Sigma 150-500mm OS Lens (1 Viewer)

mikfoz · Apr 5, 2009

john-henry said:
Don't know if anyone else has tried this yet but I find it adds extra stability when hand-holding, shorten the strap that came with the lens so when the camera's against your face it's drawn tight against your shoulder, bit like a rifle sling, certainly makes a difference for me.

Here's a few shots from the local park today.

Little Grebe - 1/320th @ f8, ISO 400, -0.33EV, 500mm
Jay - 1/400th @ f8, ISO 400, -0.33EV, 500mm
Blue Tit - 1/800th @f8, ISO 400, -0.33Ev, 370mm

I'm sure this tip works.

A lot of people also need to be aware of how much a person sways when standing with feet side by side. Spread your stance and have one foot in advance of the other with feet at a lazy right angle. You should tuck in the elbow of your camera-holding arm (usually the right) and similarly with the steadying arm - both arms can and should be braced against the torso so you're literally shooting from the hip. Most camera shake is due to a poor stance and casual camera-holding technique. You can get away with it at 50mm and 1/2000s so people keep the bad habit.

Cristian Mihai · Apr 10, 2009

There are Sigma 150-500 mm lens for Olympus cameras?

Fozzybear · Apr 10, 2009

No, doesn't look like it: Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony mounts. The 50-500 is available in 4:3 mount I think.

Stroggler · Apr 22, 2009

Here is my latest shot with Sigma 150-500 hand-holding:

1/100, f8, ISO 400, 500mm

john-henry · Apr 22, 2009

Stroggler said:
Here is my latest shot with Sigma 150-500 hand-holding:

1/100, f8, ISO 400, 500mm

And very good too :t:

CornishExile · May 18, 2009

Am starting to come to terms with this lens, and beginning to enjoy using it despite some initial reservations. (More due to operator ignorance than any technical shortcomings from the lens itself!)

This Dotterel was one of a trip of 4 feeding in the field behind my house yesterday; the Bluethroat feeding on a lawn the day before.

ce

www.bitterbonxie.wordpress.com

Kalispera · May 18, 2009

I'm scouring the internet looking where I can buy a Sigma 150-500mm, but can't seem to make my mind up.
I realise its personal choice, but where have you guys purchased the Sigma lens.
A local camera shop tells me that anything under £700 and they must have come from Hong Kong, is this true, and coming from HK, is this wrong??
Thanks.

scary-canary · May 18, 2009

Kalispera said:
I'm scouring the internet looking where I can buy a Sigma 150-500mm, but can't seem to make my mind up.
I realise its personal choice, but where have you guys purchased the Sigma lens.
A local camera shop tells me that anything under £700 and they must have come from Hong Kong, is this true, and coming from HK, is this wrong??
Thanks.

It seems to me it doesn't matter if they come from Hong Kong - it won't affect the quality but it will make a difference to the warranty, which is usually for a year.
you have to judge whether the saving is enough to cover the worry that no warranty might cause - personally I'd think it would need a saving of a couple of hundred quid would make it worth it - after all if you bought second hand, like i did, you'd have no warranty.

John P · May 18, 2009

.........and there's import duty to pay, unless you are lucky.

Roly · Jul 6, 2009

I'm glad to read so many good reports on the 150-500 as I've just ordered one. At the moment I'm using a 70-300 & I'm happy enough with the results but I'm hoping to get some better results with the 150-500.
Here's one shot with the 70-300. Thanks for all the input from everyone.
Roly

MichavdB · Jul 6, 2009

I'm also wating to buy this lens (unless Nikon announces an updated 80-400 AF-S soon). Saving up as fast as I can.

oncebittern · Jul 7, 2009

Got my 150-500 about 10 days ago (£600 via ebay, new and UK). Haven't had much opportunity to get out and really test it properly yet, but would appreciate a few words of wisdom from others using this lens re battery consumption.

With my old 170-500 (AF but not OS), the battery in my Nikon D80 seemed to last for ages - certainly several weeks on one charge. However, with the new OS lens on, I've used 2 fully charged batteries in a week. Does the OS really use this much power?

What solutions have others found? Obviously carrying a couple more spare batteries is one option, but does anyone use the Nikon battery grip pack, and if so, how does it compare?

I've added a few pics taken last week - not outstanding, but far better than I would have got using my old 170-500.

wrogers · Jul 7, 2009

Hi all...

Just wondering if many people have attempted BIF shots??

I have had a few unsuccessful attempts...

also what post processing do people do??

and finally what is the AF like with your camera??
my 400D is reasonably slow?? would a new camera body help me??

Will

ajfossey · Jul 7, 2009

Our Experience

My girlfriend and I took the decision around 3 weeks ago (after much deliberation), and finally invested in both the camera (Canon 50D), and the Sigma lens at the same time (£ouch£) We know that we now have so much to learn, as poor technique/skill is probably letting us down on many of our photo opportunities; however, it is fun and brings a further avenue to our love of all things relating to birds.

Thanks to all those that post on this site, as we used extensively when researching our options and will continue to do so while trying to improve. Some of our photos have been posted on our newly created blog (note that the moths were not taken with this camera/lens, but with a Nikon Coolpix 5100). We of course welcome any critique - please be gentle

but for those interested in our amateur opinion, this is a great starter lens and so much fun to use!

Blog: http://birding-paradigms.blogspot.com/

MichavdB · Jul 8, 2009

wrogers said:
Hi all...

Just wondering if many people have attempted BIF shots??

I have had a few unsuccessful attempts...

also what post processing do people do??

and finally what is the AF like with your camera??
my 400D is reasonably slow?? would a new camera body help me??

Will

Are you panning for the BIF shots? What shutterspeed are you using?

Also, try working on BIF shots of birds flying left to right or right to left from you first as birds flying (diagonally) to or from you is much harder. It just takes a lot of practice. I recommend starting with the ducks and geese at a local pond.

oncebittern · Jul 8, 2009

wrogers said:
Hi all...

Just wondering if many people have attempted BIF shots??

I have had a few unsuccessful attempts...

Will

Hi Will.

Are you aware that there are 2 OS modes on this lens? Mode 1 is for 'normal', and Mode 2 is for panning shots...like BIF.

And do remember to switch the OS off completely when using a tripod.

Good luck, and do report back - successes or failures, as all will probably teach me something

CornishExile · Jul 9, 2009

oncebittern said:
Got my 150-500 about 10 days ago (£600 via ebay, new and UK). Haven't had much opportunity to get out and really test it properly yet, but would appreciate a few words of wisdom from others using this lens re battery consumption.

With my old 170-500 (AF but not OS), the battery in my Nikon D80 seemed to last for ages - certainly several weeks on one charge. However, with the new OS lens on, I've used 2 fully charged batteries in a week. Does the OS really use this much power?

What solutions have others found? Obviously carrying a couple more spare batteries is one option, but does anyone use the Nikon battery grip pack, and if so, how does it compare?

I've added a few pics taken last week - not outstanding, but far better than I would have got using my old 170-500.

With OS switched on, it absolutely gobbles battery in my Canon 50D. It's greedy!

Have now got into the habit of keeping the OS switched off, as I've found a noticeable improvement in image quality using a solid base (fence post, rucksack, drystone wall etc) and no OS over using the OS for the same shot, particularly when pushing up towards 500mm.

OS now goes on for the unavoidably handheld shots. BIF continues to defeat me... Doubtless operator shortcomings.

Jon

www.bitterbonxie.wordpress.com

PhilW · Jul 9, 2009

wrogers said:
Hi all...

Just wondering if many people have attempted BIF shots??

I have had a few unsuccessful attempts...

also what post processing do people do??

and finally what is the AF like with your camera??
my 400D is reasonably slow?? would a new camera body help me??

Will

Took mine to South Africa on a pelagic from Simons Town via Cape Town Pelagics. Up to 20ft swells on a small boat didn't make photography easy but got some good flight shots with the 150-500. Check my blog. Lots of wasted photo's but some better than others. It takes a lot of practice!

oncebittern · Jul 9, 2009

wrogers said:
Just wondering if many people have attempted BIF shots??

Bees in flight?

Fozzybear · Jul 10, 2009

I find that I get a lot more success with flight shots using my smaller Nikon 70-300mm VR, which is lighter and smaller and so easier to track birds with. Certainly I found it a lot easier tracking Avocets flying overhead using the Nikon D300 and that lens than my brother did with a 5DII with a 400mm f/5.6 prime, which is a little shorter than the effective length of the 70-300. You don't get the 'pull' that you do with the longer lens, for distant or small birds it's not ideal but it's certainly not always a problem... I took these shots of Fulmars swooping low over my head at 300mm with the little Nikon and with a larger lens like the Sigma I'd have struggled to move quickly enough as the birds were really going some! Those shots are not cropped so you can imagine that with a bigger lens it would have needed a better photographer than me to keep the bird in the frame!

More distant birds are less of a problem though as you don't really need to move so quickly and so the mass of the lens is not so much of an issue. The focusing should certainly be fast enough.

Sigma 150-500mm OS Lens (1 Viewer)

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