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Post by William Lim on Dec 27, 2007 12:20:52 GMT
Does anyone have any experience with the Sigma 50-500mm lens for bird photography? How is it with kenko TC?
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Post by Bobby Kintanar on Dec 27, 2007 13:52:21 GMT
Actually, Master Romy and yours truly have had the pleasure of using the Sigma 50-500mm, also known as the "Bigma." As with just about any zoom lens, mating this with a teleconverter will degrade your photo. I am not sure if Master Romy has a field test somewhere about the Bigma and a telecon, but from my experience, the Bigma works best as a bare lens. Let's wait for his response to this item. :-)
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Post by Romy Ocon on Dec 27, 2007 14:00:12 GMT
Hi William, I cut my teeth on the Bigma, and there are many of us here who owned or currently use this lens - Bobby K., Nestor and Nilo come to mind. I'd say the Bigma is among the best value birding lens for the money.... the other lenses that rival or beat it are much more expensive. It's excellent at full zoom when stopped down to f/8, and if you can get a good copy, quite useable wide open. If you shoot Nikon or Canon, you need a good support for this lens, particularly in lower light. If you're body is Sony and you can get a Bigma in KM mount, the in-body IS will help a lot in hand holding. It's useable with a 1.4x TC but you've to stop down to f/11-f/13 to get better IQ, and that means using a tripod in all but the brightest lighting. AF may be attempted by the camera at f/9 (f/6.3 + 1 stop) if the 1.4x TC is non-reporting, but focus accuracy is not assured. That said, here's a sample of a shot with the 300D + Bigma + Tamron 2x TC, 1000 mm, f/16, 1/200 sec, ISO 400, MF, tripod: 100% crop, with sharpening: Romy Does anyone have any experience with the Sigma 50-500mm lens for bird photography? How is it with kenko TC?
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Post by William Lim on Dec 28, 2007 10:41:07 GMT
Thanks so much for the info, Romy and Bobby. I am new in bird photography and I am presently using a nikon 70-300mm VR with kenko 1.4x. I want to get a longer lens but I can not justify buying the nikon 500mm or 600mm lens. I am considering Bigma as my next lens unless you can recommend something better with a reasonable price.
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Post by William Lim on Dec 29, 2007 10:44:03 GMT
How is the Bigma compare to sigma 170-500mm lens?
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Post by Raul Marcelo on Dec 29, 2007 12:38:50 GMT
the 170-500mm is too slow. sold mine a few months ago.
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Post by Nilo Arribas Jr. on Jan 2, 2008 10:13:47 GMT
Hi William, For me, one of the best scene to test lens performance in our locality is performance in lowlight conditions. Here is a photo of the Black Shama, hand-held using Bigma:
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Post by Nilo Arribas Jr. on Jan 2, 2008 10:16:50 GMT
Here is another photo taken by Raul P. using the same Bigma with some PP help from Sir Bobby K:
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Post by Nilo Arribas Jr. on Jan 2, 2008 10:38:50 GMT
Here is another photo taken by Raul P. using the same Bigma with some PP help from Sir Bobby K: You also have to take into consideration the missed shots (opportunity lost) with the equipment. I have been looking at the bigger/brighter glass for sometime but I can't have one yet. I've been to many wild places and I can no longer count the number of missed opportunities... The above photos were taken using bare lens btw. This photo was taken with Sir Bobby K's Sigma 2x TC (non-DG): Note: The "softness" I think is due mainly to camera/lens shake although degraded IQ is very much visible. To add to Romy's and Sir Bobby K's posting, buy the lens that you can afford but remember that the cheaper/good vaule lens will also provide you with basic knowledge of what will work and will not work for your type bird photography. HTH Nilo
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Post by William Lim on Jan 3, 2008 12:19:37 GMT
Here is another photo taken by Raul P. using the same Bigma with some PP help from Sir Bobby K: Very nice and sharp bird photos, indeed. I really appreciate your input.
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Post by Farmer Nestor on Jan 3, 2008 13:26:31 GMT
If you are small built like me ;D ;D no way you can do handheld ang bigat 'pre . but value for money I should say on the scale of 10 rating is 8
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Post by Jess Yu on Feb 21, 2009 0:47:11 GMT
hello po how bout comparing this lens with sigma 150-500mm?
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Post by Bobby Kintanar on Feb 23, 2009 11:12:50 GMT
Compared to the 150-500, I'd still give it to the Bigma. I have seen photos of the 150-500, and the Bigma photos are still better as I see it.
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Post by Romy Ocon on Mar 9, 2009 8:44:02 GMT
Compared to the 150-500, I'd still give it to the Bigma. I have seen photos of the 150-500, and the Bigma photos are still better as I see it. Agree with Bobby..... this must also be the reason why the Bigma is being sold at a higher price than the 150-500 OS.
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Post by Jess Yu on Mar 12, 2009 7:23:50 GMT
the main reason why im leaning on 150-500mm is mainly because of its OS, medyo pasmado kasi mga kamay ko ;D ;D ;D after reading your replies, i guess i better give Bigma a try..... thanks po
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Post by gabriel buluran on Oct 12, 2009 5:35:30 GMT
hi! i got a Bigma last Saturday and I tried it yesterday, shooting at LTS yesterday. there were acceptable shots but even with a monopod, it's still a challenge to keep it still.
what tripod would you recommend for a Bigma mated with a D80 body? where could i get one and what is the price range?
thanks
gabs
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Post by Romy Ocon on Oct 12, 2009 7:36:53 GMT
hi! i got a Bigma last Saturday and I tried it yesterday, shooting at LTS yesterday. there were acceptable shots but even with a monopod, it's still a challenge to keep it still. what tripod would you recommend for a Bigma mated with a D80 body? where could i get one and what is the price range? thanks gabs Congrats on the Bigma, Gabs! Here's my response to a similar question by Ariel: birdphotoph.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gear&action=display&thread=4048&page=1#31901
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Post by gabriel buluran on Oct 12, 2009 9:11:06 GMT
thanks again mastah romy! will check the gamboa branch out one of these days.
now i have to learn to post/share pics in the forum. i printed my first shrike portrait at home last night! would still need to learn a lot but i'm quite happy with it!
hope to bird with you soon...
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Post by Bobby Kintanar on Oct 22, 2009 23:34:29 GMT
As an update, I've been hunting for an affordable zoom that can reach up to the 500mm range and found that some of the early models of the 150-500 were indeed soft; but Sigma seems to have made some quality adjustments and those with serial numbers above 1007001 are actually "better than the Bigma" in some recent reviews: www.amazon.com/Sigma-150-500mm-Telephoto-Digital-Cameras/dp/B001542X64This is quite intriguing so I have placed an order for this lens. My most important consideration at this point is the the price, weight of the lens, then an acceptable image quality (I will not be expecting "L" Quality from this one), but PP will help a lot. :-) Also, I had considered the Tamron 200-500, but that lens is hard to get by around here. Value for money.
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Post by vesmes on Oct 23, 2009 17:57:33 GMT
Gratz for new lens Bobby ! Im waiting for your samples
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