jimmy462
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 p.1 #11 · SIGMA 500MM F4.5 EX DG APO HSM | |
2025 Thread Resurrection
Well, it turns out that I'm the one that's testing this out! 
I've been field-testing my EF-mount Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX DG HSM on both my Z6 III and Z50 II via a Fringer EF-NZ II (both v1.08 and v1.10 v1.8 and v2.0 FW) and I am more-than-pleased with its AF performance and the results I am getting, especially for BIF.
I've owned this lens for a number of years and it's sat mostly unused due to the, um, less-than-stellar AF performance I had gotten with it using it natively on my Canon 5D Mark II and 7D. When moving to Sony a6300, a7R and a7S II and utilizing Sigma's own EF-to-E-mount MC-11 adapter I, again, encountered less-than-stellar AF performance and, again, the lens sat under-used. Then came my foray into Panasonicland and L-mount with my Lumix S1's and MFT-mount with my GH6...again using Sigma's MC-21 EF-to-L-mount adapter and Metabone's EF-to-MFT adapter and speedboosters (repectively) the AF performance was again lackluster and I had concluded (it turns out, erroneously) that perhaps the Sigma 500's HSM motors just weren't up-to-the-task of providing swift and accurate and continuous AF-C.
My hopes were not high when I decided to, once again, purchase a mount adapter for my new Z6 III and Z50 II and check out the usability of my extensive array of EF-mount lenses (I wouldn't say I'm a hoarder, but I pretty much still own every piece of camera equipment I've purchased over the past half-century! c. pre-1974 Konica SLR anyone?! ).
And then came the surprise...using [Auto-area AF] on the shutter button and [Pinpoint AF] on the Fn1 button and AF-C [Coninuous AF] with [Auto] Subject Detection set on both cameras this lens came-to-life like I've never experienced it before. Now, I've yet to experience any native Z-mount telephoto primes and how they AF-C, but both of these cameras put subject boxes and eye-detect boxes (if the subject is close enough to do so) on birds, both stationary and in-flight with this Sigma prime! The continual AF was both swift and sticky and accurate with both bodies in my testing, so far! Very impressive, indeed, is an understatement, especially in comparison to the performance with those aforementioned camera bodies from Canon, Sony and Panasonic vs how these 2 Nikon bodies are commanding this lens!
I don't know what "magic juju" that Nikon has going-on with their AF system, but this old c.2005 Sigma EF lens has gotten a new lease on life! It turns out there never was any AF problem with this lens (as I'd thought all these years), it was just patiently waiting for the proper suitor to come along to get it to dance and kick up its heels! Haw! I am a very happy camper from this unexpected surprise! 
One caveat: using the focus limiter on the lens does cause some erratic, um, non-compliance with AF so I just leave it set to the full range.
Okay, second caveat: the Sigma 500mm f/4.5 weighs in at 3,150g (6.945 Lb), so it's not for the faint-of-heart for hand-holding.
The proof is in the pudding...the following are handheld, cropped SOOC JPGs with my normal minor exposure adjustments and tweaks in MacOS Preview App and resized for 1500x1000 (my typical size for posting to eBird)...
JG
EDIT: corrected FW version numbers above
Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX DG HSM, Nikon Z6 III, Fringer EF-NZ II v1.80
NIKON Z6_3 500mm f/4.5G lens 500mm f/4.5 1/3200s 1250 ISO 0.0 EV
Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX DG HSM, Nikon Z50 II, Fringer EF-NZ II v2.0
NIKON Z50_2 VR 500mm f/4.5G lens 500mm f/4.5 1/2000s 4000 ISO 0.0 EV
Edited on Mar 08, 2025 at 08:58 PM · View previous versions
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