Sigma 150 - 500 mm - any experience with OS

Hello, I have been using my K200D with a basic Tamron 70 - 300mm telephoto lens. As spring is almost upon us I am now looking to capture some photographs of garden birds. I find the Tamron quite limiting and I would like to move up to a larger zoom lens. Searching the net the only lens in my price bracket seems to be the Sigma 120-400mm F4.5/5.6 DG OS HSM or the Sigma 150-500mm F5/6.3 DG OS HSM.

Does anyone have any experience on either of these lenses witha Pentax K200D (or similar) ? Also, does the Optical Stabilisation (OS) incorporated into the lense work with a Pentax fit ? and if not how does this affect the lens performance ?

Thanks for any advice on this topic.

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Dave

I, and many others here, have the Sigma 150-500mm F5/6.3 DG OS HSM. Mine performs perfectly in all respects when attached to my K20D and K5.

The optical stabilization (OS) will only work with bodies equipped with SDM contacts.

If you can acquire a new one at or near to £600.00, go for it, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

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Peter E Smith

My flickr Photostream

I've no experience with the K200D. The OS is great. Set it to "1" for static subjects and to "2" for panning. I turn off the in body IS. The OS in the lens is better because it gives you a stable image in the viewfinder

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Alan


PPG
Flickr

I use the non OS version of the Sigma 150-500 and find it performs very well. I use the in-camera shake reduction.

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Friendly Regards
Graham

I agree with all the above - i actually use mine for macro work and portraits as well - check out the link and pm me if you need to ask anything else.

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Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/

No question the 150-500 is superior to the 120-400.

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http://frogfish.smugmug.com/ Pentax. Pentax DA*300/4, Cosina 55/1.2, Lens Baby Composer Pro & Edge 80, AFA x1.7, Metz 50 af1.
Nikon. D800. D600. Sigma 500/4.5, Nikon 300/2.8 VRII, Sigma 120-300/2.8, Zeiss Distagon ZF2 21/2.8, Zeiss Distagon ZF2 35/2.0, Sigma 50/1.4, Nikkor 85/1.8, Nikon TC20EIII, Nikon TC14EII, Kenko x1.4, Sigma 2.0

I use my 150-500 on K10 with no problem and os on the lense but turn of sr on the camera body as per the sigma instructions

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and helpful pointers. I have taken the plunge and ordered one, hopefully in a few days I will be able to post a few examples taken with it. Cheers.

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Dave

You won't regret it. I did have to send mine back as the autofocus wasn't snapping in but was repaired and is great now with my K-r. I've been tending to use the in body SR for no particularly reason and it works ok. Will have a run with the lens OS for a while and see what it's like.
Dave
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcweather/