SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

[the black fox]

well had a week of good work outs with the lens it has surprised me in different ways .(1) i thought it would be a handful hand held but turned out the other way ,(2) it tends to like good light as i suppose do most long lenses ,when its right its really right though .(3) i think there could well be some more fine tuning needed with the usb dock .
(4) discussing this with my lad earlier and he is having the same with his new nikon 500mm the unedited raw files don't look particularly sharp on computer when uploaded ,but once you work on them they seem to go WOWSER its really weird and could just be adjusting to super length glass .
(5) this might seem like a lens you can bolt on and get super sharp pics its not it takes a fair bit of getting everything right and taking your time with it ,go back to no2 it likes good light .
i will update this with any other findings and stans input would be helpful to as i know a lot of people are hovering with this lens

[Bill53]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

A concise and down to earth report Jeff. A picture paints a thousand word so they say and your's and Stan's images produced with the Sigma prove the value of this kit. Just wish those numbers would come out!

Bill

[the black fox]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

time to gather my thoughts this morning and i will add that processing properly is also needed ,enabling lens profiles helps with this .,and the main bugbear of the lens seems to be d.o.f its sharp wide open at f6.3 and you do not get much increased sharpness by stopping down but you do get a perceived sharpness through increasing the d.o.f .this is even more apparent when using the 1.4 tc with it .the closer the target the more the effect .once it lodges in the brain its easily overcome .
i can only see things improving with use loving it so far

[Dave_S]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

Following this with great interest Jeff, as i know you will say it as it is, good and bad.

Ignoring the wider usable aperture (f/6.3), and the IS, you need to compare it directly with what you achieved with the 400mm 5.6L + 1.4xTC.

Is the IQ and D.o.F on a par with the Canon lens, better, or not quite as good.

Without doubt, the larger aperture and IS, makes the Sigma more versatile, but has there been an IQ sacrifice?. Looking at your results so far, I would say there hasn't been, but have you process the sharpness in.

Dave

[Nathaniel]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

Following this with great interest Jeff, as i know you will say it as it is, good and bad.

Ignoring the wider usable aperture (f/6.3), and the IS, you need to compare it directly with what you achieved with the 400mm 5.6L + 1.4xTC.

Is the IQ and D.o.F on a par with the Canon lens, better, or not quite as good.

Without doubt, the larger aperture and IS, makes the Sigma more versatile, but has there been an IQ sacrifice?. Looking at your results so far, I would say there hasn't been, but have you process the sharpness in.

Dave

This is something I am very interested in as I am toying between the 400mm prime and the 100-400mmmk1 lens which both weigh around 1230 grms or there abouts in comparison with the Sigma. I know that jeff will be very fair and give a good commentry as he goes along, which is much appreciated.

[the black fox]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

Following this with great interest Jeff, as i know you will say it as it is, good and bad.

Ignoring the wider usable aperture (f/6.3), and the IS, you need to compare it directly with what you achieved with the 400mm 5.6L + 1.4xTC.

Is the IQ and D.o.F on a par with the Canon lens, better, or not quite as good.

Without doubt, the larger aperture and IS, makes the Sigma more versatile, but has there been an IQ sacrifice?. Looking at your results so far, I would say there hasn't been, but have you process the sharpness in.

Dave

far from it dave ,you can't really take d.o.f into the equation as it alters shot to shot etc ,i/q is better imho than the 400 5.6 ,but its obviously got i.s to help it .the sharpness that you have to process in is unchanged i have not altered my standard settings at all ,probably due to my laziness or amount that i do i leave it set on the same parameters for everything ,i find this works better for me rather than confusing the issues at my age .the nitty gritty is the hit rate .i.e useable images and to be perfectly honest the 400 probably just edges it at the moment but only by around 10% and i think i can drag that back with more experience . the 400 is a bolt on and use lens this one you have to think about your settings more especially re- fine tuning it .i was considering selling the t.c but will keep it for the time being till the light improves

[the black fox]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

This is something I am very interested in as I am toying between the 400mm prime and the 100-400mmmk1 lens which both weigh around 1230 grms or there abouts in comparison with the Sigma. I know that jeff will be very fair and give a good commentry as he goes along, which is much appreciated.

nat my 400mm f5.6 prime is for sale as well complete with covers etc .totally unmarked to..i think you will find its a lot lighter than the zoom lens you have quoted will look it up though

yep i was right heres the weights nat
canon 400mm f5.6 1250 grams
canon 100-400 mk1 1380 grams
canon 100-400 mkii 1570 grams

the lens is for sale ,i will await your p.m

[Dave_S]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

Thanks for that analysis Jeff.

The 400L is pretty much a 'point & shoot' lens, even with the TC in-line, whereas from what you say, you need to learn to drive the Sigma to get the best from it. However, maybe that's not a bad thing, because it makes you think about what you are doing, and achieve a better understanding of the 'tool' you are using.

Certainly your initial results, at least those that you have posted, show the lens in a good light (no pun intended ).

The 400 + 1.4 needs good light too, especially being limited to f/8, and of course it doesn't have the benefit of IS to allow some lee-way on shutter speed, which means most of time, you need to be shooting at shutter speeds faster than 1/600th. Even then, when hand-held, you are pushing your luck.

Early days yet with the Sigma, and as you better understand its limitations, and learn to drive it accordingly, I think we will see some glowing reports from you.

Dave

[ST-EOS]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

I thought this may be of interest to those who have the lens or thinking about getting it Sigma have a new accessory for it LINK

[pelliott1954]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

Really interesting thread, have been very impressed with IQ of Pics from Jeff and Stan, I asked Stan about using it for my Interest Jeff which is Aeroplanes, how do you think it would perform?? Bear in mind that when I am shooting the Prop Jobs the speed is only 1/320th. I currently use either a 400mm F5.6 as you did, or a 70-200mm F2.8L with a 1.4Ext, have never tried the 400 with an extender though.

Regards Paul

[the black fox]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

I thought this may be of interest to those who have the lens or thinking about getting it Sigma have a new accessory for it LINK

now that is what i WANT and will get ,thanks for posting

[the black fox]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

Really interesting thread, have been very impressed with IQ of Pics from Jeff and Stan, I asked Stan about using it for my Interest Jeff which is Aeroplanes, how do you think it would perform?? Bear in mind that when I am shooting the Prop Jobs the speed is only 1/320th. I currently use either a 400mm F5.6 as you did, or a 70-200mm F2.8L with a 1.4Ext, have never tried the 400 with an extender though.

Regards Paul

i can't really see a problem paul ,you will of course need to use a gimballed tripod ,i don't think i could do a air show handheld ,why not wait and see how the contemporay model shapes up its allegedly lighter than the tamron version and as a planes large you don't need quiet the sharpness we do

[the black fox]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

i have had a day at leisure today to play and go through the last weeks files ,work out where i have gone wrong etc also looked at the M/A settings using my proper gauge .the lens appears to be spot on using the 70d (still to field test it though) and there is a slight back focus issue with the 1d3 .i did the adjustment this morning and went to take a few test shots but unfortunately adjusted it the wrong way +5 instead of -5 this really cocked things up and i was scratching my head a bit so a quick late o'clock phone call to sigma and the penny dropped .doh anyway i managed a couple of tester shots of a hanging basket chain before dark and the best results were at -10 quite a difference and the i.q looks better by far .test again tomorrow .will keep you informed as it progresses

[the black fox]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

in the field testing and also dot tune focus tests by my son led to the conclusion that the focus is spot on at 0 ,so unless things deteriorate thats where its staying on both cameras ,i think a lot of my initial doubts are more to do with my technique and my stubbornness in hand holding when i should use a support

[David Morison]

Re: SIGMA 150-600os SPORT my thoughts so far

I'm still seriously looking at this lens but it appears to have one major drawback for me - MF appears to be electronically actuated. When I need maximum reach and even better IQ than I can get with the 7DII I attach my Olympus E-M1 via adapter (and sometimes 1.4x) to the 400mm f5.6 L but this of course requires MF. With no electronic connection between camera and lens this rules out using the Olympus , this could be a deal breaker for me.

David