My new 150-500

Those nice people at SRS sent me a new toy today, So I thought a quick review would be in order;

Sigma 150-500 HSM OS, have included a DA 55-300 and DFA 100 to illustrate size differences.




IQ, Reviews suggest that there are some compromises here, in the few hours I have had it I cannot see any issues.

150mm wide open;


500 mm wide open;


Both of above taken on a tripod, I am very happy. Tried different shots handheld to compare lens against camera OS but TBH I could not tell the difference. Prefer the lens OS however because of the stabilised image in the viewfinder.

AF speed seems quicker than SDM but not stellar, it is totally silent.

Handling In the real world; No PP other than slight sharpen and re-size.




Above shot was handheld,iso200,500mm f9.5 @1350.Lens OS I am very pleased with this, remember I can only handhold with 1 hand.
At the current SRS price of £595 this lens is an absolute bargain.

Davex.

Looks very good .. we can expect some nice sharp safari shots in a few weeks time then.

Yip,
Depart 3 weeks on Monday

I got one last week from SRS Yes a real bargain.

Well your gonna have to improve your reflexes, you missed the bird on the third & fourth shots

You finally chose the 150-500, Good choice there.

Look forward to seeing the Safari results.

I've had a play with one on a few occasions (Dad bought one for his K7 a couple of months ago) and it seems a very decent lens. I'm still not sure whether Pentax SR or Sigma OS are better and it does seem to struggle to lock focus at 500mm on the K7 and my K-m, although that could be because I try to use it on fairly low-contrast subjects which aren't in direct sunlight.

I always suspect that lens reviewers should actually take three or four at random to make sure their findings aren't from a one-off rogue lens which slipped through quality control.

Hi Matt - I do not know if it is of any relevance, but I have no such problems at 500mm on my K20.

Interesting - I always put it down to the K-m using an older AF chip which didn't like the slow aperture at 500mm, but I'd be amazed if Pentax fitted something less capable than the K20D's chip given that the K-m was later and the K7 had taken over as the top spec model.

Was that while all the Canon users had taken 100 shots, had a cup of tea and packed up for the day?

Cynical, or what?

You need a holiday Mike.

I suppose it does look like that but Oggy knows what I'm on about.

I miiiight do - I was expecting a retaliation, but not from you and not here.


He started it anyway.

I can't remember whether I tried it with centre spot AF, but I'm pretty sure I did. I can focus it easily enough manually but that doesn't really help for wildlife!

I did hear a suggestion to leave the lens hood off but couldn't really see why that would make a difference. If the hood cut down the amount of light getting in (as the suggestion had it) then you'd get vignetting. The hood doesn't block any light from reaching the AF sensor, it just stops strong side or top lighting from causing flare.

Bought one too (from SRS). Had a hard time deciding to choose between a K-5 or a new lens. In the end I thought I can do pretty well with my K-r and the K-5 only offers some extra functionality and the possibility of better usable high iso settings. A new lens though would offer much more possibilities since I'm limited to 200mm max at the moment.

Hope this beast still fits inside my Tamrac Velocity 10.