Ultrazoom

Hi folks,
I am thinking of purchasing a Sigma 150-500mm for wildlife shooting etc.
Is this the best I can get for ~£500.
Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks
Tony.

By a country mile

Unless you want to spend a little more then the Sigma 50-500 gives greater scope. Commonly known as the BIGMA.
CHEERS Vic.
Typo correction. Vic

Nothing wrong with the 150 - 500. May be good to support it if you want to walk about with it. I use a bicycle quick release toe clip strap attached to my camera bag strap to take some of the weight off my neck.

How about the Sigma AF 120-400mm DG APO OS HSM? See item: 190807448120. £499.00 delivered (new) from SRS and qualifies for the 3 year extended Sigma (UK) warranty when registered online.

Thanks for your comments guys.
SRS have one on ebay for £500 but based on Davids knowledge I may wait and see if I can get one cheaper. Pirate- I was also looking at the 120-400mm, but I am losing a lot of range at the long end and I think the 500mm makes better sense.
Another question - Can I shoot it handheld and still get nice sharp images or will I need a tripod to use it most of the time?

Thanks again,
Tony.

You can use it hand held. But its not good over long periods. I would recommend a monopod with a basis head, out in the field.

I own the 120-400 and the 150-500. I use the 120-400 when I need to hand hold - e.g. airshows. It is much more comfortable than the 150-500 and I have no issue hand holding it for 2-3 hours which I can not do with the 150-500.

Also worth noting that the 120-400 is slightly faster and in my experience slightly sharper (but not much in it).

As for the loss of range - actually it is not as great as you may think. I sometimes go out with both lenses on different bodies and the 'real' difference when you use both together dos not seem as big as the 20% difference suggests.

I would also point out that in the real world - you will be shooting between min and max - not just at max. So the question becomes - how often do you need 500mm vs 400mm?

Not so easy to answer - I bought the 150-500 believing it would give me significant advantages over the 120-400 but discovered that there are not many times it does. I intended selling the 120-400 - but can not seem to let go of it because it has the advantages listed above.

If pushed and had to lose one - I would keep the 120-400

Carl

Thanks again guys.
From reading up on the 400mm vs 500mm most people cannot split them, so I will work on the assumption that bigger is better and go for the 150-500mm.
Plus I have a bit of an obsession with the moon, so that extra 100mm may help me pick out the little green men a little better!
Thanks again.
Tony.

The 150-500mm feels more like 450mm at the long end(500mm)
so the extra 100 is more like 50..

I almost always use the 150-500 handheld. Most used lens.

I have no problems shooting the 150-500 hand-held. It is heavy, but if anything that weight is an advantage and helps me to keep it steady.

Regards
David

I believe Davids is the non OS version so you can't really compare them price wise. Doesn't make much difference on Pentax a we have it in body (apart from you get a stable image in the viewfinder with the OS lens) .. not sure if they are optically identical though ?

I'm really not sure whether the 50-500 non OS is optically the same as the 50-500 OS version. However, I have the 150-500 non OS and I understand this is the same optical formula as the OS version of this lens.

I really don't feel the need for OS, even in a long lens, as I've never seen any indications that the in body stabilisation is anything but extremely capable. Very few of the shots I've taken with the non OS 50-500 or 150-500 show any indications of shake.

Regards
David