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150-600 lenses
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Jun 23, 2016 08:07:03   #
Jackdoor Loc: Huddersfield, Yorkshire.
 
chuck barker wrote:
im looking at 150-600 lenses for my d3200 body-- in all of your professional opinions which brand would be best tamron or sigma there the same price at BH, thank you guys and gals for your help for me too make a choice, Chuck i shoot wildlife birds etc and whale watching from the beach house


I'm very pleased with my Tamron 150-600 on both D800 and D5300 (Similar to your D3200 in most respects.) Focus seems not to need fine tuning on my example- mirror or live view give equal results. But if I were buying again, I'd go for Nikon's 200-500mm - the improved sharpness allows enough cropping to equate to 600mm.

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Jun 23, 2016 08:52:01   #
joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois
 
chuck barker wrote:
im looking at 150-600 lenses for my d3200 body-- in all of your professional opinions which brand would be best tamron or sigma there the same price at BH, thank you guys and gals for your help for me too make a choice, Chuck i shoot wildlife birds etc and whale watching from the beach house


I don't have any of these lenses but if I were in need of a relatively inexpensive telephoto zoom and being a Nikon shooter I'd go with the 200-500 5.6. It is very sharp and the additional 50% more light at the high end could make all the difference in some situations.

Lets face it, you'll be shooting it at mostly the top end.

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Jun 23, 2016 09:42:21   #
wj cody Loc: springfield illinois
 
Gene51 wrote:
This might help you in your decision process:

http://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-200-500mm-f5-6e-vr


Remember, there is no free lunch. A 600mm lens has the same field of view as a 900mm lens on your camera. Do you realize that you will need to spend at least what you are spending on your lens for proper support? Getting a long lens is a significant investment, and it doesn't stop with the glass. Inadequate support will make your images look like they were taken using a soda pop bottle for a lens while riding on a merry-go-round. Well, maybe not that bad, but I think you catch my drift. Something to think about.
This might help you in your decision process: br ... (show quote)


good thought, with such a lens, you will need a heavy tripod and avoid using the center column, as this will decrease stability. to $400+ for a good heavy tripod.

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Jun 23, 2016 10:18:24   #
orrie smith Loc: Kansas
 
chuck barker wrote:
im looking at 150-600 lenses for my d3200 body-- in all of your professional opinions which brand would be best tamron or sigma there the same price at BH, thank you guys and gals for your help for me too make a choice, Chuck i shoot wildlife birds etc and whale watching from the beach house


I used to have the tamron 150-600. sold it and bought the Nikon 200-500. best decision ever. I never used the sigma, but the Nikon was much better than the tamron.

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Jun 23, 2016 10:42:31   #
JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA
 
chuck barker wrote:
im looking at 150-600 lenses for my d3200 body-- in all of your professional opinions which brand would be best tamron or sigma there the same price at BH, thank you guys and gals for your help for me too make a choice, Chuck i shoot wildlife birds etc and whale watching from the beach house


I have the Tamron, but not the Sigma. If I shoot wide open, the Tamron is a bit soft. If I stop down, I can definitely see the image improve a lot. I also do a micro adjust to get it right on, and this also makes a big difference.

One other point is that if I shoot RAW and wide open, I can process those images with Piccure+ and turn them into sharp images. The deconvolution that the SW does seems to be able to overcome the softness. It also seems to broaden the DOF a bit too which also helps. But it cannot overcome out of focus images. You need the focus to be right on. It can improve JPEG, but not to the extent it can improve RAW.

If light conditions are poor and I get a lot of noise, I will first treat the noise with DxO optics pro elite version and use the Prime noise removal. In order for Piccure+ to still work properly, I have to turn off lens correction. If I don't do this, the deconvolution process will be messed up and the result won't look so good. If there is only a little noise, I let Piccure+ remove it. But for lots of noise, DxO Prime is the best.

If my target is something that the camera is going to possibly get confused as to what to focus on, I will definitely manual focus, and the Tamron lens is easy to manually focus. You also need a really solid tripod.

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Jun 23, 2016 11:33:45   #
cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA
 
PixelStan77 wrote:
Chuck, I bought a Sigma Sport 150-600 for Birds and wildlife and love it. I bought the sport because of durability and difference in the glass in the lens. You will get many opinions here. If your budget is not for the sport, I would go with the Sigma Contemporary.Good luck in what you decide.


I also have the Sport version. I was given a Tamron version to test and had nothing but problems with it. I have had no such issues with the Sigma and the Dock is a game changer!

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Jun 23, 2016 11:41:34   #
Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX
 
I use the Sigma 150-600C with a Nikon D500 and I couldn't be happier, it's very sharp throughout the whole focal length range. It works best with lots of light, but the low light capabilities of the D500 help offset that somewhat. I keep the Sigma 18-300C on a D7200 for wider angle shots and have the 150-600 for birding and other wildlife where the zoom comes in handy. I personally don't think you can go wrong with any of the major manufacturers for your Nikon body. Spend as much as your budget will allow on good glass, bodies come and go...

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Jun 23, 2016 13:51:19   #
abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois
 
I recently bought the Sigma 150-600 C and Dock ($59 list, a modest investment for all it does). My opinion is that it is very sharp and I would recommend it. I did compare it to the Tamron or any other lens but for most of us, I think it will do the job. You can use the Dock with other compatible Sigma lens so that spreads out it expense over those lenses. I think that Sigma has a very useful and unique feature.

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