Buy a brand new Sigma 150-500 with warranty or a used 100-400mm?

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Dini
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I would like to buy a lens that i can use for wildlife. The longest lens i own is the 15-85mm so i could do with something with more reach.

Ideally i would like to get the Canon 100-400mm as the IQ is supposedly better than the Sigma 150-500mm but unfortunately my budget is not enough for a new one.

With my budget, i can either buy a used Canon 100-400mm or a brand new sigma 150-500mm. I cannot decide which one to go for.

I am tempted to go for the canon but i think buying the sigma brand new provides the assurance that if anything is wrong with the lens i can get it fixed whereas the used canon is a bit of a risk in that if something is wrong with the lens i am stuffed.

It took me nearly a year to save up for a zoom lens so i really want to make the right decision. What do you guys think?
 
In part it depends on where you get it from as to whether the warranty would be worth it - import and pretty much forget it from Sigma (you get the 1 year only).

Now just down to the lenses, I've owned both and would say the IQ is better on the 100-400, but the OS on the 150-500 beats the 100-400 hands down, so it depends how much you'd need the OS/IS

However if you;re lucky and get a great 150-500 it will beat the 100-400 on IQ too, but you have to be lucky!

In my flickr I have lenses sets which may or may not help you, but they do show one copy form each lens as used by the same person.
 
It may be worth considering depreciation. If you got a second hand 100-400 and don't like it, then as long as you haven't broken it, then it will be worth almost as much as you paid in a years time (probably). You will lose money on a new lens.

Like buying a second hand VW Golf or new Renault Clio....
 
Very good point that - I have a lens I bought new and its lost £70 at least and I've barely used it :(

Whereas the 100-400 will keep its price, so the way I tend to look at it is that I'd rented it for the amount I lost on it - pretty good really.
 
Be careful with Amazon, I contacted Sigma about buying from Amazon and there's a risk of it being a European import
 
The Sigma 150-500 is a great lens, used mine for three years before changing to another Sigma 120-300 f2.8 which I use with a TC. Certainly capable of good results. Buying secondhand is always a risk, but testing before purchase usually sorts out if there are any problems, so consider both, the OS system on the Sigma blows the Canon away it's awesome.

Sigma :)
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artyman said:
The Sigma 150-500 is a great lens, used mine for three years before changing to another Sigma 120-300 f2.8 which I use with a TC. Certainly capable of good results. Buying secondhand is always a risk, but testing before purchase usually sorts out if there are any problems, so consider both, the OS system on the Sigma blows the Canon away it's awesome.

Sigma :)

The problem with buying the Canon second hand is that it is very difficult to get a recent copy.
 
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