brabusa Loc: Jacksonville FL

Looking for a reasonably priced lens for birding, help.

ricardo00

Personally I chose the Nikon 200-500mm. You will find lots of discussion a number of years ago about the relative merits of the two. Assuming you did mean the Sigma Sport (and not the contemporary), it is a fair amount heavier than the Nikon and not as wide an aperture as the Nikon. Also if you go to a Nikon mirrorless in the future (you don't say which camera you currently have), less apt to have a problem using the Nikon lens.
Both are not "great" in my mind for birding. A better choice would be the 500mm PF. If you can raise your budget some, you can probably get a good used one for a bit more than a new Sigma Sport (about $2,000 to $2,500).
Good luck!
PS. Some pics with my 200-500 are on my flickr site if interested:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/60519499@N00/albums/72157687815134346/with/37180632522

btbg

The Sigma Sport 150-600 is a solid lens. It only weighs 6.1 pounds, so it is hand holdable. Also, it works fine on the Z9, so it will not be a problem if you switch to mirrorless.

The Nikon 200-500 focuses slightly faster and costs a little less. The advantage of the Sigma is the additional reach. The 500 PF is a fine lens, but until I finally got my mirrorless 400 f2.8 a couple weeks ago, I was more than satisfied with the Sigma Sport.

Also, it really isn't significantly slower. It is F6.3 at 600 mm, but it is pretty much at F5.6 at 500 mm, so it is competitive with the 200-500 as far as speed when you compare at the same zoom.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I'm going to have to disagree here! In my opinion the 200~500 IS a great birder lens! I had the opportunity to borrow a 500Pf a few months ago. Really a nice lens! But not even close to as versatile as the 200~500. And not any sharper that I could see. Lighter and smaller yes, But I will go with the 200~500 all day long! I'm a wildlife photographer, strictly a hobbyist. But I've been doing it a long time and I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself!
I can't speak to the Sigma, but I know that the 200~500 is much less expensive. And getting more so. And if you aren't afraid to go used, you can find a good one for considerably less than $1000 these days.
I own two 200~500 lenses and two D850's. With 46 Meg sensors I can crop well into an image without losing IQ, so the extra reach of the Sigma is negligible IMHO!
But, as always, this is just one man's opinion! With a lot of experience to back it up!

ricardo00

I would agree that the 200-500mm is more versatile and as sharp as my 500mm PF. However, if I am primarily photographing birds (ie. as opposed to larger animals, like bears, etc), I am at 500mm more than 95% of the time. At least for me, the difference in weight of the 500mm PF means I can carry it further on hikes plus hold it up longer when trying to photograph a bird in flight, etc. The two pounds difference in weight is for me a big deal, someone younger and/or more fit wouldn't benefit as much by having a lighter lens (as an aside, it is amazing that my 800mm PF weighs the same as the 200-500mm lens). It seemed to me that my 500mm PF focussed faster than the 200-500mm (I believe reviewers also found this). When trying to focus on a rapidly jumping small bird, this is quite useful. And finally, the 500mm PF worked better with my TCs. That said, I do love the 200-500mm lens (still have mine) and it is a great value for getting to 500mm. Choosing lenses is a personal decision and what I might choose is not necessarily the same as what another person feels is "best".

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I agree with everything you just said! I didn't say best, I said great! Best is hard to quantify in this context!

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Mid-day at Christmas was a snooze last week! Spring is coming...rumor!

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

You were allowed to snooze??

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

No chaperone. Boardwalk is quite nice.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I have a Tamron G1 150-600 (the original 150-600). Sigma later introduced their version the big difference was that the Tamron suffered beyond 500mm. It is still very usable up to around 550 but after that, I would not shoot with it. I later bought the Sigma which I sold last year. Tamron later came out with the G2 which improved the focus to that of the Sigma and added weatherproofing. If you really want a birding lens for a good price, then you should consider buying my G1. You will get good sharpness to 500 and beyond so why buy a Nikon 200-500 when you won't get any more reach? Here is what you can expect: A used G2 will run 850-1000, a used Nikon 650-800, a used Sigma 600-800, a used Sigma Sport for 800-1000, or my G1 for 450.00 + 25.00 shipping. My G1 was used maybe 3 times and is like new in the box. I was only using the lens on a yearly trip to SC. I want to get the z180-600 so am selling off some of my Nikon camera equipment.

bobforman Loc: Anacortes, Washington State

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