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Any one used the Sigma 800/5.6 0r the 300-800/5.6? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Duke Leto
- Start date
wow
I am not an expert but would 800 be almost impossible to control without a great Tripod....gees, the weight alone would make it hard to "pack it in " for miles.... Right or wrong?
I am not an expert but would 800 be almost impossible to control without a great Tripod....gees, the weight alone would make it hard to "pack it in " for miles.... Right or wrong?
Duke Leto
Without habitat, there is no wildlife. It's that s
Thanks will do
Have a look at Liquidstone's galleries on pbase. He has a 300-800.
Robert_Scanlon
Well-known member
Duke, I used to have the 800mm 5.6 Sigma, the version before the DG or whatever the latest one is called. It was a pretty good lens, capable of good results particularly if stepped down a little. I think for the money it is excellent value, a good way of getting long reach with not too much outlay. If they did a version with IS, I would possibly have stayed with Sigma, but in the end the IS swung it for me, and I trade up to a Canon 600 F4. I found the image quality with this lens with the 1.4 attached to be better than the sigma, and also the Canon seemed to me to do a better job of blurring out the background. The 800 was noticeably lighter.
kelvin.dunford
Well-known member
Hi steve, i use a sigma 300-800.lens with a gitzo3531s carbon tripod, with wimberley head. nikon d200. a lot of my photography is done around the poole harbour area, so a very sturdy tripod with wimberly are essential to get good results. i find that with this combination vibration is not an issue, which is sometimes the case with large lenses. The total weight of this set up is 23 pounds. I use a specail backpack if carrying a long way, this pack is specially designed for big tele lenses, can even leave camera attached to lens for quick set up. web page for this is-2008.southern office refurbishment ltd. i used this site and they set me up and i am well pleased with service. hope this info helps. focal length with zoom is brilliant
Ray.Scott
Well-known member
I use the sigmonster 300-800 mainly for hide work and find that it can give excellent results.
As mentioned earlier, It's sharp, heavy and does require a descent tripod. i use the Gitzo 3530 and manfrotto 393 head and find that they work well together.
I also find that the lens seems to be sharpest at F8 but still gives good results at 5.6.
The main fault I find with the lens appart from the weight is that there is no focus limit switch which can be frustrating if you are wanting to regain focus in a hurry.
Well worth the money if you don't mind the extra weight and the lack of focus limit switch.
Try and get your hands on one and give it a try before buying.
As mentioned earlier, It's sharp, heavy and does require a descent tripod. i use the Gitzo 3530 and manfrotto 393 head and find that they work well together.
I also find that the lens seems to be sharpest at F8 but still gives good results at 5.6.
The main fault I find with the lens appart from the weight is that there is no focus limit switch which can be frustrating if you are wanting to regain focus in a hurry.
Well worth the money if you don't mind the extra weight and the lack of focus limit switch.
Try and get your hands on one and give it a try before buying.
paulwinclad
Well-known member
Steve,
have owned both of these lenses, the 800 was the old non HSM version which made the focus too slow, upgraded to the 300-800 which was excellent as Kelvin says in his post (he bought mine) the only reason I sold was the weight issue as I am a birder first, photographer second (cant carry scope and a big lens) Please let me know if you want to sell your 500 !
Paul
