Which lens. Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 ex dg os hsm sport. OR. Sigma 300mm f2.8 ex dg hsm

[boogie 16]

I'm in the market for a new lens and do not know which to choose from the two listed above,. The main use would be for wildlife and would be coupled with a 1.4x and 2x teleconverters 50% of the time. Image quality is important, as is low [ish] light capability, I know this last point is as much camera ability as lens. I also want fast auto focus. it will be used with a canon 7d, which I hope to upgrade to the mark ii in a few months time. Can anybody out there help me decide which lens to select by pointing out the good the bad and the ugly of both of them please.

 

[Gary Kinghorn]

I've had both.

300mm prime is an older lens but I've taken some lovely shots with it. The hit rate with moving targets was a little low though.

The 120-300 which I still have is awesome. It is however a heavy beast. The zoom capability is great as is the image quality at all focal lengths.

Of the two the zoom is the better lens by a chunk and probably only bettered by a canon 300mm f2.8.

Oh and the image stabilisation on the zoom is great too, meaning lower shutter speeds can be achieved. I struggled with that with the prime.

Some shots taken with both on my flickr

 

[artyman]

I use the 120-300 with my 7D mostly with the 2X though sometimes with the 1.4, as already said it's heavy, a lot heavier than my previous 150-500. Not sure how the new 150-600 shapes up against it, have you considered that, although you would lose the f2.8 option.

 

[pete.rush]

My advice is hire the lens and a 2x TC and see whether it meets your requirements. The sigma 300 prime wasn't great, even the previous versions of the 120-300mm f2.8 lenses non OS versions as well out performed the sigma prime. If you do a search on the forum you'll see that it works very well with the 1.4x TC, but 2x TCs performance fall well short.

Hence why I bought the MKI canon 300mm prime

 

[Gary Kinghorn]

My advice is hire the lens and a 2x TC and see whether it meets your requirements. The sigma 300 prime wasn't great, even the previous versions of the 120-300mm f2.8 lenses non OS versions as well out performed the sigma prime. If you do a search on the forum you'll see that it works very well with the 1.4x TC, but 2x TCs performance fall well short.

Hence why I bought the MKI canon 300mm prime

Or buy one and if it isn't up to your standards then sell it on. You might find the amount you lose is the same as hiring. Then you only spend out if you don't want to keep it.