Any One Own Both The Sigma 150-500 & The Big Ma

Art Scott · June 27, 2009

Hoping to find people who have used both the SIGMA 150-500 and big ma.
I know BigAl out in South Africa does some dynamite stuff with his Big Ma.
I need to get some longer glass for wildlife and it will be one of these 2 lenses I wind up with.....I posted a pic of a Whitetailed doe and fawn in a wheat field and the 200mm I shot it with was WAAAAY tooooo short for my liking.

THANX IN ADVANCE.

Toshido · June 27, 2009

I am also seriously interested in these lenses but for airshows.

Art Scott · June 27, 2009

Toshido wrote:

I am also seriously interested in these lenses but for airshows.

Airshows......we have 3-4 every other year....

them is BIG BIF's.........:D:D:D

rofl

Cygnus Studios · June 27, 2009

I rented both before purchasing the Bigma. I found that the 150-500mm was a tad slow in focusing. Both require good light and both are darn heavy. I use my Bigma as my walk around lens on fun shoots. I love it. It is sharpest at F8 but is still nice at F4. The bokeh is creamy. It certainly takes some getting used to and lens creep when shooting down is something to keep in mind.

Here is an example at 500mm F6.3 handheld.

Art Scott · June 27, 2009

Cygnus Studios wrote:

I rented both before purchasing the Bigma. I found that the 150-500mm was a tad slow in focusing. Both require good light and both are darn heavy. I use my Bigma as my walk around lens on fun shoots. I love it. It is sharpest at F8 but is still nice at F4. The bokeh is creamy. It certainly takes some getting used to and lens creep when shooting down is something to keep in mind.

Here is an example at 500mm F6.3 handheld.

A fantastically nice photo.....ok so for the $100 difference I should just go ahead and get the Bigma......I am not shooting really fast moving things and it will either be podded or braced by something.....I do not for see it going to any concerts unless daytime or outdoor real early evening type stuff......but this pic made me realize that 200mm just is not going to cut it especially tryng to catch does and their fawns feeding.......

I cropped off approx 2/3 or so of this shot at 200mm....sooc.....only processing was to crop and save for the web..............but that little one wasn't as tall as the wheat................

Cygnus Studios · June 27, 2009

For the hundred dollars you get an extra 100mm on the short end. Often when I am out looking for wildlife I happen to get closer than I probably should. The difference in backing down to 50mm vs 150mm is significant. Especially for large animals like deer or elk.
Works great at airshows also where the planes are coming down the runway.

Cygnus Studios · June 27, 2009

While I don't recommend the Bigma for landscapes or portraits, it does the job to a satisfactory level.

50mm

100mm

200mm

300mm

400mm

500mm

Art Scott · June 27, 2009

normally i can get face to face with the whitetails here using my odor removing techniques I use to bowhunt....but with the fawns still being under 2' tall a momma can do damage....also I want more reach for shooting at the zoo....where I need to shoot thru the opening in the cage wire.....and the 200 isn't quite long enuff.....
for portraits I have my 18-200 and 18-70 soon will be back with sigma 70-200 f2.8 and 17-70 2.8-4.5..........

I just figured the bigma or 150-500 would be good until I have the cash for either the 5.6- 300-800 or the 2.8 200-500

wink

My other option would be the Sig. 70-200 2.8 + the Sig 2x T-converter.......

rookieshooter · June 27, 2009

I have the bigma. AFAIK the major difference between it and the 150-500 is OS and it's ligther (the Bigma is heavier). That said, I can get crisp shots at 500mm, and I'm generally happy with the lens though I am considering selling it as I could use the money to pay my taxes. If interested PM me -- it's about a month old.

500mm, f6.3

Art Scott · July 9, 2009

Made A Deal
finally made a deal for a BigMa.....hopefully it will be here first of next week.

now maybe a siggy DG EX 2X converter in the near future...........

Art Scott · July 9, 2009

Awaiting The Delivery Of Bigma
almost like a kid at x-mas....I am awaiting for the delivery of my new to me BIGMA......can't wait to see my preferred subjects up close and to maybe try it at the race track.......Thans to ROOKIESHOOTER for turnng loose of his pride and joy......a goood home it will have............

Don Kondra · July 9, 2009

Hi Art,

I think you will be pleased with the reach....

The weight is a bit much for me to shoot handheld so I also treated myself to a Jobu Jr 2 gimbal head.

Just a little plug for a Canadian company

Cheers, Don

Cygnus Studios · July 9, 2009

Art,

You will love this lens. The weight takes some getting used to, and it loves good light, but it is an awesome lens.

rookieshooter · July 9, 2009

Already shipped it out for Tuesday arrival. I hope you enjoy it Art!

Telecorder · July 11, 2009

Enjoy...

Art Scott wrote:

finally made a deal for a BigMa.....hopefully it will be here first of next week.

now maybe a siggy DG EX 2X converter in the near future...........

I've had my non-DG Bigma since 7/06 and it's my go to wildlife lens. It takes a bit of getting used to the weight and size if you're not used to big lenses. Using Auto-ISO and shutter-priority at 1/500-sec or faster is the norm when shooting above 300-mm.

Not sure I'd go with the 2X TC, though. It'll make the f/6.3 into f/13 at the long end which means only tripod and great lighting. I have both the Sigma EX 1.4X and the Kenko Pro 300 1.4X which both do good in good lighting.

Here's a monopod shot w/the Kenko 1.4X TC at 50-mm (105-mm EQ) Note surfers at pier

http://images.nikonians.org/galleries/data/7683/DSC_47391_Medium_.JPG

500-mm w/TC at 500-mm (1050-mm EQ)

http://images.nikonians.org/galleries/data/7683/DSC_47341_Medium_.JPG

Use of at least a monopod is recommended until you get your hand holding technique honed.

With the long end, you'll probably find that subjects >~300' distant are about the limit to still have some IQ available for cropping. The 2000 x 3000-pixel FOV at 500-mm in landscape mode at 300' is only ~120"/10-ft vertical.

Cygnus Studios · July 20, 2009

Well????? Have it in hand and shooting yet?

Art Scott · July 21, 2009

Cygnus Studios wrote:

Well????? Have it in hand and shooting yet?

Been chasing local deer and turkeys and a couple of people and 1 very uncooperative horse (as i was setting up to use my spare tire as a cam mount[it hangs offthe back of mu Isuzu Trooper] the horse looked at me and buried its head in the weeds....cam shy I guess...)
I have added a 2x sigma DG EX ......damn it is hard to hold still......so I have settled for tripoding everything......so far all had been hand held and shaky.....I need to hit the gym to get myself built up for shooting wtih this set up......but what i have seen it is a great set up and I am loving it.........

Telecorder · July 21, 2009

Forgo the 2X TC...

Art Scott wrote:

I have added a 2x sigma DG EX ......damn it is hard to hold still...........

Art-
Glad to hear you're enjoying the added reach. I'd suggest, though, that you forgo the 2X TC. You'll have better images with cropping to obtain the same effective FOV then trying to get the reach/smaller FOV with the 2X TC. As you've indicated, it's darn near impossible to get a steady image at 500-mm with a 2X TC -- even w/a tripod...

Try doing a tripod setup of the same distant target with a cropped FOV without the 2X TC and then with the 2X TC. I'm pretty sure that you'll agree that the IQ is mo'better with just cropping... At 500-mm, a tripod mount with a 1.4X TC is about the limit -- at least that's been my experiences with my Bigma...

Now... Let's see some images - keep in mind that we know your technique is yet to come and 10% keepers of an outing is the norm for a lot of us...

zoomer · July 21, 2009

You will find the Bigma needs a lot of light. Not good in low light at all.
It has a major sweet spot at F8 not nearly as sharp anywhere else.
Really bad on full frame, really bad.

Focus slow not good for moving objects.

Don't even consider trying to use a converter with this lens.

But....when you get it right it will surprise you with how sharp it can be, nice color and bokeh if you give it some space behind your subject.

For the money it is a very good option if you can live with the shortcomings listed above.

Art Scott · July 21, 2009

Telecorder wrote:

Art-
Glad to hear you're enjoying the added reach. I'd suggest, though, that you forgo the 2X TC. You'll have better images with cropping to obtain the same effective FOV then trying to get the reach/smaller FOV with the 2X TC. As you've indicated, it's darn near impossible to get a steady image at 500-mm with a 2X TC -- even w/a tripod...

Try doing a tripod setup of the same distant target with a cropped FOV without the 2X TC and then with the 2X TC. I'm pretty sure that you'll agree that the IQ is mo'better with just cropping... At 500-mm, a tripod mount with a 1.4X TC is about the limit -- at least that's been my experiences with my Bigma...

Now... Let's see some images - keep in mind that we know your technique is yet to come and 10% keepers of an outing is the norm for a lot of us...

zoomer wrote:

You will find the Bigma needs a lot of light. Not good in low light at all.
It has a major sweet spot at F8 not nearly as sharp anywhere else.
Really bad on full frame, really bad.

Focus slow not good for moving objects.

Don't even consider trying to use a converter with this lens.

But....when you get it right it will surprise you with how sharp it can be, nice color and bokeh if you give it some space behind your subject.

For the money it is a very good option if you can live with the shortcomings listed above.

Thanx for all the adivice.......I have had no probs getting it to focus and it seemed to be very quick......we're talking early morning light at 6:30am and also late evening light between 8:30-9:30PM.....it doesn't hunt.....it seems to lock and fire......of course withthe TC added I have to manual focus and that is just as smooth and quick........

It has taken me over 15 yrs of studying this lens to buy it............. and when I started looking at it was soft and I could understand how a lens mfg'er would put it out on the market and it has gotten better over the years.....I suspect that in the near future we may seee a BIGMA with OS also.....since the 150-500 has it Ican't see keeping it out of the 50-500......

Cygnus Studios · July 21, 2009

zoomer wrote:

You will find the Bigma needs a lot of light. Not good in low light at all.
It has a major sweet spot at F8 not nearly as sharp anywhere else.
Really bad on full frame, really bad.

Focus slow not good for moving objects.

Don't even consider trying to use a converter with this lens.

But....when you get it right it will surprise you with how sharp it can be, nice color and bokeh if you give it some space behind your subject.

For the money it is a very good option if you can live with the shortcomings listed above.

I agree that it loves F8 and it certainly needs decent light, but other than that, I have to disagree.

I only shoot full frame, I routinely shoot birds in flight, cars, motorcycles, airplanes, kids running, and have yet to find any issue with focusing speed.

I also add the 2x teleconverter for moon shots, city shots at the GG Bridge, and even some whale shots.

90% of the time I use it hand held as my walk around fun lens.

Now I am not going to say it is as good as my 70-200mm F2.8 but for fun shots where money is not on the line, it is always my first choice.

zoomer · July 22, 2009

No worries. Depends on your applications I guess.
I use mine for bird photography which requires critical sharpness.
No way would I use mine for birds in flight, exercise in frustration.
With a 2x converter I can only imagine how unsharp it would be.

I tried mine with my full frame, I was really surprised by how much darker the frame was than on my dx camera. Maybe I did not give it a fair test.

Then I use it for whitewater kayaking...well not anymore...it would never focus when I needed it to.

Don't get me wrong, I loved that lens for two years and thousands of photos. Art you will have a blast with yours I am sure and it will do everything you need it to do.

Cygnus Studios wrote:

I agree that it loves F8 and it certainly needs decent light, but other than that, I have to disagree.

I only shoot full frame, I routinely shoot birds in flight, cars, motorcycles, airplanes, kids running, and have yet to find any issue with focusing speed.

I also add the 2x teleconverter for moon shots, city shots at the GG Bridge, and even some whale shots.

90% of the time I use it hand held as my walk around fun lens.

Now I am not going to say it is as good as my 70-200mm F2.8 but for fun shots where money is not on the line, it is always my first choice.

Any One Own Both The Sigma 150-500 & The Big Ma

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