SIGMA 50-500 EX DG

Anybody have any experience of the above lens, hoping to purchase one at the weekend to use on my k20d, mainly for birds and wildlife, anyone have any examples taken with it,

Many thanks,

elvis boy

Look for Mike-P, he has experience with this lens if I well remember. And he has a keen interest in birds and wildlife.
I have a sigma 50-500 but I am afraid not in Pentax mount. If they are the same indepent of the mount then it certainly is a good lens. Only downside is it weighs a ton and I always use it supported, never handheld.
But Mike uses it handheld, check it with him. I think also he has a great collection of air show displays taken with it.

I bought one for safari and have no regrets. It is not as sharp as a 500mm prime but it is by far the best long lens for the money and the zoom ratio is outstanding. I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Theres a couple of birds in my portfolio (feathered ones:cry they were both shot with the "Bigma" it is a good lens for the money but as others have said, its a big beastie and weighs a lot, I personally find the focal range a bit of a waste of time, I doubt I've ever used mine below 200mm.

Also be warned it needs a lot of light, Pentax DSLRs will see this as a maximum aperture of f6.7 not 6.3 as in the lens specs, this starts at around 300mm so it's also a light hungry beast.

Superb lens, use it often on my K10D, should be even better on the K20D with the extra 5mp and higher ISO. Use mine handheld with no problems and is actually more stable on Pentax cameras due to SR .. I can happily hold it at 500mm 1/180. A few here out of hundreds of shots taken with mine.

[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3661/3471772368_28d3749475_o.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/3629960862_e62185f83b_o.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3363/3471770698_bd7f63a369_o.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3471771600_a9251d2b02_o.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2528/3843803582_ce55aa1c11_o.jpg[/IMG]

Many thanks all thats some great advice of you, I have a sigma 170-500 at the moment which has served me very well but wanted to know if its worth making the jump to the Bigma.

Here is one of mine link handheld

I am thinking of selling mine as I just don't use it.

Jack.

Question is; would you use the shorter focal lengths and/or do you feel the quality of the 170-500 isn't up to scratch? The Bigma is supposed to be the better of the two optically but I suppose that comes from pixel peeping and tests.

Why not post some images from your existing lens and get some feedback first, I dont see the point in spending a grand if your existing lens is OK.

Scott used to get some excellent pictures from the 170-500mm. From seeing his pictures taken with the lens I would have thought the upgrade would be very minor and maybe not worth the extra expense.

Here are a few shots taken with the 20d + sigma 170-500


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j182/elvis1960/20091021_15.jpg?t=1256752725


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j182/elvis1960/Chaffinch-2.jpg?t=1256752864

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j182/elvis1960/IMGP7366_filtered.jpg?t=1256752...

Personally I would stick with the 170-500, seems a good lens to me if those photographs are anything to go by.

K.

I would forget the Bigma unless you want the same IQ under 170mm
Jack.

If you do decide to go for the Bigma, will you be selling the 170-500?

Finally ordered the Bigma after a lot of research and help of this forum i decided to go for it, i'm part exing my 170-500 all i need now is a tripod anybody know of a descent one that i can carry the k20 + 50-500 around on i dont want to spend a huge amount but need something sturdy for the job.

Cheers,

sonofelvis

Well since you didn't want to buy mine I'll show the tripod I bought to handle the bigma, link It is very good and I am very happy with it, you can spend a lot more on tripods but this one does a good job, just a suggestion.
Regards,
Jack.
Forgot to add, read my review and all the other ones.