Opinions on Sigma 50-500mm

[ballroom_boy]

Hi there,

I have been checking out this lens for sometime. My kit consists of:

S2 Pro
Nikkor AF 80-200/f2.8D
Nikkor AF-S 24-85/3.5~4.5G
Nikkor AF-S 12-24/4G DX
Tamron 90/2.8D SP Macro
Tamron SP Pro TC 2x

The Tamron 2x TC plus Nikkor 80-200/2.8 works well, but sometimes it "hunts" a lot and it is a pain to remove/add the TC as needed.

I would love to buy the new Nikkor VR AF-S 200-400mm, but I don't have $USD 6700. But for $USD 5900 less, I can get a new Sigma 50-500mm. I have read on the web that most people are happy with it - just that you need a lot of light and it is a heavy sucker.

For those of you who have it, what do you think of it? What is performance like at the long and short end? Is the build quality any good?

[Swampy]

My only real gripe with this lens is that it's hard to go from around 150mm down to the 50mm range. Just hard to turn, unless you're pointing upward. Again, I've got a real bum left arm/wrist, so this may not be an issue for anyone else.

Pictures are good. Hunting isn't bad at all, in fact, focusing is quite nice on it. Again, on the weight, it's a 50-500mm. Any 10x zoom will be big and heavy for what it is. A straight 500mm is going to be big and heavy too. So, what you're getting is great for the money, range and performance. Remember, to get clear pics being handheld at 500mm (750mm), going by the focal length=shutter speed, you're going to need 1/750 shutter speed. I haven't had an issue with it since I'm pretty steady already, and when I do use this lens, I'm pretty prepared with a tripod handy, quite often using it with the 3 legs folded in as a makeshift monopod.

[lavajunkie]

I've got this lens as well as a Nikon 200-400 f/4, the older MF version. I take the Sigma with me when I'm not sure what the circumstances for the days' shoot will be, and I'm happy enough with the results on both the long and short end. I always use a tripod. I used to consider this a heavy lens until I started backpacking the 200-400 for 5 miles, now the 50-500 seems pretty light!
Build quality is pretty good, but mine is in for warranty service due to a malfunction w/ the locking switch (I've read other reports of problems w/ this feature) and the paint around the tripod collar started to fail which prevented rotation of the lens.

[bjnicholls]

I had one and got the 80-400 VR. I kept the 80-400 and sold the 50-500 after comparing them.

The 50-500 is really a 50-460, if that matters. It's big, heavy, and slow without the benefit of VR. The filter size is huge, and has odd coarse threads. The optical performance is very good, close to my VR lens.

The 80-400 VR has most of the tele reach, VR really does work. the 77mm filters are common to other Nikkors, and the size and weight are much more packable. AF speed isn't up to fast action, it's better if you use the range limit switch. I didn't have any better luck with AF using the Sigma with HSM with its heft and aperture limitations.

Sigma will eventually bring out its 80-400 OS lens (still in prototype stage as of recent reports). You might see if it surfaces before the end of the year, but I'd want to see test reports. Especially on how well OS works.