Sigma 50-500 vs Tamron 200-500 which?

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Difficult to answer : the bigma is a very popular lens.

This said, all the new owners of the Tamron 200-500 SR DI are very happy with this lens. Keith F, and others made very good birds and wildlife shots with it.

Here is some samples taken with this lens on a 20 D (but on a nikon there is no reason to see much difference).

1) 100 % center crops (there isn't much difference between corners and center on an APS sized camera) :



2) all my tests are here. http://www.pbase.com/powerdoc/tamron_200-500_test
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Powerdoc said:

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Difficult to answer : the bigma is a very popular lens.
This said, all the new owners of the Tamron 200-500 SR DI are very
happy with this lens. Keith F, and others made very good birds and
wildlife shots with it.

Here is some samples taken with this lens on a 20 D (but on a nikon
there is no reason to see much difference).
1) 100 % center crops (there isn't much difference between corners
and center on an APS sized camera) :



2) all my tests are here.
http://www.pbase.com/powerdoc/tamron_200-500_test
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

The Tamron is easy to handle for me. It's only 1,2 kg, not very heavy for such a long lens (1,8 kg for the bigma).

For the AF I will say that the USM is a bit faster, but even without USM Tamron lens focus rather quickly. My copy do not do any front or back focus. The tamron focus also with the 1,4 TC, but don't expect any miracles here with a lens at F9.

There is some CA, but not in every pics. I have some purple fringing , but in extreme case.

The color rendition is accurate. I did not notice any important distorsion in any of my pics, nor vignetting on an APS sized camera.

The zoom and focus ring are smooth, this lens is well build, not like an ED nikkor lens or an Canon L one, but it's good quality.

You have a 6 years warranty in US.

--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Hi Powerdoc. Can you tell me how is the autofocus on the Tamron lens? I just want to know if it has a fast AF mechanism compare to a Canon lens with USM. Thanks.

Powerdoc said:

Powerdoc said:

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Difficult to answer : the bigma is a very popular lens.
This said, all the new owners of the Tamron 200-500 SR DI are very
happy with this lens. Keith F, and others made very good birds and
wildlife shots with it.

Here is some samples taken with this lens on a 20 D (but on a nikon
there is no reason to see much difference).
1) 100 % center crops (there isn't much difference between corners
and center on an APS sized camera) :



2) all my tests are here.
http://www.pbase.com/powerdoc/tamron_200-500_test
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

The Tamron is easy to handle for me. It's only 1,2 kg, not very
heavy for such a long lens (1,8 kg for the bigma).

For the AF I will say that the USM is a bit faster, but even
without USM Tamron lens focus rather quickly. My copy do not do any
front or back focus. The tamron focus also with the 1,4 TC, but
don't expect any miracles here with a lens at F9.

There is some CA, but not in every pics. I have some purple
fringing , but in extreme case.
The color rendition is accurate. I did not notice any important
distorsion in any of my pics, nor vignetting on an APS sized camera.

The zoom and focus ring are smooth, this lens is well build, not
like an ED nikkor lens or an Canon L one, but it's good quality.

You have a 6 years warranty in US.

--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

It's no hard choice.

Both need monopod or tripod.

From what I've seen of the Tamron so far, I've been rather disappointed. I thought it'd be clearer and sharper. As with all lenses there's a little bit of a learning curve to it's quirks and such. Hopefully that's what we've been seeing, but right now I wouldn't put it anywhere near the Bigma in terms of clarity, sharpness, or image quality.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Obelix said:

Powerdoc said:

Powerdoc said:

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Difficult to answer : the bigma is a very popular lens.
This said, all the new owners of the Tamron 200-500 SR DI are very
happy with this lens. Keith F, and others made very good birds and
wildlife shots with it.

Here is some samples taken with this lens on a 20 D (but on a nikon
there is no reason to see much difference).
1) 100 % center crops (there isn't much difference between corners
and center on an APS sized camera) :



2) all my tests are here.
http://www.pbase.com/powerdoc/tamron_200-500_test
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

The Tamron is easy to handle for me. It's only 1,2 kg, not very
heavy for such a long lens (1,8 kg for the bigma).

For the AF I will say that the USM is a bit faster, but even
without USM Tamron lens focus rather quickly. My copy do not do any
front or back focus. The tamron focus also with the 1,4 TC, but
don't expect any miracles here with a lens at F9.

There is some CA, but not in every pics. I have some purple
fringing , but in extreme case.
The color rendition is accurate. I did not notice any important
distorsion in any of my pics, nor vignetting on an APS sized camera.

The zoom and focus ring are smooth, this lens is well build, not
like an ED nikkor lens or an Canon L one, but it's good quality.

You have a 6 years warranty in US.

--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Well it's difficult to compare a 6.3 lens with a 2,8 lens, because there is the speed of the focusing motor, and the speed of the AF sensor.

What can I say, is that the Tamron is not slow, but my Sigma 100-300 F4 focus faster.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Loansharkx said:

Both need monopod or tripod.

From what I've seen of the Tamron so far, I've been rather
disappointed. I thought it'd be clearer and sharper. As with all
lenses there's a little bit of a learning curve to it's quirks and
such. Hopefully that's what we've been seeing, but right now I
wouldn't put it anywhere near the Bigma in terms of clarity,
sharpness, or image quality.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

You are very confident in your opinion. Only a direct test comparison between the two lenses, will allow to make an answer to such questions.

I can't answer my self to this question.

I have tried to make a comparison between the sigma 100-300 F4 (who is superior optically to the Bigma according to FTM tests) and the Tamron, but the test was a failure : the tamron was superior to the Sigma, but I discovered that there was backfocus with the sigma.

NOTHING is more difficult than testing a long telephoto lens.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Maybe so, but I own the Sigma. I shot about 120 or so images with the Tamron. I didnt' do a comparative test, no. I wish I'd have kept the images rather than delete them, but from what I saw, I chose to get the Sigma.

I haven't done any tests or anything like that, but from what I've seen from posts here, my own shots taken with it, and by other tests and reviews online, I'm not extremely excited about the Tamron lens.

I wish Tamron would have hit one out of the park...I really do. It's a great focal length at a great price, but I don't believe it to be a better lens, optically or otherwise, than the Sigma.

If you like it and are happy with it, then I congratulate you on the purchase and hope you enjoy it. Post some more images so we can see it and enjoy it as much as you do.

Their 28-75 f/2.8 XR Di is an absolutely wonderful lens in my opinion and I own one so I'm not a Tamron basher. Their 90mm macro is another superb lens.

I'm just not sure that the 200-500 is another winner for them.

No insult intended.

Julio

Powerdoc said:

Loansharkx said:

Both need monopod or tripod.

From what I've seen of the Tamron so far, I've been rather
disappointed. I thought it'd be clearer and sharper. As with all
lenses there's a little bit of a learning curve to it's quirks and
such. Hopefully that's what we've been seeing, but right now I
wouldn't put it anywhere near the Bigma in terms of clarity,
sharpness, or image quality.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

You are very confident in your opinion. Only a direct test
comparison between the two lenses, will allow to make an answer to
such questions.

I can't answer my self to this question.
I have tried to make a comparison between the sigma 100-300 F4 (who
is superior optically to the Bigma according to FTM tests) and the
Tamron, but the test was a failure : the tamron was superior to the
Sigma, but I discovered that there was backfocus with the sigma.

NOTHING is more difficult than testing a long telephoto lens.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

Loansharkx said:

I haven't done any tests or anything like that, but from what I've
seen from posts here, my own shots taken with it, and by other
tests and reviews online, I'm not extremely excited about the
Tamron lens.

I wish Tamron would have hit one out of the park...I really do.
It's a great focal length at a great price, but I don't believe it
to be a better lens, optically or otherwise, than the Sigma.

If you like it and are happy with it, then I congratulate you on
the purchase and hope you enjoy it. Post some more images so we
can see it and enjoy it as much as you do.

Their 28-75 f/2.8 XR Di is an absolutely wonderful lens in my
opinion and I own one so I'm not a Tamron basher. Their 90mm macro
is another superb lens.

I'm just not sure that the 200-500 is another winner for them.

No insult intended.

Julio

Powerdoc said:

Loansharkx said:

Both need monopod or tripod.

From what I've seen of the Tamron so far, I've been rather
disappointed. I thought it'd be clearer and sharper. As with all
lenses there's a little bit of a learning curve to it's quirks and
such. Hopefully that's what we've been seeing, but right now I
wouldn't put it anywhere near the Bigma in terms of clarity,
sharpness, or image quality.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

You are very confident in your opinion. Only a direct test
comparison between the two lenses, will allow to make an answer to
such questions.

I can't answer my self to this question.
I have tried to make a comparison between the sigma 100-300 F4 (who
is superior optically to the Bigma according to FTM tests) and the
Tamron, but the test was a failure : the tamron was superior to the
Sigma, but I discovered that there was backfocus with the sigma.

NOTHING is more difficult than testing a long telephoto lens.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

AT least you tried it.

I agree that there is a big learning curve with this kind of ultra telezooms. I think that the limiting factor wit such high reach lenses are the photographers.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Definitley a big learning curve on the long lenses.

I initially was shooting the Bigma with a monopod and kept wondering why I was getting softer images than I'd liked at the long end. I also realized that lens is very light hungry. Flipping up to 320 to 400 ISO helped a lot as well and I switched to a tripod, problem solved. Images became very sharp.

The curious thing about the Tamron, and I don't know if you've experienced it or not, is that it seemed like the the images were fairly sharp, but they were missing that "Stand out" look. I can't put my finger on if I think it was contrast or sharpness or what exactly it was. Heck, it might have been the copy I was using (Borrowed a friend's, he's not great with his gear though)

Every lens has it's quirks. Like I said, it's probably just getting over that hump of a learning curve and finding what that magic spot is that the lens likes. Every time we all get a new lens we immediately go out and shoot a bunch and see what we get before we get to really know the lens and it's quirks and "tricks" if you will.

We also tend to be harder on ourselves than the average photo viewers.

LOL The crop factor, a blessing and curse all in one. LOL

Seriously, please post more with that lens. There are many, including myself, that would love to see a Tamron home run that makes that focal length more affordable.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

Powerdoc said:

AT least you tried it.

I agree that there is a big learning curve with this kind of ultra
telezooms. I think that the limiting factor wit such high reach
lenses are the photographers.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

There are not many people have the Tamron yet (?). And Tamron is very new too compare to the bigma. I saw some very bad photo from the bigma too

You are in Florida and the Weather is a big plus for you there. I am in Canada right now is cold and freezing. Don't you read the D2X vs 1Ds Mark II thread about the -5 C have problem with the sensor? LOL

We will get use to the long lens and post more pics in the coming summer

Keep posting

Keith

Loansharkx said:

Both need monopod or tripod.

From what I've seen of the Tamron so far, I've been rather
disappointed. I thought it'd be clearer and sharper. As with all
lenses there's a little bit of a learning curve to it's quirks and
such. Hopefully that's what we've been seeing, but right now I
wouldn't put it anywhere near the Bigma in terms of clarity,
sharpness, or image quality.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Thanks everyone for info.

I had just about had my mind made up to go for the Bigma, but wanted to ask the question and see what people thought.

The weight was my only worry, but, I guess there are trade offs. I have been using a nikon 70-300 with 2x but just don't always get the sharpness I would like unless it is really bright out.
thanks again
Ken H.

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

LOL, relax, take a deep breath. There's bad shots taken with every lens out there. No one is perfect and I'm not picking on anyone.

Send a Tamron 200-500 down and I promise to send back some pictures of a few Great Blue Herons and a few alligators with the lens! LOL

It was cold today here in S. Florida. I think we went down to 70 degrees today! Brrrr It was almost too cold for shorts. NOT!

I'm with you. I've seen some very rough photos with the Bigma, and shot my fair share of deleted pixels. (I'm not afraid of the delete button...believe me.) If you saw half of my trashed shots you'd wonder if I'd ever picked up a camera before. (Feel better?) I feel that way sometimes myself when my brain isn't engaged when I'm behind the box.

In honor of your squirrel shot, which was actually one of the best I've seen with the Tamron and I liked it a lot...



Sigma 50-500
1/350 @ f/6.3 @ 500mm
Light sharpening applied, cropped and resized for web, no other PP
D100 Nikon

Julio

KeithF said:

You are in Florida and the Weather is a big plus for you there. I
am in Canada right now is cold and freezing. Don't you read the
D2X vs 1Ds Mark II thread about the -5 C have problem with the
sensor? LOL

We will get use to the long lens and post more pics in the coming
summer

Keep posting

Keith

Loansharkx said:

Both need monopod or tripod.

From what I've seen of the Tamron so far, I've been rather
disappointed. I thought it'd be clearer and sharper. As with all
lenses there's a little bit of a learning curve to it's quirks and
such. Hopefully that's what we've been seeing, but right now I
wouldn't put it anywhere near the Bigma in terms of clarity,
sharpness, or image quality.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Loansharkx said:

I initially was shooting the Bigma with a monopod and kept
wondering why I was getting softer images than I'd liked at the
long end. I also realized that lens is very light hungry.
Flipping up to 320 to 400 ISO helped a lot as well and I switched
to a tripod, problem solved. Images became very sharp.

The curious thing about the Tamron, and I don't know if you've
experienced it or not, is that it seemed like the the images were
fairly sharp, but they were missing that "Stand out" look. I can't
put my finger on if I think it was contrast or sharpness or what
exactly it was. Heck, it might have been the copy I was using
(Borrowed a friend's, he's not great with his gear though)

Every lens has it's quirks. Like I said, it's probably just
getting over that hump of a learning curve and finding what that
magic spot is that the lens likes. Every time we all get a new
lens we immediately go out and shoot a bunch and see what we get
before we get to really know the lens and it's quirks and "tricks"
if you will.

We also tend to be harder on ourselves than the average photo viewers.

LOL The crop factor, a blessing and curse all in one. LOL

Seriously, please post more with that lens. There are many,
including myself, that would love to see a Tamron home run that
makes that focal length more affordable.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

Loansharkx said:

AT least you tried it.

I agree that there is a big learning curve with this kind of ultra
telezooms. I think that the limiting factor wit such high reach
lenses are the photographers.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Well some people said that my first shots where a bit fuzzy, but it's difficult to say with such high long reach lenses : 800 mm equivalent. Wildlife apart, you shoot things thousands or even kilometers away. The quality of the air become an important part of the optical equation. My shots in the mountain was better, with a good contrast, than it was in the harbour, except when I shot the Mont Blanc, kilometers away (10,20 ?) where there was not any contrast at all.

I should try to shot wildlife, but the first step is that I buy a good tripod.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Again, thanks to all for the advice, etc.

I decided to go with the Bigma, it just arrived. Have not taken any shots yet but will be soon. Will do some testing today. Am going to NYC this weekend and don't know if I'll get much of a chance to use it, but, next week I will be heading up to Montreal to take a shot at trying to get some photos of the Great Grey Owls that have been hanging out at an island up there. This should be a good test.
again thanks
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

peliken said:

Which lens to buy? Will be used for a lot of wildlife shots
including birds mostly using monopod while hiking.
Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

Best wishes to you and your new lens. Hope you enjoy it immensely.

Suggestions:

Step the ISO up to at least 320 - 400
Use a tripod or at least a monopod
Pay close attention to your WB settings

These things should help you get the most out of your lens.

Here's one from earlier this week with the Sigma 50-500



Shot at 500mm
1/250 @ f/6.3
Nikon D100
Sigma 50-500
WB Cloudy -1
Ev -0

Enjoy that lens! Please post images as soon as you have them! We'd love to see some owls down here in S. Florida!

Julio

peliken said:

Again, thanks to all for the advice, etc.
I decided to go with the Bigma, it just arrived. Have not taken any
shots yet but will be soon. Will do some testing today. Am going to
NYC this weekend and don't know if I'll get much of a chance to use
it, but, next week I will be heading up to Montreal to take a shot
at trying to get some photos of the Great Grey Owls that have been
hanging out at an island up there. This should be a good test.
again thanks
Ken H., Ballston Lake, NY

Click to expand...

snip