Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

[Richard W]

So this is my first post on this forum, after a few days looking round and finding lots of useful information already. I'll write up something introductory about myself soon, but in the meantime I'm looking for opinions on the Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary lens. I know there has been quite a lot of positive comment here already, but I was wondering if anybody has negative experiences or if further use has made people even more positive. Also, is the Sigma dock worth getting? This would be the only compatible lens I would have and I'm not sure if the extra expense is worthwhile.

My main camera is a 70d. The longest lens I have at present is the 55 - 250 mm IS STM. My interest is entirely in nature photography, though perhaps not in quite the same way as most people. I have no interest in taking great BIF photos for example, I am much more concerned with accurate "record" images rather than artistic merit. I actually make my living as a self-employed ecological consultant, specialising in surveying insects and other invertebrates, which mainly involves collecting up large quantities of generally very small "little brown and black jobs" followed by many hours staring down a microscope, not walking around with a "field guide" and camera. However, as I begin to ease myself towards retirement, I do want to have more capacity to take e.g. shots of birds from hides, long distance ones of resting dragonflies or butterflies or even flowers in inaccessible locations. It seems that this Sigma is ideal for this and a bargain at the price.

Had I not read the positive opinions on this site and others, I would never have considered a lens like this, my earlier experience of lower priced long zooms has been that they were total rubbish and a waste of money. Technology is improving in leaps and bounds!

I need to decide soon as Sigma have a £50 cashback offer on the lens bought before 31st. All opinions appreciated.

Richard

[DanFlag]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

Hello Richard, welcome to the forum. You seem to have your needs pinned down, therefore the longer the reach the best for you. The only question remains top quality$$$ (ex: Canon 500 or 600mm F4) vs. quality$ (ex: Tamron 150-600mm F5/6.3)

I've got a Sigma 500 f4.5 and I'm pretty happy about it, but still sometimes I'd like more reach and use it with a Canon 1.4x even thought I have to sacrifice auto focus and aperture.

[antoeknee]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

Completely satisfied with my Sigma 150-600 contemporary. Can't fault the IQ and the IS works well, AF works very well too. Of course the main thing to think about is the size and weight. There is the Sport version of this lens and major differences are cost, weight and build. Seems to be little in terms of image quality.

Plenty of work posted on here using both the C or S version. Max aperture isn't that fast compared to some of the Canon primes.

USB dock worth getting as it allows upgrading of firmware and tweaking of some of the settings i.e. Custom switch.

Perhaps someone can comment on this lens paired with 70d.

[Richard W]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

Can't fault the IQ .

It was your picture of the Mallard that really made me sit up and take notice of this lens. Anybody would be happy with that quality. Or quite a bit lower for that matter. Not long ago I doubt anyone could have expected such sharpness from a long zoom unless perhaps something costing well into the thousands. This is priced at about the limit I'd be willing to pay for a lens which I won't be using on a daily basis.

[the black fox]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

i think you have it summed up pretty well ,either of the two sigmas is a good buy ,the dock is a worthwhile purchase and you can usually get a reduction if bought with a lens .
technique with a long lens like these does take time to acquire but is worth it long term ,for the use you wish to put it to its a no brainer ,theres nothing else on the market at this moment in time thats anywhere near it for price ,quality or value for money

[Stan]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

I have the sport version and for your birds either the c or S will be ideal for you shooting from hides. The long tailed tit in the birds section was shot in a hide and almost full frame at 600mm. Neither are going to be quite as good for small creatures, dragonflies and butterflies you mention, due to their minimum focus distance at nearly 3 metres, which means that unless you have a clear uninterrupted view of your subject, any odd grasses etc are going to get in the way, the image is not going to be that large in the frame as well - for those sorts of shots I have a Canon 300 f4 L and 1.4x which give me reach of 420mm but will focus at 1.5 metres.

Overall as already said the image quality from the lenses is up there with the Canon equivalents costing 4 and 5 times as much

Stan

[antoeknee]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

Like Stan I've used my Canon 300, sometimes with 1.4 TC, for photographing butterflies due to short minimum focus distance.

Definitely think the Sigma is a bit of a bargain, either version.

[AndyMulhearn]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

I'd consider replacing my 150-600 C but only with the 500L, or the 200-400L and only if I were feeling a bit flush. Which means never.

I really think Tamron and Sigma have broken a new market with these lenses - as you say in the first post Richard, zooms of this length were a bit of a curates egg, but these new ones are massively better.

[DaveG001]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

For those small creatures it might be worth trying an extension tube to offset the min focus distance - I have played around with it and it can make a big difference close up with my kit but I don't have the knees for it :-)
just an idea
cheers
Dave

[Richard W]

Re: Sigma 150 - 600 mm Contemporary - any more opinions?

Thanks for all the replies, it's good to have my thoughts confirmed from people's personal experience. It may be a very good value lens, but still a pretty big investment for me so nice to know that everyone seems to have positive views. I'll definitely be going ahead.

For most larger insect photography, such as butterflies, I reckon the 50 - 250 IS STM with a short extension tube works very well. Having not bought any new lenses for some years, I'm finding that even these low-cost "kit" lenses are a huge improvement on earlier ones, within their limitations. However, there are times when e.g. a big dragonfly is sitting out on some plants in the middle of a pond when a long lens may be useful. For smaller things, I have an older model of the Tamron 90mm macro, a bit slower to focus and pretty noisy compared to later models, but very good IQ and can also be used with an extension tube.

I suspect the Sigma is a lens that one has to take out with a specific purpose e.g. "today I'm going out with the Sigma for pictures of xxxyyy" and leave everything else behind, not something to carry around with a camera bag full of other kit.