Sigma telephoto lenses

I am thinking of either buying a Sigma 135-400mm f4.5-5.6 or the Sigma 170-500mm f5-6.3. Has anyone used either of these lenses? Which one would you prefer?(in terms of quality, and AF speed)

owigawa said:

I am thinking of either buying a Sigma 135-400mm f4.5-5.6 or the
Sigma 170-500mm f5-6.3. Has anyone used either of these lenses?
Which one would you prefer?(in terms of quality, and AF speed)

Click to expand...

The Sigma 50-500mm has been getting good reviews...do a search in the Canon SLR forum.

Mark

I am looking at the 50-500 also. Has been getting good reviews and has
HSM.

Mark B. said:

owigawa said:

I am thinking of either buying a Sigma 135-400mm f4.5-5.6 or the
Sigma 170-500mm f5-6.3. Has anyone used either of these lenses?
Which one would you prefer?(in terms of quality, and AF speed)

Click to expand...

The Sigma 50-500mm has been getting good reviews...do a search in
the Canon SLR forum.

Mark

Click to expand...

I tried out the 170mm - 500mm for a few days. I found that the quality seemed to meet my expectations (good), but I was surprised by the size and weight - more than I was expecting (my first encounter with a big telephoto). I also expected more enlargement compared to the 300mm lenses I'd used. In the end, I wound up buying a Tamron 70-300 that is small and light and good quality (it was rumored to be an oem to Nikon) for less than a third of the price. Not a call for or against, just my experience. Your satisfaction with image quality may depend on what you're used to. There are certainly some compromises with a lens of that range. It's not likely to compare with a Canon or Nikon dedicated 500mm, and the IS features of some of those lenses are very attractive (if you can handle the $$$). For more feedback, try http://www.photographyreview.com . They have a users review forum and that lens has a lot of feedback in it.

owigawa said:

I am thinking of either buying a Sigma 135-400mm f4.5-5.6 or the
Sigma 170-500mm f5-6.3. Has anyone used either of these lenses?
Which one would you prefer?(in terms of quality, and AF speed)

Click to expand...

I have Sigma 50-500 and love it.
Believe me you don't want 135-400 or 170-500.
They are slow not as sharp as Sigma 50-500.

If you can't afford 50-500 then IMHO Tokina 80-400 would be somewhere in between Sigma 135-400 and Sigma 50-500. I had it and it is very good but not as good as Sigma 50-500.

Eugene

owigawa said:

I am thinking of either buying a Sigma 135-400mm f4.5-5.6 or the
Sigma 170-500mm f5-6.3. Has anyone used either of these lenses?
Which one would you prefer?(in terms of quality, and AF speed)

Click to expand...

owigawa said:

I am thinking of either buying a Sigma 135-400mm f4.5-5.6 or the
Sigma 170-500mm f5-6.3. Has anyone used either of these lenses?
Which one would you prefer?(in terms of quality, and AF speed)

Click to expand...

I have the Sigma 170-500mm using it on a S2. I cannot take a sharp picture with it unless it is on a tripod. Zoom is not smooth but ok....focus is good but not great...have some samples here http://public.fotki.com/borysd/

Good lens but not the sharpest....but it does go to 500mm when you need it (not often though).
Boris