Long Lenses, Nikon and Canon versus third Party

If you go and buy a Nikon or Canon 400/500/600mm etc. Any of the big lenses you won't be disappointed, There all as good as each other. The Sigma 500mm is a good lightweight and cheaper option but not as good IQ as Canon/Nikon and focusing on the Canon and Nikon Lenses is far better specially in low light :)
 
Thanks Joe - but the article is quite good

I think one of the "other" issues with a 3rd party lens is will it AF with TC's above wide open - and in fact what is it like with TC's

I'm not really planning to buy a Sigma, per se, unless a used one came up and then I might just to give it a try
 
I think that sigma make some good value for money lenses. I have a friend who had a 300 f2.8 sigma and he got some really nice stuff with it. He took the plunge and bought a EF300 f2.8MkII and the difference in his photographs is noticeable in terms of sharpness and contrast. I don't think that he would go back. It helps that he is using it on a 5DMkIII and using the MkIII convertors.

The sigma is about the same price as a good used EF 500 MkI. Which would you choose?
 
I have the first generation Canon 500 f4 IS. at f11 I doubt it's much different to other 500 zooms, what I like about it is the f4 bit, but also the fact that it is very sharp at f4. That's really what you pay for.....plus the other bonuses like weather sealing etc.....

Guessing it's the same for the Nikon version.

With the newer Canon supertelephoto primes, you're mainly paying for the reduction in weight (over the previous gen models)
 
The sigma is lighter than the MkII. I have a MkI also and its a great lens. I wouldn't pay the price for the MkII.
 
Gaz J said:
The sigma is about the same price as a good used EF 500 MkI. Which would you choose?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure where you are shopping but a Sig 500/4.5 is about £2,500 second hand (DG version) whereas the Canon 500/4 is around the £4.000 mark.
That's a big difference.
 
I think the same applies across the board regardless of focal length.
Many third party lenses have excellent design but lower manufacturing tolerances - which is why there is so much variation in results between apparently identical examples.
So with a Canon or Nikon lens you're (hopefully) paying for precise manufacture - and if you get a good third party, you're getting a bargain!

Just my 2c

cheers, cw
 
It is a valid argument to compare a better used lens against a lesser new one. Most bang for your buck!!.

And your opinion matters not one jot to me.
 
Have to say I am a bit of a fan of longish primes; have in the recent past owned the Canon 300f2.8ISL, 500f4ISL and 600f4ISL and Nikon 500f5VR lenses. Since needing to lightweight I use a Sigma 120-300f2.8 Sport. I think you would be hard-pressed to fault this particular lens for build quality or IQ. It may AF a little (and it is a little) slower than the primes but it does have variable focus limiters onboard tunable via the USB dock to help mitigate this problem. For around £2000ish used this is a fabulous lens. In every sense I think it is an improvement over other third party lenses around this FL. Just my £0.02.
 
I'm expecting sigmas releases in the future to be excellent, but don't know when there long lenses will be refreshed
 
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