First AF servo sequence. Using a 7D, 6 frames taken in the same second.
Exif data should be intact
Back garden too small to use TC's so all shots are at 120mm
When it stops raining and I can go to a park I will try different focal lengths and teleconverters
Well, your images look good. How about your overall impression of the lens? Are you happy that you bought it? What do you think of the OS? There is no way that I'll be able to afford a Canon 500 at any time in the forseeable future and my Sigma 100-300mm f/4 just doesn't have the IQ that I've come to expect with my Canon 400/5.6. I'd probably be using it at 2X a great deal of the time. The 120-300 is still a pretty sizeable investment!
I'm waiting to see how it performs in real life at 300mm with a 2X.
I still haven't seen any reviews on-line comparing it to the older version.
The lens feels very well engineered and is well balanced.
The AF is quite fast (although not as fast as the AF on the Canon 300mm 2.8) and the focus and zoom rings are very well designed, firm enough but not too difficult to turn.
The OS is the best I tried on a Sigma lens and much better than the OS on most Canon lenses.
It feels very similar to the OS on my 200mm f2 and 800mm f5.6
Quality with the 2x Kenko is very impressive and a friend of mine just sold his Canon 500mm to use the 120-300mm as his main walkabout birding lens due to the zoom capabilities and lower weight.
Well that's a mighty impressive first review (especially since you have the Canon 800 and 500 to compare it with). I'll be VERY interested in seeing your followup real-life images from this lens as, all of a sudden, it looks like I'll be able to consider going to a long focal length after all! Does the 2X TC slow the AF significantly?
I donīt know this version, but I have the old one and I can tell you that at short distances, 3 to 6m even with 1.4x tc (shooting from a hide and with a nice tripod), its as sharp as my canon 600mm IS shooting 6 to 8m. If I shot bigger distances, at bigger distances, the canon clearly wins...
Thanks for the info, Humberto. I had not heard good reviews of the original version of this lens and had been waiting to see if the new version had been improved significantly. I'm glad you've had success with the old one.
If the new one doesn't perform well with a 2X, it doesn't give me much advantage over what I already own.
These were taken with the 5D without a full tripod, just leaning it on flat surface which gave some support but had movement that needed to be compensated by the OS.
I find it very easy to handhold, this is the reason I bought it as my other lens is too heavy to use for long hikes..
Great to hear Michael. I would like to rent one for my wife to try out. She really likes the 100-400 zoom but could use more focal length. We both like to be mobile so handholding is prefered.
I've gotten used to handholding the 500 f4 and carring it on a Black Rapid strap. This is too much for my wife. Other option might be the new version of the Canon 300 f2.8 when ever it comes out but there of course is no zoom. That would be lighter than the Sigma which is an advantage.
Sigma 120-300mm OS testing
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