Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 APO DG HSM Lens - any news?

Hi,

I've had this on order from SRS since last October. I've phoned them 3 times already - in November it was due in a week, In early December it was due before Christmas and 3 weeks ago it was due end of Jan. I'm now getting heartily disheartened. I see Amazon has one (but with an odd note of it taking 2 days to deliver...). Bristol Cameras listed it as available in June.


I suppose my question is - does anyone know if this is just a mythical beast or have SRS started to be less on the ball than usual? Should I just order the Amazon one and give up on SRS?

Chris

Hi Chris,

I have not any stock of this lens since September. Every time I speak to Sigma I keep getting fobbed off with delivery dates that never happen..

Their number is 01707 329999 if you wish to speak to them...

If you can track one down elsewhere then I will cancel the order for you. As always, we haven't taken any payment from your account.

I have plenty of 150-500 in stock if you wish to switch!

Chris

Wow - I, hand on heart, take it back - SRS are still damn responsive. I try to keep up to date - but I missed the 150-500 being an HSM in Pentax one as well. Was it always so?

I'm going to take you up on your suggestion - it's only £100 extra and I get the reach for glorious Norfolk and the feathered things. And I'll get it before I take wifey to Blakeney .

Many thanks for getting back so soon.

Chris

Chris,
Can you confirm that the 150-500 is HSM for Pentax?
I could be confusing it with another lens, but I had seen some reports that it wasn’t actually HSM in the Pentax mount.

Hi Dave,

The 150-500 is HSM.


Chris

Before you buy either the sigma 120-400 or 150-500, you might like to consider the failure rates experienced by lensrentals.com:

http://www.lensrentals.com/news/2009.11.01/lens-repair-data-35

Of course, these figures aren't for Pentax mount, but I don't know how much of a difference that makes. The 50-500 is not that much more expensive, and is meant to offer as good if not better sharpness, whilst being five times more reliable!

Ouch - 45% failure rate for the 150-500!

Dave

I've had the Sigma 120-400 HSM for about a year without any problems.

The early 120-400 and 150-500 had reports of problems, but recently the 150-500 seems to be better according to reports on various wildlife forums. The Bigma has been around for a long time, but I can remember many complaints of problems in it's early days.

Lens rentals have stopped renting the 120-400 & 150-500 so they may not have experience with later models.

I recently tried a 150-500 and it seemed a very decent lens with no AF accuracy issues or anything else that I could determine. It was only it's huge size that stopped me from buying!

I can confirm that my limited experience with Sigma service here in the UK is excellent.

Well, I'm going to find out myself. SRS sales emailed. Looking forward to fun times.

C

I ordered a Sigma 180mm macro from Jacobs over a week ago as it was a decent price (£460) and in stock. After a week and a couple of emails I get an email back saying it was on backorder. They took my money the day of order and it's not back in my account yet. At least with SRS they don't take the money until dispatch.