minustide Loc: San Francisco

Canon 400 5.6L. Sharper than the 100-400 IS

chaprick

Sigma 50-500. Love it. But it is heavy.

Grammieb1 Loc: New Orleans

I have the Canon 400F/5.6. It is sharp & is lighter & faster focusing than the Sigma or the 100-400. Bab

naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

From the images that I've seen posted here on UHH, the Sigma images seem to be better. Or maybe it's the person behind the camera! I use the Sigma and I am well satisfied with the results.

Photo-Al Loc: Sonoma County, CA

I have the Tamron SP 200-500, and I am quite pleased with the quality of the photos ... and I was much happier with the price. I'm not knocking either the Sigma or the Canon ... you should try all three, and then you will make the decision based on your style, your photos, and your experience.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

The Tamron image quality is quite acceptable, but where I find it falls short is not having VR/IS/OS which is extremely useful on a handheld 400 or 500mm lens. I have taken two of them in on trade for the Sigmas and both customers have raved about the improvement in their shots due to Sigmas great OS feature.

pigpen

Look into the Canon 400mm f/5.6, or the 300mm f/4 IS + 1.4 x extender. Had the Sigma, replaced it with the 400mm f/5.6.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

This is very TRUE ! It also stays in balance on any support you may be using. AND, you should be using support. It has no OS/IS to get in the way( of focusing) either ! The Canon 300 F4 non IS W/1.4X is the same in this regard. The Canon 100-400 and the Sigma 150-500 both elongate ( change length) and both now have OS/IS. They are both very optically/mechanically complex lenses so the quality (IQ) variance is greater than for other lens designs. I don't have either of these lenses, but would choose the Canon over the Sigma ( sorry, MT ) - simply put, the Canon is faster and lighter.
What do I use ? The Sigma 100-300 F4 W/1.4X Tamron SP. No OS/IS, does not elongate when zooming, is light, fast, and cheap ! It is as sharp or sharper than my L lenses wide open. I also recommend, the Canon 70-200 2.8II with Tamron SP 2X ( NOT the Canon extender) - has IS, and does not elongate - but very expensive !

pigpen

I have no images to show you that I've taken with the Sigma 150-500 over the 6 months I've had it. Reason is I've deleted every single one of them, and I usually save every image I take. Not going to get into the pissing match again about this lens. The one I had was garbage. You can say I had a bad copy, or they worked out the bugs since then, whatever. All I know is the Canon 400mm f/5.6 has produced far better results under bad conditions than the Sigma did under ideal conditions.

Photo-Al Loc: Sonoma County, CA

See, now here's where the difference comes in: MT Shooter, up Montana Way, has these big ole arms that could hold a Sherman Tank to use the gunsight for his camera, and I'm just a poor ole skinny armed old fart. I wouldn't even think about hand-holding a 500mm lens, hell, I even need help putting shoes on in the morning! Seriously, though, I think most folks would be using a mono- or tripod when using a lens that big, and then the IS/VS would normally be turned off anyway. The only time I'd bypass a lens support is if I was lying flat on the ground near a cliff ... and then I'd need someone along to help pick up the camera/lens when I was done. ;) I've seen MT's photos, and the Sigma does a grand job. My point really is that Canon L isn't the only lens that gives good results, and people should look at, and if possible, try other choices and purchase what works for you and the best lens that your budget will allow. And for most of us, budget is a consideration.

anotherview Loc: California

Thanks for explanation. I own the Sigma 150-500mm lens. It does have the limitation, in my experience, of not capturing action photos such as one finds at air shows. But then I believe Sigma designed this lens for other uses, like reaching out to wild life.

The lens does take a while to achieve focus. Sometimes I do a manual focus, then switch to AF to let it finish lens focus.

River Valley, Virgin River, Virgin River Gorge

greg vescuso Loc: Ozark,Mo.

I really like my Sigma 150-500. But I agree with you the canon 100-400 is alittle better. What do you think of your sigma 120-300 2.8 ? I would
like to have the 300 range at 2.8

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

I bought a Tamron 200-500mm lens a few years ago, used. When I first shot with the lens it seemed a little on the "soft" side, but I didn't care. I used it only on a tripod, and mostly at full 500mm, and sometimes added a 1.4 extender. The setup took acceptable photos. Recently, I took the Tamron out for some shots of birds on the other side of the canal behind my house. I shot a variety of shots through the zoom range. there is a metal stake in the field marking a gas line, I notice the lens was softer on the left side of the stake, and got worse as you looked further to the left to the edge of image. The right side of the image was perfect. I called Tamron, explained what had happened. I spoke to a tech, and he want me to send in the lens, with prints of the photos. I did as he asked and got a return call from him at Tamron. He said the lens had a problem with a set of the internal elements, and needed a full tear down, cleaning, and overhaul,and calibration to my Canon 50D specs. The cost would be, $225.00. Tamron would guaranty the repair for 6 months. I am now awaiting its return, which would be this Wednesday. The warranty would have been in effect, if I was the original purchaser. It will be interesting to see how this lens performs. I sent them my Tamron 18-270 last December, and it came back after the same repair almost as good as my 70-200mm f4L lens. The Tamron tech, did explain that sending the lens in and setting it up to a specific body will help make the lens focus sharper, and faster. The lenses are setup in the factory at "all Canon" generic specs. So, when the lens chip is reprogrammed to a specific body the performance is very much enhanced. I will also check the lenes front/back focus on FoCal before I use it much. Before it just about maxed out the micro focus adjustment.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

This is a typical issue with ALL aftermarket lenses for the Canon bodies. Canon steadfastly refuses to supply aftermarket lensmakers with their AF algorithms so that those lensmakers can factory focus the lenses to the bodies they are selling them for. This continually makes Canon users believe their precious "L" glass is so much better than aftermarket glass, no other reason to not supply their algorithms. Nikon, Pentax, Sony and Olympus ALL supply their AF algorithms to the aftermarket makers. Sure a strange way to do business in my opinion.

susanmarie Loc: Redding, CA

Thanks for the tip on sending camera in to Sigma - just got my Big Mo I think you call it and am having some issues with this. Your explanation and solution is greatly appreciated. Can't wait to practice more today.