Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 Contemporary

.one. · 14 Jun 2016 at 16:06

Hi has anyone used the said lens and thoughts please.

I was considering the sport but I transport my gear on a motorcycle the sport is a little large.

I have read many reviews but would be nice to read from some people here if possible the comparisons of the 2.

Many thanks Jamie.

D.P. · 14 Jun 2016 at 19:03

I have the Spots version. Only had it a few weeks and have done some minor testing. It is certainly sharp and focuses well. Build quality is exceptional, which leads to a fair bit of weight. TBH, I wludln't mind more plastic composite involved, or paying more for some carbon fiber. A case in point is the lens hood, its like 1cm thick solid steel, so strong you could back over it with a truck and I would be more worried about damaging te car than the lens hood!
You can hand hold it OK for a few hours hiking but to get best results you want a decent tripod and gimball head. this is especially tue when you consider the aperture. I was out shooting a hawk on sunday and even in the day time was at ISO 6400 1/500 under the tree canopy. Not much you can do about that without spending 10K on the Nikon 600mm f/4.0!

If you are shooting on Nikon crop I would seriously consider the 200-500mm to get a constant f/5.6 and a lighter lens. I dismissed the Sigma C version as most reviews put the tamron slightly better for a little less cash.

.one. · 14 Jun 2016 at 20:13

Thanks for your reply I use canon will check out the Tamron I previously owned an tamron vc 70-300 which I was impressed with.

Jamie.

Tysonator · 17 Jun 2016 at 13:47

.one. said:
Thanks for your reply I use canon will check out the Tamron I previously owned an tamron vc 70-300 which I was impressed with.

Jamie.

The Tamron VC 70-300 IMO is about 96% as sharpe as my EF70-300L IS USM lens, which cost nearly 4 times as much for that extra 4% !

smr · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:08

Bought mine last week. Love it.

smr · 21 Jun 2016 at 22:11

D.P. said:
I have the Spots version. Only had it a few weeks and have done some minor testing. It is certainly sharp and focuses well. Build quality is exceptional, which leads to a fair bit of weight. TBH, I wludln't mind more plastic composite involved, or paying more for some carbon fiber. A case in point is the lens hood, its like 1cm thick solid steel, so strong you could back over it with a truck and I would be more worried about damaging te car than the lens hood!
You can hand hold it OK for a few hours hiking but to get best results you want a decent tripod and gimball head. this is especially tue when you consider the aperture. I was out shooting a hawk on sunday and even in the day time was at ISO 6400 1/500 under the tree canopy. Not much you can do about that without spending 10K on the Nikon 600mm f/4.0!

If you are shooting on Nikon crop I would seriously consider the 200-500mm to get a constant f/5.6 and a lighter lens. I dismissed the Sigma C version as most reviews put the tamron slightly better for a little less cash.

Most reviews and comments from people I've read say the Sigma is better than the Tamron, coupled with the fact that Sigma released a firmware update to improve the autofocus speed make it a winner for me.

Read many stories of the Tamron frustrating people so much they returned it due to it's slow focusing. The sigma was quick at focusing to begin with, now it's superb. It's a fantastic lens.

I bought mine from the rainforest for £684 a week ago, the Tamron hasn't dropped to that price before.

.one. · 22 Jun 2016 at 01:03

I am finding it very hard to come to a decision I like the idea of the Contemporary but wanting the sport It takes me along time to make my mind up for a new lens and after to long I can not see the wood for the trees.

Thaifood · 22 Jun 2016 at 10:30

My dad has one. After the firmware update, he enjoys using the lens a lot

smr · 22 Jun 2016 at 17:57

on that note it's worth mentioning that any lenses bought now will come with the latest firmware. I for some reason didn't think it would so I bought the dock but the dock can be used to customise the lens focus and OS settings.

D.P. · 22 Jun 2016 at 18:08

smr said:
Most reviews and comments from people I've read say the Sigma is better than the Tamron, coupled with the fact that Sigma released a firmware update to improve the autofocus speed make it a winner for me.

Read many stories of the Tamron frustrating people so much they returned it due to it's slow focusing. The sigma was quick at focusing to begin with, now it's superb. It's a fantastic lens.

I bought mine from the rainforest for £684 a week ago, the Tamron hasn't dropped to that price before.

TBH, I didn't look at the tamron and Sigma C reviews too closely but remember some people had a preference for the Tamron over the Sigma, some the other way round.
The sigma S and Nikon 20-500mm were both clearly superior.

Holst1981 · 22 Jun 2016 at 18:33

Worth hiring one for a weekend to try it out?

smr · 22 Jun 2016 at 22:45

D.P. said:
TBH, I didn't look at the tamron and Sigma C reviews too closely but remember some people had a preference for the Tamron over the Sigma, some the other way round.
The sigma S and Nikon 20-500mm were both clearly superior.

I would expect the S would be superior given it costs the best part of £500 more! As long as you don't mind carrying a tank around. If you don't mind spending the cash and have it on gimbal mostly then the S would make more sense I guess.

I'm very interested in seeing the Canon 200-600 lens due to be announced later this year and what that might be like, but I absolutely love my new Sigma 150-600!

And · 23 Jun 2016 at 10:15

For comparison the Sig S is more than a kilo less than the canon 600 prime and 3/4 of the length. Canon's 100-400II is 3/4 the length of the Sig S and 1,300g lighter though obviously you're losing 200mm at the long end.

I'd say the Sig S is fine for walking about the question is how steady you can keep it, taking into account at 600mm any slight movement will be more noticeable on images.