I bought this lens after the first Sigma price hike of the 'Crunch' hence the 670
the price at the moment (Mar '09) is now way over 700
The lens comes in a padded lens case, and has a lens strap for the 2kg weight.
The lens is of the same quality externally as the EX lenses, except part of the lens barrel is plastic, but seems tough.
the OS works extremely well. at 150mm I have shot at 1/15th indoors ISO1600!!
works best up to 400mm but 500mm is ok
not the sharpest W/O, but drop to F/8 or F/9 and it is good enough.
lens hood is awkward unless you grip the textured area, whereas my 100-300 F/4 had an easier hood to attach.
Sharpness is generally good, allowing feather detail to be recorded, however the Canon 400mm F/5.6 is better at this.
overall 9* as image quality could be slightly better, and the plastic barrel, that seems quite sturdy is initially unnerving.
I thoroughly recommend if the Canon 100-400 L and Nikon 80-400 are too pricey, or if the Bigma's lack of OS is a concern.
Will
the price at the moment (Mar '09) is now way over 700
The lens comes in a padded lens case, and has a lens strap for the 2kg weight.
The lens is of the same quality externally as the EX lenses, except part of the lens barrel is plastic, but seems tough.
the OS works extremely well. at 150mm I have shot at 1/15th indoors ISO1600!!
works best up to 400mm but 500mm is ok
not the sharpest W/O, but drop to F/8 or F/9 and it is good enough.
lens hood is awkward unless you grip the textured area, whereas my 100-300 F/4 had an easier hood to attach.
Sharpness is generally good, allowing feather detail to be recorded, however the Canon 400mm F/5.6 is better at this.
overall 9* as image quality could be slightly better, and the plastic barrel, that seems quite sturdy is initially unnerving.
I thoroughly recommend if the Canon 100-400 L and Nikon 80-400 are too pricey, or if the Bigma's lack of OS is a concern.
Will