marciamyers Loc: Georgetown, In.

This has probably been beat to death in the past but either before my time here, or before I knew enough to pay attention.....have a D750 with a 70-300 NIKKOR lens...wanting better bird shots and have looked at the Nikon 200-500, Tamron 150-600 (slightly lighter than the Nikon but I think the same price) and wanting to look at the Sigma 150 - 600 but have not yet tried it....Sigma is $300-400 less than the Tamron and while price matters so does quality. Any opinions from those of you who may have used any, or all, of these? Thank you.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

I had the older version of the Tamron 150-600 and sold it to buy the Nikon 200-500 with no regrets. The Nikon focuses much faster and more accurately. That said, the Tamron took great photos when it could lock in on focus. I have not tried the newer version or the Sigma, so I cannot comment on the quality of these two lenses. If you are able, you may want to rent the three lenses to compare them on your own. You will get many opinions here, and they are all great, but none will be as good as your own.

whwiden

I find the Tamron G2 version of the 150-600mm quite good. I like the longer range which is useful I find when shooting on a crop sensor D7200. I have not tried the Nikon version.

whwiden

I should have added that I also shoot this lens on a D750. It is quite good on both cameras.

Saycheeze Loc: Ct

I use a Sigma 150-600 C on my D750. It works just fine with excellent quality photos

capmike Loc: New Bern, NC

My experience with questions such as these on this forum is I have found there is a wide variance in what an individual considers to be an excellent image. What is outstanding IQ to one individual is an unquestioned delete to another. Only you can determine what lens meets your standards. I have a D 750 and a D 850. My bird lens is a Nikkor 300mm PF, with a 1.4 tele. IQ is outstanding in both, in my opinion.

DL Loc: St. Petersburg, Fl and Island Park, Idaho

I am also considering the 200-500 Nikon, 150-600 sigma and the 150-600 Tamron. I have been trying to decide for a long time. I have read as many reviews as I could find. Most reviews say you can not go wrong with any of them and that they are all excellent lenses. Most seem to say that the Sigma Sport is slightly the best in image quality but is a very heavy lens to try to hand hold. It seems that most put the Tamron G2 as very close with good and fast auto focus and probably a better choice because it is easier to hand hold. Most also seem to say that the Nikon is very good but a little slower to focus and slightly softer on sharpness. I also have read some that contradict and I don't mean to make anyone mad. I would have already bought the G2 but because of the occasional difference of opinions I have not yet purchased anything. All my other lenses are Nikon. 70 - 200, 16-35. 50mm. and I shoot with a d800 so I do love Nikon. I certainly wish there was a clear winner.

Largobob

I feel your pain. I don't believe there is a clear winner or a right answer. When I have/had Nikon questions....I generally seek advice from Steve Perry, a member of this group. When you ask a question like "which of the three is best," the responses you receive will be biased based on the likes and dislikes of whomever offers the response. (Oh...I love Tamron...no, Sigma is better....na, always buy the native camera lens....No, always buy the cheapest...etc)

I have settled down to a D810, Nikkor 24-70, Nikkor 70-200 (f 2.8), Nikkor 200-500, and a Nikkor 105 Macro. I am very pleased with my choices. In my opinion, the 200-500 should be a "gold band" lens like the others.....It is an outstanding performer.

starlifter Loc: Towson, MD

I have the Sigma 150-600 C on my d7200 and love it.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

It has been BEAT to death ! .......I recommend the 200-500 over the others because: it is f5.6 vs 6.3 - this, and the fact that it is an OEM Nikon lens makes the fast action AF better IMO. If you are not doing fast action, just flip a coin to choose the others. Your lens management techniques are a much larger consideration for success than exactly which lens you use.

I will also say that the 200-500 IQ falls off a bit in the corners of full frame and it is only 500 vs 600mm - making it a relatively better choice for crop frame body.

..

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

This is just an observation. "They say" that a crop sensor is better for birds because of the crop factor. Just sayin'.

jcboy3

I have a D750 and the Nikon 200-500. I have shot with the Tamron G2, and it is a good lens. I have no experience with the newer Sigma lens (I have owned Sigma 50-500 and 150-500 lenses in the past, not any more because I was not impressed).

Since I have a set of Nikon teleconverters, I went with the Nikon 200-500. The downside is that it is a narrower range; but I shoot sports with two cameras so I don't mind it.

In my opinion, they are all good now. The Sigma Sport, however, is very heavy. That might be a consideration.

The other issue is firmware updates. Not so easy with Tamron or Sigma. Which is one other reason I stick with Nikon.

markinvictoria Loc: Victoria TX

I was at 'Under the Wire Fly In'...a small town grass air strip annual fly in...lots of restored Stearmans and various other aircraft. I met a semi-pro photographer there...he was shooting D500 with the Tamron 150-600 G2 and I was shooting a D7100 with the 200-500. We did some camera and lens swapping. He went home, sold his Tammy and ordered the 200-500...I went home and ordered the D500. Moral of the story...The D500 paired with the 200-500 is one sweet combination.

agillot

could that nikkor lens take a TC 1,4 or 2,0 extender and still take descent pictures .

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I have to agree with Cap on this. I was told a long time ago that Canons 100-400mm zoom lens was an excellent zoom lens for birding. So I bought it. I was happy with it for quite some time until I started noticing that other photographers were getting sharper images of the same bird than I was. So I bought a 500mm prime lens and found that to get the best image, you need the best glass. So I sold the 100-400 push pull zoom I had. Later, Canon came out with a new 100-400 that I heard was very sharp. In fact, I heard this from a photographer that uses Canon's 600mm prime glass and now most of the time he only takes the 100-400 on safari. That was saying something. He showed his pictures at seminare so I'd seen them. So I bought the new 100-400 and went about my business having fun. It's much lighter and easier to use than my 500mm prime. I took a friend of mine to the zoo and she had the older 100-400 push pull Canon zoom. We traded off during the day and compared images. Yes, there was a night and day difference in the sharpness of the photos. By the end of the week she had the newer 100-400mm Mark II zoom by Canon.

Bottom line, you might want to rent each one of those lenses and see for yourself. I'm sure that one of them will meet your needs, but I'm like you, I want the best bang for the buck.