[mackloon]

Okay -

So, on some crazy impulse I splurged and bought this badboy the other day. It arrived yesterday, and just moments ago I mounted it on my K-r body for the first time.

Now it is pitch black here on the East Coast so there is no chance of me running outside and seeing how this performs, so I pumped up the light in my basement and I stood at the one end of the basement and tried to focus at the other end...probably 15-20 feet...It seemed to catch focus at the 150mm, however it would skip around and never catch at the 500mm end.

In addition, the focus on this lens seemed to stutter...skipping from the various distances. I could easily manually focus to to a rather sharp picture without being nit-picky. I was wondering if anyone could confirm the quirkiness that I am experiencing so I can sleep better knowing that my sub-BIGMA is okay, and I will see sharp, quick focusing in the morning.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. This is my first lens with a focal length above 300mm, so I was not sure what to expect.

Sincerely

-mackloon

[SOldBear]

Just a data point....

My "lab" at home has 4 sets of fluorescent lamps, each has 2 lamps. I have good exposure at 1/60 sec, F/5.6 and ISO 400.

My Sigma 150-500mm APO/HSM at 500mm has no problem locking focus on a 11"X17" periodic table from 25ft, which I think is the min. focusing distance of the lens at 500mm.

Edited to add: just took a few test shot at 500mm. Correct exposure is 1/30, F/6.3, ISO1600. AF worked fine with no hesitation at all. The focusing distance was 10 ft (min. is 7.5 ft).

[Stringmike]

I owned the virtually identical but slightly shorter 120-400mm lens and found no focusing problems in normal light. Your problem may be a combination of low light, artificial light spectrum and low contrast subject.

Mike

[mackloon]

I agree....does this lens stutter a little bit more than the other HSM lens...not necessarily stutter...but like skip or focus at the increments a little more jerky?

[NBC]

I bought the same lens for my K10D and was experiencing the same problems. I was almost to the point of returning the lens. I changed the setting from multi to centre focus and this seems to have helped. I'm still experimenting but am getting better results. Even my better half who is not too savy when it comes to cameras took a pretty good shot of a pileated woodpecker high up on a dead tree. I was impressed!

[mackloon]

Cool....I am going to go out this morning and give it a real test.

Holy crap though....I underestimated its size.

How does the 50-500mm and the 120-400mm compare in size. I shoot mostly handheld and I can see this badboy wearing on me.

[downunderman]

Here is a link to a photo taken with 150-500 sigma

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9Th4vfJhy9aBYgurfXRY_g?feat


https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9Th4vfJhy9aBYgurfXRY_g?feat=directlink

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Last edited by downunderman; 05-08-2011 at 06:28 PM.

[mackloon]

Does anyone have a good size weight comparison between the sigma 120-400, 50-500 and the 150-500.

I have tested my lens and it appears to have some kind of a defect. So since this one is going back I was consodering the size options of the other 2. Both the 120-400 and the 50-500 seem smaller in weight and length. Does anyone have these that they can take a photo of side by side? Or is there a comparison photo someone can link?

Thanks in advance.

mackloon

[Stringmike]

Dimensions and weights are usually listed.

AFAIK, the 150-500 is about two inches longer and four ounces heavier than the 120-400, but has about the same other dimensions.

Mike

[mackloon]

How does the 50-500 compare?