Sigma 150-500mm APO F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Lens Review

Hey all,

I have had the Sigma 150-500mm for the past weekend and have had a limited time to use it. Although in that time conditions have been challenging and exciting. I have tested the Sigma 150-500mm lens on my Nikon D300 (225-750mm Equivalent with a 1.5x crop factor) using a Gitzo GT2330 tripod. The SB-800 flash unit was used on and off depending on lighting conditions.

For the two days I used the salt marsh at Gateway National Park area on Staten Island to see what I could find. The subjects for the next two mornings were a handful of palm warblers, common yellow throated warblers, and two mocking birds. The first day was cut short by clouds that were forecasted not to be there and the second outing was ruined by a rain system moving in. Also unforcasted.

Now to the build of the lens. The lens has a solid build to it. It appears to have the EX signature finish by Sigma, but is unmarked as so. This usually implies it only will have a one year warranty instead of the EX extended warranty. The Lens does extend from the body. In the long term if could be an issue and should be careful about moisture, dust or sand. However it does retract in to a manageable size for a 500mm lens. The shorter they become the more sacrifice made and elements added. The barrel extends smoothly with a bit of feedback. Not loose by any means. There is also a lock switch to be applied when the lens is fully retracted. The focus ring is closest to the camera and zoom ring furthest away. Also the Zoom ring extends by a clockwise motion if you are facing the camera back; which can be a bit uncomfortable at times depending on your lens setup. The Lens mount for the lens is of what appears to be solid metal. I can detect no bending of any sort. It locks down with twist of the knob. The foot of the lens mount happens to have finger grooves making it easier to hold when carrying it off of the tripod. The Lens mount is removed by loosening the knob and sliding it back and behind the camera mount. This can be a pain in the butt especially if you attach the camera and forget once you want to go off the tripod/monopod. Then when trying to take the camera off the tripod for a spur of the moment shot you now have another item to fiddle with causing you to lose the shot. This trait is also exhibited in the Nikon 80-400. I would personally have preferred it to loosen and then with a tug of the knob outward the lens mount can be separated and then folded in half to be removed. The same way as it’s done in their Sigma 150mm 2.8 macro lens (a gorgeous lens by the way.) The included front lens cover for the lens included is of the nice pinch in the center design. Making ti much easier to detach/attach when reaching into and out of the lens hood. The rear cap is one of which I detest. I find them obnoxious when trying to attach in a serious or even semi-serious moment. The caps only attach (or at least easily) when they are aligned with the ‘dot’. I personally purchase the Nikon rear caps as they attached at many locations and do not need to be lined up as precisely and specifically. They also feel of a better quality. A bit pricey considering brand name and all, but worth it in the long run.

The optical stabilization(OS) works as promised. I didn’t get admirable shots as keepers, but enough to detect how well it can work by stabilizing a 750mm lens by equivalent. It’s better to be shooting off of a tripod, but when you can’t such as boats or moving by a vehicle it comes in handy. The optical stabilization does take a good second to click in; which can be an issue for some people. One way I remedy this is by the utilization of the AF-ON button on the Nikon D300 and other similar cameras. I sent the AF-ON to ONLY auto-focus and the shutter when half pressed operates the OS and metering. This works better for me because nine times out of ten if not ten out of ten I know when I will be needing to use the stabilization.

For example:

When not shooting from a tripod using either a monopod, gun stock, or hand held you know that optical stabilization will be used and preferably needed. So as a reflex when the viewfinder is being brought to my face and I am preparing to photograph the subject my finger is resting on the shutter button half way. This is also a great way to reduce shutter shock. Rather then having to punch the shutter button -which you shouldn’t do, you should roll your finger over the shutter and shoot in continuous high mode- your finger is set and ready to shoot with reduced shake added to the situation.

The optical stabilization does have a noise to it, but it does not appear to startle any of the birds I have photographed. It also helps to let me know its running. As for battery drain. It doesn’t appear to be significant in anyway. Even with my Di-GPS also running as well.

The light capability of this lens is a tad obvious to those understanding its minimum aperture at full extension. Of which being f/6.3 and f/5 at 150mm. There is no way getting around that it is a sunny day lens for peak performance. The one advantage of photographing partially in overcast skies is to test lower light performance in autofocus. I Found that the autofocus system didn’t hunt when you had a contrasty subject. The addition of the HSM motor does pep up the recovery process if the autofocus misses the point. Finding an edge to use can be very helpful. Focus hunting was not out of control and kept the lens very usable. There was an approximate second delay at times from pushing the AF-ON button and initializing the autofocus system. Something that was missing that I have found useful in the past is the use of an autofocus limiter switch. Might be useless depending on your type of photography.

Now onto the samples (each has a 100% crop afterwards unless otherwise noted. Their 100% crops are taken from the original RAW file moved into a 16-bit tiff file and the JPEGS are made from that tiff for presentation. No editing whatsoever is done unless otherwise noted. Everything is straight out of the camera.):

This shot is of a warbler that was shot using the SB-800.

This is the same warbler also shot with the SB-800 flash unit. He happens to have found what he was looking for. Grasshopper for lunch anyone?

This was a common Yellow throat warbler that was shot in an overcast condition (no flash) as you can tell from the off coloration. I didn’t want to modify the image in anyway to make it appear more appealing. Just the facts.

This was shot on a partially cloudy day with ambient light. A mocking bird in portrait mode.

This mocking bird had some nice back lighting providing some ‘aura’ type glow effect. The Flash SB-800 was used for fill.

This Photograph of a semi-palmated plover was taken hand held. The skies were overcast and ruining the day, but I wanted to demonstrate the stabilizing power when properly hand holding a 750mm equivalent lens. This is a 100% crop of a nasty silver water picture.

I decided to include this photo for demonstration of the ‘bokeh’ AKA out of focus area. I used black point and white point as well as a white balance tweak. This photograph has not been cropped.

Conclusions:

This lens covers that extra reach many of us are looking for at a cheaper price. There are several sacrifices to consider.

• • Aperture: Due to its higher number letting less light in this lens can lose its function is trickier light situations. Especially if this is your primary lens you will have to think of the scenarios you are using this lens.

  • Lack of EX Rating: This may be important to some as the warranty only sits at one year. The Finish and build quality however appear to be on par with the EX condition.

  • Reversal in roles for ring direction: The reversal of the zoom and focus rings as well as the reversal in the direction in which the barrel is extended. This might drive you a bit nuts in the beginning. A little training might get you used to it, or it will burn you all the time as your other lenses may not behave in the same way. Something to consider.

  • Lack of wider focal length: This will be something to consider based on your lens selection. Also that an all focal length lens would further compromise the lens needing more elements and adding to the weight.

Some may ask about weight and length. These are two issues that usually don’t concern me that much. The more length and quality you want typically those two items go up. I do not find it heavy, but it definitely lets you know it’s there. I also operate from a tripod for most of my work so it isn’t an issue. Something to consider. One thing you may not notice nor hear me talk about was chromatic aberrations. The newer line of Nikon DSLRs have a built in removal of this in a lossless fashion. It can be disabled in Nikon Capture NX2, but I have never noticed it effecting the quality of my photographs in any way.

One other thing I wanted to mention that is not with the lens, but with the user. I found that the sharpness of photos can vary. Some people may take that one shot and use that as a judge. These were selected out of many. I found that user error and handling can be a culprit of ‘back focus’ and ‘autofocus’ many people speak of. So when you get your sample lens try to isolate as many variables as possible and take it all with a grain of salt. A tripod I feel is a best way to test a lens as you are shooting. This will tell you of your issues first. Then afterward you can throw in some OS action.

This lens was a lot of fun to work with and is definitely worth a test when you just can’t squeeze anymore out of your budget.