| Author: | | New Member Registered: February, 2011 Location: Seattle Posts: 6
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 24, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $920.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, good contrast, well built | | Cons: | It's heavy dude... | |
Very happy with this. I seem to have one that is perfectly aligned.
It focuses well on a dull winter's day in England and delivers excellent quality at f8 with a K-5.
It's a bit heavy for my arthritic hands but should be fine for most people to hand-hold.
Gives good prints up to A3.
The stabilisation works well and gives a steady image in the viewfinder.
I do wonder if it's unwise to buy any lens until it's been in production at least a couple of years.
For UK readers I bought mine from SRS at a very good price with free 24 hr delivery.
What more can I say?
| | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2010 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 164
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 18, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $959.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness | | Cons: | a little heavy | |
I guess I have a good copy. Its a big improvement over the 55-300mm. Pixel level sharpness/contrast is probably equivalent to (or better) than the 55-300mm, which is also a very good lens. I think the Sigma has excellent contrast at all focal lengths, and excellent sharpness at 150mm, and surprisingly good sharpness at full telephoto. When photographing the moon at infinity, I'm getting 1.65x longer focal lengths than with the 55-300mm lens. By my measurements, the focal length is approximately 495mm.
The optical stabilization takes some time to get used too, because it jumps every 3 or 4 seconds. Half pressing the shutter resets the OS. It seems as effective as Pentax in camera stabilization (or better), but it helps to compose since the viewfinder image is more stable (at least for 3 or 4 seconds).
Cedar waxwing, Pentax K-x, 500mm F/8, 1:1 crop with standard sharpening I do all for all web photos.
Gibbous moon, standard Contrast+1/Sharp+1 on the right vs Contrast+4/Sharp+4 on the left. Both straight from the camera.
Cedar waxwing group photo at 500mm, resized from 12 megapixels down to 1 megapixel and sharpened.
- Shel
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2010 Location: Gothenburg, aka Göteborg Posts: 234
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 29, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $974.75
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | The only lens of that capacity I could afford! | | Cons: | Better than its smaller brother, the 120-400, but heavier! | |
This is my second Sigma zoom and my first lens with a focal length over 400!
I've had this for a while, and I got for quite a bit less than the 120-400, which it seems to be based on (everything is identical, but for the evidently bolted-on front lens assembly). Therefore it is slightly longer and heavier.
While the 120-400 is best at its 120 'end' this seem to be best quite a bit higher up, if not at 500 precisely.
As yet it has been a delight, with excellent O.I.S. (which has an on, off and continious setting - the latter for moving targets)!
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2008 Location: Modbury North, South Australia Posts: 351
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 11, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $950.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | HSM & OS - good balance on camera | | Cons: | 6.3 @ long end | |
Having sold my 100-300 f4 as I was looking for something longer & with HSM, I was a bit worried about loss of sharpness, my keeper rate is going up as I get used to the lens and I am very happy with the purchase. Ok it is not a prime lens but I cannot afford a 500 f4 prime anyway.
With the K5 and bumping up the ISO it allows to use around f8 - f10 and the sharpness is there if good technique is used - have only used hand held.
Whilst it is not EX the finish & build of the lens is just as good as my EX lenses.
This is a very good value for money long lens which can produce very sharp images even @500.
Pity the site does not have 9.5.
 | | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: October, 2007 Location: Canberra, Australia Posts: 2,472
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 21, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $950.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Value for money | | Cons: | weight, slow at long end | |
I like this lens.
It's heavy but what 500mm zoom isn't, it's still hand holdable but some support is handy at the end of a long day.
It's slowish at the long end (f6.7) so good light or a camera capable of handling higher ISO will allow you to stop down and yield the best results.
Autofocus with the HSM is quiet, not lightening fast but very usable. Stopped down sharpness is very acceptable, certainly good enough for some cropping.
The in built OS is very effective, I estimate it's worth at least 4 stops.
This lens is excellent value for money.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2007 Location: Newcastle Australia Posts: 5,284
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 21, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $945.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Excellent overall, sharp, and "small" enough to handhold. | | Cons: | A little slow at long end, AF could be quicker. | |
6.3 is a bit slow at the long end. This is my major beef with this lens.
Otherwise I suggest is really good value for it's price.
Not oversized, and definitely handholdable, which is a major plus.
And I got at discount price during a sale.
Do I recommend this lens? Very much so!
 | | | | | Inactive Account Registered: January, 2012 Location: Prince George Posts: 4 | | Review Date: January 29, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $1,000.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Relatively light weight, fast focus, very sharp | | Cons: | None | |
Great lens, hand-holdable, and works well with the Sigma 1.4x teleconverter on a tripod.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: September, 2007 Location: Washington, D.C. Posts: 3,327
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 9, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $950.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Optical Stabilization; fast HSM focus; well built; quick-shift MF clutch; almost no CA | | Cons: | OS is loud; slow f/6.3 at 500mm; stiff zoom | |
Bought this big lens barely used from the Marketplace after struggling with older 300/2.8s with teleconverters, and dabbling in mirror lenses. My 6-month summary: this is an excellent long lens for hand-holding in bright light or tripod use, and a very good value for the price!
First, the few negatives:
1) Not Silent Optical Stabilization (OS part of the name) makes a little "click-click" noise when you focus (w/ silent HSM) and then stops stabilizing altogether after a few seconds (you have to half-press the shutter again to re-engage it). This is because OS uses the power from the camera body meant for HSM, and will suck your batteries dry if you use it all day! I owned Canon L lenses with "IS" and they were silent and didn't affect battery life as much, but hey, Pentax gives us the option of turning OS off and using SR!
2) f/5 at 150mm and f/6.3 at 500mm is pretty slow, and you must stop down from there for optimal sharpness, which means higher ISOs if you want to use "hand-holding" shutter speeds (and OS or SR, while good, can only do so much). So, I routinely use ISO1600 in bright overcast to get over 1/500 and am glad I have the K-5 sensor behind it! (However, it also performs marvellously on a tripod at lower shutter speeds and ISOs!)
3) Stiff zoom mechanism which I think is meant to reduce "zoom creep" when you point the lens down, but actually just slows the inevitable (and comical) extension unless you always put the zoom lock on at 150mm. I tend to use this lens less as a zoom and more as a 500mm lens (or 700mm with a Tamron Pz-AF 1.4x teleconverter), but a couple of times I've been very glad I could get a wider view of my subject, though it takes a good crank to pull that massive front element back in!
Three things (pleasantly) surprised me about this lens:
1) Optical Stabilization makes a big difference when framing subjects and focusing handheld at 500mm (much easier than "hoping you got it right" and letting SR catch it). I'm a big tripod user, but this feature has allowed me to just sling the lens and walk around catching things from long distances!
2) Sigma's HSM is incredibly quick to focus this long, heavy lens on my K-5. Refreshing compared to my pokey Pentax SDM DA*50-135mm! (Note: I've never had SDM motor problems with that DA* after 5 years, and I've no idea if Sigma's HSM is better or worse for long-term wear).
3) Quick shift AF/MF clutch on the focus ring. Not even mentioned in the specs (?), but invaluable in a long lens when the AF wants to hit the branch, not the subject. Just AF (quickly and silently), then tweak the focus ring to get what you want! Nice...
Okay, there's also a fourth:
4) Very little, if any aberrations, which is very rare for long lenses! One of the things that bugged me about older lenses and extreme telephotos was the purple/green shift in the out-of-focus areas (longitudinal or axial chromatic aberration; LoCA). This "colored blur" is very hard to fix in post (unlike simple lateral CA in the corners; LatCA) and messes up what could've been pleasant bokeh. The Sigma 150-500 APO is entirely apochromatic in that regard - no LoCA, no LatCA, and no purple fringing! A very nice, modern, corrected optic.
What wasn't surprising, given previous reviews, is that this is not the sharpest lens wide open, but is very nice at f/8-f/11 (see image below), and it's essentially an EX-grade lens without the designation (or price tag). Very well built and much lighter than I expected (although certainly big & heavy if you're used to the DA 55-300 or kit lenses, but this goes to 500mm!). The next step up from this lens is a dedicated 500mm prime, or a really good f/2.8 300mm + teleconverter, both of which are going to be 2 or 3 times the price, and equal in weight!
Sharp enough at 500mm? I think so:
 | | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2010 Location: St. Paul, MN Posts: 7
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 21, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $1,069.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness! Optical Stab., Size, CA, HSM AF | | Cons: | Size! A bit slow; but with OS, who cares? DOF is plenty short | |
This is a wonderfully sharp lens. I'm amazed how sharp it is wide open at 500mm (equiv. of 750mm!!!!) I've never had this kind of reach. Sharp, sharp sharp. It's big! No kidding; but for equiv. 750mm? Not bad at all. I pack it all the time. Nice lens hood that you don't need: The thing just doesn't flare. Big, heavy, grippy, convenient tripod mount you also don't need: The OS covers you.
The OS is like magic. I've never used OS before: It is superb. I can hand-hold down to 1/30 at 500mm and get sharp results. It also helps you frame at long FL handheld. The lens AFs then switches to OS and goes into steady-cam mode. Much easier to frame! It's like magic!
Examples (all with OS-1):
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/PandJ-Family/White%20Salmon/2012/IMGP3392_rsz90.jpg (moon)
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/PandJ-Family/White%20Salmon/2012/IMGP3780_rsz90.jpg (kestrel form over 100-feet)
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/PandJ-Family/2012/2012-05-28/IMGP0571.jpg
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/PandJ-Family/2012/2012-05-28/IMGP0584.jpg
http://www.berettaconsulting.com/barbarossa/PandJ-Family/2012/2012-04-28/IMGP0500_resize.jpg (from about 12 feet)
I am totally in love with this lens as my sole really long lens. So sharp wide open at all FLs tested that I really haven't used it stopped down.
Very decent bokeh (though this is probably its weakest point -- not very weak). No CA. Basically none.
Superb value for the money.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2012 Location: Below sealevel Posts: 1,100 | | Review Date: November 22, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Affordable, handholdable, sharpness | | Cons: | Slow aperture, sharpness, zoomcreep | |
Bought this lens 2nd hand for a good price (see above), just to give it a try. At first I was sceptical but after some workout I became positively surprised.
I also have the sigma 100-300 F4 and the while 150-500 is not upto par with that in terms of sharpness and IQ, it does produce nice and relatively sharp images.
IMHO one needs to avoid F6.3-F7.1 at the long end for distant shots, at those apertures it is rather soft. F8 is the best compromise between sharpness and DoF, it wil produce very fine images. The downside is offcourse that this makes it even slower that the lens allready is, so you need lots of light or/or a sturdy tripod.
My specimen has zoomcreep, so the transportlock is a welkom addition. OS works fine but you can hear it kicking in. As for the AF: it is virtually silent (a nice feature if you`re shooting birds or wildlife) but not really fast.
The bottomline:
While not as good as my sigma 100-300 F4 I can recommend this lens. It is an affordable and yet delivering alternative if you can`t or don`t want to spend 4-5K on a 500mm prime. It has it`s limitations but if you can figure it out it can perform very nicely.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2013 Location: Lometa, TX Posts: 403 | | Review Date: May 5, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $950.00
| Rating: N/A |
| Pros: | Quiet Focus, Sharp Bang for Buck | | Cons: | A bit heavy | |
The lens took a little getting used to, it is big. Can be be hand held but is easier for me to use a tripod because It Is Big. BigSig for me is a Home Run !
| | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2010 Location: Dordogne, France Posts: 15
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 12, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $1,000.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, bokeh pretty good, no abberations, in lens stabilization is excellent | | Cons: | needs a lot of light, heavy | |
A nice lens, but not for everyday use imho. It is big and cumbersome. A nice lens for birding. Surprisingly it can be used handheld, thanks to the excellent in-lens stabilization. No point going out on a dull day, you need Sunshine and lots of it, certainly if you want to keep iso down. I have the lens for about a month now and no regrets, great value for money, it is sharp and the bokeh is pretty good too. Downside for me is slow focussing, perhaps better with a k3, I use a k5.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: November, 2007 Location: Western Canada Posts: 12,349
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 13, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $950.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness throughout focal range | | Cons: | heavy...but with that much glass and size this is no surprise | |
I've had mine, which I bought new... for about 8 months. It's sharp and has very good AF. I generally use it for photographing birds of prey in the wild and drag racing cars at the track.
I use it with my K-5, haven't tried it with my Km or K10D yet.
The only issue so far, is the physical size .
As far as the size goes it's not a huge deal.
To me, it's just a function of the amount of glass and after all...it is a 500 mm lens.
I'm an older guy and generally either sit with it...or if I do take it on a nature trek...I'm good for about 45 minutes before I tire from the weight.
I know I could use my monopod or tripod but I do like to use my lenses, hand held.
All in all I love this lens.
It's definitely a keeper. The end product the photographs are very sharp. I like the lens handle attachment...very effective in handling this sizeable piece of equipment.
I'm quite pleased that Sigma has produced this excellent 150-500 with a Pentax mount.
I just wish I had bought it sooner.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2007 Location: Arnold, Md. Posts: 762 | | Review Date: May 8, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $799.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Big bang for the buck | | Cons: | none so far | |
Bought this direct from Sigma as a refurb. Looks new and smells new. No gritty zoom feel, smooth and no creep. Super quiet focus and is faster on the K3 than the K5. Others have mentioned a clicking sound from the OS. I must be deaf, I don't hear it. I'm amazed at the hand held performance at 500mm, I didn't think it was possible and fully expected to have to use it on a tripod. I'll not complain about size or weight as it is what it is and I'm more than satisfied. It has exceeded my expectations. | | | | | Junior Member Registered: July, 2013 Posts: 41 | | Review Date: June 17, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $600.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | telephoto range, value, image stabilization | | Cons: | big, long | |
I just got back from using the lens all weekend for the 2014 NCAA Track and Field Championships. It was very long, poking into the aisles when extended at 500mm but with my monopod and K20D it still felt balanced on its mount. I didn't use it handheld much but I think it is amazingly clear and sharp even when panning during the sprints on the monopod while zooming.
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