Sigma 150-600mm contemporary

Having a bit of a break from live gigging so going to free up a bit of money selling some gear and going to purchase one of these

Last gig on Saturday so going to get them on ebay on Sunday and make my purchase soon :)
 
Great image Ray :clap: Not too often, see Puffin shots, with the wings out.
 
Thanks John, In two trips its the only time I have managed to get this shot.
 
Just ordered from Calumet. They are doing 2 years interest free at the moment, so I thought it would be rude not to :)

Unfortunately they don't have stock at the moment, but you can order for when they get stock in. Hoping it won't be too long!
 
Thanks Trevor. off to try my luck at the Sunderland air show tomorrow.
 
Dont know if this has been asked but thinking of getting one of these but which one c or s ?
 
Well. I did my research and was set to buy the S. Everything I read said get it. But...the weight put me off and I bought the C. Beyond delighted. It's all I could wish for. Plenty sharp enough and I can manage the weight.
 
I got mine from LCE as well don't know if they still have that offer on. I went for the C over the sport for the same reason. weight saving. and the fact its a lot cheaper. .im more than impressed with it.
 
I had the Sport and found it too heavy generally so sold it and bought the C with extender package from LCE. No regrets at all and I can't tell any difference in IQ either. The C version is a lot more portable and certainly up to the task.
 
mike_6480 said:
Just ordered from Calumet. They are doing 2 years interest free at the moment, so I thought it would be rude not to :)

Unfortunately they don't have stock at the moment, but you can order for when they get stock in. Hoping it won't be too long!
Click to expand...
I ordered one from them and waited 5 weeks before cancelling and ordering from LCE who had it with me in 3 days.
 
sureshot said:
Dont know if this has been asked but thinking of getting one of these but which one c or s ?
Click to expand...
I was out with my C lens on Thu and was sat next to a guy with the S lens, he said he wished he had bought the C lens as the weight of the S lens was too much. The difference in picture quality does not justify the near twice the price! His words not mine! Hope this helps.
 
James A Robertson said:
I was out with my C lens on Thu and was sat next to a guy with the S lens, he said he wished he had bought the C lens as the weight of the S lens was too much. The difference in picture quality does not justify the near twice the price! His words not mine! Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I couldn't find any difference at all optically between the two, the C was every bit as good as the S!
 
I bought the C at start of the year but not had many outings with it. I got the dock with the lens and set it to 'Dynamic' AF and Focus Priority as it would mainly be used for aviation and motorsport. When I did use it I didn't feel that I was getting the results that some have on here, especially at 600mm. When I looked at the Exif data for the pin sharp images (@600mm) it was apparent that they were often taken with shutter speeds of a minimum of 1/1250 but mainly were 1/1600 or 1/2000. I had the 120-400mm prior to this so was used to getting decent sharpness at 400mm using 1/500+. Now this maybe obvious to some but for me it's been a learning curve to realise that to get the sharpness (for moving subjects at 600mm) you need to really crank up the shutter speed!

With RIAT coming up I put the latest firmware on the lens and trundled off the Fairford with the intention of using v fast (for me) shutter speeds. On arrival we're met with the typical British summer i.e. cloud & poor light (although we did get some sun). I set the camera (7D Mk1) to 1/600 in Tv mode and watched the aperture open as far it could. Trying something new I set the camera to Manual with 1/1600 / F7.1 and left ISO on auto to let the camera earn its keep. Although not a go anywhere set up it appeared to work on the day giving the fast SS with good aperture. The ISO was generally 200/320 which even the 7D, with its high noise notoriety, could cope with OK.

Now that I'm getting to grips with the lens and understanding how to make it work best I'm a lot happier with it; I would definately recommend it to those interested. Anyone with any tips please share so we can all get better.

A few from RIAT with the above settings:

1)
RIAT 2016 by Matt, on Flickr

2)
RIAT 2016 by Matt, on Flickr

3)
RIAT 2016 by Matt, on Flickr

4)
RIAT 2016 by Matt, on Flickr
 
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Priority1 said:
I bought the C at start of the year but not had many outings with it. I got the dock with the lens and set it to 'Dynamic' AF and Focus Priority as it would mainly be used for aviation and motorsport. When I did use it I didn't feel that I was getting the results that some have on here, especially at 600mm. When I looked at the Exif data for the pin sharp images (@600mm) it was apparent that they were often taken with shutter speeds of a minimum of 1/1250 but mainly were 1/1600 or 1/2000. I had the 120-400mm prior to this so was used to getting decent sharpness at 400mm using 1/500+. Now this maybe obvious to some but for me it's been a learning curve to realise that to get the sharpness (for moving subjects at 600mm) you need to really crank up the shutter speed!

With RIAT coming up I put the latest firmware on the lens and trundled off the Fairford with the intention of using v fast (for me) shutter speeds. On arrival we're met with the typical British summer i.e. cloud & poor light (although we did get some sun). I set the camera (7D Mk1) to 1/600 in Tv mode and watched the aperture open as far it could. Trying something new I set the camera to Manual with 1/1600 / F7.1 and left ISO on auto to let the camera earn its keep. Although not a go anywhere set up it appeared to work on the day giving the fast SS with good aperture. The ISO was generally 200/320 which even the 7D, with its high noise notoriety, could cope with OK.

Now that I'm getting to grips with the lens and understanding how to make it work best I'm a lot happier with it; I would definately recommend it to those interested. Anyone with any tips please share so we can all get better.

A few from RIAT with the above settings:

1)
RIAT 2016 by Matt, on Flickr

2)
RIAT 2016 by Matt, on Flickr

3)
RIAT 2016 by Matt, on Flickr

4)
RIAT 2016 by Matt, on Flickr
Click to expand...

You don't need super high shutter speeds for a sharp photo at 600mm, I've had pin sharp images at 1/320 for example, at the British GP at 600mm (hand held).

But of course, at such long lengths physics will dictate faster shutter speeds should be used (with any long lens), depending on the desired result, as any movement / camera shake is multiplied.

Great shots above though :)
 
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Some from Sunderland international air show. not great, really struggled to be honest. but I will get there. Lots of haze, and the last one has heat haze from the after burners.


sunderland air show 246.jpg sunderland air show 413-Edit.jpg sunderland air show 451.jpg sunderland air show 458.jpg sunderland air show 480.jpg
 
...double post (error - 'forum not responding' when it clearly was !
 
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Guys just so your aware I'm doing some testing with my 150-600C and D500 and differing aspect of fine tuning, ive finally now got to using Focal Pro across each of the 4 Sigma Dock settings, for any of you that don't know the USB dock allows you to tune the internals of the Lens at these ranges

150mm
250mm
400mm
600mm

each focal range has also 4 distances attuned to them so

150mm @ 9.2M/20M/48M/infinity so 4 ranges = 4 tests, totalling 16.

The most noticeable thing about the C is it isn't as sharp at 600 than at 250 to 400, i know some of you may find this acceptable, but i myself try to get the best from whatever i buy, and coming from Mirroless A7Rii we never suffer from this front back focusing issues and others....

Anyway i used the In Camera fine tune on the D500 and it returned a -1 setting, i wasn't happy with that as it didn't seem to make much of a change, but after using focal pro at 600mm i had an advised setting of +5 and wow what a change, So with that in Mind i started down the track of testing the total of 16 focal ranges and entering the Values in the lens.

FYI anything reported by Focal Pro needs to be doubled in the USB dock, so +5 = +10 in the dock.
I,ll let you know how i get on when i finally finish it, and apologies if it bored some of you, i was just explaining the art of the possible

FYI this is the post from where i got the idea, ive spoken in length to the Author who has given me the directions.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3803872

thanks all for reading
 
@littleted thank you for the write up. I was trying to fine tune my 150-600C and D500 at the weekend but I kept getting very varied results each time I did it, from -5 to +10. I might have to try the Focal Pro or something similar.
 
littleted said:
Guys just so your aware I'm doing some testing with my 150-600C and D500 and differing aspect of fine tuning, ive finally now got to using Focal Pro across each of the 4 Sigma Dock settings, for any of you that don't know the USB dock allows you to tune the internals of the Lens at these ranges

150mm
250mm
400mm
600mm

each focal range has also 4 distances attuned to them so

150mm @ 9.2M/20M/48M/infinity so 4 ranges = 4 tests, totalling 16.

The most noticeable thing about the C is it isn't as sharp at 600 than at 250 to 400, i know some of you may find this acceptable, but i myself try to get the best from whatever i buy, and coming from Mirroless A7Rii we never suffer from this front back focusing issues and others....

Anyway i used the In Camera fine tune on the D500 and it returned a -1 setting, i wasn't happy with that as it didn't seem to make much of a change, but after using focal pro at 600mm i had an advised setting of +5 and wow what a change, So with that in Mind i started down the track of testing the total of 16 focal ranges and entering the Values in the lens.

FYI anything reported by Focal Pro needs to be doubled in the USB dock, so +5 = +10 in the dock.
I,ll let you know how i get on when i finally finish it, and apologies if it bored some of you, i was just explaining the art of the possible

FYI this is the post from where i got the idea, ive spoken in length to the Author who has given me the directions.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3803872

thanks all for reading
Click to expand...

I don't have an issue with front / back focusing at any focal length, mines been bang on straight out the box. But then all my lenses have been!
 
Post Deleted DB post
 
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Yes i did this also and found it to be inconsistent,

Focal is very good WWA, takes it a while to test the lens snapping away and remote controls camera through usb interface, it also does Dust analysis which i found useful for the sensor...

https://flic.kr/s/aHskDQjbcj

2 at 600mm WWA, had to throw them into Flikr so you can see full Res, but you can see the difference in sharpness... 1 looks ever so slightly mushy, both taken on tripod, Straight out of camera, no adjustments at all
i also use AFC as to not pull focus


SORRY FOR DOUBLE POST WENT MAD
 
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odd jim said:
I don't have an issue with front / back focusing at any focal length, mines been bang on straight out the box. But then all my lenses have been!
Click to expand...
I did test my 83 year old Dads yesterday his 105 Sigma Macro and it was also Bang on Focal returned a 0. if your Happy Jim then that's all that counts,
What I'm trying to convey is that using a Sigma lens and focal gives you a very good option for sharpening it even more, now if your testing a Nikon 24-70 then its a diff story, you need to pic your preferred focal length and test at that Preferred MM, as you don't have any option to dive into the lens to Micro alter...

The end goal in all these is to have the Fine tune adjustment on the Sigma Lens set in such a way that Focal Pro returns a 0..

I admit ive never had issues with front and back either, but sharpness yes...
 
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littleted said:
Yes i did this also and found it to be inconsistent,

Focal is very good WWA, takes it a while to test the lens snapping away and remote controls camera through usb interface, it also does Dust analysis which i found useful for the sensor...

https://flic.kr/s/aHskDQjbcj

2 at 600mm WWA, had to throw them into Flikr so you can see full Res, but you can see the difference in sharpness... 1 looks ever so slightly mushy, both taken on tripod, Straight out of camera, no adjustments at all
i also use AFC as to not pull focus


SORRY FOR DOUBLE POST WENT MAD
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info. I'll give it a go when I next get a chance and will post my findings on here. I guess I need a really steady tripod to do the test properly?
 
WWA said:
Thanks for the info. I'll give it a go when I next get a chance and will post my findings on here. I guess I need a really steady tripod to do the test properly?
Click to expand...
Yeah and the hardest one is 150mm, i bought the focal pro LARGE target and its a real pain to get it on target before you press go. as you zoom its easier but 150mm at 20M and 48 is a pain, wind can move it LOL.
You can also use a high contrast street sign if your struggling... makes it easier...

if your only bothered about 600mm than focal recommend 12m from Target that's what my initial test and photos were done at, ive yet to fine tune 600mm..in dock. But good thing about the sigma is you can set the changes to the custom settings also, so if in doubt you can revert it with a quick flick.
 
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I have had this lens for a year now and am still surprised at how well it AF's with a 1.4x tc (considering it is actually at f9 at the long end). The AF is both fast and accurate on both my 7D2 and 5D3. You do lose a bit of IQ from the bare lens of course.
These were all taken at the full 840mm with a Canon 1.4x tc MkII.


green%20840mm%20P01v2_zps9kxpau77.jpg


gold%20840mm%20P01_zpsjvmsaxyr.jpg


linnet%2002P%20x%20840mmv2_zpsor90hazr.jpg
 
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michael23 said:
One of these has found its way into my kit bag! Hows everyone finding it and any general tips on the setup via the usb adapter? Also has anyone purchased a lens coat for it?
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There is pictures a couple of pages back of a lenscoat on mine
 
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