Sigma 150-500

Hi guys , I'm looking for a long tele zoom . As the title suggests, I'm looking at the sigma 150-500 as an option . I can't afford a nikon long zoom and for me the nikon 70-300 isn't long enough as I want to get into more wildlife and motor sport photography. I've read loads of reviews and generally they say its a great lens but gets a little soft at 500mm

i was wondering how many people have used this lens on the D600/610 and what their thoughts are on the lens .

The 1st place in intend to use it would be lemans 24hr , I was gonna hire a nikon 70-200 f2.8 but decided I need to actually purchase a tele lens longer than my 70-300 .

any feedback will help a lot
Cheers
mark

I've used that Sigma on my D600 and D7100. I was happy with the results but mainly used it on my D7100. You definitely need a lot of light. I was able to achieve some great results when the conditions were right. I'm in the same boat as you. I feel a Nikon would yield better IQ but I'm not willing to drop that much coin just yet. So for the money it's about the best in its price range pending the Tamron 150-600mm.

I concur. I have a 'sigzilla', which I use mainly for Motorsport with a D7100. I try and shoot it mainly around f8 - f11 over 400mm...boost the ISO to keep the high shutter speeds you'll need. Very happy with it in terms of IQ for $$$ spent and some reviews put it very close to the nearest Nikkor.

The 300mm F4 will give much crisper images. Couple that with TC 1.4 and you have a stellar 420mm F5.6, which I think no zoom can beat easily. Of course if you need the Zoom then a prime is of little utility.

Starting to feel my 70-300's limitations too due to using 600 now, but absolutely no budget for a monster zoom for a whiiiile. Hopefully by then the Tammy will get proper reviews and possibly be a nice contender.

Why not rent one for the weekend? It's a great way to try before you buy.

The only beef with the lens is that you need to shoot at around f/8 for it to be sharp. That said, stick the D600/610 in Manual, set your shutter speed as desired with the aperture at f/8 and put it in Auto ISO and go. Who cares if you're shooting ISO 3200 or 6400, the camera can handle that.

There are better lenses to use for something like LeMans, but if you're not looking to rent something specifically for it and want to buy a lens then this one isn't a bad choice. If you've got the funds, get their 120-300mm f/2.8 with a 1.4TC instead. That's where I think I'm headed next.

Thanks for the replies guys

i had reserved a sigma to pick up and buy , however since then I've decided to hang out for the tamron 150-600 . Everything I hear about it sounds great . It's released in Japan April 30th n should be in the Uk shops by mid May for us Nikon users . Hopefully I can read some reviews n still get one before lemans

however I will take a look at the 120-300 f2.8 for lemans also ( would hire it ) and still get long zoom for wildlife photography ect

mark

I'm new to the forum and just saw this post.
I'm in the same boat as you . I'm renting the Sigma this weekend to test it out on my 7100. Used it for a few minutes in the camera store the other day. Even hand held shots at 1/20th ISO 800 with OS on of course, the images weren't bad. Looking forward to shooting with monopod/tripod this weekend. Maybe will post the results next week.

Mitch W said:

I'm new to the forum and just saw this post.
I'm in the same boat as you . I'm renting the Sigma this weekend to test it out on my 7100. Used it for a few minutes in the camera store the other day. Even hand held shots at 1/20th ISO 800 with OS on of course, the images weren't bad. Looking forward to shooting with monopod/tripod this weekend. Maybe will post the results next week.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum!
I'm looking at this lens myself so I'll look forward to hearing how you liked the lens, and of course a few shots!

Hi guys , well I held off on buying the sigma 150-500 and held out for the Tamron 150-600 . I actually got hold of one today for my D610 and boy am I glad I held out . The image quality is fantastic . I tried the sigma and at 500 its ok but soft .. Not the tammy , even at 600 its fantastic .Tamron have really upped their game with this lens

I (and I'm sure may other Nikonites) would love to see some images from the lens. I'm in the same position, wondering if I should wait for the Tamron.

Hi guys , these were taken at 600mm . The more light the merrier with this lens . I have done a back to back test against sigmas 150-500 and the tammy knocks spots off the sigma . These were all handheld shots also . Bird on wall is at 420mm

Unfortunately because the forum reduces photo size it's hard to see just how sharp this lens is .a good friend of mine who has a 5Dmk 3 was testing the canon 100-400 , he has seen these shots and is now re-thinking as he says the tammy is better than that canon L series lens .

wow...super sharp! Nice

Mitch , I would suggest , save up the extra and get the Tammy . It's fantastic in every aspect , build quality and image quality .

Thanks for the input. The money's not the issue, though the tammy is a bit pricier by $170. I have a Sigma rental right now..we'll see how the weekend goes.

Bigfatmole, the EXIF data is not showing up on those images. Can you post the exposure data? those cat images are ultra-sharp. Pretty bright out though it appears.

Bigfatmole said:

Unfortunately because the forum reduces photo size it's hard to see just how sharp this lens is .a good friend of mine who has a 5Dmk 3 was testing the canon 100-400 , he has seen these shots and is now re-thinking as he says the tammy is better than that canon L series lens .

Click to expand...

To show sharpness, just crop a portion of the image (say 1k x 1k pixels) and display it at 100%.

I went ahead and got myself the Sig 150-500. Didn't want to wait for the Tam and the delays concerned me. (hope I won't regret it) Does anyone know whether it's ok to use the 150-500mm as a push pull rather than using the zoom ring? It works faster that way.