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robhest
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Registered: Jul 22, 2008
Location: South Africa
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 22, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great colours, love the range, possible handheld shop, sharp images before 450mm
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Cons:
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heavy
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for what you pay this lense is incredible. yes hand held shots are difficult due to the weight but still possible at zoom under 400mm and when placed on a tripod or even leaned on your window the shots are sharp.
dont compare it to the canon 100 to 400 because the canon is better.
but for value for money, this lense will not dissapoint in good light as i find the sweet spot is f8 ss at 1/1000 in good light,
but you need to around with aperture and ss to get the bet out of the zoom. i just recently went to the kruger national park and i got incredible shot with this lense.
yes a IS would be nice but then the price wouldnt be nice.
this is a great lense i highly recomend it if the canon L lense is just to expensive.
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 Jul 22, 2008
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ivyinvestor
Offline
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Registered: Mar 17, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 237
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Review Date: Jul 21, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $920.00
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Range, mount/handle, price.
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Cons:
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Focal length > 400mm, finish, filter size, lack of IS/OS.
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I really wanted to like this lens.
Took delivery before a trip to the Pac NW for a tour of WA's national parks. I left some of my normal travel kit unused, including the consumer-based Canon 70-300IS.
To make a long story short, in plenty of light - using f-stops between 7 and 13 - I was unable to get anything better than "barely acceptable" in terms of contrast, sharpness, and clarity between 400mm and 500mm. I've shot for a long time - especially travel photography and I couldn't justify keeping the lens with nearly 20% of its advertised range.
I realize that, by and large, Sigma products are viable - and in some cases, remarkable - alternatives to legacy manufacturers' kit (I've had both good and bad experiences in the past). And to add insult to injury, did I caution that careful treatment (no hits or bumps) *still* resulted in several surfaces "losing" their EX Series finish? I still don't have a clue how that happened - from some truly strange areas, too...
Caveat emptor...
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Jul 21, 2008
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ghamden
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Registered: Aug 10, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 81
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Review Date: Jun 26, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $700.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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This is extremely sharp well built fast focus
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Cons:
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Needs good light or use tripod or monopod
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I purchased this lens used it looks to be new the IQ is great
in good light
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Jun 26, 2008
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dhparsons
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Registered: Feb 7, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Feb 7, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $900.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Range, image quality, price, construction balance
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Cons:
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low light focusing lack of stabilazion
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I shopped carefully to find a good long distance zoom. This lens kept showing up in reviews I was reading. One review rated the lens very high for birding so that got my attention. The canon lenses were just too expensive in the 400mm and above range and i did not want to rely on a TC.
I ordered the lens and when it arrived I was very please with the overall build quality and feel of the lens. I mounted it on my canon 30D and went out and snapped some photos, It was an overcast day and the initial images were good but not great. I then had an opportuinity to shoot with it on a sunny day, clear blue skies and the pictures were fabulous.
Since I have now had the opporunity to shoot many different conditions and have learned to match the correct ISO and camera settings. The results are very good across all my outdoor shooting conditions thus far.
My best image to date was the capture of a Great Blue Heron in a swamp form about 100 feet away at ISO 160 shutter 1/800s f/6.3 The details (clarity/color) are stunning in this image.
I kow its not the best lens you can buy but I think it is the best long range zoom for under $1000 on the market today.
Highly recommend
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Feb 7, 2008
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davekone
Offline
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Registered: Apr 27, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 4755
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Review Date: Sep 22, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Cost effective way to get to 500mm. Amazing that it can zoom from 50mm-500mm! My copy is golden with excellent central sharpness. Focus speed is excellent, sold HSM performance.
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Cons:
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Zoom ring is tight, has gotten a tad better with time but requires more effort to twist than usual. Seems tighter going from 50-100mm then eases up considerably after that.
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I own the non DG version of this lens. I really think my copy is extremely good compared to what I have seen elsewhere. I have prints that were made of a F16 @ 416mm 54x31" and I can clearly read the name of the pilot on the side of the plane. The shot filled the frame on my 1D MKII 1.3x crop body. For air shows its a real gem, I can get the planes up close taxing around and in the air.
I take this lens out for wildlife at the zoo. I have a Leopard photo at 500mm 1/100th and another @363mm 1/400th that would make your jaw drop pixel peeping. All shots at wide open aperture.
This lens does require good light to get a clean image. I would say a medium overcast lit day is needed. If its dull and drab the lens performance and photo quality falls apart.
I often shoot ISO 400 to 640 with this lens unless its a clear sunny day.
If you need sample images drop me a message I'd be glad to share.
The engineers at Sigma really deserve a pat on the back, its hard to believe what this lens can do.
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Sep 22, 2007
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John Mavin
Offline
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Registered: Sep 19, 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Sep 19, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Overall performance, quality, price and (dare I say it?) weight!
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Cons:
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I have used the Bigma for well over a year with my Nikon D100 and D70, mainly in ship photography, and sometimes in quite severe weather conditions where, by necessity, the lens is always mounted on a large Gitzo tripod, often with a bag of stones hanging from the base.
Strange to think that this whopper has almost become my standard lens!
I find the Bigma is quick and responsive and, despite all the drawbacks caused by weather and changing light conditions, the image quality is quite remarkable.
My comment on the weight stems from the belief that you don't get this type of performance from a lens built of lightweight materials. More weight - greater stability - better image.
Mine has needed one repair, that is when an amount of play developed in the main barrel, often shutting down the AF function. This was rectified very quickly by Sigma Imaging (UK) Ltd. at a very reasonable cost with a quality of service I found excellent.
My only mumble would probably be the zoom lock. I feel I can't rely on it and the switch being too small and flimsy.
Apart from that - an excellent lens!
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Sep 19, 2007
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DmitriM
Offline
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Registered: May 18, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 1780
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Review Date: Aug 29, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $750.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Reach,quality,PRICE
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Cons:
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weight,some ghosting
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Sigma..Bigma.. I bought this lens a few years ago,to complement my Canon 70-200 2.8. I bought this lens for wildlife photography. I first had a try of Canon 100-400,but didn't find push/pull as comfortable as I'd hoped. Sharpness wasn't the greatest. Then I bought this lens off a person on FM. I was really scared at first,but first pictures made me smile. This lens is really good.
Sharp. Not as sharp as my L's,but it's worth every penny I paid. I used it for for some motorsport photography with ok results. It doesn't track subjects as good as 70-200 does. You also need a tripod to use this lens or at least 1/500s,in order to get sharp shots. It's pretty heavy and extremely hard to hold this lens without moving.
Weird: f6.3 on this camera=f5 on any other lenses that I own. Basically they look a touch darker in the viewfinder and darker they come out.. I don't know how else to explain it.
On my website, all the animal,bird photos were taken with the sigma. http://www.dmitrimarkine.com
Also,here's out of the camera photo that was taken at 8mp at 500mm f6.3. download and judge the quality by yourself.
http://www.dmitrimarkine.com/extras/sigma50-500.jpg
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Aug 29, 2007
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Allan Bruce
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Mar 14, 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1310
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Review Date: Jul 17, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Great range, long reach, build quality, HSM motor, price
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Cons:
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Very soft at 500mm, AF hunts occasionally
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I have had this lens for 6 months now and have used it a lot. The main thing I can say is that it is versatile. It is my carry round lens! Yes it may be heavy but it has a comfortable grip to carry it. The 500mm is very nice to use however it is very soft at this range. The softness starts to come in around 350mm, but above 400 it deteriorates rapidly. If you stop down it does improve but stopping down an already slow f/6.3 at 500mm means you really need to bump up the ISO or be in very sunny conditions. That said, I would still definitely recommend it unless you want to be selling your images. I will be sad to see my Bigma go but I need to sell it to get my 300m f/2.8 ...
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Jul 17, 2007
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yido
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Sep 11, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 811
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Review Date: May 10, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $899.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Versatility, HSM motor, build quality/feel, price
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Cons:
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Could be a touch sharper at 500mm
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This is such a versatile lens, as I've heard before, the bigma is a 500mm supertelephoto that you can zoom back to 50mm if you need it. For a 10X zoom, the optics are very good, even at 500mm, using good technique and good processing technique will yield very good to excellent results in my view.
I whole heartedly recommend this lens for anyone interested in an affordable supertelephoto zoom.
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May 10, 2007
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sehdata
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Apr 22, 2007
Location: Denmark
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Apr 22, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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10 Times Zoom 50-500 in one lens thats stunning :-)
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Cons:
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Not a single one, not even the weight
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look at my pictures on this side:
http://www.fotokritik.dk/pics/247480
search for the user sehdata and you
vil see a lot of other fotos by this super
lens
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Apr 22, 2007
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BigAl-SA
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Jun 7, 2005
Location: South Africa
Posts: 14
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Apr 9, 2007
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NinaS
Offline
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Registered: Nov 13, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1208
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Review Date: Mar 19, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $999.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great lens for the price, awesome range, sharp sharp sharp
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Cons:
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lens cap doesn't work with hood on
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I got this lens Friday to use on my 20D & 30D. Saturday I headed off to the local drive thru Wildlife Safari ... WOW!
I own & regularly use a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens, so the weight on this sigma is the same & I hand hold 90% of the time. My keeper rate at the safari was about 90% for sharp focus (can't speak for the moving animals who seem to look away at the wrong time)
yes, it is slow compared to my 70-200mm, but I knew this would be my sunny day lens, so it really is fine for its purpose.
the zoom seems stiff, but I read somewhere that it will loosen with time, so not complaining yet, and I kept it at 500mm most of the time, so who needed to zoom in & out 
I could use this lens easily on a walkabout around town or the zoo, can't wait for soccer season to start up. I get sharper pictures with this lens, than with my 70-200mm with a 2x converter, but side by side at 200mm, well my IS lens would still win
here are some shots from the safari combined with the 20D:
http://itzmeagain.com/siteimages/Mar07/IMG_0024web.jpg
http://itzmeagain.com/siteimages/Mar07/IMG_0291web.jpg
http://itzmeagain.com/siteimages/Mar07/IMG_9972web.jpg
http://itzmeagain.com/siteimages/Mar07/IMG_0225web.jpg
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Mar 19, 2007
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corndog
Online
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Sep 4, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 3895
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Review Date: Feb 14, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $750.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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500mm for 1k new. Nice contrast, nice colors.
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Cons:
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A little lens creep. A little heavy.
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Theres not much more I can write about this lens that you haven't already read. I have carried this thing around in my hands for a couple hours, no big deal. I would say that my comfort zone for sharp photos hand held at 500mm is 1/200 of a second. When the sun goes down, I crank up the ISO to 1600(god bless you canon), and it's no big deal, shooting wide open of course.
I bought mine used on eBay for 750, man these things hold their value! The first thing I thought when I used it was...500mm still isn't enough!!! I may pick up a 1.4 tc, who knows.
I have only used a tripod so far for the standard moon shot:
This is about a 50% crop.. http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s74/cedew/moon1.jpg
This lens also has wonderful dof . You know whats odd? I notice it most at full zoom when the lens is the slowest...
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s74/cedew/sunshine.jpg
To sum up my feelings on this lens:
At first I was a little disappointed. The more I use it, the more I love it. Its been about a month now, and it will stay with me for a long, long time.
*Note - Occasionally, this thing squeals a little bit while focusing, just ignore it, its fine. Also, once mine did this wierd half assed focusing thing where it would hardly work. I just cycled the AE/AF settings on the camera
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Feb 14, 2007
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Herman Auer
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Dec 10, 2005
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Jan 21, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Extremely well built lens. HSM works nice and quietly. I'm very impressed with this lens so far. Very sharp for a lens in this price catagory.
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Cons:
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Requires a good dosis of light but can be compensated with higher ISO usage. Weiging 1.85kg, it's a heavy lens.
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I'm using this lens in combination with my Nikon D50. As the lens weighs a ton, I find that by adding a battery grip (available from Hahnel, Mercury & Opteka) places the entire setup much more balanced. The lens can be handheld (naturally within limits) but tripod usage is recommended.
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Jan 21, 2007
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six100
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Apr 7, 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Nov 7, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Range of course, very good image quality, HSM, EX quality, comes with a soft-case & hood, price.
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Cons:
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86mm filter size, wish it was at least a constant F4.
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I will use as a reference for this review the Canon 70-200 F2.8L which, I believe, is one of the greatest sub-2k lens available:
The main reason why I actually sold the 70-200 was the "short" range, and I have to say this is the MOST impressive feature of the Sigma all-in-all. I knew from the beginning this "extra-range" was going to cost me some "image quality", but to be honest, image quality was not that much compromissed and, to my surprise, the lens even shows some highlights where it outperforms the Canon. For example: Though overall image quality of the 70-200 is better, the 50-500 produces a better bokeh in about every situation.
HSM and EX finish are two very pleasant details (even though the lens is not weather sealed, but for a sub-1000u$s this is not surprising).
Another plus: the lens comes with a soft-case and hood.
Now the minuses:
86mm filter size is not cheap at all, but well, considering this lens is "only" about 950u$s and the only comparable lens in the market, the Canon 100-400L, is almost 500u$s+ (talking always about the Canon mount version)...then spending an extra 70 bucks for the UV filter is still a good deal.
Lack of stabilization and excessive weight are complains you can usually read here for this piece of glass, but IMHO any serious 300mm+ lens should be used with, at least, a monopod to achieve better results, and since I always carry a monopod in the backpack, neither of these are considered as minuses by me, but have in mind before buying that this is an almost 2 kilo (4 pounds) non-stabilized lens.
My biggest complain with this lens is the aperture. The F4-6.3 is a real limit to the posibilities of it. Though with an appropriate camera and a careful setting you can almost override most of the "light requirement" limitations and shoot everywhere-anytime. Of course you wouldn´t have to care for all that with a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM but well, you need an extra 5.5K to get one of those, so in the end this Sigma jewel is kind of a real deal.
Some pics:
500mm:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42634256/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/41936302/
417mm:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42302006/
191mm:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42634025/
50mm:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/41581242/
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Nov 7, 2006
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marxzed
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Dec 8, 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 74
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Review Date: Aug 31, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Zoom range, price, sharpness (up to about 450mm), "impressive" appearance.
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Cons:
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weight, softness after about 450mm, slooooooow aperture, "intimidating" appearance, finish started flaking off from day one, no IS
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Make no mistake - the zoom range on this lens is impressive. Having access to a 100-400 L I can say the "Bigma's" extra 50mm on the short end and 100mm on the long end makes a big difference in some shooting conditions. Shooting street parades/festivals where one shot might be framing the face of a performer 50 meters away and the next shot may be trying do the same at 5 meters means one camera with one lens can cover 95% of your shooting (and, in my case, relegate the spare body to having a 12mm or 22mm prime for those occasional wide shots)
Unfortunately though it's all a case of "swings and roundabouts" as what you gain on zoom range you loose on aperture and sharpness.
f:4 at 50mm is not even close to fast and past 450mm softness creeps in at the, already ready slow, wide open aperture of f:6.3 forcing you to stop down at least 2 or 3 more stops else you'll end up with a soft & hazy shot.
No other lens I've owned screams "I Need IS" more than this one. (Sigma you reading this?). So unless you are shooting full sunlight and/or with 400 ISO or faster this is a tripod only (or at least mono-pod) lens, really at 500mm you need 1/1000s or more to get a good chance of a shake free shot in real world shooting. Street shooting hand held at 500mm and 1/500s I found 60% or more of the shots blurred by lens shake.
Focus speed is OK but experience showed me setting the focus spot to the central spot made it fast enough for 95%+ of shots - though this means you'll need to get the knack of using exposure lock or setting another button for exposure metering as you'll be focusing and recomposing a lot.
Colour is a nice neutral tone but sometimes a little flat. Shooting in RAW will give you more than enough latitude to fix this post pro.
Even without considering the number of elements in the construction flaring is well controlled.
Some distortion at either end of zoom but not overly noticeable in most shots.
At the wide end and wide open it vignettes on my full frame film cameras but not critically so, easily fix post pro. Haven't noticed it on 1.6 crop digital.
It's heavy, it's fine hand held for, say, 10 or 20 minutes at the side line of sports field but it is certainly no "walk around" lens. Honestly my last travel shoot I found my self checking my daily schedule and if it didn't scream "big telephoto needed" I left it at the hotel and, just in case, packed the 70-200L or sometimes even a 70-300 IS (which, by the way is not bad unit)
Minor point- the nice rubberised finish started pealing off from day one, not major flaking, just a small 1 or 2 mm patch here and there. While it was not mollycoddled it certainly wasn't abused 
On my old D60 with a usable ISO of only 100 - 400 this lens was a constantly frustrating experience, shoot low ISO risked lens shake or subject movement blur but shoot at a high enough ISO and things got too noisy for use beyond snapshots.
Now days with my 20D, with it's usable maximum of 800 (or even 1600 under the right shooting conditions), it's like buying a new, improved, lens.
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Aug 31, 2006
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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83
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319942
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Jun 30, 2012
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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92% of reviewers
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$884.38
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.18
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9.53
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8.8
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