 - Kerry Haines Contact Kerry Haines Kerry Haines's Gallery |
Zoom Lens Input Has anyone used/tried the Sigma AF 50-500mm f4-f6.3 EX APO RF HSM lens? I am seeking a zoom lens that provides quality results that won't break my banking account. I currently use the Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS but desire another lens with greater reach. Primary use would be for wildlife but could also be used for outdoor sporting events. Camera used is the Canon EOS 20D. I welcome pros and cons regarding the above lens and of course, alternate lens suggestions. Thanks.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Irene Troy |
I have this lens and I LOVE it! I just switched from Minolta to Canon and had to order the lens for the Canon - mucho money spent in the past month on this 'hobby/work', but this lens is really great, IMO. I also primarily use it for wildlife and have found it produces very sharp images - of-course, I almost always use a tripod.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Andrew Laverghetta |
Now I haven't used this lens at all or heard of it until now and I'm not sure but I doubt the quality will be up to that of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. I would suggest that you buy a 2x teleconverter for just under $300 on bhphotovideo.com. That will make it 140-400mm with a max aperture of 5.6 instead of 6.3 at the long end which is getting pretty slow. You also get to use the IS still. I just figure that the optics of the can L plus the teleconverter will probably still be better than a sigma alone (given it still is an EX lens and costs around $1000). Just adding $285 and sacraficing the 500mm focal length for 400 really doesn't seem like that much to me. Plus, using it on a Canon 20D, that's more like 1260mm or so at f/5.6. I would think that should be enough...especially with the IS you could use it in slightly dimmer light as well. Though, I dont' know if that works while you're on a tripod though. That's just what I would go with though.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Irene Troy |
I have to disagree just a bit with Andrew – well, not so much disagree as to add my 2 cents worth. I do own this lens and use it with my Canon 5D. It is VERY sharp and because I shoot a lot of wildlife images, I need that 500mm. Having said this, I would certainly prefer to have Canon’s prime 500 or 600mm. And, someday, when I win the lottery (lol) I will purchase those lenses. I have found that using the 2X converter affects image sharpness to a degree that I find annoying – of-course, this may just be me. The Sigma lens is – for the money – a very decent lens that has and continues to serve me well. Incidentally, you never want to use IS when the camera/lens is supported by a tripod! Doing so will really screw up sharpness. Since I use a tripod, even with short lenses, I can live with the trade off of having length and no IS. Anyway, for me, the Sigma is a good lens and I think it would work well for what you need.
|
|
|
|
||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||