GracieAllen
Senior Member
I thought I'd see a bunch of topics in various places on this, but I'm finding little...
I've had a Sigma 150-600 C on a Nikon D500 for a while, and it generally appears to work well. UNFORTUNATELY, after a disastrous shoot with Sandhill Cranes earlier this year (903 images, MAYBE a dozen that could be kept, at best 5-6 that were adequate) I'm trying to go back to the start and figure out how to make sure the lens is configured correctly (and the body and the photographer)... This combination spends AT LEAST 90% of it's time at 600mm, shooting 10 fps, and occasionally I'll have a monopod or beanbag on the truck window to stabilize things (didn't help me at ALL with the cranes), but for me, the point of an OS lens is to be able to get sharp images WITHOUT having to haul out the tripod and gimbal mount (which makes chasing bif a major pain in the behind in most cases - I've done it, and still occasionally do it with a Nikon 500, f/4, but it's a lot harder than grabbing the 150-600).
I tested the combination yesterday on a sturdy tripod, shooting targets at 8, 16, 40 meters, and from 200 yards to at least 1/4 mile away. Everything looked fine doing that, so I don't think the lens or body has an OBVIOUS problem when everything is very stable and nothing is moving. I also shot similar subjects with the Sigma 50-500 and results for both were comparable... If anything, the 150-600 MAY have been slightly sharper at the longer distances.
For birds in flight, using the dock to customize the lens, I currently have C1 set for Dynamic View for the stabilization and Fast AF Priority. So, in theory I SHOULD have the most aggressive stabilization and the fastest autofocus. I've set C2 to Standard AF and
Standard OS.
When I use Standard or Moderate View Mode for the OS it doesn't feel like the setup ever ACTUALLY stabilizes. Does anyone else get consistently good results, hand-held at 600mm, when shutter speeds are between 1/250 and 1/500 using either Standard or Moderate View Mode for OS?
For people shooting birds in flight, with this lens, what settings have YOU found to be MOST EFFECTIVE in real-world conditions where you're at f/6.3 and maybe 1/400 @ISO 800 hand-held or possibly on a monopod?
I've had a Sigma 150-600 C on a Nikon D500 for a while, and it generally appears to work well. UNFORTUNATELY, after a disastrous shoot with Sandhill Cranes earlier this year (903 images, MAYBE a dozen that could be kept, at best 5-6 that were adequate) I'm trying to go back to the start and figure out how to make sure the lens is configured correctly (and the body and the photographer)... This combination spends AT LEAST 90% of it's time at 600mm, shooting 10 fps, and occasionally I'll have a monopod or beanbag on the truck window to stabilize things (didn't help me at ALL with the cranes), but for me, the point of an OS lens is to be able to get sharp images WITHOUT having to haul out the tripod and gimbal mount (which makes chasing bif a major pain in the behind in most cases - I've done it, and still occasionally do it with a Nikon 500, f/4, but it's a lot harder than grabbing the 150-600).
I tested the combination yesterday on a sturdy tripod, shooting targets at 8, 16, 40 meters, and from 200 yards to at least 1/4 mile away. Everything looked fine doing that, so I don't think the lens or body has an OBVIOUS problem when everything is very stable and nothing is moving. I also shot similar subjects with the Sigma 50-500 and results for both were comparable... If anything, the 150-600 MAY have been slightly sharper at the longer distances.
For birds in flight, using the dock to customize the lens, I currently have C1 set for Dynamic View for the stabilization and Fast AF Priority. So, in theory I SHOULD have the most aggressive stabilization and the fastest autofocus. I've set C2 to Standard AF and
Standard OS.
When I use Standard or Moderate View Mode for the OS it doesn't feel like the setup ever ACTUALLY stabilizes. Does anyone else get consistently good results, hand-held at 600mm, when shutter speeds are between 1/250 and 1/500 using either Standard or Moderate View Mode for OS?
For people shooting birds in flight, with this lens, what settings have YOU found to be MOST EFFECTIVE in real-world conditions where you're at f/6.3 and maybe 1/400 @ISO 800 hand-held or possibly on a monopod?