| Latest Review Posted | Sigma APO DG OS HSM 150-500mm F5-6.3
I found this lens to be a real mixed bag.
On one hand, anything in the super long focal length range tends to be expensive, and there are not many options in this range. I felt this was pretty reasonably priced for the range.
On the other hand, after using this quite a bit, I'd question whether it should really be considered a 500mm lens, as at 500mm it's horribly soft.
Up to about 200mm at f 8.0 it's very sharp, and I'd give it a 9/10 for sharpness around this focal length, but from 400-500mm it's soft, although stopped down to f 16 you can get reasonably nice images, although you'll need bright light and a high ISO so I'd only give it a 5/10 at longer focal lengths.
The trouble is, for the same price or a bit less, you can get a very sharp, fast 70-200 2.8 which though heavy, will weigh a bit less than this. I really wanted something with the extra reach, and I can make use of it right up to 500mm, but it needs some real work to get good images out of it at anything over about 300mm.
Would I buy it again? I'm not sure. The newer Sigma 50-500 seems like it gets better reviews, and can be had for a similar price but I haven't had the opportunity to try one. The official review on here does mention it too lacks resolution with distant subjects, so it might be a common problem to the long Sigmas.
In terms of usability, although the lens is big and heavy, it can be used hand held, although once you unlock it, it suffers quite rapid zoom creep due to its sheer weight... |
