Sigma 150-500mm usage tips

[hayath]

Have had a fair amount of queries about the lens and have answered them in bits and pieces over PM/Mail/Phone.

Trying to put all of that in a single place for the benefit of the forum

Pros -
1. Great value for money in terms of reach. The cheapest way to reach 500mm.
2. OS pretty decent. A huge difference when it comes to handholding
3. A good bargain for a bit of "Active" shooting...very hand-holdable

Cons -
1. IQ not that great, the closer to full frame and/or subject, the better the IQ
2. Hunts in low light and low contrast situations (but hey! that is true with most of the lenses )
3. AF accuracy can be a bit of a hit/miss when the distance to the subject is large
4. Heat in the field affects IQ (possibly due to the lens barrel design). Needs a lot of care to keep the lens protected.

As with all lenses, this lens too does take a bit of understanding. A few tips from my experience using it -

1. f6.3 is more close to f7.1 since the lens reports a lesser F number to maintain AF - so your exposure compensation needs to be accordingly set
2. Works great at close ranges which means it does a great job of magnifying the subject. Not that great at long ranges most times - as it tends to lose definition on the subject.
3. Turn OFF IS when shooting in good daylight, found the IQ improves
4. Till 440mm, stopped at f8 gives decent results
5. If you "have" to use it @ 500mm, f9 and beyond only please
6. Works better at higher SS "without" OS turned on. At lower SS, the OS does a decent job
Use IS for shots only below 1/320
7. Work on handholding techniques - if you're not using any support
8. Use OS mode "2" if you need to, does far better

Not exactly the fastest of lenses, but once you've given time to understand it and work with it, gets a little easier to even track down BIFs.
Does hunt a bit in low light, but the FTM ring does help to bring it to lock on a lil faster

Others who have used/are using this lens, please do add-on

Cheers,
Hayath

[Jasii]

That's a lot of ammo on the Sigma. Would need one shortly to extend the reach of my 55-250.
This for sure helps. Thank you!

Rgds,

[hayath]

You're very welcome!

Some example here - http://www.indianaturewatch.net/view_cat.php?tag=Sigma%20150-500
Google lists the site as malware, but rest assured it isn't  and proceed

[PixelHunter]

That's a lot of ammo on the Sigma. Would need one shortly to extend the reach of my 55-250.
This for sure helps. Thank you!

Rgds,

Jasii ji, I am a bit curious. Are you into birding? Because AFAIK, other than birding, 250 mm is more than enough for any other situation.

[Pankajkumars]

Very nice. I am requesting admin to create a sticky product wise thread. It will grow like anything.

Jassi ji please check your GAS from Doctor and Team @ PCI clinic. 

[Jasii]

Very nice. I am requesting admin to create a sticky product wise thread. It will grow like anything.

Jassi ji please check your GAS from Doctor and Team @ PCI clinic. 

Gas what Gas Pankaj ji? The masala Rum does the trick 

That's a lot of ammo on the Sigma. Would need one shortly to extend the reach of my 55-250.
This for sure helps. Thank you!

Rgds,

Jasii ji, I am a bit curious. Are you into birding? Because AFAIK, other than birding, 250 mm is more than enough for any other situation.

Yes Binoy ji, am trying my hand, did post some pics on JJM earlier, would you like me to do a repost here? The prob I was facing was
1. High noise due to heavy crop
2. Lack of details.
3. No PP knoweldge.

Rgds,

[sambk]

3. No PP knoweldge.

Rgds,

Jasii Ji, for PP I think you and I sail in the same boat. What I do is I open some youtube video and follow it step by step....

Lets hope we manage to gather some good knowledge in PP here in coming days.

[Jasii]

Have seen what Madhav ji can do with PP, he Rocks!!

Would love to come to grips with PS but than tired old legs can only take as much

Sami ji Thanks for being there, even though I know it was your modesty doing the talk to put me at ease

[theqca]

Thanks for this write-up...its a much maligned and under-rated lens but it does have a lot of potential in skilled hands....will serve as a good guide to potential buyers as well as current users...