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Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Sun July 19, 2009 8:19am

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Posted on behalf of Lozninja Please! read the instructions on the main review page... upload the product, then add your review. Im' Posting This review Because There Doesn't Seem To Be Much Information On This Lens On Any Forums When I Needed Information Or Advice . I Picked Up This Lens Second Hand , Bargain it had only been used a few times . I opened the Box & the lens is all niceley solidly packaged in a proper sigma lens case with decent foam & interior padding . On pulling out the lens you can see this is a well made & solidly Constructed casing made of alluminiim and is quite large and bulky . It comes with a support handle etc so you can attach to tripods or monopods or for help ith carrying the lens and camera whilst walking etc. There 3 Electronic switches on the side of the lens , one is a lock , one is a Optical Stabilizer Switch and one is for manual or Auto Focus . All of these Switches are easy to use and are in sensible easy to reach places. I'm attaching my lens to my Nikon D300 and i need more zoom for wildlife etc without the expensive price tag of the upper end lenses . I know as a rule you get what you pay for with equipment but the feel and quality so far on this lens is very pleasing. On first walkabout with Sigma the first thing you realize is that it is quite weighty espicially when fully extended to 400mm , looking through the viewfinder focus on a object and i realize now how much i'm wobbling . Turn on The Optical Stabiliser hold steel take a shot and you hear the Optical Stabiliser Correcting the Lens . There are 3 Settings on the Optical Stabilizer : Off / 1 / 2 . Postion off Is for tripod use etc , Postion 1 is handheld and postion 2 is for panning shots etc. The lens takes approx 1 second to fix the shot in position 1 and does the job very well . The lens focusing and speed is very good indeed and has nice quite motor, i took several shots in HUSH HUSH Situations and lens didnt scare or frighten anything . Infact the actuall size of the front lens with a hood on is more daunting to animals etc than the noise of the lens. All in all its done a very fine job indeed it handled everything that i've thrown at it . Focusing resonably quick . Even if you need to slightly adjust the manual focus you quickly just manually the focus ring , which is also a decent size about a quarter of the way up the lens . All though i dont like tripod shooting ( prefer Walking ) , When used on a tripod you get some nice clear shots . Not quite real crisp profesional shots but very good for most people usage. My friend uses the Nikon 400mm f2.8 ED VR AF-S , Now that does produce some lovelly crisp clear shots . But unfortunatly you have to have very large budget for one of these as since i dont i'm quite happy so far with my sigma . All in all the sigma is a budget lens and it performs very well . I don't think you can go wrong with the price as the images it produces are very good . The only thing i will add is it states in the owners maual that its " NOT WATERPROOF " too many curcuits inside etc so keep this in mind if your planning on using it in harsh environments . Theres a picture below i took the first day out with it not the best but hay i'm still practicing . Hope This Help's Lozninja Im' Posting This review Because There Doesn't Seem To Be Much Information On This Lens On Any Forums When I Needed Information Or Advice . I Picked Up This Lens Second Hand , Bargain it had only been used a few times . I opened the Box & the lens is all niceley solidly packaged in a proper sigma lens case with decent foam & interior padding . On pulling out the lens you can see this is a well made & solidly Constructed casing made of alluminiim and is quite large and bulky . It comes with a support handle etc so you can attach to tripods or monopods or for help ith carrying the lens and camera whilst walking etc. There 3 Electronic switches on the side of the lens , one is a lock , one is a Optical Stabilizer Switch and one is for manual or Auto Focus . All of these Switches are easy to use and are in sensible easy to reach places. I'm attaching my lens to my Nikon D300 and i need more zoom for wildlife etc without the expensive price tag of the upper end lenses . I know as a rule you get what you pay for with equipment but the feel and quality so far on this lens is very pleasing. On first walkabout with Sigma the first thing you realize is that it is quite weighty espicially when fully extended to 400mm , looking through the viewfinder focus on a object and i realize now how much i'm wobbling . Turn on The Optical Stabiliser hold steel take a shot and you hear the Optical Stabiliser Correcting the Lens . There are 3 Settings on the Optical Stabilizer : Off / 1 / 2 . Postion off Is for tripod use etc , Postion 1 is handheld and postion 2 is for panning shots etc. The lens takes approx 1 second to fix the shot in position 1 and does the job very well . The lens focusing and speed is very good indeed and has nice quite motor, i took several shots in HUSH HUSH Situations and lens didnt scare or frighten anything . Infact the actuall size of the front lens with a hood on is more daunting to animals etc than the noise of the lens. All in all its done a very fine job indeed it handled everything that i've thrown at it . Focusing resonably quick . Even if you need to slightly adjust the manual focus you quickly just manually the focus ring , which is also a decent size about a quarter of the way up the lens . All though i dont like tripod shooting ( prefer Walking ) , When used on a tripod you get some nice clear shots . Not quite real crisp profesional shots but very good for most people usage. My friend uses the Nikon 400mm f2.8 ED VR AF-S , Now that does produce some lovelly crisp clear shots . But unfortunatly you have to have very large budget for one of these as since i dont i'm quite happy so far with my sigma . All in all the sigma is a budget lens and it performs very well . I don't think you can go wrong with the price as the images it produces are very good . The only thing i will add is it states in the owners maual that its " NOT WATERPROOF " too many curcuits inside etc so keep this in mind if your planning on using it in harsh environments . Theres a picture below i took the first day out with it not the best but hay i'm still practicing . Hope This Help's Lozninja

Product Details: "120-400mm F4.5-5.6 APO DG OS" by lozninja - posted: Fri July 17, 2009 - Rating: 7.57

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Wed July 15, 2009 5:21pm

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Having been a user of the Gitzo G1548 for several years, I did wonder just what the new changes were like on the replacements that have appeared over the last couple of years. Initially the G1548 was replaced by the GT5540LS but this has now been replaced by the GT5541LS. For those unfamiliar with any of these legsets, they are the number one choice for supporting 600/4 lenses, capable of supporting 50lbs+. They are big, heavy and expensive, and if you use one, you will never lose sleep wondering if you are getting poor shots through tripod instability. Upon opening the rather nice Gitzo box I see that Gitzo are now supplying their legsets in rather nice cloth bags... in reality your legset probably won't see it again for a long time, a bit like the case your 600/4 came in. Along with the legset in it's 'sleeping bag', there's a plastic bag which has instructions and a few Allen key tools for maintenance and a tube of, presumably, moly grease. Oh and there's a little fabric pad for cleaning the legs of debris. Anyway, time to get the legset up and running and I'm awestruck by the leg locks compared to the older series... the new short travel twists locks are a breeze to use, no rotation of the leg above if you don't tighten right up. But another bonus was the total lack of vacuum when extending the legs. Previously, the leg sections were practically airtight, so you were pulling (or pushing if you were closing the legs) against a vacuum, if you let go of the leg, it would often shoot back in!! Now there is none of this tomfoolery and time is saved, which is worth a lot when you're out and about with unpredictable nature in front of you. So, it may seem like a minor change, but wow does it make a difference!! A slightly interesting but minor change is that the new legset is about an inch and a half higher than my G1548... which means that, fully extended, with Wimberley atop, the viewfinder of my camera is absolutely perfectly level with my eye (I'm 6ft 4 by the way). It's not going to mean much to anyone, but I found it quite pleasing. The base plate of the tripod has been changed, and I believe this is the main difference between the GT5540LS and this new GT5541LS. It is excitingly named the 'Power Disc', unfortunately it's not quite as exciting as it sounds and seems to be a separate disc (black in colour) on top of the original but with a grub screw lock that goes through the plate to prevent head rotation... a bit like you have seen on most Manfrotto legsets for years. As this 'safety lock' is located too far off centre to fit under the base of my Wimberley, it hasn't got much appeal to me...besides, I have never had my Wimberley rotate without my permission. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if this new disc provides better mechanical coupling between head and legset to dissipate vibration, a base plate with a hammered metal finish never seemed ideal to me. Another welcome feature, which is fairly commonplace today, is the hook on the underside of the base plate, allowing you to hang something heavy for extra stability. The feet of the new legset can be unscrewed and replaced when damaged or changed for specialised feet. These are the main points that I noticed. Other changes are not so visible or that noticeable in use, such as the statements from Gitzo claiming 20% increase in rigidity from the new leg locks, and the Carbon 6X ALR tube being stiffer, lighter and helping vibration damping. You can see visible difference in the carbon wrap between older models and the new one, with a far tighter weave in the new ones. It seems as if 200g has been knocked off in the weight of the GT5540LS compared to the older G1548.... which can only be good, but I couldn't really detect the 200g benefit in my trials. In use with my Canon 600/4, teleconverters, 1Ds MkII and Wimberley MkII I couldn't honestly say I noticed any difference in stability/vibration suppression compared to my G1548. So from stability aspect I haven't noticed the difference between one amazing legset and the newer one....but those new leg locks (and the lack of leg vacuum) are amazing and have a big impact on real world use. Rating: 10

Product Details: "GT5541LS" by Andy Bright - posted: Wed July 8, 2009 - Rating: 10.00

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Wed July 15, 2009 3:02pm

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This carbon fibre legset is aimed at the birder or photographer who requires something extremely lightweight to support their spotting scope or photography equipment, but with a rugged build that will endure many years of use. As for height at full leg extension but without use of the centre column, it reaches 122cm, which doesn't sound too impressive but your tripod head is likely to add extra height and for birders with angled scopes, that should be enough height for most (certainly myself at 6ft 4inch). The centre column will raise the tripod base plate to 146cm, but at a loss of stability. Weighing in at 1.3kg, it is certainly an extremely lightweight legset, nobody can argue with that. The build quality is very impressive, with no shortage of magnesium alloy being used in the areas that need it. There are no plasticky leg locks on the 190CXPRO4, they are tough units and do not appear to be a weak link as they sometimes can be. However, I'll have to state that my preference is for twist leg locks rather than clips... some clips can make an unfortunate amount of noise for those observing nature, but the action of the locks on the 190CXPRO4 was quite soft and quiet. For the photographer, this legset offers some nice touches such as the easy to view built-in spirit level and the Manfrotto Q90°system for rapidly putting the centre column into a horizontal position, eg handy for macro work. The 190CXPRO4 offers 4 different leg angles, ultimately getting you down to less than 10cm if you use the horizontal centre column option. I didn't find the mechanism for adjusting the leg angles to give much positive feel to let you know when you were at one of the set angles, but it could be something you get used to quite quickly. The base plate that you affix your tripod head onto is quite wide in diameter and offers 3 Allen type grub screws to screw into any appropriate recesses on the head, to secure it without fear of any rotation. The maximum load stated for this legset is 5kg (11lb) and getting to this level of weight would help stability but I'd be happier sticking to 2-3kg. The bottoms leg sections do look perilously thin, but it has to be said that I am used to the very strongest legsets, which are designed for far greater loads... from a birding and light photography perspective, the 190CXPRO4 will easily cope. As a birding legset, it does the job admirably, it was a surprisingly stable platform for 85mm spotting scope. Initially from visuals, I didn't have too much faith in the rigidity. Yes, you can get more stable legsets but from a birding viewpoint with weight being a big factor, this is a pretty good choice. Rating: 8

Product Details: "190CXPRO4" by Andy Bright - posted: Wed July 15, 2009 - Rating: 8.00

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Tue February 27, 2007 6:30am

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This tripod head, designed for huge telephoto lenses needs very little introduction. The original Wimberley gimbal appeared on the market in the early 1990\'s and has dominated the bird photography market ever since. The new incarnation of the Wimberley head has shed a whole pound in weight, dropping from just over 4lb to just over 3lb. As far as dimensions, it has shrunk in all aspects, it may not look much on paper but it really does look a far more compact unit as a result. The new Wimberley has also lost that oversized (and slippery) tilt control knob to be replaced with a smaller rubbery and contoured knob. The pan control knob is also now of the same desing as the tilt knob and has now been relocated to the side of the head instead of on top of the base, thus becoming easier to come to hand... although panning control is not likely to be changed very often. The new Wimberley WH-200 has a new lens mounting system, where-by the Arca-swiss clamp is built-in to the unit (and this really makes sense) Where-as my trusty Manfrotto 393 relies upon balance and some friction to keep it in position, the Wimberley can work purely on balance alone to keep the lens in position, even the lens axis point needs to be positioned correctly to achieve this. In use you do keep some friction there for the sake of solidity, but it\'s not vital. Once set up, you can have the lens totally free and it will not droop or raise. I have to say that I have found the new Wimberley to be tighter in many aspects, and locked-up it is a stiffer unit than the previous design with very little scope for bounce. With the tilt knob tightened, you can remove the camera with total confidence that there will be no dramatic plunging of the lens. Operating your camera and lens is a breeze with the Wimberley MkII, there is assured solidity even with a relatively free-running set-up. more at http://www.digiscoped.com/wimberley.html Rating: 9

Product Details: "WH-200 Wimberley MKII" by Andy Bright - posted: Mon August 14, 2006 - Rating: 9.50

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Sun January 28, 2007 5:34pm

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The lens comes in one of those new style travel cases, the CS60040, made of strong polycarbonate. Gone are the \'coffins\' that big lenses used to arrive in, now we have smooth rounded edges and an altogether more modern look... even if you think that these new cases are a bit cheap in comparison. The slip-on E-185 lens cover is standard fayre, always more time consuming to remove and attach than you would hope but thankfully it is not elasticated like some I have seen, that seem desparate to cling on to the the lens and snag on something. Contrary to some reports, maybe earlier models, the tripod collar rotates very smoothly with indents at 90 degree intervals. All the standard switching is laid out on the side of the lens. I would still rather have the focus memory recall as buttons rather than the twist ring and would be really nice to have control of focus memory recall via the camera, as a number of lens features can be controlled by a Canon pro body... just not focus memory recall. In use the lens is pure magic, the I.S. allows you to get on with photography, not worry over vibration every moment. Wide open it can produce razor sharp images, but stopping down takes it to another level. No real penalty in image quality nor AF speed when using a 1.4x teleconverter. Using the Canon EFII 2x, there is a degradation in iq but that is only in comparison to what it can achieve without. The results from the EFII 2x can be outstanding and professionally viable if you take great care and realise that compression of the air between you and the subject is the real quality killer. If you use the 2x over great distances, prepare for the worst. AF is not rapid with the 2x teleconverter on the 600mm with a Canon Pro body, but it is quite reliable. Do not expect quick focus lock when the AF system has to cover significant changes in distance. More detailed review and photos here http://www.digiscoped.com/Canon600mm.html Rating: 10

Product Details: "EF 600mm f4 L IS USM" by Andy Bright - posted: Sat October 25, 2003 - Rating: 9.83

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Sun January 28, 2007 3:31pm

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Purchased, after my switch to Canon, to act as a replacement for the Nikon 300mm f2.8 VR and to used as a walk around lens in combination with teleconverters. Not particularly heavy as 300mm f2.8 lenses go, though I would advise replacing the supplied Canon strap for a Neoprene type. All the normal features of the Canon professional telephoto lenses are present. 3 AF Focus range limits are available, the 2.5 metres - infinity (full) setting allows the lens to focus from minimum distance to infinity. Then the 2.5 metres - 6.4 metres and finally 6.4 metres to infinity. Basically, if your target is expected within a known distance from you, it speeds up autofocus if the lens is not hunting through its entire range to get a lock-on. It is a fulll time manual lens, which means you can use the manual focus ring at any time. Two I.S. mode 1 controls movement vertically and horizontally, mode 2 just counteracts vertical movement... so as to allow you to pan along with a subject without the I.S. system trying to compensate. Lastly in this panel is the focus preset functions. Basically, you can set a focus distance on the lens, press set and you can recall this distance at any time via the twist ring (the ring with the serrated edge) just in front of the focus ring. It is a handy feature if you are likely to be shooting at 2 vastly different distances. I would prefer it if focus recall was an option on the 4 focus lock buttons and in a really ideal world, a focus recall button would be situated far closer to the camera body, or indeed controlled via the camera itself, as some lens functions are on the Canon 1Ds MkII. In use this lens is awesome in AF speed, even with a 1.4x teleconverter. With a 2x teleconverter, the AF speed is still as fast as many bare lenses, it is still rapid. AF is almost silent in operation. Results from the bare lens are very sharp, even wide open. With a 1.4x teleconverter, virtually nothing is lost in image quality, stopping down makes for marginally improved images. With a 2x attached, the results are still remarkable though stopping down is certainly preferrable. Even using stacked 1.4x and 2x teleconverters can produce acceptable results, though very much a method for desperation and manual focus is recommended even with a 1Ds camera body. More detailed review and photos here http://www.digiscoped.com/canon300mm.html Rating: 10

Product Details: "EF 300mm f2.8 L I.S. USM" by GYRob - posted: Wed January 3, 2007 - Rating: 10.00

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Mon August 28, 2006 10:09am

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Views: 19065

Quote: It has come down to Leupold Gold 15-30 vs. Nikon Spotter XL II. Any opinions on which to buy? Please use the main forums (scopes section) for equipment questions and recommendations. The review secion is not the ideal place. Thanks Admin

Product Details: "Leupold Golden Ring 15-30x50mm" by ejdeltoro - posted: Fri June 16, 2006 - Rating: 8.00

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Wed August 23, 2006 12:10pm

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Views: 16664

This is not a review by Andy Bright but a member who did not fully understand the procedure Just managed to acquire one of these lightweight collapsible travel scopes from Bushnell at a ridiculous price from the States even with Carriage, VAT and Import duty, I still saved a considerable sum. What was in the box? Metal Travel case Vinyl Carry case Collapsible Scope Body 15-45 Eyepiece 25x Eyepiece Window clamp/ table stand. Scope Case Carry Strap Lens Cloth Warranty Performance I\'ve been fortunate enough to test this scope quite extensively in a number of locations in different light conditions and I was really pleasantly surprised, as were a number of fellow birders with me who gave it the once over. The zoom eyepiece give a 15-45 magnification which in bright conditions delivers a bright clear image from the 50mm Objective lens from the hide. The only downside is in quite overcast conditions, x45 is dark, but not unviewable...but again that\'s understandable. The additional 25x eyepiece offered a bright clear image with a reasonable 110m field of view at 1000m even in cloudy early evening murk on a beach. Both eyepieces have fold down cups offereing up to 14mm eye relief Build Quality Although much of this scopes\' body is plastic, it still feels reasonably well built even when the body is extended. It\'s protective glove like case offers extra protection and the small metal briefcase is great for the boot of the car and safe storage. This scope has been lugged around in rucksacks and vehicles as well as being \"tested\" by small children and has stood up to quite a lot in the last fortnight without complaint. On a lightweight travel tripod it works well, however you really wish there was more weight when the wind starts to get up as it requires a little steadying with your spare hand. Overall Well lets be honest it ain\'t going to compete with Leica, Zeiss or Swaro but you are compromising on any travel scope, size/weight and, to a certain extent, optical peformance. Opticron\'s Mighty Midget ED and Nikon\'s ED50 Fieldscope offer excellent quality travel optics but at a higher price tag. This is a budget scope that is both compact and performs surprisingly well. I would say overall it\'s compromises are outweighed by it\'s performance and on long hikes to difficult to reach spots it\'s size and weight do make a difference. You could choose to take a scope afterall! If you source your supplier well it might not cost you any more than a pair of budget bins as well.

Product Details: "Spacemaster 15-45x 50mm" by moondog - posted: Wed August 16, 2006 - Rating: 6.00

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Wed August 9, 2006 7:46am

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Views: 24084

Review by tjsimonsen who posted in wrong place A suberb all-round wildlife lens! While it is definitly not as sharp as a 400/5.6 prime at the long end wide open, it comes pretty close stopped down to f8. I personally do not think that the difference would be visible on even a large print - if you get a good copy of the zoom, that is! The short close-focus distance also makes it a good lens for lager insects - though it would be highly misleading to call it a hidden-macro! The IS is often very handy, but NOT a replacement for good lens-holding technique. The push-pull zoom mechanismn is not my cup of tea, but I have found it easier to use that I feared.

Product Details: "EF 100-400mm L IS USM" by Andy Bright - posted: Sun October 26, 2003 - Rating: 8.80

Last Review Posted by Andy Bright - posted: Wed July 5, 2006 3:08am

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Views: 33004

Now this has become a very popular adapter to get a camera up to a spotting scope, and it\'s not difficult to understand why... it cost practically nothing in the world of digiscoping and photography. Yes, there\'s quite a lot of plastic involved but it can do the job of putting most cameras up to most eyepieces. It did fall a few mm short of being able to get my Canon A95 up to my Zeiss 20-60x eyepiece but the design of the tripod screw and it\'s locking nut enables some packing to be placed under the camera to raise it enough. With smaller eyepieces (the Zeiss 20-60x is big), there should be no problems. Given the price of this device (almost a 1/10th of what the big brackets cost), it\'s hard to be too critical. The Baader Microstage does what it is designed to, but I would still say it suits the dedicated digiscoping photographer better than the digiscoping birder. More, with larger photos, at http://www.digiscoped.com/Adapters.html Rating: 8

Product Details: "Microstage 6030 Digital Camera Adapter" by Andy Bright - posted: Wed July 5, 2006 - Rating: 8.00

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