Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 Review

[kiwi]

Heres a nw lens for you Tannin....


Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 Review
http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/article...amples_raw.htm

http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/article...t_hands_on.htm

[MarkChap]

Comes with it's own 2x converter to give you a 400-1000 f5.6 lens

And all for a measly recommended retail of $34 000.00 US

[Tannin]

Nahh, I don't go for this cheap off-brand stuff.

Actually, I'm not entirely sure how useful one of these would be. You certainly couldn't carry it around over your shoulder all day the way you do with a 500/4. The lenses on my wish list are .... hmmmmm ......

• 800/5.6. Serious reach, weighs the same as a 600/4 (near enough), and no need to use a teleconverter - I dislike converters quite a lot. Only f/5.6, so you'd need something faster in a longish lens (such as the 500/4), but a very handy thing to have.
• 400/4 DO. The only longish fast lens that you can easily handhold. Not many people own them, probably mostly because of the horrible price for such a (relatively) short lens, but those that do own them use them lots. A 200-400/4 VR offers the convenience of zoom and equally excellent image quality, at the cost of being longer and lots heavier. I often lust after the 200-400/4 VR, but in reality if I owned one I suspect that I'd end up pondering the weight of it and deciding that, if I'm going to have a sore shoulder at the end of the day, I might as well have the benefit of the extra 100mm a 500/4 provides.
• 300/2.8. Not really long enough for birding, but the longest f/2.8 lens you can sensibly hand-hold. Close MFD too, which very few of the longer primes can offer. But doomed to spend most of its life on a teleconverter. A 400/2.8 would make more sense, but the current model is so heavy ..... it would gather dust most of the time. Except in rainforest, where it would be the lens to have, by a country mile. Well, apat from the Sigma 200-500 maybe, but the weight of the big green monster, to my mind, makes that one a bridge too far. Best to just wait till Canon revise the 400/2.8, using the same technology that they used for the 800/5.6 - i.e., making it substantially shorter and lighter. Oh, and substantially more expensive too, no doubt. Sigh.
• 600/4. For tripod work, where you don't have to walk too far, the 600/4 offers better reach than the 500/4, and (unlike the 800/5.6) doesn't sacrifice aperture to do it. If I owned one, I would certainly use it, but if I could only own one big lens, it would be a 500/4 - all things considered, the best compromise between reach, speed, and weight.

[Kym]

Big tripod and a hide! Where is Colin?

Or... hire a Sherpa!

Or... an expensive gym membership + steroids

Or... Chuck Norris shoots photos with this tack sharp hand held.

[Analog6]

Does it come with its own truck?

[Kevin M]

i am not too keen on the colour & given the price I expect it comes in a choice of colours with gold plating & is also able to make a good skinny latte
plus wash my dishes too

[arthurking83]

I reckon it'd probably do very well with the 1.4xTC. Stopped down to f/4 it looks very good!

[Allann]

16kg... wow that's heavy. I'm quite tired after lugging my 600/4 around after a few hours, so couldn't imagine I'd take this monster anywhere that wasn't accessible via trolley with wheels.

[R1titan]

What a MONSTER!!
thats some serious piece of equipment...

gotta luv the way he arches his back when shooting with this thing, it just adds to the drama

[NikonNellie]

Wow! That guy has a huuuuuge................lens.

[nisstrust]

daaa..amn....! that is one hell of a lens!

[ashey]

Nah to big and heavy images look good I must admit ,I think I will keep saving my pennies for the canon 500 f.4 under a third of the price of this monster and you get IS which comes in handy on these long focal lenghts.

[Asurfa]

I kept expecting to see a rpg coming out of the barrel! Cops would shoot you in the US if you pulled that beast out in public.

[JM Tran]

I kept expecting to see a rpg coming out of the barrel! Cops would shoot you in the US if you pulled that beast out in public.

no in the US they would beat u first then tazer u, then beat u some more, all while seen on some security cam, and later on u will take the cops and the police dept to court - hoping to walk away with millions in compo after.

in Iraq or Afghanistan u will get shot if u even lift this thing up to chest level

[Seesee]

errrrrrrr...very macho...but what the heck is the point of it ?...just seems pretty ridiculous