Long Telephoto zoom for Bird Photography- Tamron 200-500 or Sigma 150-500 OS?
Hello everybody
I use Nikon D90 with Nikkor 70-300G VR lens. I have been looking for some options for a longer reach and internet seems to be filled with Sigma 150-500 OS and Sigma 50-500 OS versions as recommended budget tele-zooms. Now there is one more from Nikkor, 80-400VR f4.5/5.6 with moderate reach. I almost settled my mind on 150-500OS version as it complements my 70-300VR better.
Now one of my Facebook photographer friend, who swears by Photozone.de, strongly recommended Tamron SP 200-500 LD Di IF. I read the photozone review of this lens and it seems to be alright, more so if I stop down the lens to f8. I tried to find whether there is any comparative test between Sigma 150-500OS and Tamron 200-500 SP Di version, but there is none from reputed sites.
So may I ask the opinion of the members here about which lens would give me better IQ (150-500OS or 200-500 SP Di)? Is there any comparative test between these two lenses? The less weight and shorter zoom range of Tamron (2.5x) also seems to be positive points. I would like to take BIF as well as perched birds with the lens. If any of the members here have used both or either of these two lenses, please help me out in making a choice.
Please understand that I shall not be able to afford higher primes which are simply out of my reach. Though I know this very well that neither will come even close to a 500mm VR Prime from Nikon (and it breaks my heart but I have to live with that otherwise I shall be bankrupt) :(
Thank you