• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

New Sigma Lens Prices (1 Viewer)

Keith Reeder said:
Zoom or prime is irrelevant if the IQ and other performance features are as good as you need them to be.

Indeed, it'd be daft not to want a zoom (infinitely more versatile) if it was up there in terms of IQ. Wanting a prime because it's a prime makes no sense.
Click to expand...


I think we stand alone on this one Keith. Like a lot of things in photography, I think the tale of 'The emperors new clothes' is one which should be remembered. I note another shot with the 100-400 got into the winning category of of the IWP competition and in my view the image should have been the over all winner. That's not to say the lens is better than primes....it just does the job and offers versatility as a worthy bonus. I find it difficult to understand why one would want to limit ones options:-O
 
a.dancy said:
I think we stand alone on this one Keith. Like a lot of things in photography, I think the tale of 'The emperors new clothes' is one which should be remembered. I note another shot with the 100-400 got into the winning category of of the IWP competition and in my view the image should have been the over all winner. That's not to say the lens is better than primes....it just does the job and offers versatility as a worthy bonus. I find it difficult to understand why one would want to limit ones options:-O
Click to expand...

Options, that's the word, we have the choice of options, if these new Sigma's with their excellent zoom ranges are what the discerning wildlife photographer wants that's grand, but there will alway's be photographers who prefer and are usually prepared to spend the extra on primes...they have the option.

Bill
 
If they're priced at around the same level in Japan the 120-400 will be about half the price of the Canon 100-400 (this lens is strangely cheaper in the US than Japan), cheaper than Sigma's current 50-500 and 80-400 offerings and only about $100 more than the Tamron/Tokina long lenses............

Ok now I'm dying to hear some reviews.
 
stuprice68 said:
If they're priced at around the same level in Japan the 120-400 will be about half the price of the Canon 100-400 (this lens is strangely cheaper in the US than Japan), cheaper than Sigma's current 50-500 and 80-400 offerings and only about $100 more than the Tamron/Tokina long lenses............

Ok now I'm dying to hear some reviews.
Click to expand...

Stu,

Your not the only one waiting in hopeful anticipation for reviews. Sadly in the UK we always pay far more than the US for the exact same product, it would be just great if the dollar prices quoted on the Amazon.com site that you have posted could be reflected in our UK prices, it would bring the price quoted on Amazon.com for the 150-500 lens in at under £500 in the UK at current exchange rates...and that is just not going to happen...:-C

Thanks for the Amazon.com price update.

Bill
 
Increased demand might well result in an increase in the price - Sigma are notorious for under-supplying.

Back when I bought my Sigma 80-400mm OS I got (and I quote the Sigma warehouse directly here) "the only Nikon-fit 80-400mm OS left in the UK until Sigma Japan send another batch..."

I paid about £900 for it too.

Let's hope they've upped their game since then..!
 
Keith Reeder said:
Increased demand might well result in an increase in the price - Sigma are notorious for under-supplying.

Back when I bought my Sigma 80-400mm OS I got (and I quote the Sigma warehouse directly here) "the only Nikon-fit 80-400mm OS left in the UK until Sigma Japan send another batch..."

I paid about £900 for it too.

Let's hope they've upped their game since then..!
Click to expand...

All companies try to milk a product when it first comes out that's business. One of the oldest tricks in the book when selling something is to make it seem 'hard to come by' or 'there is only one in stock, so grab it while you can'.

The manufacturers set a recommended retail price, it's then left to the dealers to naturally get as much out of us poor buyers as they can, the 'big buy' dealers obviously get heavier discounts from the manufacturers and can then induce us potential customer's to part with our cash by undercutting the price of rival dealers....but if they try to increase the price above the RRP they just ain't gonna sell, at least not to the informed buyer, and there really is no excuse today to be an uninformed buyer.

I don't know much about Sigma regarding under supplying, but I know that Nikon are notorious from personal experience!!!

Bill
 
WHIMBREL said:
Options, that's the word, we have the choice of options, if these new Sigma's with their excellent zoom ranges are what the discerning wildlife photographer wants that's grand, but there will alway's be photographers who prefer and are usually prepared to spend the extra on primes...they have the option.

Bill
Click to expand...


In the case of the canon 400 prime and the 100-400 zoom...I think you will find the zoom is the more expensive. :t:
 
a.dancy said:
In the case of the canon 400 prime and the 100-400 zoom...I think you will find the zoom is the more expensive. :t:
Click to expand...

And in the case of the Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 EX DG you will also find the zoom more expensive at almost £16,000...:eek!::eek!::eek!:
 
I checked Sigma's Japanese site today and the prices (not street prices of course) have been released and boy they are cheap........

¥104,700 for the 120-400 (that's about 470 GBP and about half the price of the Canon 100-400 in Japan).

¥123,800 for the 150-500 (about 560 GBP)

They'll be cheaper than this when they hit the shops.

The other zooms (the 80-400 OS and the 2 cheapies) have been taken off the Sigma website (the Bigma remains for now).

EDITED TO ADD:

Just checked some online optics stores in Japan. Online the 120-400 is ¥90,000 (about 430 GBP) and the 150-500 ¥105,000 (under 500 GBP). About the same price level as the Tamron 200-500 or Tokina 80-400 and quite a bit cheaper than the older Sigma Bigma/80-400 OS.

2 conclusions maybe. They're either rather cheaply made with average IQ or it's some extremely aggressive marketing by Sigma.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the latest from Japan, Stu. Lets hope the IQ is up to the mark and it is an aggressive marketing strategy from Sigma.

Did they give a more formal idea of when they'll hit the Japanese market?

Bill
 
WHIMBREL said:
Did they give a more formal idea of when they'll hit the Japanese market?
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell they are available now.................but no I'm not going to buy one yet.

I still have the Canon 100-400 on loan (but not for much longer) and like everyone else I'll wait for some reviews of these new Sigmas.
 
Last edited:
Apparently Sigma has just announced a 50/1.4 with the EX designation. So the fact that these lenses don't have it could indicate that they are not quite top drawer standard...

Thomas
 
Warning! This thread is more than 16 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

Troubador
Zeiss New Product Development and How SF Binoculars Were Created
2 3 4
Replies
67
Views
13K
eronald
E
Troubador
  • Sticky
Interview with Opticron's top Manager
Replies
10
Views
4K
Troubador
Troubador
B
Do Sigma lens (120-300) depreciate in price and should I get this?
Replies
1
Views
1K
Overread
Overread
E
Canon or Sigma lens ?
2
Replies
20
Views
9K
Jaff
Jaff
Shaggy2070
Sigma 120-400 or 150-500mm
Replies
14
Views
15K
Shaggy2070
Shaggy2070

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top