Tamron or Sigma (Page 3): guitarbits, I have the Sigma 50-500 mm f4.5and it is a super sharp lens, Here is a picture I took, using my canon 6D, focal length 500 mm hand held.

leftyD500 Loc: Ocala, Florida

guitarbits, I have the Sigma 50-500 mm f4.5and it is a super sharp lens, Here is a picture I took, using my canon 6D, focal length 500 mm hand held.

note, photo was cropped to improve composition

mikedidi46 Loc: WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA

guitarbts wrote:

I have never owned a third party lens. I use only Nikon glass but I want a couple of new lenses that I will call more of a fun lens than a needed lens.
I will use either Tamron or Sigma. Please let me know which of these two is the better build and optic quality over all.
I would like a macro (90 to 105 or so) and a long zoom like 200-500 or 200-600.
Thanks in advance.

I cannot comment on the size lens you are looking for, but I have the Sigma 70-300, DG, OS mounted on my Canon APS-C 70D. The quality of my photo's are excellent and in some cases rival my 24-105 Canon 'L'. But I agree with one other person, try them out first as a rental and see what results you get.

guitarbts Loc: Charlotte, NC

jradose wrote:

guitarbits, I have the Sigma 50-500 mm f4.5and it is a super sharp lens, Here is a picture I took, using my canon 6D, focal length 500 mm hand held.

Awesome shot! Thanks for sharing your work and I really appreciate the info.! I will also add that lens to the list.

tommyf Loc: Vero Beach, FL

guitarbts wrote:

I have never owned a third party lens. I use only Nikon glass but I want a couple of new lenses that I will call more of a fun lens than a needed lens.
I will use either Tamron or Sigma. Please let me know which of these two is the better build and optic quality over all.
I would like a macro (90 to 105 or so) and a long zoom like 200-500 or 200-600.
Thanks in advance.

Just looked at the Sigma 150~500 and it's very nice-plus the price is under $900.

bersharbp Loc: Texas

guitarbts wrote:

I have never owned a third party lens. I use only Nikon glass but I want a couple of new lenses that I will call more of a fun lens than a needed lens.
I will use either Tamron or Sigma. Please let me know which of these two is the better build and optic quality over all.
I would like a macro (90 to 105 or so) and a long zoom like 200-500 or 200-600.
Thanks in advance.

I have a Sigma 18-250 micro, which I like very much now that I calibrated the auto-focus (a very easy adjustment on the D7100).

Brandmic Loc: Alabama

How do you calibrate autofocus on d7100?

BillH Loc: Lancaster County PA

I own the sigma 50-500 and the tamron 60 macro. Both great lenses. Tamron also has a 90 macro with vibration control - read image or optical stabilization. On my wish list. It may be a 95. Whatever it us great lens

Alois

I can recommend Sigma macro, any macro from Sigma is great.
However, with long lenses I would stay with Nikon. I owned Sigma 150-500 OS and it just didn't have the punch so I sold it.
Third party lenses are not easy to sell.

Eyesonly Loc: Winneconne, WI

I have 3 Nikon lenses, one Tamron (90 mm) and one Sigma (10-20mm) and they all do the job they were intended for. The Sigma is a little soft under 12mm. The Tamron is reasonably priced and very sharp.

bwjones0029 Loc: Missouri

I have two Nikon and two Sigma lens and happy with all, expecailly the Sigma 105. One additional thing that I like about Sigma is they provide a very good, padded case, where Nikon only provides a slip cover type case that is not padded. I realize the case is not why you buy a lens, but the Sigma cases are nice additions.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Brandmic wrote:

My wide angle is a Tokina and it's an excellent lens. I go to Ken Rockwell's reviews before purchasing any lens. He does extensive lens testing and will usually give you a better alternative to nikon or Cannon if one exists. His reviews are unbiased. This Tokina was considered a better lens than the Nikon equivalent. Tokina makes some really nice lens. Don't know much about signa. But just google the lens your looking at and look for his review on it.

Read what Ken has to says, but look for other reviews, as well. Ken's opinion seems to change with the weather. Dpreview and DxO do lens testing.

Nightski

jradose wrote:

guitarbits, I have the Sigma 50-500 mm f4.5and it is a super sharp lens, Here is a picture I took, using my canon 6D, focal length 500 mm hand held.

Nice... I have a 6D and I've been considering that Sigma 150 - 500 lens... thanks for sharing this.

Jiminyclicket

Like others have said both Tamron and Sigma have excellent lenses. I have and old Minolta film camera with a couple of Sigma lenses that were quite reliable and fairly good. But now one of my favorite lenses that stays on my Canon 40D is a Tamron 28-75 macro, 2.8 that is a great lens. I'm waiting on the reviews of Tamron's new 150-600 to see if I'm willing to shell out for it.
The longest lens I have now is 55-250 Canon F 4-5.6 that I'm a little disappointed in. So when it comes to lenses it almost is a crapshoot.

Pentony Loc: Earth Traveller

Brandmic wrote:

I never buy anything from just one opinion.... It takes me a long time to make a decision. I looked at 5-6 sourced before choosing......

1. I respect your opinions and comments
2. I too take time to make a decision

HELP!!!!
3. Please list the other sites you research/review in addition to KR and DP Review
4. Who is Gene?
Thanks :)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Brandmic wrote:

How do you calibrate autofocus on d7100?

Here are some links.

Focusing Charts
http://mansurovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Siemens-Star-Focus-Chart.pdf
http://mansurovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Focus-Test-Chart.pdf
http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart

How to Check Focus
http://photographylife.com/how-to-quickly-test-your-dslr-for-autofocus-issues
http://www.nphotomag.com/2013/03/05/how-to-recalibrate-your-nikon-dslrs-af-autofocus/
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/are_your_pictures_out_of_focus.shtml
http://mansurovs.com/how-to-quickly-test-your-dslr-for-autofocus-issues