Sigma 50-500mm lens - Good value?

chriseve1979

chriseve1979

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Chris
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Now that I've had some 6 months practise with my Nikon D50 (1st DSLR) I'm ready to take things a stage further and upgrading my lenses. My budget is quite strict with a large mortgage so I have been looking at the Sigma 50-500mm lens as this just about falls into my budget as a replacement for my Sigma 75-300mm and Kenko 400-800mm manual, both of which have given respectable results for their price but are a bit limiting particularly in lower light.

My main photography consists of weather, landscape & wildlife. For the landscape photos I'm using the kit Nikon 18-75mm lens which I'm happy with for now, but would like to autofocus with a longer reach than 300mm. Nikon's own lenses are out of my price range for the moment.

Is the Sigma 50-500mm any good or are there other alternative lenses worth considering?

Any advice greatly received! :)
 
I have the 50-500mm and think its a cracking lens for the money but I recently had a chance to buy a Sigma 100-300mm f4 for a good price and have to say that matched with the Sigma 1.4x and 2x teleconverters I think it has the edge IQ wise over the Bigma.

I did a little test the other night with the moon ... these are both hand held so on a tripod they should be sharper but it will give you an idea.

Sigma 50-500mm @ 500mm LINK
Sigma 100-300mm with 2x teleconverter @ 600mm LINK

At the end of the day the Bigma is more versatile but the 100-300mm is just a better lens imo.
 
I had the 50-500mm in Canon mount, it was a decent lens although 500mm is a bit overstated (more like 450mm at a push) and the weight is considerable.

If it was me I'd go with the 150-500mm Sigma as opposed to the 50-500mm Bigma.
 
I think the bigma is an excellent lens, I have one so probably a little biased.

Some people will say the weight is a problem but any long lens is heavy and the siggy isn't that bad, it isn't a problem to me anyway.

There is NO substitute to getting close to your subject so keep this in mind. The bigma will give you some reach but it is never enough and some people over estimate what you can do with a 500mm, whether it be siggy mm's or canons.

The 150-500 has OS but is a slower lens as it moves to f/6.3 much earlier in its range. Remember OS/IS will not help with subject movement.

The 300mm F/4 will not autofocus with a 2x extender (unless you have a 1d?) but should be fine with a 1.4 although sometimes in good light non reporting extenders may.


Unless you can afford a long FAST prime or at least the Canon 100-400 then I think it is a good buy especially as you can get one second hand for almost half the price of the canon equivalent.

There are other choices though and I'm sure someone will list them ;)

Edit: I don't know any nikon equivalent lenses so please excuse the canon reference.
 
Thanks for all your replies - most helpful. I'd looked previously at Sigma's converters to use with my 300mm lens but I'd read the 2x converter stops the autofocus as you say, a pity otherwise that would've suited my requirements just fine (mine's not the 1d but the 70-300 DG macro). The main reason for asking is that I've seen a few 50-500's go on fleeceBay at quite tempting prices, as well as 175-500mm's.

The other issue with my current 300mm lens is that the camera will only work with it set to f22 on the dial nearest the mount - any other setting the camera just flashes fEE so this limits the light the camera sensor gets from the lens. Is there a workaround for this that I'm missing?

I'm not too concerned about weight as most images with the Bigma would be taken on a tripod - and it can't weight more than the Kenko manual lens I use now - and that doesn't have a tripod mount! For that reason it doesn't get used often.
 
The Sigma converters will not fit your 70-300mm anyway so that's a non starter. The 1.4x will AF with the 100-300mm but not the 2x .. the converters also fit the Bigma but neither will autofocus.

Saying that, AF is no big deal .. once you get used to manual its a doddle (as long as you have decent eyesight).

The 1d is a camera, not a lens btw.

What about a Nikon 300mm prime and 1.4x TC?
 
You could get a used Nikon 300mm f4 and a Kenko 1.4tc for about the same money
 
I have the Siggy 150-500 on my D300 and I find it excellent, even handheld at 500mm. However, some say that Sigma quality is variable and maybe I got a good copy as they say. merv:clap:
 
Siggy 50-500 owner here and I love it to bits, it's not the fastest but I find the image quality to be pretty outstanding. I use it mainly for birdie shots and wouldn't be without it. It's not the fastest lens around and it is quite heavy but with tripod and remote release I've captured what I think are some wonderful shots with it.

Tommy.
 
I must admit I am edging more towards the Bigma simply due to the fact it's so versatile and means I can do nature reserve visits without constantly changing lenses when wanting to switch from wide landscape to wildlife shots. From the reviews I've read online and some of the photos on here it does appear to be a cracking lens for its price.
 
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