rettner
Offline
Image Upload: Off
|
 p.1 #1 · Sigma 500 f/4.5 FM purchase experience | |
Just thought I would share my experience with the purchase of a DG Sigma 500 f/4.5 here from the FM buy & sell.
I had been looking for this lens for a while, so I was (maybe overly) excited when one came up for sale at a good price. I made an offer within a few minutes. That was, and I can hardly believe this, back on October 22, 2007. Unfortunately, after a few test shots, I realized something was not quite right. It really couldn't match my Canon 100-400L in tests at f/5.6 or so. I soon discovered a major front-focus problem. The seller refused to do anything about it, maintaining that it took good images. Maybe, but I didn't fork over that kind of $$ for "good". I also discovered that the back barrel was lose and that there was no serial number (eek!).
Well, I shipped it to Sigma or repair/evaluation and finally got it back on Jan 3, 2007. Now for the good news. Sigma were fantastic, really fantastic. They got a new board from Japan, calibrated everything and fixed the rear barrel. They cleaned and shipped it to me 3-day Fed-ex. All for no charge, even with no serial number.
So I just tested it and can say that the lens is very good, maybe excellent. It easily beats my 100-400 now, even at f/4.5. At f/8, it is amazing. While the detail changes little with f#, the contrast really improves from f/4.5 thru f/8. The focus is spot on at all f#s, no front or rear focussing.
So there is a happy ending. Not sure what to make of the missing serial number. My shipping cost me $100 or so, but I am now pretty happy and can concentrate on the hard task of learning to get the most out of such a beast.
Charlie
|
