Which to get, Sigma 150 macro, or Sigma 180 macro?

Wail

Wail

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Wail
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Hi,

As the title states, I may be in the market for a long macro lens. I have been thinking of the Sigma 150 (played with one for a very good time, and loved every bit of it). Being at this focal length, I would want it for bugs and critters.

The thing is, which one do I get?

If anyone's seen my recent issue with the Nikon 70-200VR, I've had to sell that wonderful lens (am happy it got a good new home) as I can't hand-hold that weight / range even with VR.

Ironically, the Sigma 150 didn't give me such a problem, and I was able to get some really nice shots out of it hand-held (sure managed the same with the Nikon VR, but the pain was far too much).

So, will I be able to hand-hold the Sigma 180 and get something good? From what I've read, the majority state that this lens has to be mounted on a tripod.

The thing that got me thinking about the 180 is that I've managed to find one, brand new, for under £400; and that makes it cheaper than the 150!!

Both are HSM, and both get excellent reviews.

Please help :)
 
Easy - if you can't handhold the 70-200 (with VR), then you'll struggle with the 180mm (without VR)

The 180mm is great optically (my brother in law uses one), but its not a handholding lens, its much bigger and heavier than the 150mm.
 
That's what I thought .. but I needed a 3rd party confirmation!

Thanks for the reply, I guess it's time to flip-out the plastic-fantastic and head to my local store to see how much I can haggle one out of them :)
 
I guess it's time to flip-out the plastic-fantastic

I didn't know you shot Canon? ;):D
 
Hi,

I've got a 150 and must admit the optics are great. It's good for hand holding, although I usually spoil it and stack 2x2x teleconverters on it, then it turns into a beast! Lol.

Great lens. (y)
 
puddleduck said:
I guess it's time to flip-out the plastic-fantastic

I didn't know you shot Canon? ;):D
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Good one .. really made me laugh, against better advise (hurts my pancreas).
 
kalibre said:
Hi,

I've got a 150 and must admit the optics are great. It's good for hand holding, although I usually spoil it and stack 2x2x teleconverters on it, then it turns into a beast! Lol.

Great lens. (y)
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woohoo .. which TCs do you use, and what are the IQ like once that's done?

Yes, I love the 150 and have been able to get fantastic results from it while hand-holding it. It is a fantastic lens.
 
Wail said:
woohoo .. which TCs do you use, and what are the IQ like once that's done?

Yes, I love the 150 and have been able to get fantastic results from it while hand-holding it. It is a fantastic lens.
Click to expand...

Both Sigmas. Does get a bit soft with that much glass but having a 600mm macro is good fun! lol

Let me see if I can upload an example:

http://www.fragment46.com/photos/stacked/

Ignore all the dust and crap on the shot, this was a quick and dirty test when I first got the TCs.
 
What a shot .. thank you for taking the time to post this. Very well done, but I am not too sure of putting 2 TCs on this lens; sure seems fun, though :).

How "fiddly" does that combination get (lens, body, 2 TCs)?
 
Gets quite heavy, but luckily the mounting ring on the 150 can be reversed and that acutally hits the new centre of gravity perfectly. I main challenge though is actually finding what you're looking for through the viewfinder. Because the DOF is so small you can be staring directly at the object you want to tog but won't recognise it unless you are within a cm or so on the focus ring. Like you said it's good fun though.

Realistically I use only one TC for macro shots with pretty good results (by my standards anyway, not pro). The following shot was taken yesterday with the 150 + 2x TC from about 2 feet away:

http://www.fragment46.com/photos/butterfly/

I love the IQ and the Bokeh on the Sigma.
 
I bought a Sigma 150mm last week and I absolutely love it,
 
Hi Wail

I've got the 180mm version and I'd say it is just about possible to use hand held, but to really get the best out of it, it does benefit from some form of support such as a tripod. It is certainly quite a lot longer than the 150mm but I don't think there's much in it weight wise 895g for the 150mm versus 965g for the 180mm according to the specs. Also note that using the hood on it adds another 70mm to the overall length.

Like you, the opportunity came up for a good deal on the 180mm, but I think I would have been just as happy with a 150mm (can't say for sure as not tried one).

Here's an image of the lens on a D80 (with hood attached)...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2771510154_ef8b8ce9cd_o.jpg
 
Here's a pic of mine on a D80 with the 2x TC. It also shows why you need a good strong filter!

http://www.fragment46.com/photos/bird/

Shortly after this I had to stop shooting as somehow a tiny sliver of plastic found it's way onto the CCD surface. Not the mirror or the iris, the actual CCD! God know's where it came from as I hadn't changed lenses in 2 days!
 
Thank you all for the replies ...

To clarify a bit here, I have good use of only 2 fingers and a thumb in my right hand. Due to titanium plates in there, I can't manoeuvre two fingers too well and I can’t grasp & hold-up heavy gear without a lot (A LOT) of hand shake.

I am able to get outstanding shots from my (now sold) 70-200VR, even with a 1.7 TC, but that was a very physically stressful experience. Though I’ve tried to put the pains behind me for the sake of the pictures I was getting, the pains would drag on for days and in the end I just got too saddened by not being able to use that lens. Hence I sold it.

Other heavy lens that I have is the Nikon 24-70 AF-S; which I am more than able to hold very steady for ample time. As a matter of fact, it’s my walk-around lens.

All these coupled with any of my camera bodies.

So, in the end it seems that it’s not just the weight issue, but also the whole design of the lens (girth) and how it couples with my camera body.

And this is where this comes in, I am not too sure that I will be using a tripod / monopod for most of my shots; and I do plan to use this lens a lot, as I am a big fan of macro photography.

If anyone has any “tricks” that I may use to better hand-hold & use the 180 then please do let me know. I am not buying this for at least another week, so I still have some time to think about which of the two to get. By the way, I’ve somehow managed to find the 180 cheaper than the 150! I thought it odd, but I’ve double checked and tomorrow when store is open I will triple confirm this and may be just reserve one.

If I do go with the 180, I may hence get better distance, just as good an optic, while saving myself at least £50!!!

Again, thank you to all those who’ve posted here … and any pointers on the 180 would be very much appreciated.
 
kalibre said:
Here's a pic of mine on a D80 with the 2x TC. It also shows why you need a good strong filter!


.......
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply and link. Out of curiousity, which filter are you talking about, and why exactly would you need it? Don't tell me because of the parrot :p:p:p!!!
 
animal168 said:
is the 180 usable with a monopod? i use a monopod with the 105 and am debating wether to sneak one past the missus
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At the end of the day it's a fairly quick lens so yes it's perfectly usable with a monopod, however whilst the very shallow DOF can be fun to play with, ultimately you want to stop this baby down to at least F11 to get some decent 'full bodied' macro shots. With this in mind I almost always end up needing my tpod. With that said though if you plan to use some off camera lighting or a ringflash then a monopod might be fine if you have a very steady hand and can control your focal depth well.
 
kalibre said:
At the end of the day it's a fairly quick lens so yes it's perfectly usable with a monopod, however whilst the very shallow DOF can be fun to play with, ultimately you want to stop this baby down to at least F11 to get some decent 'full bodied' macro shots. With this in mind I almost always end up needing my tpod. With that said though if you plan to use some off camera lighting or a ringflash then a monopod might be fine if you have a very steady hand and can control your focal depth well.
Click to expand...

ok thanks for that info, much appreciated, i do use a flash bracket and have arms like popeye, hmmm might splash out

OP sorry for the hijack
 
Wail said:
Thanks for the reply and link. Out of curiousity, which filter are you talking about, and why exactly would you need it? Don't tell me because of the parrot :p:p:p!!!
Click to expand...

Lol, yeah I was talking about the parrot. But no it's just a plain/UV Hoya Digital filter to avoid damaging the expensive bits, I've got a couple as the 72mm thread is identical to my 18-200VR which is handy.
 
animal168 said:
ok thanks for that info, much appreciated, i do use a flash bracket and have arms like popeye, hmmm might splash out

OP sorry for the hijack
Click to expand...

No needs for apologies ... if anything I've learned a lot from your Qs and the answers to the same. Thanks. Glad to see someone getting this lens, at least.
 
Wail said:
If anyone has any “tricks” that I may use to better hand-hold & use the 180 then please do let me know.
Click to expand...

I've just checked to see how I actually hold the 180mm, and essentially almost all the weight is supported by the left hand palm under the lens tripod mount and then manually focussing with the fingers and thumb. This feels pretty well balanced on a D80, and the right hand is just used for steadying and the shutter. Having said that I do predominantly use the right hand for picking up the camera before I can get the left hand under it.
 
MatthewA,

Thanks for checking this out, your method seems just like mine. What's the issue is the right hand steadying and having to click for the shutter. That's where I am weakest.

Though the weight is on the left hand, still it's the combination of both hands that hold the whole rig steady.
 
No problem :)

Only other thought is maybe some sort of shoulder support for the camera/lens with a pistol grip/shutter release? Not seen one though :(
 
I'm sure you've tried this but how about setting your timer to 2secs and then re-steadying after hitting the shutter release?
 
I have the sigma 150 and use it handheld with decent results at 1/100s (ish). it might be easier with a monopod. that can take the bulk of the weight and then you are not straining to focus/get the shutter button pressed etc..
 
kalibre said:
I'm sure you've tried this but how about setting your timer to 2secs and then re-steadying after hitting the shutter release?
Click to expand...

This is a very nice suggestion .. but I am not so sure it would work with things like bugs & insects :thinking: .. 2 seconds is a very long time, and they'd be long gone out of the focus range!
 
I have the siggy 180 and its a heavy beast, not easy to hand hold at all.

Gary.
 
Gary,

Thanks for the input on this, as much as I'd love to get the180 (for the reach and for having found it cheaper) .. I may skip this simply for the convenience of not wanting to lug a tripod around. I am still not decided on which way to go, though.
 
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