Did Sigma get it right?
Besides the BIG giant Sigmonster they came out with these 2 lenses;
APO 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG OS
APO 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS
Looks like they may have a couple winners here for when you don't want to carry that big heavy stuff. Both have Optical Stabilization and high Speed Motors for quick accurate autofocus and will probably be priced well.
Seems like a good move.
Both seem quite versatile and I would be surprised if they weren't selling well. I'm wondering about the overlap in focal length.
150-500mm looks very interesting..
Would the 150-500 autofocus at 500mm on non-pro bodies?
I really like the sounds of these lenses! Everyone seems to go straight for the 500mm... I'm actually pretty excited about the 120-400mm. Shooting Nikon, we don't have many options for a 400mm f/5.6. I drool when I think about Canon's 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens. Does anyone know if this is going to have HSM internal focus? That's what will make or break these lenses in my eyes.
I doubt it, the lens looks too short. At dpreview is an image at 120mm: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08...0400.asp#pressOriginally Posted by Blake Shadle
Thank you, Axel!!! It is HSM!! Look just to the right of where it says 120mm-400mm 1:4.5-5.6 APO... there it is... HSM! That's very good news for me.
Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you wanted to know if the lens extends at longer focal length.
Sorry 'bout that ;) I wasn't very clear, I should have left the "internal" part off of my question. I'm somewhat a fan of the HSM focusing from Sigma. Simply because I've shot the Nikon 80-400VR the majority of my photographic career. A pretty slow lens. Moving from that lens to the Sigma 500mm f/4.5 APO HSM was a very nice transition.
It's going to be interesting to see the first images. I hope it's going to be good as this would be a great alternative, OS and HSM really are great.
Check out these links.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08...igma120400.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08...igma150500.asp
Jim
did you guys see this one? the 200-500 2.8?
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08...igma250500.asp
Sure did ;) http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ead.php?t=3534
Hey Axel, I just saw this on one of the DPReview articles:
*2 If the camera body does not support HSM motor, AF does not work.
I saw that, too, but am not sure what it refers to. I don't know what cameras don't support HSM motors but I can think of a few cameras that don't autofocus at 6.3 or is that related? Hmmm...:confused:
Too slow to my opinion. They need to be f/4
Any idea what that would cost? A 120-400 f/4, or a 150-500 f/4?? That sounds expensive!
I know it's refering to cameras like Nikon D40. The D40 doesn't have the motor on the camera that assists the lens in focusing. I'm sure they're talking about cameras with similar deficencies.
Blake - What the D40 doesn't support is lenses that don't have their own focus motors. HSM in the Sigma means it does have it's own focusing motor. So I don't know why any camera wouldn't support it - it's an electronic interface, so it's probably a firmware issue as far as sending the right signals to a high speed focusing unit. So Sigma, not knowing what other companies might come out with, probably has it in there as a disclaimer. I'd think that any fairly recent camera would be supported.
Thanks dbostedo (has Al Forns sent you a PM ;))... If you can't blind 'em with brilliance... Baffle 'em with BS :D I knew I wasn't sure about the D40. Thanks for the bit of info, and now that I think about it, I agree with you about focusing. It does sound like a precautionary thing.
Sorry Blake - I usually have a signature or something, but seems like I forgot to fix it on this forum. Anyway, Al didn't contact me, so I'm glad you did...
Dave
No worries, Dave. I sent you a PM ;)
The 150-500 will AF on non-pro bodies, just as the current 50-500 ("Bigma") does - the lens reports that it's f/5.6 to the AF system. I believe there are several other lenses that do this, as well.
I have to admit, I'm at least curious about the 150-500. The lack of OS was always the the killer for the Bigma - no way I'm toting around a 4-pound lens and trying to get good shots without stabilization of some sort (I don't use a tripod). I still don't know if I'd want to carry a 4-pound lens - my current "long" rig is a 70-200 F4L IS + Canon 1.4 + Tamron 1.4, which works much better than you'd expect. It autofocuses pretty well on my 20D, is surprisingly sharp (it helps that the 70-200 F4L IS is one of the sharpest zooms ever produced), gets me out to ~400mm when necessary, and still leaves me with F4 and a shorter lens for zoos, etc. Total weight is probably a little over 2 pounds for the lens and TCs.
Still, getting out to 500mm would be nice, assuming that it's close to a "true" 500 - the Bigma is supposedly well short of that.
Rick
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