Canon 100-400 or Sigma 150-500

dougan

dougan

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Dougie
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I was all set on getting the Sigma for photographing birds and wildlife.
Today I received a small unexpected windfall, meaning the Canon could now be within my budget.

After reading the various comments, it seems the Canon does have the better PQ out of the two, but it only goes to 400mm and not 500mm.
Would the lack of 100mm be prohibitive in taking bird photos? Would the extra 100mm make a lot of difference?
Also, the Canon is £450 more than the Sigma, which to me seems a lot of money. Would the images it gave be vastly superior to the Sigma?

I need to make up my mind, as the price of Sigma's are about to increase.

Thanks
 
The 100mm extra would not impact quite as much as you would imagine, however I'm glad I have 500, as to whether the Canon is worth the extra money is a tough one, for me no it isn't, the IQ is so similar, so you are in effect paying for badge snobbery, bit like a Mondeo or a 3 Series, both good cars. Here are 100% crops of a couple of shots, one with my Brother in laws Canon 100-400 and the other with the Sigma both attached to my camera. The lighthouse was a fair way away.

http://SPAM/c3whur/Img_5372c.jpg

http://SPAM/c3whur/Img_5374c.jpg

A sample of from my Sigma
http://SPAM/c3whur/Birds/Img_5951c.jpg
 
I think artyman's images give you the answer. As an ex-owner of the Canon 100-400 f4 L lens I can only offer it's re-sale value in it's defence.

Buying now it would have to be the the Sigma with that sort of price difference.
 
There are a couple of other threads on this if you search.
 
which picture was which lens?
 
For me number one is the clearer photo.

PS I have read a number of articles which claim that the IQ does drop of significantly over 400mm with Sigma 150-500.
________
fat woman Webcams
 
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Just checked my nearest Sigma stockist, Devon Cameras, Exeter, and they have already put the price of the Sigma up to £839.99! It was £769.99 last week. If the lens is already in stock, surely they should sell it at the pre-increase price. I asked them last week if they would match Best Cameras price, which was £20 cheaper, they said no!
So they have lost a sale for the sake of £20, don't know what the profit margin is on a lens of this price.
 
Hi Dougie,

An option i am deliberating as well. As Richard said there is another thread discussing the topic; not that i am any nearer a conclusion having read it!

Sigma still available at pre-increase price from Amazon and Warehouse Express.

Kerso is advising in his thread that price increases are due very soon so not sure how long before others follow the lead of your local store.

Best wishes,

Tracey
 
Tinkie said:
Hi Dougie,

An option i am deliberating as well. As Richard said there is another thread discussing the topic; not that i am any nearer a conclusion having read it!

Sigma still available at pre-increase price from Amazon and Warehouse Express.

Kerso is advising in his thread that price increases are due very soon so not sure how long before others follow the lead of your local store.

Best wishes,

Tracey
Click to expand...

Hi Tracey,

I think it will be the Sigma, the extra 100mm and £450 cheaper than the Canon is hard to ignore.

Dougie
 
Most reviews rate the 100-400 as definitely sharper than the 150-500.

I tried several out in the shop and the 100-400 was markedly sharper wide open. However, both the canon and sigma suffer from degrees of sample variation, so if you get lucky you might get a sigma that performs closer to the canon. From what I've seen from various users, I'd say a very good sigma copy is about as sharp as an average 100-400 copy. But a very good 100-400 copy is nearly as good as the 400 prime!

Those sample shots are blurred by heat haze. You can't conduct a comparison when there are outside factors like that blurring both images.

I was intending to buy the sigma originally, then I came into some unexpected extra cash, AND the amazon 100-400 price dropped to £999, so I snapped it up.
Had it been at £1100 and I didn't have the extra cash, I would have gone with the sigma happily. But I'm very pleased I got lucky and got the canon.

Here is an excellent comparison:
http://www.michaelfurtman.com/sigma150_500.htm

The sigma provides unrivalled value. But there's more to the 100-400 than brand snobbery.
 
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Thanks for your honest opinion Adam!
If I could find the Canon for under a grand then it may be a different matter.

As I am fairly new to dslr's, I think the Sigma would be the way to go as my first super telephoto lens. At a later date I could always upgrade and trade the Sigma in.
 
dougan said:
Thanks for your honest opinion Adam!
If I could find the Canon for under a grand then it may be a different matter.

As I am fairly new to dslr's, I think the Sigma would be the way to go as my first super telephoto lens. At a later date I could always upgrade and trade the Sigma in.
Click to expand...

Kerso will do you a 100-400L for around a grand I think. I don't know what his prices are currently, but they've got to be close to that. A used minter for £800-900?

In the unlikely event that you get a poor copy, Canon will res-set and recalibrate it, and it will be as sharp as you like - FOC under warranty.

Edit: do you know Kerso? He's an indpendent importer, gets stuff from the US at rock bottom prices, full warranty. Pukka guy, check him out in the advertisers' section. Also see prices here http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod37.html Kerso usually beats them by a handy amount, sometimes a lot depending on the exchange rate, which is quite good at the moment.
 
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heres some from a 150-500mm.
DSC_5342.jpg

youngrobin.jpg

DSC_1421.jpg

peregrinefalcon80.jpg

peregrinefalcon4.jpg
 
Thanks for the images Scott!
Looks impessive enough IQ to me.
 
dougan said:
Thanks for the images Scott!
Looks impessive enough IQ to me.
Click to expand...
i think you will like it, image quality is very good, af speed is very good and the os is very good and despite what people say its quite, my 50-500mm os is quieter than my nikon lenses, and the only nikon lens i have that has faster af is my nikon 70-200mm f2.8,
and i would say the os is better on the sigma than on my nikons and my 18-200mm has vr2.
 
One other point, the canon weighs ~1300g whereas the sigma is ~1900g. Enough to feel the difference after a day carrying it or 10 minutes handholding.
 
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Seems not, my mistake Scott.


Some 100-400 shots:

5277749563_a27eabc939_z.jpg


5274322449_fb01c28f66_z.jpg


5129178115_ef2a33bc4c_z.jpg


5102093988_ecf4f4fc70_z.jpg


5312245492_19ee863f95_z.jpg

(this one it at f/8)

All at 400mm, f/5.6 or f/6.3 (except the f/8 one).
 
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shameless plug for a Sigma 50-500mm going for £450 :exit:
 
scottthehat said:
i have a nikon 70-200mm and a sigma 50-500mm os and at 200mm its no way near as bad as that site says in fact at f8 theres nothing in it.
Click to expand...

I think the Sigma looks OK on that site if you change it to f8
 
To put a spanner in the works, how about the Sigma 120-400mm?
Any one used one?
 
dougan said:
Hi Tracey,

I think it will be the Sigma, the extra 100mm and £450 cheaper than the Canon is hard to ignore.

Dougie
Click to expand...

Hi Dougie,

Went over to Warehouse Express this afternoon to try both. 100-400 was pin sharp and focussed very quickly. Sigma was also sharp but boy is it heavy, well for a girl anyway!

I am still undecided, going to sleep on it. Helped by two lasses at WE, one a Canon specialist and the other a Nikon specialist. They explained that the Sigma is popular with both sides of the main market and that it is a regular comparison of products for them for Canon users.

As i think we have worked out for ourselves, their view was that it usually boils down to budget unless the extra reach of the Sigma is needed because of the genre of use.

Good luck with the Sigma; it's good to see someone more decisive than i am!

Best wishes,

Tracey
 
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Tinkie said:
Hi Dougie,

Went over to Warehouse Express this afternoon to try both. 100-400 was pin sharp and focussed very quickly. Sigma was also sharp but boy is it heavy, well for a girl anyway!

I am still undecided, going to sleep on it. Helped by two lasses at WE, one a Canon specialist and the other a Nikon specialist. They explained that the Sigma is popular with both sides of the main market and that it is a regular comparison of products for them.

As i think we have worked out for ourselves, their view was that it usually boils down to budget unless the extra reach of the Sigma is needed because of the genre of use.

Good luck with the Sigma; it's good to see someone more decisive than i am!

Best wishes,

Tracey
Click to expand...
tracey did you see the post before you did yours,:D
its wise not to rush as its alot of money which other you go for but the sigmas are due for a big price increase soon.
 
scottthehat said:
tracey did you see the post before you did yours,:D
its wise not to rush as its alot of money which other you go for but the sigmas are due for a big price increase soon.
Click to expand...

Hi Scott, do you mean the one in which Dougie now seems as indecisive as me?:)

Thanks for the reminder about the pending price change. Dougie mentioned in a very early post that his local dealer has already increased their price.

Ian (Kerso) has also said his prices will need to go up shortly as well. Good to see the manufacturers are so confident of their respective markets that they increase prices when times are hard!

Best wishes,

Tracey
 
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