click to expand...

I'm a user and got a good'un first time. The only reason Im trading it in (against a Nikkor 105 mm VR Macro) is that I barely use it. I'll echo the slight softness (more a lack of absolute sharpness) at the long end and small apertures. Stop it down a bit (f/8 or so) and things improve. Being a D700 user, a nudge up on the ISO makes very little difference in noise.
The £250/£300 loss will be felt but I'm lucky enough for it not to be the end of the world and after a recent health scare I'm very aware that you can't take it with you. I'll try to remember to post what I actually get for a genuinely as new copy on trade in - they haven't seen it yet so haven't been able to make me an offer but I do spend plenty in the shop so I hope they'll be as generous as possible.
What am I replecing it with? A bridge. Most likely a Fuji HS30. 24-720mm range, albeit not the same ultimate quality asthe DSLR kit (keeping the rest, just disposing of the 150-500) and one hell of a lot lighter!
 
mjb123 said:
These really do look sharp much sharper than I can achieve with my 150-500!! What body was it attached to?
Click to expand...

MJB, you still looking to sell/trade yours (noticed your thread)
Got a 100mm f2.8 usm Canon Macro????. If so return to original for sale thread
 
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Scott,
Do you really think it is worth upgrading from the 150-500 to the 50-500?
I love my 150-500, but do find it a little soft sometimes.
When I sell my macro, I would have enough money plus my 150-500 to buy one.
But would there be enough difference in IQ to justify it?

Cheers!
 
In my honest op, I was never happy with any of the 150-500mm i had, and not just in nikon mount to, they always seemed soft, If they had made a 170-500mm with os for nikon i would of had that anyday as i had 4 of them and everyone performed.

As for the 50-500mm it beats both and tbeats the 150-500mm easly in my eyes.
I paid £1250 for mine or there about and dont regret it, a few of my friend had 100-400mm and guess what they dont have them now they have a 50-500mm os.

Dougie find somewhere to try one mate, where about are you to.
was gonne say your welcome to come try it on your camera but your a canon man, but you could try it on my nikonnot ideal.
 
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I feel I did rather well on the deal! Yes, lost money but they gave me a very good price (not going to publish it here until it's sold because you may well be at least looking at the very copy) for it with a UV filter fitted for protection of what I felt was a slightly vulnerable front element.

ETA, Devon Camera Centre in the Guildhall centre in Exeter have one in stock second hand, and I defy anyone to find a more pristine 2nd hand copy. It genuinely is as new - I only got rid because it saw so little use.

Thought to self - there seem to be plenty of Devon based members around, what sort of interest would there be in a social meet do you think - ideally in Exeter as I have transport problems at the moment. Not really into a mob shoot, just a coffee and chat.
 
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Did you bring it far? (Sorry)
Great shop - they're who I bought my 150-500 from originally on 11/2/09 for £669. I have the receipt in front of me because I keep them in the boxes in the loft in case I ever want to sell them on in PX.
If anyone has any questions about my copy, feel free to PM me but there's nothing really to say apart from that it's genuinely as new.
 
I must point out that I do NOT work for DCC but am plugging the lens because they bent over backwards to do me the best trade-in and also gave me a huge discount on some filters for the 105 and my new travel camera, a Fujifilm HS30, both of whose front elements aren't deeply recessed so deserve some protection and the Fuji has a polariser.
 
i love my 150-500mm, literally picked it up from Jessops last friday (wasnt bothered about paying the extra to know i had a proper decent copy and come back) and i think it is superb.

went out straight away to whisby nature park and took a load of pics, first time with the big lens and was trying to get dragonfly etc so when this one landed i tried to snap it quick.

I think the lens can produce superb sharp images, just look how sharp the wings and tail end are, admittedly the head is softer but thats my fault for rushing the shot.

dragon2.jpg


shot on a 1100d @

F/9
1/640
iso 320
and shot at 500mm

took some again of an Awac coming in to land on monday afternoon and again, looked great, hand held but only image draw back was that i had the shutter to slow so one or two were shaky but again, my fault.
 
this one again shot at 500mm , f6.3 @ 1/800

dragonclose_zpsab19608b.jpg


and a duck from same day, shot again at 500

the original

IMG_7879_zps4505a704.jpg


and slightly cropped

duck2_zps7df932b6.jpg
 
Maybe we are lucky or maybe some are unlucky as my friend got one back when they were released and his is stunning, that's the reason i purchased it and after the tiny amount of time i owned it its superb, great lens
 
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