Sigma 50-500mm quality?

D

Dylanlewis2000

Messages
965
Name
Dylan
Edit My Images
Yes
Hey all, i was in Jessops the other day just mootching around and started talking to one of the guys there, and they said about this offer they had on the Sigma 50-500. Apparently they are going to be moving over to mainly Tamron Lenses, therefore there are big dicounts to be had on the sigmas.

I have a sigma 100-300 F4, lovley lens sharp as hell, and 4f @ 300mm. Would the Sigma 50-500 be close to this lens or just as good? Is OS a must at 500mm? I tried it out in the shop and on the back of the 450d body it was very nice indeed.

The price they quoted for this lens was £699, so i was thinking of mayby Selling my 100-300 for thr 50-500. What you lot think?
 
I've used both and found the 100-300 to be the sharper lens of the two but if you need the extra reach then it seems like a good price.
 
Owned both too and agree with Icee. personally, while the Bigma is excellent, I would go 150-500mm OS first. The OS is superb and a stop down the IQ is excellent.
 
condyk said:
Owned both too and agree with Icee. personally, while the Bigma is excellent, I would go 150-500mm OS first. The OS is superb and a stop down the IQ is excellent.
Click to expand...

I agree:) The 150-500 has rarely been off my camera since I bought it. I use it far more than I did the 50-500, mainly because the OS is a big help when shooting handheld.

Image quality was pretty much the same with the 50-500, but in lower light I really needed to have a solid rest or tripod.

John
 
Yep, I've been using the 150-500 on my D300 and D700 - I bought it because as an amateur I'm not willing to pay the thousands of pounds that Nikon want for the same 'reach'. I'm well pleased with the lens and would highly recommend it.
 
Is there a list of known Jessops doing these deals ? While I'm not interested in a Bigma (even at ~half price) I'm tempted to see if they're doing reductions on other lenses (the 105mm macro being my target)
 
to be honest the Jessops i go to is very small, at best they only have around 10 lenses for Canon fit at a time, however they had two Sigma CAF lenses there when i went in the other day, the rest were Canon own brand.
 
I am going to phone a few camera places tomorrow to see how much they will give me for my 100-300 F4. How much do you lot think its worth?
 
Dylanlewis2000 said:
I am going to phone a few camera places tomorrow to see how much they will give me for my 100-300 F4. How much do you lot think its worth?
Click to expand...

If it's the current model, mint and boxed/complete with no issues then £550 should be achievable private. Has a great reputation and one of the best zooms you can buy IMO. Selling to shops you will get robbed. I'd try and sell here first. EBay will also get you a good price given the price of new ones these days.
 
Having tried both the 50-500mm and 150-500mm I went with the Bigma which I felt was sharper at 500mm wide open. THIS & THIS were taken at 500mm, 1/180, wide open and hand held if you are interested (although Pentax has inbody SR which would make a difference).

Have you tried the 1.4x TC with your 100-300 f4 though, it reportedly gives pretty good results.
 
no i havent used a 1.4 tele, i have a jessops one and its not much cop which is a 2x.
 
do you think, that would be better than buying a 150-500. Only other thing the siggy is f6.3 @ 500mm, woould this be slow?
 
The sigma 100-300mm is a great lens, the 120-300mm f2.8 is also a good lens. Personally the bigma is the best of the rest, but it's not a true 500mm, only 450mm, its f6.3 and fools the camera into thing its f5.6 and if you have poor light conditions you'll struggle to get a good percentages of shots, and that goes for the other sigma long zoom offerings. The bigma is also very heavy (not really one for hand hold for long periods). Personally stick with the 100-300mm f4, its by far a better lens than any of sigma's other offerings and when conditions are good, stick the 1.4x Tc on it.

The Bigma is £700 new, the 100-300mm f4 is £1100 new, ask you self, would it be a better lens, might have a longer focal length, but its not a better lens.
 
Dylanlewis2000 said:
do you think, that would be better than buying a 150-500. Only other thing the siggy is f6.3 @ 500mm, woould this be slow?
Click to expand...

If you can try the 1,4x and are happy with the IQ then I would say it was a better way to go than the 50/150-500mm route. You get to keep an excellent 100-300mm constant f4 with the bonus of an extra 120mm at the expense of one stop. I can shoot with the 50-500mm wide open at f6.3 and its ok the majority of the time but found I couldn't do the same with the 150-500mm (may just have been a dodgy lens though).
 
pete.rush said:
The Bigma is £700 new, the 100-300mm f4 is £1100 new, ask you self, would it be a better lens, might have a longer focal length, but its not a better lens.
Click to expand...

The Bigma is only £700 new at Jessops because, as pointed out by the OP, they are having a clearout. Normally they are both about the same price.

Saying that I would say the 100-300mm is going to be sharper up to 300mm ;)
 
Even if they are the same price 100-300mm f4 £1124 v bigma £1059, which would be the better lens, 100-300mm. Ok it depends what he want to photograph, the bigma on a tripod for wildlife ok, for aircraft (varying light conditions, and you can guarantee that in the UK) I'd rather go with the 100-300mm anytime.
 
lol well this has changed my views. I am after ultimate image quality so i think the 100-300 would be dest. Do they do aything between a 1.4 and a 2.0 tele convertor
 
Dylanlewis2000 said:
lol well this has changed my views. I am after ultimate image quality so i think the 100-300 would be dest. Do they do aything between a 1.4 and a 2.0 tele convertor
Click to expand...

Sigma only do the 1.4x and 2x .. you can get other makes but I couldn't tell you anything about them for camera bodies other than Pentax.

I would stick with Sigma 1.4x to be honest as its probably the best match and compromise. Make sure you try one first though, your opinion of it may differ to other peoples and I have no experience of it on the 100-300mm.
 
I used a 1.4x Sigma 90% of the time with my ex 100-300mm 4.0. No problems, AF is fast and IQ is excellent.
 
Unless you have a 1D body, you'll only be able to manual focus with a 2x TC, TC's are really designed for the fast primes like the 300mm f2.8 which can handle the loss in autofocus speed and IQ's. Wouldn't recommend a 2x with the 100-300mm or any zoom lens really, especially for motorsports or aviation.
 
Just as an update if you are interested, but i have been given a quote of £300 for the sigma lens by a camera shop.
 
Dylanlewis2000 said:
Just as an update if you are interested, but i have been given a quote of £300 for the sigma lens by a camera shop.
Click to expand...

They'll sell that for £700 secondhand. That's what I've seen them going for in London Camera X........ it's a joke as new the lens is £1150. Wouldn't be even tempted, you'll get more on TP or eBay for that, but don't sell it, much better lens than the 50-500mm
 
okies, the other avenue is a teleconvertor, however im gutted i didnt buy the 1.4x at christmas for £46 when it was in Jessops... oh well... i will learn! They quoted me £190 for a sigma 1.4 tele
 
Get a Kenko Pro, pretty much the same. I've had a few of each brand and never noticed any difference.
 
***** Another Update *****

Another camera shop has just offered me £500 for the sigma and has offered the Sigma 150-500mm at £749 and the Sigma 50-500 at £1059
 
Ive just had a look on Pixel Peeper to have a look at the quality of the lenses when on a 400d, and i have to say, im a little shocked. The majority of the lenses are not sharp. Is this a common problem? My 100-300 is nice and sharp so i dont want to be doing for something which is essentialy a downgrade. :(
 
don't sell the 100-300!!!, Kenko Pro DG 1.4x is all you need.

you've gotta be on crack to sell the 100-300 for a (1)50-500
 
Dylanlewis2000 said:
Ive just had a look on Pixel Peeper to have a look at the quality of the lenses when on a 400d, and i have to say, im a little shocked. The majority of the lenses are not sharp. Is this a common problem? My 100-300 is nice and sharp so i dont want to be doing for something which is essentialy a downgrade. :(
Click to expand...

Why do you want a 500mm lens for?
The 100-300mm is a better lens all around, even with a 1.4x TC fitted.
The 50-500mm is actually a 50-450mm lens so not far of 420mm of you 300 plus TC.
The 100-300mm is f4 constant or f5.6 with TC, the 50-500mm is f6.3 at 500 (450)mm, it just cheats the camera into thinking its f5.6.
Image quality is much better on the 100-300mm, will work in fading light because its a faster lens than the bigma, will achieve better autofocus in poor light.

It sounds like you want the 500mm no matter what, personally its a step backwards, it's not as good as your current lens, you've only been offered £500, when if you do sell it privately, you could easily make £700-800 depending on the condition.

Personally it's a no brainer
 
ok then, ill go down the tele convertor route i think as i have been upset with the quality of photos which have been on the net. I was looking at 500 just as an upgrade as i thought maybe the extra reach would be a bit better for focal legnth and i didnt think it would have a downer on the image quality.

Moon shots were my main concern as i always felt that the 300mm was a bit short.

I have a Jessops Teleconvertor which is a x2 but i have always found image quality not brilliant with that attatched to the lens.
 
Dylanlewis2000 said:
ok then, ill go down the tele convertor route i think as i have been upset with the quality of photos which have been on the net. I was looking at 500 just as an upgrade as i thought maybe the extra reach would be a bit better for focal legnth and i didnt think it would have a downer on the image quality.

Moon shots were my main concern as i always felt that the 300mm was a bit short.

I have a Jessops Teleconvertor which is a x2 but i have always found image quality not brilliant with that attatched to the lens.
Click to expand...

Buy a sigma or kenko (sorry for spelling) TC for a start, jessop TC aren't great. 2x TC aren't very good on the slower lenses, image quality is poor, autofocus speed seriously hit. The TC's are primarily used on the fast primes like the canon 300mm f2.8 and are designed for these lenses rather than the zooms, but apart from slower autofocus speeds you shouldn't have any problems with the 1.4x TC on your lens. Just take into account the light conditions (day) to achieve your shutter / aperture settings.

Peter
 
Mike.P said:
If moon shots are what you are after then forget the Bigma.
THIS was taken with a 300mm f4 and 1.7x Teleconverter and from what I have seen of the Sigma 100-300mm f4 its not far off prime quality at all.
Click to expand...

ooo very nice, i dont know why sigma only do a 1.4, 1.5 would be better although 1.7 seems nice but i bit too close to the 2.0
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top