Sigma 150-600mm contemporary

Here is a picture taken yesterday afternoon using the same setup as above. The image was cropped around 45% of the original width, reduced the size down to 1800x1200, further cropped the image down to 1200x800. Now, I'm not sure why this setup works with my camera set to 6mp, will do more tests..

http://www.pbase.com/image/160651835/original

Thanks for looking :) ..Cheers, John
 
Here are a couple more shots from the 'C' just to keep the thread ticking over. Both taken at the full 600mm.
stone07_zpstuhzr6gu.jpg

swallow5_zpsk89prtnq.jpg
 
This lens has put me in a bit of a quandary to be honest. I had the sports version for a few weeks and really liked the build quality but I found when shooting long distance subjects the performance suffered considerably plus the weight was a bit too much for what I needed one for which is mainly air shows ... keeping it pointed at the sky for 5 hours plus of flying with a gripped 7D attached would just about kill me I reckon. The thing is that although there is a definite lack of detail on 99% of the shots I have seen I do rather like the output from the lens and the contemporary version seems to give a very similar "look" to the photographs it produces.

Anyway, enough rambling from me ... Amazon have the C version for Canon at £830 atm so I have placed an order for dispatch tomorrow and it should hopefully be with me early next week which should give enough time to get it dialled in for RIAT at the weekend.
 
Mike.P said:
This lens has put me in a bit of a quandary to be honest. I had the sports version for a few weeks and really liked the build quality but I found when shooting long distance subjects the performance suffered considerably plus the weight was a bit too much for what I needed one for which is mainly air shows ... keeping it pointed at the sky for 5 hours plus of flying with a gripped 7D attached would just about kill me I reckon. The thing is that although there is a definite lack of detail on 99% of the shots I have seen I do rather like the output from the lens and the contemporary version seems to give a very similar "look" to the photographs it produces.

Anyway, enough rambling from me ... Amazon have the C version for Canon at £830 atm so I have placed an order for dispatch tomorrow and it should hopefully be with me early next week which should give enough time to get it dialled in for RIAT at the weekend.
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Used the C on my 1DX with no monopod or support at the weekend for the complete duration of the show at Shuttleworth and had no problems,was going to try and get down to RIAT but understand its sold out now.

1/200 f13@600mm

 
Gadget-Guy said:
Used the C on my 1DX with no monopod or support at the weekend for the complete duration of the show at Shuttleworth and had no problems,was going to try and get down to RIAT but understand its sold out now.
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Looks pretty good ... as mentioned the lens seems to lack fine detail but you don't really need that so much for aircraft ... reach is much more important most of the time. As for RIAT, I don't have a ticket .. last year I parked in a field just outside, cost me £10 for the day and apart from the helicopters (which stay mainly over the actual show) the planes (especially the jets) came a lot closer to us than the base itself.


500mm and a small amount of cropping.

GD F-16A MLU Fighting Falcon (Belgian AF) RIAT 2014 by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr
 
Mike.P said:
Looks pretty good ... as mentioned the lens seems to lack fine detail but you don't really need that so much for aircraft ... reach is much more important most of the time. As for RIAT, I don't have a ticket .. last year I parked in a field just outside, cost me £10 for the day and apart from the helicopters (which stay mainly over the actual show) the planes (especially the jets) came a lot closer to us than the base itself.
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Lovely capture of the F16A

I may chance a drive down then (y)

Must admit though that the 'C' at the shorter end seems to be very good indeed,this is just over 200mm with slight crop.

 
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Mike.P said:
Looks pretty good ... as mentioned the lens seems to lack fine detail but you don't really need that so much for aircraft ... reach is much more important most of the time. As for RIAT, I don't have a ticket .. last year I parked in a field just outside, cost me £10 for the day and apart from the helicopters (which stay mainly over the actual show) the planes (especially the jets) came a lot closer to us than the base itself.
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I'd say mine is sharp enough at 600mm at the centre.

Speaking in general: I have seen too many samples taken by people that are too heavy with the cropping tool with the contemporary and the sport 150-600, it can give an unfair representation of the lens. Potential buyers of the C need to be aware that the headroom to crop is no where near that of say a good L lens, as the sharpness is not on the same level.

If the sport had an outstanding IQ advantage over the contemporary I would likely be an owner of the sport model, however I'm not convinced the increase in IQ is worth near double the cost of the contemporary.
 
Rixy said:
Potential buyers of the C need to be aware that the headroom to crop is no where near that of say a good L lens, as the sharpness is not on the same level.
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There lies another issue ... you can pick up a grey 100-400mm MKII for under £1500 which I know is still nearly double the price of the Sigma C but if you can crop the hell out of it and still get sharper results then maybe that is a better option.

So many ways to spend money and so little of it .... :)
 
Mike.P said:
There lies another issue ... you can pick up a grey 100-400mm MKII for under £1500 which I know is still nearly double the price of the Sigma C but if you can crop the hell out of it and still get sharper results then maybe that is a better option.

So many ways to spend money and so little of it .... :)
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Must admit i have retained my 400 f5.6 as i still cant get over the quality of image it produces on the 1DX and 7DMKII wide open and also to note that at 400mm the Sigma is f6.3 but does benefit from the flexibility of the zoom,extra reach and IS.
 
Mike.P said:
There lies another issue ... you can pick up a grey 100-400mm MKII for under £1500 which I know is still nearly double the price of the Sigma C but if you can crop the hell out of it and still get sharper results then maybe that is a better option.

So many ways to spend money and so little of it .... :)
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Yes, this is another interesting option. It's funny how the rational side of the brain can tend to ask/question how a 400mm lens is sharper at a cropped 600mm than a lens with an optical 600mm focal length. But I know for a fact that it is possible, all you need to do is pixel peek a shot which has been taken at 600mm with the Sigma C, it's obviously far from the sharpest lens.

What gets me is there isn't one site out there which has thoroughly compared the 150-600 Contemporary and Sport, Tamron 150-600 and Canon 100-400 MKII.

To be totally honest the level of sharpness is acceptable with the Sigma C. I've looked back at the few shots I've taken so far and I'm still impressed with the IQ after the excitement has died down. What is a little annoying is you need to stop down to F/8 to get there. When the sun goes behind the clouds I find myself quickly in ISO1280 territory. Which is ok.. as I am full frame. But it's not ideal.
 
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I can only speak for bird photography where fine detail is paramount. I find that the main difference between this lens (and the Tammy 150-600) against much more expensive long primes is the distance needed to capture fine detail - with these cheap(ish) third party zooms you have to be fairly close compared with the big primes at the same focal length. I have done a lot of testing with the slow Canon 400/5.6 v the150-600 C (and the Tamron 150-600), at 400mm the 400/5.6 is certainly best but IMO the 150-600 at 600mm beats the 400/5.6 + 1.4x tc (both at f8).
I have also extensively tested cropping 400/5.6 images to the same FOV as the 600mm and there is no doubt in my mind that the Sigma produces better fine detail for birds - although images from the 400/5.6 do crop up very well they do not not seem to yeild the same amount of fine detail as the optical 600mm from the Siggy. BTW I am the greatest fan of the 400/5.6 having owned one of and on for over ten years (I have also owned a couple of Canon big whites).
The other big difference for me with these slow f6.3 lenses against a fast prime for me is the bokeh - unless the background is a fair way off then the bokeh can look fairly messy (having to shoot at f8 does not help of course). At the end of the day there is no free lunch I guess - you get what you pay for. Having said that I still think these third party 'cheapies' are very good value for money providing you can live with the limitations. For me I can no longer lug around a big white with tripod and gimbal head so the big factor was the weight, at just under 2kg I can still enjoy a walkabout without being range limited.
 
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Roy C said:
I have just been reading an interesting review of the Sigma 150-600 C v Canon 100-400 MkII by top bird photographer Roman Kurywczak. HERE is the link.
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Great link and a very interesting read, thanks. I am surprised by the findings! Seems that the 150-600 C is sharper, not just at 600mm (cropped on 100-400 MKII) but all over the focal range. Surprising!
 
That's very informative although I note he is testing sharpness at 18ft. I think all users of both Sigma lenses will agree that they perform fine at that sort of length, personally I would have liked to have seen him shooting the Canon and Sigma lenses from a bit further away and then cropping to give similar views of the subject.
 
What sort of supports are folks using with the lens?

I'm use to using (and still have) a benro gimbal - but that was with primes so I can get the balance right. This lens changes balance point quite fast when zooming.
 
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RichardtheSane said:
What sort of supports are folks using with the lens?

I'm use to using (and still have) a benro gimbal - but that was with primes so I can get the balance right. This lens changes balance point quite fast when zooming.
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Handheld all of the time so far but I do have a Manfrotto Carbon Monopod still that I purchased for my previous 400 f2.8 and will no doubt use again when I get enough money to buy the newer version.
 
Bit of a rough way of doing it but have taken images in RAW with the 1DX and the 7DMKII with both the EF400 f5.6 and the Sigma and have done a straight convert to .jpeg with no alterations.
If you click on each pic you can either view full size or download via the buttons in lower right corner.







 
RichardtheSane said:
What sort of supports are folks using with the lens?

I'm use to using (and still have) a benro gimbal - but that was with primes so I can get the balance right. This lens changes balance point quite fast when zooming.
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I occasionally use a tripod and Gimbal head, no real problem with balancing as I am most always at the long end of the zoom. I just put a bit of tension on the gimbal to accommodate focal length changes.
 
Rixy said:
Great link and a very interesting read, thanks. I am surprised by the findings! Seems that the 150-600 C is sharper, not just at 600mm (cropped on 100-400 MKII) but all over the focal range. Surprising!
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Mike.P said:
That's very informative although I note he is testing sharpness at 18ft. I think all users of both Sigma lenses will agree that they perform fine at that sort of length, personally I would have liked to have seen him shooting the Canon and Sigma lenses from a bit further away and then cropping to give similar views of the subject.
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What was surprising to me was the performance for BIF where he reckoned the Sigma was slightly better at acquiring, tracking, and maintaining focus than the Canon 100-400mm MkII. Although if all his test were comparing the bare Sigma against the 100-400 + 1.4x tc then I am not at all surprised that the Sigma came out best in everything. I have tested the Sigma against the 400/5.6 +1.4x tc and the Sigma certainly gives better detail and focuses faster.
 
Mine turned up Friday evening at around 9PM.

Thought about taking it to the Yeovilton Air day but decided not to take the chance in the end (as I was leaving at 6am next morning and had no light to test it the night before). Took my Pentax kit with the 150-450mm instead, shame though, I would have loved to have given it a decent first outing.
 
I have a USB dock arriving today and will set my lens up for the weekend

What is the best way to accurately calibrate the micro adjust for each focal length ?
 
Thinking of getting one of these to pair with my new d750, any recommendations on bags that can take this, a couple of small primes and still have a bit of room for personal items for a day in the field?
 
Roy C said:
Here is a pseudo macro taken with the 'C' at the full 600mm and near the MFD. Camera used 7D2

View attachment 39644
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After much looking, I've plumped for the C version over the Sport. Weather sealing is nice but not essential for me. The weight is a big factor when you have a bad back.

Roy C's images was the final decider for me. Some great images. Thanks for making the decision between C and Sport and the Tamron a little easier.

The SRS Microsystems offer of £100 off the C and S ends today if anyone is reading and sat on the fence over which one to go for.
 
how do people find this compares to a 300mm f4 af-s with tce14iii, just bought a d750 and not sure which route to take
 
The 300mm and 1.4x is too short on a full frame body, would recommend the 150-600. I have a D7200, D750, the 150-600 and the 300mm pf with all 3 teleconverters so I tested all the combinations.
 
I sent mine back today ... going through my RIAT pictures I couldn't put up with the lack of IQ when shooting anything at distance.

After getting the same thing with the Sport version I was beginning to think it was me but I recently purchased the new Pentax 150-450mm to go on my K-5IIs and took that along with the 7D and 150-600mm. For shot's that needed very little cropping the Pentax lens is a little better but once you start cropping any more than about 30% the Sigma lens is left for dead.

Anyone interested in a hardly used Sigma dock :D
 
I've had my sigma 150-600 C for just over a week now and I love it, but...

Is anyone else slightly disappointed with the customisation options?

I expected that I would be able to alter the "default" setting and the two customisation settings in a similar way, and have 3 completely different sets of settings, using all of the side buttons.

However, for C1 and C2 although you can set the default focus and OS type, setting a number for the focus limiter behaves strangely.

I expected that you would choose a custom distance to work from (e.g. 15 metres) and that the focus limiter button would then allow values from full, 0-15, 15-infinity, depending on button position (rather than the default 10).

However, for C1 and C2 the focus limiter button has no function? You are allowed to set the focus range to e.g. 0-15 metres (or 15-infinity), but then that is the focus limit for that custom option regardless of the position of the focus limit button.

It seems to me that this is a bit of a waste of functionality, and stops me having my lens on e.g C1 all the time (as a variable focus limiter is so useful for wildlife).

Am I being too picky, missing something obvious, or is this something we should encourage Sigma to include in an update?

Any thoughts?
 
Here are some shots that show how well (or otherwise) you can crop images from the 150-600 C taken at the full 600mm. Not as good as a much more expensive 500/4 or 600/4 prime of course but not bad for the relativity cheap price

#1 Full frame
dunny%20full%20frame_zpsvwwrifmw.jpg


#1 100% crop
dunny%20100%20percent%20crop_zps6ju6s7ja.jpg


#2 Full frame
young%20dun3%20full%20frame_zpsbm7nltqe.jpg


#2 75% crop (ie 25% of full frame)
young%20dun3%20huge%20crop_zpsdzseidpx.jpg
 
whutusay said:
I've had my sigma 150-600 C for just over a week now and I love it, but...

Is anyone else slightly disappointed with the customisation options?

I expected that I would be able to alter the "default" setting and the two customisation settings in a similar way, and have 3 completely different sets of settings, using all of the side buttons.

However, for C1 and C2 although you can set the default focus and OS type, setting a number for the focus limiter behaves strangely.

I expected that you would choose a custom distance to work from (e.g. 15 metres) and that the focus limiter button would then allow values from full, 0-15, 15-infinity, depending on button position (rather than the default 10).

However, for C1 and C2 the focus limiter button has no function? You are allowed to set the focus range to e.g. 0-15 metres (or 15-infinity), but then that is the focus limit for that custom option regardless of the position of the focus limit button.

It seems to me that this is a bit of a waste of functionality, and stops me having my lens on e.g C1 all the time (as a variable focus limiter is so useful for wildlife).

Am I being too picky, missing something obvious, or is this something we should encourage Sigma to include in an update?

Any thoughts?
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Although you can only have one set of focus limiters it is still useful to be able to define your own ranges if you do not like the standard ones.
As for the other dock options:-
The AFMA gives you the option of 4 ranges x 4 shooting distances if you want - I have not bothered with this as I do my AFMA via the camera and only really use the lens at the long end anyway.
For me the single most important one is the AF speed setting which I have set to Focus priority (without the dock option it is set between focus and speed), I need the very best/most accurate focus and only Focus priority will give you that.
For handholding I also find dynamic OS to be very useful.
 
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