[kentster]

now have a sigma 400 5.6 on it's way......sure hope i can get sharp pics of birds with one of these 3

[Scorpio71GR]

Hey Rubert how is the new Bigma working? Kentster seems like you may have some trouble picking which lens to use. Those old lenses can work just fine. Just watch out for high contrast conditions and remember to stop down a little extra. Otherwise the purple fringing can get a bit out of hand.

Yesterday I went to a local wildlife park on a group outing with a local camera club. Yes I was the only Pentax shooter there, but that is a given . It really was a nice place, they had a tram ride and made special arrangements to stop the tram so we could take pictures. I saw lots of interesting animals but it was the birds at the end that stole the show for me. Must of had something to do with all the color. All were shot with the K3 and of course the Bigma.
I'm pretty sure these two were mocking me.

Hey get a load of this guy with all that equipment, probably has no clue what he is doing. He does look confused.


Well let's Forget about the dummy over there, let me get that for you. Is that the right spot?

I noticed two more in another spot and went to check them out.



Anyone who thinks that animals do not have empathy for each other is a fool.



Hey you, yeah you dummy with the big fancy camera, Polly thinks if you can afford that fancy lens you can spot a cracker.



Of course you know that cheap #$@%&$% never gave me a cracker.



Michael

[Rupert]

Hey Rubert how is the new Bigma working?

I saw lots of interesting animals but it was the birds at the end that stole the show for me.

WOW! I love those shots Scorpio! Great colors and so well composed...the first two are just wonderful! The Bigmas are fantastic at being so versatile! I've even done a few model shoots in the past with my old Bigma, but can't show them here....Otis has them in his "Highly Classified" file and won't even let me view them without my Mom being present....which pretty much rules out my ever seeing them again!

About the new Bigma.....I plan to do a report here in another day or so. I love it, but it is different than my old one. First, the barrel rotation is reverse of my old one for zooming. A minor difference, but one I have to get used to. The IQ seems as good as my old one, about the same, which is what I expected...I've always been pleased with my old one. The HSM and OS are both wonderful with some exceptions, which are mostly due to my window shooting and not the lens. It seems more light sensitive than my old one, and it will take me a while to find the best settings to prevent overexposure. The weight difference is not noticeable to me at all. A few more days of practice will help me iron out the differences, no doubt!

Looks like I am going to be very happy with it! Most important is the happiness of Otis and his Giant Army.....he seems to be pretty thrilled with it!

"Looky there! Is that a new Bigma? Looks damn fine to my eyes!"


If it puts a smile on Otis' face, it's got to be a winner!

Best Regards!

[mohb]

[kentster]

I may have to sell my 135- 400, 170-500 and 400 and get a "Bigma"

[Rupert]

There will be no peace for a while, he's practising again.

Nice shot.....Squirrels are wonderful creatures....according to Otis! He thinks we should make this an "All Squirrel" Sigma Lens Club........I like 'em too, but I'm not for that Otis plan!

I may have to sell my 135- 400, 170-500 and 400 and get a "Bigma"

I sure love Bigmas.....they are a challenge at times but they do deliver if you get the hang of them. I'm way short of being a skilled shooter, but the Bigma still gives me much daily joy!

Just shot this......it is a heavy crop of the original frame...and I cheated and cloned on the end of that Cheater Branch for appearance purpose, which thrilled Otis! Any kind of cheating thrills Otis, but otherwise it is natural Bigma, with natural Bigma bokeh.

Would love to get the ISO down but at 1600 it was as low as I wanted to go and keep some speed. The K5IIs allows plenty of upward pushing, so it is generally not a problem to underexpose a couple of stops.

She was watching my every move....She is a Spanish dove, and I don't speak fluent Spanish, but enough universal dove to calm her down!


Regards!

[kentster]

I sure love Bigmas.....they are a challenge at times but they do deliver if you get the hang of them. I'm way short of being a skilled shooter, but the Bigma still gives me much daily joy!

I'm hoping I can get similar results with at least one of the lens I purchased. I sent another email to Tamron and Sigma asking if they are going to offer the 150-600 for us Pentaxians.

K3 shows up tomorrow.... the others should trickle in this next week. Stuck in Vegas Wed-Fri...so hoping everything arrives so I can go test on Saturday

[Rupert]

I'm hoping I can get similar results with at least one of the lens I purchased.

You won't know until you give them a try and test them out. Good luck! Surely you will be able to get the results you desire.

Regards!

[zman]

Headed out to our local zoo to try out my new Sigma 120-400MM F4.5-5.6 DG APO OS HSM that I picked up from the Sigma Outlet store. All the images were taken handheld and using the TAv mode. It's a heavy lens and I'm still learning how to best use it. RAW files PP with ACR & PSE 9.

[kentster]

All the images were taken handheld and using the TAv mode. It's a heavy lens and I'm still learning how to best use it.

Looks like your doing a great job. I'd be very happy with those results. Impressed with the pics with ISO at 1600. My K20D would fail miserably at that....K3 arrives tomorrow !!!

[Rupert]

All the images were taken handheld and using the TAv mode. It's a heavy lens and I'm still learning how to best use it. RAW files PP with ACR & PSE 9.

Lookin' great Zman! Good to see you here, keep posting, we need more Sigma long shooters here!

Impressed with the pics with ISO at 1600. My K20D would fail miserably at that....K3 arrives tomorrow !!!

Yes, the K3 or my K5IIs will really beat my old K20D in the high ISO dept too!

Just shot this hungry squirrel at ISO 6400 with my new Bigma. Stayed together pretty good!


One at ISO 1600 from earlier this morning.

"Is that a damn cat down there?"


Regards!

[kentster]

Received this from Sigma this morning:

Hello Kent,
Unfortunately there are no plans at the present time that I am aware of to manufacture either of the 150-600mm lenses in the Pentax K/AF lens mount. We can convert the lens mount of a Sigma “Global Vision” lens to any mount the lens is initially available for sale in, as neither 150-600mm lens is available in the Pentax K/AF lens mount we cannot convert the lens to it.
Of the 3 lenses you mention the 400mm f5.6 would probably be the sharpest but doesn’t offer any zoom capability. None of the 3 lenses are updateable nor can we service them, they were discontinued many years ago, service and parts are no longer available for them.
Sincerely,
Paul Pizzano
SIGMA Corporation of America l 15 Fleetwood Ct, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
Sigma Corporation of America | Sigma Corporation of America
Phone: 631-585-1144 l Fax: 631-585-1895
For the latest updates about SIGMA, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram
The content of this message and any attachments may be privileged and confidential. They may contain legally privileged information or copyright material. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not read, copy, Distribute, or use this information. Please do not disseminate this message without the permission of the author. If you have received this message in error please delete it and immediately notify the sender."
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

[Scorpio71GR]

Received this from Sigma this morning:

Hello Kent,
Unfortunately there are no plans at the present time that I am aware of to manufacture either of the 150-600mm lenses in the Pentax K/AF lens mount. We can convert the lens mount of a Sigma “Global Vision” lens to any mount the lens is initially available for sale in, as neither 150-600mm lens is available in the Pentax K/AF lens mount we cannot convert the lens to it.
Of the 3 lenses you mention the 400mm f5.6 would probably be the sharpest but doesn’t offer any zoom capability. None of the 3 lenses are updateable nor can we service them, they were discontinued many years ago, service and parts are no longer available for them.
Sincerely,
Paul Pizzano
SIGMA Corporation of America l 15 Fleetwood Ct, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
Sigma Corporation of America | Sigma Corporation of America
Phone: 631-585-1144 l Fax: 631-585-1895
For the latest updates about SIGMA, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram
The content of this message and any attachments may be privileged and confidential. They may contain legally privileged information or copyright material. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not read, copy, Distribute, or use this information. Please do not disseminate this message without the permission of the author. If you have received this message in error please delete it and immediately notify the sender."
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Yeah I've been down this road too. Tamron basically stopped making any new K mount lenses years ago. Sigma is making very few and most of the ones they have now have been in production for several years. Unfortunately the market in the long telephotos and zooms is small and the market in those in K mount is even smaller. When you look prices for other brands right now the D FA 150-450 is no a bad deal. That is a serious piece of glass. After the 150-500 was discontinued I picked up a used Bigma instead. Luckily someone here on the marketplace had a basically mint one that I was able to get.

---------- Post added 09-21-15 at 06:15 PM ----------

Headed out to our local zoo to try out my new Sigma 120-400MM F4.5-5.6 DG APO OS HSM that I picked up from the Sigma Outlet store. All the images were taken handheld and using the TAv mode. It's a heavy lens and I'm still learning how to best use it. RAW files PP with ACR & PSE 9.

Nice work, you are doing better than I did when I got my Bigma. I'm still struggling with handheld shots with it.

---------- Post added 09-21-15 at 06:19 PM ----------

Nice shot.....Squirrels are wonderful creatures....according to Otis! He thinks we should make this an "All Squirrel" Sigma Lens Club........I like 'em too, but I'm not for that Otis plan!
I sure love Bigmas.....they are a challenge at times but they do deliver if you get the hang of them. I'm way short of being a skilled shooter, but the Bigma still gives me much daily joy!
Just shot this......it is a heavy crop of the original frame...and I cheated and cloned on the end of that Cheater Branch for appearance purpose, which thrilled Otis! Any kind of cheating thrills Otis, but otherwise it is natural Bigma, with natural Bigma bokeh.

I always enjoy the dove shots Rupert.

---------- Post added 09-21-15 at 06:21 PM ----------

K3 plus Bigma 1/160 f9 ISO 640 500mm on a monopod


Michael

---------- Post added 09-21-15 at 06:44 PM ----------

WOW! I love those shots Scorpio! Great colors and so well composed...the first two are just wonderful! The Bigmas are fantastic at being so versatile! I've even done a few model shoots in the past with my old Bigma, but can't show them here....Otis has them in his "Highly Classified" file and won't even let me view them without my Mom being present....which pretty much rules out my ever seeing them again!

Thank you Rupert, l was able to get pretty close since these were in a sanctuary. All were shot between 100 and 300mm. Times like these is when the Bigma is very valuable.

Michael

---------- Post added 09-21-15 at 06:51 PM ----------

Don't think I ever posted this one with the Bigma. One of my few somewhat successful handheld shots.
Green Heron 1/250 f11 500mm ISO 2500 I was in the woods in a lot shade from the trees.


Michael

[kentster]

The Bigma was introduced in 2005? I actually thought about returning my k3 today for a Nikon. Or I may have to look at the Pentax 150-450. Is that a newer lens?

[kentster]

K3 just showed up. So I grabbed the 135-400 and took a couple of another fan of squirrels. I cleaned it up with Dfine and added a highs filter......